It’s a new year and I’m ready to refocus my efforts on online marketing. What can I do to start the New Year off right?
A new year is upon us. If you’re like us, you’ve made a resolution or two focused on your personal well-being. Are you also addressing the well-being of your medical practice? Are you taking proper care of the engine that drives your business—your Web marketing program?
If you aren’t, now’s the time to make some resolutions. For, ready or not, as the New Year begins an aggressive Web marketing strategy is no longer just an option. It’s central to the health of every practice, yours included. With more than 80% of computer users seeking medical information and services online, physicians who make meaningful connections with these prospects have the chance to bring them in the door. Physicians who don’t, well, don’t.
While you address your own well-being, resolve to dedicate some of your energies to your Web marketing program as well. Here are some resolutions we urge you to consider:
- Improve your home.
Take an objective look at your home page. If you can’t honestly say it provides, at a glance, a clear message about what you do, information about where you are, and a quick path to your most important content, it’s time for a remodel. - Get organized.
Check the organizational structure and navigation aids on your website. Make sure the content is organized in a way that makes sense and is easy to browse. - Lose the wait.
Online prospects that wait a day or longer for a response from you will often go elsewhere. Use an automatic general reply to email inquiries and follow up personally within minutes if possible. - Make new friends.
Socially media’s importance to medical professional is increasing daily. Embrace a social media channel and work to cultivate meaningful professional friendships online. - Get a new hobby.
Find something you love about your website and make that your new hobby. If you like answering questions in consult—why not publish the answers to an online FAQ. Maybe you’re especially proud of some recent work—you could post new before and after cases with great descriptions. Perhaps you’re fascinated by new techniques and technologies—consider publishing a newsletter or blog covering your areas of interest. - Get a better job.
If there are aspects of keeping your website fresh and running smoothly you dislike, these are tasks you won’t often get around to, either. Identify the chore you put off repeatedly and outsource it to an employee or vendor. You’ll free up time to spend on activities you do enjoy. - Take a trip.
Visit your competitors’ websites regularly and keep abreast of what’s happening. Subscribe to their newsletters. - Learn something new.
Discover something new about medical website design and online healthcare promotion. Browse through our blog and sign up for our newsletter. You’ll learn about attracting more patients, promoting your practice and, leveraging the Web for medical communications. - Spend wisely.
When you’re ready to make an investment in online marketing, avoid being driven by ego or impulse. Develop a goal, evaluate the options carefully, and be sure to set up a system to track your ROI. - Find true love.
You deserve true love in your life—true love for your online marketing firm. Once you choose a partner who’s a creative, cost-effective, and ethical expert, you’ll wonder how you lived without them.
Just as it’s never too late for your patients to improve their self-image, neither is it too late for you to upgrade your Web marketing program. Adopt a couple of these resolutions. You may be surprised at the impact a few changes can make.
If you’re short on Web expertise and even shorter on free time, you’re certainly not alone. Whatever you do, don’t heave a sigh and move on. Call us and we’ll work together.
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