Marketing your medical services is the best way to help patients find your healthcare facility. Identifying a reliable and ethical medical marketing agency can have a profound effect that attracts more patients, enhances their experience, improves your reputation, and allows doctors to expand their healthcare practices.
Medical Marketing: Best Practices for a Successful Healthcare Facility
Fannit has collaborated with multiple healthcare practitioners specialized in different fields to develop a medical marketing strategy that’s helped them achieve short and long-term success. We understand the need that hospitals, physicians, private healthcare practices, and other medical providers have for quality medical marketing services that help them attract new patients while portraying the right image.
Our team of healthcare marketing experts has the experience needed to develop a tailored marketing strategy designed specifically for your medical practice.
Medical Marketing Agency & Healthcare Organic Search Marketing
Medical marketing, which is also known as marketing in healthcare or healthcare marketing, has evolved dramatically in recent years, with search engine optimization (SEO) becoming a critical component of any successful internet marketing campaign. Widespread adoption of internet-capable devices has shifted consumer behavior, including the way each patient tries to solve medical issues and how he or she finds healthcare professionals in the area.
Having a quality site that is informative, functional, and attractive is now necessary for the success of any medical practice. Implementing effective strategies, like focusing on content marketing or running highly-targeted email marketing campaigns, can simultaneously bolster your reputation while attracting more patients to your healthcare facility.
While marketing should be done on and offline, internet marketing has taken prominence as it is the most consistent way to funnel new clients to your healthcare business or healthcare organization to rank high in a search engine results page. Even though it takes time to achieve a good ranking, SEO marketing also produces long-lasting results and has a much lower cost when compared to conventional forms of marketing.
The Healthcare industry is very competitive, so having good SEO is crucial.
Our Approach to Healthcare Marketing
As recent events have demonstrated, healthcare providers and medical practices have a crucial role in maintaining public health. Therefore we understand that choosing a healthcare marketing agency to help promote your facility is a complex decision. In addition to monitoring your reputation, you have to find a medical marketing firm that can help you show patients the benefits of choosing your practice.
When working with medical facilities, Fannit takes a step-by-step approach to develop the ideal medical marketing plan.
Learn About Your Company
One of our main goals with every healthcare provider is to learn as much as we can about your company. During this initial stage, we want to get to know your business, what you’re passionate about, learn about any previous medical marketing endeavors, and organize interviews to get a good idea of your identity as a practice.
During this process, we begin to lay the foundation for what will become the blueprint of your healthcare marketing plan.
Plan Development
Once we have in-depth knowledge of your practice, ideal patients, goals, and identity, we start developing your medical marketing plan. This part of our process includes the development of the creative elements, definition of your digital strategy, designing new media resources, and any several other tasks depending on your facility’s requirements.
Deployment and Management
Once the plan is complete, we will start implementing the different changes according to the schedule we’ve put in place. Our team provides support with all parts of your healthcare marketing campaign management. This includes:
- Digital marketing including email marketing
- Doctor referral support including LinkedIn lead generation
- SEO and PPC
- Branding and reputation management on platforms like RealSelf, Yelp, and more
Optimization and Reporting
We monitor and track our doctors’ sites until there’s enough data to optimize different aspects of their strategy. Once enough information is available, we determine what parts of your campaign are performing well, which areas need adjustments, and make the changes to help attract more patients.
Campaign optimization is an on-going process, so we continue to analyze trends and improve your marketing elements to drive patients to your site.
Why Healthcare Organic Search Marketing Is Important For Your Medical Website
When your prospective clients are searching for medical services online, they trust that Google will show them the best-rated and most valuable companies on the first page of search results. This applies to all fields of medicine as research suggests that 77% of patients start looking for healthcare practice on search engines such as Google.
Without proper Healthcare SEO (Healthcare search engine optimization) and a good medical marketing strategy, your website won’t make it to the first page of Google — and likely won’t even make it on the first 5 pages. Patients will likely choose doctors with sites within the first few pages, which means a minimal amount of traffic will reach your website.
