Search+ Your Patients
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We reported last month on how Google had begun including Google+ pages in their search results. This week, they took it a giant leap further with the introduction of something they call “Search, plus Your World.”
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Google+ +625k New Users a Day.
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Something interesting is happening in social networking. We all know Facebook is the king of the social networks. It has over 800M users and, when it makes it’s initial public offering in 2012, will likely be the largest IPO since Google. But, don’t count that old-fashioned search-engine out just yet…
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What to do with Your Online Visitors
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We’re glad to see many of you reaching out to us for more detailed advice on how to implement some of the techniques we’ve covered thus far in our “What the Heck is SEO” series. As such, we’d be remiss not to interject a bit of advice on what to do with the increase in traffic some of you have already started to see from your efforts. So, we’re going to take a quick detour into what to do with these online visitors when you get them.
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What the heck is SEO? Part 1: Links
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This is the first installment in a series we’ll be doing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). While most SEO principles apply across all major search engines, we’ll be using Google as the default since it currently processes around 2/3s of all online searches – more than 4x as many as it’s closest competitor, Yahoo. We’ll start with the basics and then discuss the effect of recent paradigm shifts in SEO.
Google+ Page +Features
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We’ve been getting a lot of questions from doctors this week about the new Google+ Pages. Many of you are still wondering what the heck a Google+ Page is and what it will do for your practice. Fair question. Let’s dig a bit deeper into a couple features of a Google+ Page to understand how it can help your practice…
Google+ Your Practice
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Google finally started allowing doctors to setup Google+ Pages for their practices this week. While many businesses were denied the ability to utilize Google+, some doctors were already utilizing a Google+ profile since they could set it up under their own name (which is often used as their practice name). But, now that business-specific features have been launched, there’s a lot more you can do for your practice with Google+.
Three Myths of “Google Agreements” Explained
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Over the last few years we’ve seen numerous vendors claim that they have “special agreements” with Google. When they eventually get a Cease & Desist letter from Google, Inc. they try and get around this by using words like, “Preferred Data Provider” or “Google Affiliate.”
Then they sell healthcare providers and organizations on the idea that they have special access which can be had by purchasing their services. Since Google dropped 3rd party reviews from showing up in Google Local listings recently, here’s the three most common myths we encounter when speaking to our community of doctors about Google ‘partnerships’.
Myth #1: We are a Preferred Data Provider to Google.
Truth: Ask to see a blurred out copy of their Google agreement. They will demur, because they don’t have one.
DoctorBase and other sites like InsiderPages, CitySearch, Yelp, etc. have long had enough reviews and traffic to our sites that Google will one day just start taking reviews and placing them in Google Local listings. Because the ‘mojo’ of how Google selects which sites to ‘scrape’ these reviews from is little understood by doctors, it’s easy to think that these sites (like ours) have a partnership with Google. After all, how else do our reviews get listed there?
No one, and I mean no one, has a special agreement or partnership with Google to do this. Google used to scrape 3rd party sites like ours when it felt it was convenient for them – and decided to stop doing it when it was convenient for them not to. Anyone that touts a partnership with Google – of any kind – should be met with the question,
“I don’t mind if you blur out sensitive information, but can I see a copy of your Agreement with Google? I just want to see something with a signature from a Google employee.”
They will likely reply with reasons why they can’t release such sensitive information, which gets to my point…
Myth #2: We know people at Google.
Truth: In Silicon Valley, many of us have friends at Google. No ‘Googler’ would risk losing their job to lie about a partnership that doesn’t exist.
Knowing someone at Google and having that special ‘in’ is oft brandied about like a trophy (and as a reason to give your money to that vendor) but the reality is that the engineers who design the algorithms for local search results are far, far isolated from the tens of thousands of other employees at Google. In fact, Google has long had a strict zero tolerance policy about employees implying any partnerships with anyone.
Myth #3: Using our services will make your website rank higher in Google.
Truth: It won’t. But I’m willing to bet that if I place a made-up $ value to each email and appointment confirmation, I can have you stay long enough for our over-priced services to add to my company’s bottom line.
The only long term solution to having a well ranked web presence is to have a marketing partner (or internal hire) who understands the basics of search engine optimization to work continually on your practice’s behalf. Tricks, partnerships or software alone will not do the trick. At the end of the day, ranking well in Google remains the same it has always been – good fresh content being posted by someone who understands search engine optimization. If you don’t do this internally, you should use the services of someone who does, and can.
