Perhaps you’re asking yourself, “why bother with the hassles of having my own website? After all, the insurance companies that I participate in all feature me on a page. Then again, “Yelp features me on a site as well”.
The biggest problem with this thinking is that:
- You have no control over the content of the website
- All the content of the website goes “poof” if you decide to drop the insurance plan
With out a website you don’t exist!
Surveys show that eight out of ten prospective patients now check out physicians online before making an appointment. If you’re not online, will you be visible?
Your medical practice is essentially a business and as such, you need to have a strong brand and visibility to grow it and succeed. Your website is a crucial key to your business plan and marketing campaign. Online sites are the computer “storefronts”. As the medical community and patients become more technologically savvy, you need to evolve to keep up.
Up to ninety million patients are scanning the internet for solutions to their medical problems. While they are getting answers to their searches from a range of sources like The Mayo Clinic and WebMD as well as Vitals.com, wouldn’t you like to be one of the go-to professionals that patients come to when seeking advice?
As prospective patients view you as the guru or problem solver, many will seek you out to establish a professional relationship by making appointments in your office.
Though it is still common to find a doctor through referrals from friends and relatives by word of mouth, or other physicians, many are evaluating physicians online to decide on expertise and whether they are receptive to their needs.
You also become a magnet for those people new to a community.
Benefits
A well-composed and designed website can provide:
- Information about medical services offered
- Your branding, mission statement and what you’re about
- Information about the office including telephone number and locations as well as hospital affiliations
- Marketability to the community
- Increased professional image
- Lure to attract new patients
- A way to maintain current patients
- Enhanced services with downloadable forms to patients and instruction sheets
If you have no website or have one that is not effectively working for you the way that you would like, now is the time to address the problem.
Need help? No worries! Contact me at barbarahalesmd@aol.com