This means all your effort spent building and maintaining a website is wasted and that each potential patient may be getting funneled away by your competition on the first page of Google. However, if you focus on ranking at the top of the search engine results page, you’ll be able to attract more patients to your site.
Is the Internet a Good Place to Find Patients?
People around the world have sought medical attention long before the days of the internet and medical marketing. Many doctors ask us if the internet is a good place to find patients. The short answer is yes, there are many good reasons why you should market your practice on the internet.
In addition to the fact that most patients begin their search for medical practices on the internet, a lot of people look up their symptoms online prior to thinking about calling a medical professional. If patients feel the need to contact a healthcare professional, they even may turn to social media in order to send a message directly to the practice instead of going on a search engine.
One of the biggest benefits doctors get when marketing on the internet is that they can collect vast amounts of information directly from their patients. Social media and other channels also serve as a contact point, so you can schedule an appointment or direct patients to your facility that’s closest to their location.
Not only is the internet a good place to find patients, but there are many different online channels that patients are starting to rely on to get better service from their healthcare professionals. In order to deliver the best service and stay competitive, doctors must include digital marketing as a big part of their larger medical marketing plan.
What Is Medical Organic Search Marketing?
Medical SEO is the practice of making changes to your site that help rank your pages at the top of search engines’ results. This digital marketing approach is now an essential part of any medical marketing strategy and to’s been adopted as a norm by many medical practices.
Here at Fannit, we use the acronym “TRAP” to explain what Healthcare SEO is and how it will help your medical practice grow its online presence.
TRAP stands for:
- Technical
- Relevancy
- Authority
- Popularity
Here’s what these mean for your healthcare marketing strategy and medical website SEO:
T = Technical
Exactly as it sounds, technical SEO is everything that goes on under the hood of your website in terms of the overall website design. Yes, your site should be inviting, relaxing, and make your patients feel safe. The media and content on your site should also reflect your medical practice’s beliefs and highlight the reason why you are passionate about helping patients overcome the healthcare challenges they face.
With the above in mind, behind your written content, links, and images, there is a world of codes and systems that need to be operating at peak-proficiency in order for Google to clear your website for the front page.
When you work with Fannit, we carry out technical SEO on your medical site in two distinct phases for your marketing campaign.
Identify current problems with your Healthcare SEO and repair them. For example, fixing broken links and HTTP/HTTPS conflicts.
Upgrade your systems and install new technology to help ensure your site succeed. For example, improving your lead intake systems, analytics configurations, and tracking technology.
Google loves a site that is fast, consistent and runs smoothly. Technical SEO makes sure all the boxes are checked and that your website meets Google’s high-quality standards.
R = Relevancy
You may not know this, but not all content is good content. If you have pages on your website that are thin on word count or are duplicates of other content on your site or on the internet, then Google will reduce your rankings. Each healthcare practice should have quality, relevant content that’s unique and aligns with the marketing strategy in place.
Relevancy SEO deals with determining the quality of the content on your medical site. Two of the things we always check for in our client’s sites include:
- Duplicate content. If you have multiple pages on your site that say the same thing, then you will lose rankings. We fix this by rewriting or deleting duplicate content.
- Thin content. Google likes content that is value-packed, so when it sees pages on your site that are low on word count, it may reduce your rankings. Our content team repairs this by adding length to the thin pages on your site and improving the value your content offers.
A = Authority
A backlink occurs when a different website publishes a link back to your site. This may not seem like a big deal, but backlinks actually carry major clout when Google is deciding whether or not you’ll get on the front page.
High-quality backlinks improve your rankings, while low-quality links hurt your standing with Google. Monitoring your backlink profile, which is made up of each URL that links back to your site, is crucial to ensure that search engines see you as a quality healthcare website.
Two of the ways our medical SEO consultants help establish your healthcare website’s authority are:
- Remove backlinks that are coming from low-quality sources.
- Create a strategy for accumulating new backlinks from high-quality sources.
