When you're just starting out, it's tough to know what forms of marketing are going to give you the most bang for your buck. This presentation covers the essential elements of Internet marketing for the new dentist.
4. WEBSITE
Why Do You Need a Website?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hub of your online marketing efforts
Generates online referrals
Educates patients
Enhances your professional image
Simplifies communication with patients
Helps target high-value patients
7. WEBSITE
Content Matters
“Think about the
words users would
type to find your
pages, and make sure
that your site actually
includes those words
within it.”
10. WEBSITE
Pay Attention to Page Titles
• Use relevant keywords
• Use those words
within the page’s
content
11. WEBSITE
Give People a Reason to Link to Your Website
Possible Link Sources:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dental Associations
Study Clubs
Peers/Referral Partners
Vendors
Educational Institutions
Social Media Profiles
Community Forums
Local Chamber of Commerce
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
13. WEBSITE
Use a Good Meta Description
• Brief
• Descriptive
• Grammatically
correct
• Includes location
14. WEBSITE
Should You Decide to Hire a SEO Firm to Handle
Your Site’s Optimization…
Red Flags:
•
•
•
•
Promising first page results
Purchasing links
Poorly written content
Won’t explain their process
and tactics
• Don’t have references
• Unwarranted solicitors
16. SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook, Twitter, and
Pinterest drive the most
website referrals of all
the social networks.
72% of Americans
who go
online, use
Facebook.
33% of Consumers cite
social networks as the
primary way they discover
new services.
19. SOCIAL MEDIA
Next Steps
Dr. Digirati provides general and cosmetic dentistry to patients in Anaheim and surrounding areas.
Their entire staff is dedicated to providing you excellent care!
www.beverlyhillssmileinstitute.com
Dental Office
Set the Category to “Dental Office” or a
specialty you want to be known for.
21. SOCIAL MEDIA
Posting Images and Status Updates
• Studies show that when
patients comment on your
page, they expect a response
within 1 hour.
• Frequent posts will get more
engagement.
• Images and video are the most
commonly shared types of
content.
• Adding your location to the
status update will improve your
local optimization
• Schedule posts ahead of time
for convenience
23. SOCIAL MEDIA
LINKS TO YOUR OTHER SOCIAL PROFILES
EDUCATIONAL FACTS
CURRENT PROMOTIONS
INDUSTRY NEWS
LINKS TO BLOG ARTICLES YOU’VE WRITTEN
IMAGES OF PRODUCTS YOU RECOMMEND
BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS
STAFF INTRODUCTIONS
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
24. SOCIAL MEDIA
Resources for Facebook Posts
• Pagemondo – Create
“pretty” post
images, cover
photos, custom page
tabs, and manage
contests
• Canva – Free Facebook
template site; edit
images, create posts
28. SOCIAL MEDIA
Tweeting Tips
• Shorten links using
Bitly (www.bitly.com)
• Use proper grammar
• Partake in
conversations
• Respond to mentions
• Thank those who
retweet
• Overly promote
yourself
• Ask strangers to
follow you
• Post controversial
opinions
• Start a Twitter war
• Post excessively
42. ONLINE BUSINESS LISTINGS
• 16,000,000 searches per month for dentists
• Average doctor’s name is searched 76 times per
month
• Patients read an avg. of 4 online doctor
reviews before choosing a provider
• Dentists are the 2nd most recommended type of
local business online
43. ONLINE BUSINESS LISTINGS
97%
Of consumers search for local businesses
online
76%
Consider online reviews when choosing a
local business
85%
Are more likely to purchase if they see
online recommendations
72%
Trust online reviews as much as personal
recommendations
44. ONLINE BUSINESS LISTINGS
Added Benefits
• It’s FREE
• Get notified whenever
someone leaves you a
new review
• Have the opportunity
to remediate conflicts
privately or publicly
• Appear in local search
• Improve SEO
45. ONLINE BUSINESS LISTINGS
Where to Claim Your Listings
http://www.google.com/places
http://listings.local.yahoo.com
http://www.bing.com/businessportal
https://signup.citygrid.com/enroll
https://biz.yelp.com
47. ONLINE BUSINESS LISTINGS
Removing or Responding to Negative Reviews
Can be removed when:
• Violates user guidelines
• Advertising or SPAM
• Off topic
• Conflict of interest
• Violation of privacy laws
• Contains inappropriate or
inaccurate content
50. ONLINE BUSINESS LISTINGS
How to Respond:
• Try to resolve any issues
• Thank them for their feedback
• Give your name and explain the
steps you’re taking to prevent
future occurrences
• Respond promptly
55. ONLINE BUSINESS LISTINGS
YES!
