Internet to gain from TV ad share decline
admin March 7th, 2007
Understanding The Importance of Building Your Base in LASIK marketing!
by Michael Dobkowski
In today's competitive refractive surgery marketplace it is time to
clearly understand and implement an Internet marketing strategy that
will bring your practice into the future. If this is not done your
business will suffer. Working from the assumption that organic search
engine optimization and pay per click advertising on search engines
will undoubtedly bring practices the most potential patients from any
marketing medium it is easy to see why developing a long term strategy
makes sense. In order to launch a successful strategy you must build a
base of operations or a refractive website that can initiate all
strategy. Just getting to understand this point can be challenging for
practices .
Many practices have built their own ophthalmology or lasik
websites and are well on their way to successful web-based patient
acquisition. Creating your own practice website is the doorway to a
successful Internet strategy. Practices that choose an easier path and
opt for web positioning via directory sites as their core focus will
ultimately fail over time. Directory sites can be very useful and play
a role in the Internet strategy but the focus should not be on a
directory site listing. The reason is simple! When you pay a directory
website for a listing you are building web equity for another company.
You are renting a space and have no guarantees as to what will happen
with this space as the politics and pricing changes. Practices that
choose this path often neglect their core site and help these
directories to gain leverage and increase page rank. At the same time
their site lies fallow with no content updates, no link exchange, and
page rank that remains low. Why would you build equity for someone else
when you can have your own house? The core focus of your Internet
strategy should entail the practice site first and Internet advertising
initiatives second. Whether the advertising initiatives are pay per
click or a directory site it does not matter. Your website needs to be
the center of your strategy.
Once the Internet strategy has been developed and goals have
been set you must prepare this site for the task at hand. As with a
house you may want to paint it, fix up or plant some shrubs. Your
website should reflect the advanced nature of the practice work. Your
website should talk to your patients, Your website should offer
education and incentive offers. If done correctly your website will
return the investment quickly and keep on giving. The Internet is still
a marketing medium that delivers extensive returns because it is still
new. The impact of TV advertising and radio will become less effective
and cost more to make impressions.
Elements For Consideration
Designing a website for ophthalmology
Designing a website for LASIK
Is the website design and navigation patient friendly?
How easily can you navigate the website?
Do all of the procedures come on one long page?
Do you have multiple contact forms in key places on the website?
Are educational graphics used to explain ocular disorders?
Does your website contain self-evaluation tests?
Do you have patient satisfaction surveys?
Does your website collect OPT-IN email addresses?
Can you install a contest system and database on the backend?
Is your content custom written (not duplicate)?
How optimized is the code structure?
Do you have a link building plan?
Tips For Optimizing a Website for Ophthalmology
Choose a professional company that can show an ROI scenario
Talk with clients and people that used this company
Choose a company w/ results within your area of interest
Choose a company that can help with link building
Choose a company that uses white hat/legitimate SEO techniques
Choose a company that can design and optimize, not one or the other.
Choose a company that will explain what they are doing and not afraid to tell you about it!
Internet Promotion - What can you do?
Once
you have your website developed your work is not over. This website is
a base and all operations will work form this base. Additional website
work should be viewed as marketing and promotion of the practice. There
are many things that a practice can use a website for. Websites can be
used as backend databases for contest systems with voting. websites can
be used to track potential patients. Websites can be used to acquire
patients via SEO. Websites can be used to educate your patient base.
Websites can be used to open communication lines with your patients
with newsletters and e-mail. Websites can be used to clearly explain
financing, website can be used to facilitate OD relationships, websites
can be used to differentiate you from your competition. The biggest
mistake practices make once a website is completed is to leave it a do
nothing with it. It must be made clear that this is a vehicle and you
must put gas in it to make it go!