Digital Marketing is a necessity for any modern medical practice. Research shows that over 80% of people use the internet for research before making any purchasing decisions, which means it’s more important than ever to craft your digital presence. Medical SEO makes sure that your practice is in front of the potential patients that you are hoping to serve at the place they want it most: On their computers in their homes.
For as important as medical SEO is, it’s surprising how many practices still feel they don’t need it. They think that because they have a website, they’ll be ok. If you’re a medical practice who might be wondering why SEO is so important, check out the ten reasons why medical SEO matters.
SEO Minimizes Patient Acquisition Costs
Acquiring new patients is the entire point of marketing, but it ends up being incredibly inefficient if it costs you more money to get new patients in the door than they provide in funds. With proper SEO, you reduce your overall marketing budget because digital outreach is far less expensive than other antiquated forms of advertising. This means that you start to see the benefits from bringing in a new patient much faster. With lower marketing costs, you have the opportunity to invest in more targeted patient outreach and spend more time streamlining your marketing approach.
Patients are Searching for Specific Practices
More often than not, people search for products as opposed to specific brands. They are more likely to type in “yoga pants” instead of “Nike yoga pants.” The same theory holds for medical practitioners as well. You’re more likely to see a search for “liposuction” or “liposuction Los Angeles” than “Dr. Jones liposuction.”
If you have a medical practice that specializes in niche services, targeted SEO makes sure that your practice is getting in front of the patients who are most interested in your services. This direct approach saves you both time and money in filtering through potential patients who are not interested in the unique services that your practice provides.
The internet is such a pervasive presence now that it’s practically replaced the word-of-mouth recommendation from a friend or family member. For specialty services, patients are less likely to trust a practice that does not have a significant web presence. Having a strong search ranking is essential to gaining the initial trust of potential patients.
You Can Easily Set Yourself Apart from Competitors
It’s common for companies to follow their competitors. This game of keeping-up-with-the-jones sometimes works, but companies rely on it too often. Instead of looking to what your competitors are doing for digital advertising, take your cue from your patients. Patients are relying on the Internet for information about medical conditions and treatments. If your practice is not coming up on their computer screens, then you are missing out on a significant opportunity to bring in new patients.
Depend on Reliable Data
SEO features one of the most effective methods of tracking your marketing footprint. It is much more difficult to track the effectiveness of traditional forms of marketing, such as print and radio advertisements. Sure, you can ask new patients how they heard about your practice, but that’s dependent on them contacting your practice in the first place. SEO for medical practices features continuous feedback of how many potential patients your practice is reaching without investing more marketing dollars into analytics. This also means you can make more accurate long-term decisions about how best to spend your marketing budget.
Ranking is Crucial for Medical Services
Research shows that 90% of Google’s traffic happens on the first page, which means that you only have a 10% chance of getting a click if you’re on page 2, and even less of a chance on page 3 and beyond. Being able to obtain a spot on the first page of search results is more critical for a medical practice than almost any other type of business.
If you are not able to get your medical practice up to front page status, you are missing out on an untold number of potential patients who could be interested in your specific services. Utilizing proper SEO techniques is the quickest and most effective way to maintain the number one website on Google.
You Can Connect with Potential Patients Faster
A good search engine ranking directly translates to more visits to your page. This is why it’s imperative your SEO tactics go beyond Google; they need to apply to your website itself. This includes optimizing your site for mobile devices.
Internet browsing on mobile devices have recently surpassed browsing on standard computers. Making your website mobile friendly is a key component to proper SEO. It is essential that you provide a click-to-call option for potential patients who are browsing your site on their mobile devices. This means that you can speak with potential patients almost instantly and have a rare chance to establish a personal connection with them right off the bat. Other marketing strategies simply do not provide the same instant opportunity for actually connecting with potential patients over the phone.
Make Life Easier for Your Existing Patients
Your existing patients will appreciate being able to find your practice easily online. The more accessible your services and information are from a digital platform, the less likely your current patients are to find a new practice out of inconvenience. They can also more easily refer your practice to a friend or family member by being able to instantly locate your site from Google and forward to a contact. If a potential patient receives information from a friend about a new medical practice that is easy to navigate, he or she is more likely to pick up the phone and schedule a first appointment.
SEO Influences Social Media Engagement
You aren’t considered legitimate without a proper social media profile. It’s one of the first places people, especially younger people, go to to find out who you are as a practice. A good social media presence conveys to patients that you are responsive and connected at all times. Having a good search ranking allows patients to easily communicate with your practice using social media. Engagement on social media can also build trust and rapport with your current patients.
Stay Current with Your Patients
The information collected from tracking your SEO and digital strategies allows you to get more personal with your patients. The more data you collect about your current practice, and the more insight you gain into how your patients come into contact with you, the better you’re able to address their needs and retain them as patients. It is important to know exactly how patients are coming into contact with your office and the types of questions or concerns that prompt them to seek you out.
Applying this information to your current SEO strategy makes your marketing even more effective, providing a constant flow of new patients.
Adapt to Changes Quickly
Keeping a close eye on your SEO allows you to adapt your digital marketing strategies as needed. If you do not have a way to track where you fall within search rankings and compare that against your efforts in other aspects of digital marketing, you could lose out on attracting new patients. Developing a sound SEO strategy, and monitoring it closely, will keep you more in tune with the data and feedback you are getting on your overall marketing efforts.
Quality SEO Services for Medical Practices from Crystal Clear
If you are looking for a way to make sure that your medical practice is investing its marketing dollars wisely, contact Crystal Clear at (888)-611-8279 right away. You can also email us at sales@crystalcleardm.com. We are the digital marketing service that medical practices rely on to help them locate, serve and retain more patients at a better bottom line. Our decades of digital marketing experience translate to measurable results and marketing success for our medical practice clients.
If you are interested in learning more about how our medical SEO services can help get your medical practice where you want it to be, contact us for a consultation today. Find out why so many other medical practices count on the digital marketing expertise that the medical SEO experts at Crystal Clear have to offer.