P = Popularity
Popularity is another thing Google uses to rank your website by using popularity signals. These are analytics about how long people stay on your site, how many pages they read, how often new patients visit, etc. That is why having great content marketing is a must. The longer people read and the more links they click, the better your rankings.
In addition to creating content, there are many external factors that can directly or indirectly affect your healthcare marketing success. Social media can drive visitors that are more engaged by your medical or healthcare posts. It’s important for medical practices to be active on popular social media sites because it also helps build their credibility. Other means like PPC can also help exponentially amplify the traffic volume to your site, which can help improve popularity and boost your medical marketing efforts.
Optimizing your practice’s Medical SEO for popularity includes a variety of steps, like:
- Ensuring that your post and article content matches its descriptions and meta.
- Optimizing your site’s formatting for human readers (e.g. using lots of headings, bulleted lists, and small paragraphs).
- Ensuring the site has a solid internal linking structure
Developing and Implementing Robust Medical Marketing Strategies
Hospitals, doctors that have their own medical practice, and other healthcare facilities need to implement a solid medical marketing plan to regularly attract new patients. A good healthcare marketing blueprint should include the creation and curation of media resources, the development of valuable content, and a plan to build the facility’s social media presence.
Different doctors and clinics will have varying medical marketing strategies for rank for search engines, but these usually include elements like:
Branding and Image Perception
The concept of branding a medical practice has been around since the days of traditional advertising and it has been included in things like the clinic’s phone number and logo. In order to attract patients to your medical facility, you have to show them a unique selling point that sets you apart from the rest. The problem is that most medical experts claim to be a top healthcare expert in their field that offers amazing service. Even if you are confident this is the case for your medical facility, patients need more reassurance than that.
Your branding is the identity you want to cultivate with your audience, so it needs to remain the same across all channels. This includes your site as well as any other form of online or offline marketing.
Consistency is one of the keys to gaining patients’ trust, so you need to take the time to work out what your branding is all about. Ask yourself: what makes your healthcare clinic unique? Is it the setting? How patients are greeted and treated throughout their visit? Do you have access to a unique network or tool that improves the quality of your services?
If your facility already has a brand that will guide the rest of your marketing efforts, you have to gauge how patients and people in general are responding in order to enhance their perception of your healthcare practice.
Outline Patients’ Online Journey
We’ve established that most people begin looking for doctors and medical practices on search engines, social media, and other online channels. But, not all patients are looking for the same information. Some patients look for a phone number while others try to find the location of healthcare practice, and a few may even try to contact a medical provider through social media to see if walk-ins are accepted.
So, which one are you going to target? The question is all of the ones that help convert visitors into patients. Instead of focusing on one type of patient, you have to outline the steps each patient may take before making contact with your healthcare facility. This is an essential part of your medical marketing plan because it teaches you to think like your patients, which means you’ll know how to design your site and the pages it contains in a more intuitive way.
Craft a Compelling and Functional Website
As we mentioned before, there are many different elements that affect the SEO performance of your site. Your medical site’s design and coding structure are important, but usability should also be a major focus.
More than half of all online searches occur through mobile devices, so you need to ensure that your site is suitable for mobile and desktop use. A responsive site can help ensure a seamless and consistent experience for patients, regardless if they are using a smartphone, tablet, or computer. In addition to improving user experience, this practice can also enhance other areas of your digital marketing like your social media efforts and improve their results.
Speed and Technical Elements
Patients are among the users who will only wait a few seconds for a site to load before looking for another medical practice. Patients are only willing to wait 5 seconds or less in some instances, so you need to make sure that your page loads very quickly.
There are different elements that affect the speed of your website. Media such as video, high definition image galleries, social media feeds, and other elements need to be implemented in a way that doesn’t affect your medical site’s speed. You also have to ensure that the servers that host your site are powerful enough to support a large influx of people that may potentially become your next patients.
