There was a time when orthopedists could simply could rely upon a listing in their local Yellow Pages and word of mouth to supply them all of the local referrals they needed to have a thriving practice. Today, the internet has changed all of that. Patients today tend to not be as interested in the small, square ad you placed in the phone book. They want to go online and find some in-depth information about a doctor to find out what makes him or her tick. They want to read Yelps from patients because it is their body, and they want a doctor who gets results and who listens to their needs and cares. They are able to get more information on doctors, so patients are beginning to demand it.
These issues become even more important when a doctor has recently moved from one state to another to set up a new practice. For example, Dr. Gregg Schellack DO moved his practice from Montana to Crescent City, California, where he practices as an orthopedic surgeon at Sutter Hospital. Gregg Schellack Orthopedist found himself needing to market his practice in an entirely new area.
Dr. Schellack is not a newly practicing doctor. He is an experienced orthopedic surgeon. He is also experienced with pediatric and adult out-patient orthopedics. He graduated from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine and Loma Linda University, both top-ranked osteopathic learning institutions on the world stage. In the age of the internet, though, Dr. Schellack realizes that he needs more than just his impressive resume to get patients in the door. If other doctors have a greater online presence, they will get the click-throughs and the appointments. If their web presence is good enough, they will get more patients.
Why SEO? –
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is how Google crawls around the web, searching for doctors locally, such as Gregg Schellack Orthopedist. The more high-quality content that Dr. Schellack provides to the web, the higher he will land on Google’s search engine when patients are looking for an orthopedist in Crescent City. According to Points Group, Google statistics have shown that a first-place ranking on search engines will get 34 percent of the click-throughs from potential patients. A second place ranking locally on the search engine will net only 14 percent of the clicks, while garnering a third place ranking only nets 9 percent of the clicks. Every place lower than third place is in successively lower single digits in terms of click-through percentage.
Dr. Schellack will need to get Google’s web crawler to “see” him and recognize him through content that explains what he does. Otherwise, less experienced and qualified competitors will get the patients that he is likely more qualified to serve. This is where patients are mostly finding their orthopedists today, online through Google searches.
Why Not Just SEO? –
According to Copy Blogger, one of the problems is that web page hacks will provide an orthopedist or other medical doctor a page that simply is filled with a lot of keywords that are great for Google but are meaningless to his potential patients. These keywords may indeed get Dr. Schellack up to the first place on the local Google search in Crescent City for orthopedists, but human beings are the ones who are clicking on his pages of web presence.
If Dr. Schellack has meaningless content that just makes the Google crawler happy, these potential patients will look elsewhere. They are looking for information on the doctor’s experience, credentials and philosophy as a healer as well as reviews from former and current patients. They will be satisfied and they will click through and set an appointment, but only if he has provided enough information to ease their minds about the quality and care of his treatments.
This is the reason that Dr. Schellack needs to market himself to his patients as well.
According to Copy Blogger, quality content that will satisfy potential patients will include:
- Answering typical patient questions in layman’s terms
- Writing blog and article posts that offer in-depth information about what a patient with a typical problem can expect in terms of treatment and recovery
- Making the page user-friendly
- Keeping the page fresh and up-to-date
- Explaining trends in the industry and in treatment procedures
- Working with others on the web that have symbiotic interests – A local blogger or vlogger for runners would likely love to have Dr. Schellack provide some quality information on treatment and recovery from plantar fasciitis. These types of link-building efforts allow interested locals to support Dr. Schellack, while Dr. Schellack is, in turn, supporting their interests.
- Organizing the information – Potential patients need to easily find the content that will help them understand what to expect with the symptom or problems they are experiencing. P3 Inbound talks about helping patients find the information they need in a hurry, even if they are on their cell phone. Making appointment setting and prescription refills easy to access on his web page will help Dr. Schellack gain patients who appreciate his efforts to make interaction with his office convenient and quick.
- Not solely counting on Google – Amass email lists of potential customers and send them fresh and interesting content on a regular basis
By having a web presence that includes in-depth, quality information written in layman’s terms that answers typical questions his patients want to know, explains who Dr. Gregg Schellack DO is and his qualifications and provides ease of interaction with patients for typical needs, Dr. Schellack will find himself not only on the first page of the Google search in his area, but he will find that he is garnering many more new patients who feel satisfied that he is qualified and experienced and cares about their needs. In the absence of this web presence, he would be invisible to many potential patients.
