Nobody is perfect. Everyone, marketers and clinicians included, is bound to make an occasional mistake. However, when it comes to marketing, there may be many mistakes that you frequently overlook that are hurting your website’s performance.
Take a look at some common mistakes in digital health care advertising you need to work on avoiding today:
1. You blog once or twice per month
Your website’s blog should contain posts with informative or entertaining content relevant to the interests of your target audience. If you have ever had anything to do with your website, you may have heard how maintaining a blog can help attract traffic. However, many clinicians don’t have the time to regularly write, post and share blog content. The end result is not as much traffic as you would like.
You need to be posting in your blog at least four to five times per week. This frequency of quality, informative content demonstrates to search engines that your site has value to the users interested in the topics of your field.
2. You haven’t claimed your directories
Your practice is likely listed on directory platforms, such as Google My Business, Yelp and Yellow Pages. This helps make your business more accessible to a wider online audience, but there can be a catch. These listings could contain outdated information, such as an old phone number or incorrect address.
When you have a lot of incongruent listings online, search engines have a harder time trusting the information regarding your practice and its location. This can affect your ability to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Find your listings on popular directories and claim them so you can manage any updates to your practice’s information.
3. You pay for quick fixes
There are several predatory search engine optimization (SEO) companies that promise fast results within a week or two of letting them “work their magic.” Sadly, many clinicians fall for these scams and end up losing a lot of money without seeing any results. Often, the tactics these companies use can actually cause search engines to penalize your site once they identify what is going on.
If you need assistance with your digital marketing, you need to look for a reputable partner that provides realistic results. A good partner will provide you with examples of their work, they will write up a scope of expectations and they will keep in regular touch with you to answer questions and make adjustments to your strategy as necessary. After a few months of working with such a company, you should expect to start seeing some results.
4. You use social media only for advertising
Again, because they often don’t have the time for it, many clinicians don’t engage enough with their followers on social media. You might make a post here or there about your practice and what it offers, but positive social media engagement requires much more than this.
You should be sharing useful content with your audience, such as blog posts, videos or infographics. You need to respond to comments or feedback that your followers leave on your page. You should express the humanity of your clinic, such as testimonials or clinician stories. Without any of this, you can’t expect much engagement from an audience who is largely trained to overlook blatant advertising.
Burg & Co. is your resource for your health care marketing needs
We understand that clinicians usually don’t have the focus on maintaining a strong online presence. Fortunately for you, we do. Our team of experienced marketers have worked with health care practices for years. We work closely with clinicians to help them reach their desired goals of increased web traffic and more leads converting into patients.
We can be your resource and partner for your digital marketing needs. Are you ready to take your web presence to the next level? Contact us today to schedule a complimentary consultation.
