Internet Marketing: The Future Of Healthcare PR

More than any other business, healthcare facilities have relied upon local advertising and PR in the past. That’s changing, however. Today, even when people are looking for services close to home, they turn to the internet first. Most people don’t keep a phone book in the house and wouldn’t dream of calling a place based just on an ad in the paper. Those things might point them in the right direction, but even then, they’re going to plug the name of the business into a search engine to see what comes up. And if they’re not satisfied with the results, they’ll keep looking.

So, no matter how local you consider your business to be, even if you’re in the medical industry, it’s critical to have a good internet presence. Here are some tips for making your presence on the internet known, and gaining more patients in the meantime.

Your Website

If all you have is a DIY website from 1998, full of broken links, that’s almost (but not quite) worse than no website at all. The very first thing you need to do to have effective internet marketing is to have an up to date, polished website. Don’t panic, because getting one isn’t difficult at all. You can simply hire an online marketing company, preferably one that specializes in healthcare, to design and put it up for you. These services are extremely reasonably priced these days. Your website should have the following features:

• An attention-grabbing, sophisticated landing page
• Information about the services you provide
• Information about your team
• Directions on making appointments (or, better yet, the ability to do so online)
• General information about your specialty

Your Blog

An internet marketing company can handle this, too. It’s another one of the very basic must haves. Even if you do nothing else, it’s vital you have this and a great website. Why? Because a quality blog will help raise your search engine rankings in a number of ways. You don’t have to worry about the specifics; your PR company can do that. At any rate, you’ll need a blog, and you’ll need it to be updated regularly with quality articles. Seasonal and timely articles are a great choice. For example, as the holidays approach, a dental office could offer tips for keeping teeth clean after indulging in holiday sweets. Or, a general practitioner might mention some strategies for not over indulging in goodies, and then add diet tips for New Year’s resolutions.

Social Media, Ads, and More

A great website and a quality blog are just the beginning. They form the foundation of your online presence. You can expand that presence with ads, social media accounts, mobile marketing, press releases, articles, and much more. How far you want to take it is up to you. A good marketing company that specializes in healthcare marketing online can help to ensure that you get a great return on investment, so that the money you spend turns into more patients.

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