Keywords and Healthcare Organic Search Marketing Strategy
Having an attractive and responsive medical site that loads quickly won’t do much for your practice if your healthcare marketing plan doesn’t attract potential patients. Keywords are a central part of all medical SEO strategies. These healthcare-related terms are the phrases and words that patients use to look for doctors in their area.
Your site and subsequent medical practice pages should include the main keyword and have optimized content that gives users the information they are looking for.
Amplify Your Campaign with Healthcare PPC
PPC is regarded as one of the most effective forms of online marketing and the medical industry is no exception to this notion. PPC, which runs on search engines like Google and social media platforms like LinkedIn, can be a great way to attract patients as well as medical experts looking for specialized help for their patients.
Depending on the content strategies put in place, PPC can be used to send users to your landing page, promote an offer, or collect leads that you can then approach through email, social media ads, and other channels.
Establish a Strong Social Media Presence
As we’ve covered extensively on this post, having a strong social media presence can be a great way to connect with your audience, build a good reputation, and work on your company’s branding. That said, building a good social media profile takes time and resources, and much like optimization, it’s an on-going game.
Online Reviews
Medical online reviews are becoming more important because patients rely on them to make decisions every day. From well-known platforms like Yelp to doctors-specific sites like RealSelf can have reviews about your medical practice or healthcare facility. If you want your medical marketing plan to be successful, you’ll also have to monitor these and make sure happy clients are leaving their feedback on your profiles.
Ensure Consistency Through All Channels
The experience that a patient has with your medical practice should remain the same even if the same patient approaches your healthcare facility through different channels. In addition to branding, use similar elements and offer the same information on your medical site, social media platforms, as well as any other communication channel.
Target Relevant Audiences, Including Referral Doctors
Which audience you target will depend heavily on the type of medical services and your healthcare marketing plan. If your strategies include the introduction of new specialties, you may also include additional audiences in your medical marketing plan.
An important part that many healthcare facilities and medical practices miss is the opportunity to target referral doctors in their strategies. Not many medical facilities and healthcare providers offer every single specialty available, so there are always doctors that are searching for practices to refer their cases to.
Build a Reputation as a Thought Leader
Becoming an online authority in your field can help grab your audience’s attention and result in more appointments. Your healthcare marketing plan should include the creation of patient resources that showcase your knowledge and make people want to contact your medical facility.
Track Your Performance
No healthcare marketing plan is complete without a tracking mechanism. At Fannit, we use comprehensive tracking technology that allows us to monitor the performance of our clients’ medical marketing campaigns across multiple channels.
Analysis and Optimization
The information collected through tracking needs to be put to good use. Our team of medical marketing specialists regularly analyze the results of your campaign and make adjustments to make sure your ads, medical site, and other parts of your medical marketing plan are producing the best results.
The more time passes, the more data you’ll have to optimize your medical marketing campaign, which in turn should reduce your costs and increase the profitability of your medical practice.
Tips for Successful Healthcare Marketing
Like in most other industries, building a medical marketing plan that runs smoothly requires a lot of attention, but with the right help, you should be able to successfully promote your medical facility through different media.
In order to build an effective medical marketing plan, remember to:
- Focus on building a trusting relationship with patients
- Treat your website as an online clinic
- Monitor online reputation sites
- Add value to your social media account
- Work with a knowledgeable medical marketing firm
Ready To Find More Potential Patients Through A Dedicated Healthcare Organic Search Marketing Service?
Ranking on the first page of Google doesn’t just happen. It is the result of dedicated and consistent Medical SEO over multiple months and even years.
Does medical marketing work?
Absolutely.
To see what consistent Healthcare SEO looks like in action, read this case study about how we helped a healthcare provider grow her healthcare organization by $250k YOY.
Also, take a look at how we increased a hospital’s ROI by 1040%.
And to learn more about what Fannit can do for your Google rankings and lead generation, get in touch with us today! We have a lot of experience in developing Healthcare marketing strategies and marketing to healthcare to get your healthcare organization ranking higher in search engine results so you can reach out to new patients.