Practice Management
April 2022
by Brian Dahl, Luke Genteman, and Chase Rabourn
For ophthalmic practices to thrive in 2022, effective digital marketing strategies are a must. Some owners may “think” their business’s digital profile is in good shape, when in reality so much more could be being done. Here are a few touchpoints every ophthalmic practice should consider when organizing and strategizing digital efforts.
SEO: Still a priority
Remember going through the business listings of the phone book and seeing companies like AAA Towing, AAA Plumbing, or AAA Insurance? That “AAA” prefix was utilized for one purpose: to appear in the first spot of the business listings in the phone book, which listed businesses alphabetically. The thought business owners had was that the first spot, or the first company that was listed, would get the most business out of shear exposure. They weren’t wrong. Today the strategies behind this business hack are quite different, but the goal remains the same: show up in the first spot. Any business that doesn’t actively optimize its website and webpages for search engines is likely missing out on site traffic and potential customers. Research shows that links to sites on the first page of search results receive almost 95% of web traffic.1 If a business isn’t showing up on the first results page for relevant keyword searches (“ophthalmology near me,” “eye doctors”), that business has a search engine optimization (SEO) problem. As algorithms from search engines like Google are continually updated to meet user needs, companies with a comprehensive and nimble SEO strategy can improve their rankings and be noticed by more potential customers than those without. Optimizing keyword content on websites is only one piece of the SEO puzzle. Technical measurements such as site speed also play a role. Google wants its users to have a positive experience, and the parameters set within its algorithms are designed to validate and award those websites that accommodate the requirements of these algorithms with the desirable top spots.
Branding: Digital profile audit
When users search for information online, their perception of a business and their path to purchase will be influenced by all they click, view, watch, and read. If a business proactively maintains a clean, consistent brand presence online, users will be exposed to and slowly become familiar with the brand, and if that business creates and shares reliable, fresh, engaging content for users to explore, the more positive the public perception of that brand will be. Building and maintaining a reputable brand online doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If a practice is concerned about their branding, a great place to start is auditing the online footprint of the business. A company should be familiar with and actively practicing how users find them online. For example, Google search the business name and investigate the results. Depending on the business age, industry, and competition, a company may have just a few results or pages and pages of results. Again, 95% of traffic will come from the first few results, so focus efforts on these and these alone. The search results appear the same for anyone using the search engine, so if there are discrepancies such as misspelled names, broken links, dated or expired information, these will be viewed by searchers (potential customers). For most businesses, their website and Facebook (Meta) account are their number 1 and 2 results. For industries like ophthalmology, the Google My Business listing, which appears as a multimedia card on the righthand side of the screen, is a very important touchpoint. Ideally, an ophthalmology practice should have these three listings (website, Facebook, Google My Business) all appear at the top of the results page, with functioning links and up-to-date business information. The goal of branding is to have consistency across all listings. If a company is considering a rebrand, an important task will be to find and identify everywhere the company is listed online, as all of these will need to be updated.
Social media: Find your sweet spot
Not all social media platforms are created equally, and not all are worthwhile and necessary for everyone. While Facebook remains king with 2.9 billion active users,2 finding the niche platform to focus on and engage users is a worthwhile endeavor for any business. For restaurants, Facebook is challenging the need for having a website by offering business owners features and tools to upload menus, book reservations, and share endless photos and videos of the business to their audience—all for free and without the need for site updates, domain renewals, costly server subscriptions, and security applications. Considering the ease of maintaining a social media account, businesses that are active on relevant platforms can engage their audience in real time and give users the impression of an active, engaged business. For ophthalmic practices and ASCs, platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn offer mediums to raise brand awareness through shared content and professional networking. A comprehensive social media strategy that focuses on select platforms and niche audiences will increase brand awareness and drive site traffic. While content creation is central to building a brand, this time-consuming and often expensive task can be manageable. For example, a business doesn’t need to spend the entire day creating a post for the business. Sharing a relevant link from the business news feed with a few words in the post title is often just as effective as spending all day creating a unique post. Brands should experiment with content, formats, and audiences to find their sweet spot.
About the authors
Brian Dahl
Project Manager
Medical Consulting Group
Springfield, Missouri
Luke Genteman
SEO Specialist
Medical Consulting Group
Springfield, Missouri
Chase Rabourn
Social Media Manager
Medical Consulting Group
Springfield, Missouri
References
- Leverage Marketing. How Far Down the Search Engine Results Page Will Most People Go?
www.theleverageway.com. - Statista. Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 3rd quarter 2021.
www.statista.com.
Contact
Dahl: bdahl@medcgroup.com
Genteman: lgenteman@medcgroup.com
Rabourn: crabourn@medcgroup.com
