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Target your online marketing to highlight your specialties
Search for your own practice, check out the competition and choose the right SEO firm.
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Marketing tips are available everywhere, and they are fundamental to growing your practice. For the do-it-yourself crowd, the Internet alone is source of unlimited knowledge.
The diversity among the practices of doctors of optometry makes marketing for this profession more challenging. The needs of patients who seek advice on eyeglasses are different than those who seek advice on contact lenses and those who seek health care services.
Trends are also different depending on geographical location. What works for an urban office in a big city could be completely ineffective for a practice in a rural setting.
I offer some tips on digital marketing for the do-it-yourselfer.
Look at what is currently being used by other businesses and how they are using it. Mailers are still used, but advertising in the Yellow Pages is pretty much out of the picture nowadays. Offline advertising might be useful in some markets, but it is an old strategy for many urban areas. However, as long as those trends continue, you still want to market your clinic and services through those traditional marketing outlets while increasing your online presence.
Research your competitors that have been successful online. These doctors will be your top competitors in this field. You can accomplish this by simply searching Google for your city and the word “optometrist.” You will then be provided with a list of the doctors in your area. If you are included on page 1, that is good news.
Look at your website and study other high-ranking websites of your peers. You can get some fresh ideas from your competitors to improve your own site. Keep in mind that your online purpose is to attract more patients who are looking for a solution to their eye problems.
There are a number of reasons why your practice may not rank highly in a search. It could be something like website functionality, loading speed or daily social media presence on Twitter and Facebook. Many factors figure into the ranking and a spot on the search engine’s first page.
Your online journey does not stop with creating a website or Facebook page or looking at what your peers are doing. Consider doing something to survive and compete in the online search business. Improve your own blog and add new posts every week. Have a Facebook page and post daily – or as often as possible. However, make sure your articles are relevant to your audience. A social media presence is vital when patients are searching the Internet.
If you find this step too much of a time commitment, hire an online search engine optimization (SEO) or marketing firm to accomplish these tasks for you. Just be sure to choose one that knows the optometry segment.
Many SEO firms work with other medical and nonmedical businesses and would not know about the use of specialty products such as scleral lenses, orthokeratology or dry eye therapies. Any reliable SEO vendor can produce quality and valuable outcomes, but have a conversation on how they can help you specifically.
- For more information:
- Agustin L. Gonzalez, OD, FAAO, can be reached at AG@TXEyeDr.com.
Disclosure: Gonzalez is a managing partner in www.FourTimes52.com.