• Encourage feedback
in your office
• Send patient surveys
• Follow up phone calls
I’M LISTENING!
DON’T LET PATIENTS LEAVE
YOUR OFFICE DISGRUNTLED.
56. MOBILE MARKETING
Is a Mobile Presence
That Important?
• 25% of ALL Internet traffic comes from
mobile devices
• Mobile is the best medium to attract local
patients
• The mobile market is 5 times larger than the
PC-based market
57. MOBILE MARKETING
500%+ Growth in
Mobile Search in the
Past 2 Years
There Will Be One
Mobile Device for
Every Person on Earth
By 2015
79% of Mobile
Searchers Will Leave
if a Site is Not MobileFriendly
Over 50% of Mobile
Searches Result in a
Purchase or Call to a
Business
57% Won’t
Recommend a
Business with a
Poorly Designed
Mobile Site
59. MOBILE MARKETING
Elements of an Effective Mobile Website
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Quick load time
Simple navigation
Thumb-friendly
Good Color Contrast
Legible text
Mobile compatible images
HTML 5 videos
And…
61. MOBILE MARKETING
Advertising and Optimization for Mobile
“At Google, we believe that mobile represents a
sociological shift with how users relate with both the
digital and physical world. Businesses that understand
this will win.”
62. MOBILE MARKETING
Advertising and Optimization for Mobile
• Separate mobile ads
platform
• Separate algorithms
for mobile search
engines
• More focus on local
optimization and
claimed profiles on
apps like Yelp and
FourSquare
• Awareness of GPS is
critical
64. CLASS ASSIGNMENT
Build Your Practice Website Using ProSites
• Visit http://www.prosites.com/free-trial/
• Use Media Code LLU14
• Create Your Profile Page – Add Bio or CV (optional
photo)
• Add Staff to Your “Contact Page”
• Add Keywords to Page Titles
• Add link to LLU School of Dentistry on your “Links”
page
• Email website URL to Dr. Rogers at trogers@llu.edu
Notas del editor
So the question remains….
They’re using online… recent studies show that over 100 million Americans search online for health related information. They’’re looking at websites, social media, online (or “local”) business listings, email, and… of late, their mobile devices.More than 60% of Americans report they would switch to dentist who had a website if their dentist currently did not have a website70% of the information patients find online influences their decision when choosing a provider
When marketing your practice, your website is the foundational element necessary to build your online reputation. Everyone profile, business listing, document you publish should link back to your website and persuade prospects to contact your practice.Many websites have means of communication, which simplifies things for existing patients, but also allows you to generate new leads on your website. Curious visitors making an online inquiry can be marketed to further in the form of tangible marketing (mailers, email, etc.)Most patients refer to your website for more information about your experience and the services you offer. Providing this educational information allows patients and prospective patients to make more informed decisions when choosing to hire your services.As you build up the authority of your website, you can/will start to rank for popular search terms… if optimized correctly, your site can rank for high-cost procedures, such as dental implants, invisalign, etc.With leads us to the next aspect of maintaining a website…
Search Engine Optimization – more commonly referred to as “SEO”
There are numerous tactics and techniques that go into search engine optimization, but the ultimate goal is to acquire the first or second rank for the terms you want to be known for.Most Internet users search for local services using a location and key phrase that describes the service they’re looking for. When known, these terms can help you target patients and move into a top rank.
To sum all that technical jargon up - search engines use algorithms to rank websites. Content weighs heavily within these algorithms.Incorporating key terms and your practice location into your website’s content can help you rank better for those terms and phrases.Another solid way to use content to your advantage is to start a blog (in addition to your website).Google also favors fresh content. They’re like a tabloid, wanting to provide users with the latest information related the their search.Blogs allow you to continually publish new information about the services you offer, without disrupting or recreating the content of your entire website. They also allow you to build more content associated with your site, increasing its authority and relevance within these search algorithms.
