The Art of Creating an Effective Websites for Physicians (part 3 of 3)

The previous two articles in this series discussed the basic reasons for why every doctor should have an internet presence with a website. They also discussed how the practice website can be an extremely effective marketing tool to bring in new patients, and to get existing patients to come back more often, and for higher dollar services. This is most evident for physicians who primarily practice “elective” medicine, but to a lesser extent it holds true for Primary Care Doctors as well, and every physician in between.  Marketing is a fundamental responsibility of every business owner, and these days physicians are no exception.

To review, getting new patients in the health care world is the equivalent of “lead generation” in other industries. The same basic dynamics come into play.  While it is true that physicians cannot make the same outrageous claims that many marketers in other industries can, this is not really a serious restriction or obstacle, just something to be aware of. 

Websites are excellent lead generation tools. The mistake most business owners make (including physicians) is trying to make a single website serve too many functions.  A really good website, chock full of valuable, relevant information for existing patients will never be effective as a new patient (lead) generation tool.  And a streamlined, highly focused lead generation website will not meet the needs of existing patients. 

But the costs of creating websites are so low, that there is no reason to try to make a single website “serve two masters”.  Instead, the idea is to first create a marketing plan to generate new patient leads, and then convert those leads into actual new patients for your practice.  Once this plan is outlined, then (and only then) is it time to start thinking about how websites can be employed to help meet the goals of that plan.

But most people do this backwards.  They create websites, and then try to make the website(s) conform to marketing strategies that are written long after the website is created, but this is not effective.  Remember, websites are just marketing and revenue enhancement tools, and should be thought of as such.  They can be highly specialized marketing tools, performing specific functions.

So how does a website generate new patient leads for physicians?  The least expensive yet most effective method is to start advertising on search engines using pay per click marketing, targeted to your practice’s local geographic area.  Google allows you to set this up very easily and affordably, within minutes.  These localized ads are used to encourage people to visit your “lead generation” website. 

On this website, you offer the visitor something of value for free in exchange for their contact information and their “standing” permission to send them information.  The most common “freebie” is a Special Report which contains specific helpful information from a trusted source (you).  Example report topics could be “Five Common Myths About Vasectomies” or “Three Things You Should Know Before Getting ____ Surgery”. 

Ryan Harris
Marketing Professional
Clear Path Marketing
San Diego, CA