Many years ago, patients found their doctors primarily through word of mouth by asking friends and family for recommendations. With the rise of the internet, patients are doing their own research online to find doctors. Patients will search doctors by different keywords: by health insurance, by practice name, by doctor name, by location, by zip code, by specialty. As a doctor or healthcare provider, it’s important to understand it so that you can adapt your online marketing strategy accordingly to boost practice recognition.
1) Optimize Your Practice Website
More than 55% of patients said the healthcare practice website is very or extremely important when they’re choosing a doctor. Not only should your website be beautifully designed, but it should also be optimized for search. Your website should:
- Contain all critical business information and include information about the services you offer and conditions you treat.
- Be mobile-friendly, easy to navigate on mobile screens, and load quickly.
- Including important calls-to-action including your phone number and online scheduling can further attract patients to choose you as their doctor.
2) Healthcare Directory Listings
More than 30% of patients look at provider information on healthcare directory listings to choose a doctor. Creating profiles on popular healthcare directory listings is free advertising for healthcare providers. As Google may not be able to reconcile your information, updating your information in directory regularly not only helps patients but it also helps you to appear accurately in search engines.
3) Online Patient Reviews
More than 70% of patients find online reviews very or extremely important, patients begin their search for their doctors by reading online reviews. While online reviews have long been the most influential decision-making factor, patients are becoming even more selective in their provider search. They will consider a healthcare provider with an average star rating from 4.0 out of 5 stars. Thus, it’s important for doctors to monitor reviews on prominent healthcare and business reviews sites. To mitigate damage to your online reputation, it is also critical to manage any negative reviews immediately.
4) Improve Your Online Reputation
Give your patients surveys to assess how satisfied they were with your services. Some of the top medical practices have regular patient satisfaction surveys. Their responses allow you to see what work your practice needs, especially on the patient’s end. Additionally, you can address any issues before patients decide to leave bad reviews. Asking for feedback shows you care about your patients. This builds your reputation as a patient-centered care, reaching more growth through your existing patients’ recommendations.
Suggestions to boost your reputation:
- Be open and engaging
- Show that you are flexible with your services and schedule
- Use a live chat on your practice website
- Train your front desk for quality customer service skills
5) Upgrade Your Software/ Mobile App
A major concern that providers or clinics have is lacking time. There’s just not enough time to work on growing your practice when there are so many files and data to manage. Such software is built to make administrative tasks efficient and improve the patient experience. Other technological advancements also exist to supplement the quality care you give.
Softwares to consider adding or updating:
- Medical billing software
- Workflow
- EHR and EMR
- Appointment scheduling
Growing Your Practice: Where To Start?
Here at SEADOC Platform, we provide the solutions for your need to make ramping up your medical practice smoother than ever.