The content on these two pages is IDENTICAL.Verbatim. Word for word.The difference is, in the second example, the content is more easily digestible. A visitor can easily see where they need to go to learn about the implant procedure. They can quickly scan through bullet points about why they should consider dental implants.The second example also looks much less cumbersome. There’s white space – visual breathing room. The first example is somewhat overwhelming and daunting.With all of the information floating around online, visitors who are looking for detailed information, want content that they can easily scan to find the answer to their problem. Making it easy for them to find the answer is key.
Ultimately, people want to do business with people.Include photos of you and your staff.Give a background of your education and experience.Highlight and awards or accoladesMention FAQs… smile gallery… contact… and phone number and social media links at top
Page titles are an important part of optimization, as they are visible in various places on your website.Not only do they headline your website’s summary in the search engine results, but they remain at the top of every page tab within your browser.In addition to being extremely visible, page titles are one of the first lines of text that search engines read, making it a critical introduction to the rest of the content on your website.EXPLAIN THE TWO EXAMPLES ON SLIDE
The more places your website is visible, the greater the chance that prospective patients will see your website.
Here is an example of a link within a community forum. Because these forums are highly visible by prospective patients, these types of links are the most valuable, as you can reach hundreds of patients with just one Q and A.Links from industry-related sites (like DentalTown or CDA) are also valuable to search engines (which can improve your rank), but won’t directly bring in new patients, as patients don’t/won’t regularly visit these types of sites.But on the whole, don’t focus on one type of link over the other – diversify.
The meta description is the website summary that shows up within the search results. Online searches will refer to your meta description to determine whether or not your website has the answers they’re looking for.Some things to keep in mind are… READ LISTEXPLAIN EXAMPLE: meta description is within the code of your website. Some website editors give you easy access to this area, or have a simple form you can fill out to apply this information… in other instances, you may need your web developer to insert your meta description.
Some doctors decide they’re too busy or just don’t want to hassle with optimizing their site. Should this one day be you… be wary No one can guarantee first pages results because algorithms change daily. The only way to guarantee first page results is through paid advertising, which you can easily do on your own using Google AdWordsPurchased links are seen as spam in the eyes of search engines. Associating your website with spam will hurt your site’s rank and could even get you blacklistedContent that isn’t well written or directly copies from another website could hurt your rank or lead to legal troubles. Copyright laws. Etc.If they can’t tell you what they do, they don’t know what they’re doingEvery good SEO has had at least one success. If they can’t share at least one success, they likely don’t have any.We’ve had many unsuspecting clients receive emails promising first page results – calling or email about their services. Many have lost thousands of dollars to these shady businesses. Be sure to double check any solicitor’s website and accreditations before hiring their services. If they’re reaching out to you, but won’t give you any background information on their company (location, history, successes) they may be taking you for a ride.
Out of curiosity, how many of you have a personal Facebook profile? Feel free to raise your hands… or if you’re slightly embarrassed (like me) keep your hand down.But know that social media and social sharing is one of the biggest influencers in online research and choosing providers.People trust recommendations by people… and social media is the hub of online conversation.
The main purpose of marketing is to be seen by your potential customers.Online marketing is no different. With that, you can’t just create a website and call it a day… you have to go where your customers are. For this reason, social media has become a very popular marketing avenue, as the majority of Americans use at least one social networking site.
You’ll want to be sure to input all of your information correctlyChoose a photo for your practice. More commonly, brands and companies are adding their logo as their profile picture and having a picture of their staff or office as their cover image… here are some examples
KeywordsWelcoming toneAll details are filled outAll information is accurateDescription is detailed
When patients finally start interacting with you on social media, don’t let their questions or compliments go unanswered. Reply with haste to increase their satisfaction or to quickly nip their problem in the bud.Frequent, but not excessive. Once a day is ideal.Your page gets more exposure when people “Like” it, and when fans are sharing the things you post. Image and/or video posts are more likely to be shared than plain text posts alone.Because you provide your services on a local scale, it’s important to include your location into everything to increase your authority for that location.Scheduling posts is huge. So many docs say they don’t have time for social media, but everyone has a lull in their day. Use your lull to schedule posts ahead of time. This conveniently prevents you from having to come up with something every day. Set it and forget it.
