With more and more potential customers turning to the Internet for health advice, medical recommendations, and even medical insights, any doctor looking to improve their profile needs to increase their online presence. With a well-designed and resourceful physician website, physicians can reach current and potential patients in many ways. Physician websites are not only a place to list a physician’s biography and practice address and contact information, they can also educate patients, build relationships with their communities, and raise your profile as an authority medical.
Bringing a practice to life online
In general, medical website design should focus on intuitiveness, ease of use, and attracting new customers. A modern doctor’s website should offer much more than a few glamorous photos of the doctor. Sure, the doctor’s biography is important, but so are the services the practice offers, hours of operation, accepted insurance policies, and any specializations in which the doctor may be competent. The website may also offer prospective patients the opportunity to pay medical bills, complete insurance forms before a visit, and even schedule appointments. Of course, the website should also include plenty of photos of the doctor, facility, and staff.
Cultivating an online community
Physician websites also present a fantastic opportunity to cultivate a patient-focused online community. For example, many doctors maintain a blog where they disseminate health information, research, advice, and practice information in a friendly way. By inviting patients to subscribe to their blog, physicians can create a friendly family practice atmosphere and cultivate trust and dialogue among patients.
A 21st century marketing tool
Ideally, a doctor’s website launch should be integrated into an overall marketing strategy, which can include everything from print ads and article marketing to search engine optimization (SEO). Therefore, it is advisable to hire a full-service medical marketing company capable of managing website copywriting and design, SEO optimization, ad buys, logo and collateral redesign, site administration website and any other marketing strategy you decide to employ. This medical marketing company should be able to effectively advise you on the best strategies to implement in your particular area and niche. They should also be able to provide case studies and success stories from other medical clients for whom they have designed internet marketing campaigns. Additionally, they must have physicians on staff who can provide quality control over any content that is created on behalf of their medical clients.