Be creativeMake things as fun or interesting or educational as possibleDon’t be afraid to look around and get inspired by other professionalsBe wary of copyright laws – don’t steal images you don’t have the rights to
Don’t be afraid to use outside applications to create the content for your posts. We use Canva (a free application) and a basic Pagemondo account ($5/month or $10/month) to create engaging posts.There are thousands of free and paid services like these that will help you create content your fans want to share… and that will make it easier for you to manage your page and create a professional look.
If you’ve ever created a personal Twitter, creating a business Twitter is identical. It’s pretty self explanatory.Note*** Choose a username that describes your practice well or incorporates your practice name. Your username will be the handle that others address you with or search for you withEXPLAIN WHAT A HANDLE IS
Add a photo of you or your practiceAdd your location and a link to your websiteUnder name: put the name your practice is known by, whether that be your name or anotherInclude keywords in Bio
For those of you who haven’t used twitter before, twitter limits the messages you can share to 140 characters… this includes spaces, punctuation etc.As if 140 characters wasn’t limiting enough, marketing suggests you should try to stay under 120 characters to account for people who want to retweet your messages
EXPLAIN EACH BULLET
Google+ is unique, in that it is a social network, but also an online business listing
Tip: use Google’s predefined categories
Share content similar to what you share on facebook… you can even share the same content
There are resources available that allow you to manage all of your social media profiles from a single dashboard.We currently use Sprout Social, which allows us to schedule Google+, Twitter, and Facebook posts months, even years, ahead of time… right down to the minute we want it shared.The software also provides a monthly engagement report, so we can see which posts received interaction and which didn’t.This data helps us create content in the future that our visitors most want to see. We’ve found links are rarely clicked… but images are often “Liked” and sometimes shared… so we decided to share more images.This software can run anywhere from $10/month to $1000/month. Sprout Social is $30/month.
Transitioning from Google+ , which as I said before is a sort of hybrid online business listing meets social network… we have more online business listingsOnline business listings are an important aspect of managing your online reputation.When upset patients want to vent, they often resort to online avenues to complain about your services. Unfortunately, these negative reviews can affect your reputation.While there isn’t a way to prevent this from happening, there are steps you can take to aid in the prevention of negative reviews.The first is to claim popular online business listings like Yelp and Google+ (which we just went over), bing, citysearch, angies list, yahoo
When a review falls under the previous parameters… you can do the following:
Respond the second you notice the review, but make all possible efforts to take the conversation offline. Reach out to the patient physically, before turning to online public display of resolving the issue.Keep your responses on targetDo not attack the reviewerGive yourself time to “cool off” before posting anything online
Reviews are set chronologically, newest first… new positive reviews will push down and hide older bad reviewsStudies show patients are less likely to leave a negative review if they think you’ll respond, as most people like to avoid confrontation. Responding to every review lets patients know that you’ll be responding to theirs too.As a last resort, there are services that can help you get rid of your bad reputation – www.reputation.com
Bottomline – be the buffer between disgruntled patients and the Internet. If you give them the option to vent after their appointment, you can likely hear their rant before it goes public. You can also alleviate the problem before hundreds of thousands of Internet users see what went wrong.
Are mobile websites really that necessary? All the buzz in marketing has been about mobile the past few years and it is increasing in web traffic – the stats don’t lie
What makes a good mobile website?It doesn’t matter if the website is responsive or specific – so long as it provides the user with a solid mobile experience, the end result is the same.DEFINE RESPONSIVE IF THEY LOOK CONFUSED
Conversion features are what influence a visitor to contact your practice. Without them, your mobile site is just a dental-related reference. The entire purpose of digital marketing is to bring in new patients, so make it easy on them – tell them what you want them to do.
The almighty Google has emphasized the importance of having a mobile presence, but how is advertising and optimization different on mobile?
Advertising (paid ads) is a completely different platform and the ad layout and text specifications are differentAlgorithms rank mobile websites differently than they do desktop websites… mobile websites have a competitive advantage over those that are not yet mobileMobile search integrates the GPS from mobile devices to influence the search results. These search algorithms take the user’s location into consideration when providing results for their queries, thus claiming your local business listings and having your address listed on your website is that much more critical.