A lot of vendors have made pretty pennies lying to doctors for years. In 2011, it’s caveat emptor. There are lots of low priced appointment reminder & patient survey services (some of them are even free) and there are plenty of ethical search engine optimization consultants (who do not work for free and can be quite expensive) – not great news for doctors looking for a short cut. But if it’s your hard earned money you’re looking to lose – plenty of vendors are willing to take it.
Google+Places=?
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Last week we reported that Google had removed reviews from third party sites like Yelp, Demandforce, & Vitals from their places pages. The question we were asked by hundreds of doctors was “why?”
Google Health…Problems.
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When Google Health launched in mid-2008, there was speculation that the mighty Goog would take over online healthcare space. Three years later, we now know that isn’t the case. After spending millions on it’s development, Google pulled the plug and announced it would be shutting down Google Health at the end of the year.
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Traffic v. Conversions…
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We had the opportunity to speak with a lot of doctors over the past week. Thanks to all of you who stopped by to talk with us at ASAPS in Boston & CDA in Anaheim! There were a few things that really struck us as we listened to what many of your practices are doing to bring in new patients. But, nothing was more startling than confusion stemming from driving traffic to your practice’s website…
We were asked numerous times by doctors (and their marketing managers) “how much traffic do you generate?” This preoccupation with traffic is why many practices aren’t seeing any value from their websites. So, let’s set the record straight: traffic, while beneficial, should not be the end-goal of your online marketing efforts.
Many doctors have been told that the most important thing about your online marketing efforts is to drive traffic to your website. Unless you’re using your website to serve advertisements for other doctors (like those review sites that own your name in Google’s search results), traffic isn’t making you any money. The focus of a good web presence shouldn’t simply be traffic – it should be conversions.
What we mean by ‘conversion’ is the number of patients who visit your site and then contact you directly. You can have 1,000 visitors a month, but if the page they visit doesn’t get them to contact you, it’s a complete waste.
The average eCommerce website converts at about 3.8%. We’ve found that most doctors’ websites convert at only 1.7%. This means that out of every 100 visitors that visited your website, less than 2 of them contacted you. There are multiple reasons for this including:
- No clear call-to-action encouraging the patient to contact you.
- Information spread across multiple pages requiring too many clicks.
- Difficulty finding a (secure) way to contact your practice.
- Generic images & text that don’t invoke a personal connection.
- A ‘salesy’ approach to presenting your practice & procedures.
- Lack of trustworthy & transparent patient testimonials.
If you’re currently speeding money on our Internet presence, be sure you’re not make the mistake of only focusing on traffic. Remember that it’s not just about traffic, but what you do with it. Make sure you’re not squandering your traffic (& money) on a website that doesn’t turn visitors into patients.
Want a free webpage that converts at over 11%? Increase your conversion rate by claiming your free profile on DoctorBase at:
http://doctor.DoctorBase.com/claim
Linkedin Gets Hookedup…
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Linkedin announced today that they’ll be going public this month. At an initial public offering in the range of $32-$35 a share, this would value the social networking site at over $3B and could raise around $175M for them.
This influx of cash will undoubtedly be used to grow Linkedin beyond it’s current 100M users, and grow it’s online prominence to own the online search presence for more professionals. While there is legitimate skepticism about whether Linkedin can truly become a Facebook-sized social networking site for business professionals, it does serve one valuable purpose for you and your practice. It gives you another tool to own your name online.
Sites like Linkedin are valuable to your practice because they allow for doctors to create a free & professional profile that will show up when a potential new patient searches for you online. Instead of these patients being lead astray by directory & review sites that are using your name to sell advertisements for other doctors, you can use sites like Linkedin to take over the search results with links to pages that give an honest view of your practice that you control.
Want an even better free profile – created specifically for doctors – to help take your name back on Google? How about we ad some stars to that search listing for you while we’re at it? Claim your free DoctorBase profile & learn how the Panda can grow your new patient referrals at:
http://doctor.DoctorBase.com/claim
Google and some R-E-S-P-E-C-T…
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Harris Interactive (the same people who help determine who gets to play for the BCS championship in college football each year) released their 12th annual poll this week on the most respected companies in America. This year’s #1 company is Google, whose favorable public perception put it atop the list of the most highly visible companies in the nation.
When the general public finds Google the most respected company in America, it carries with the sentiment that they also hold Google’s products in the highest regard. And, what product has Google built it’s empire on? Google was built around online search. The same online search that your patients are using to find you & find out about you. When the public clearly states that they respect Google, we can read between the lines that also respect – and trust – Google’s search results.
So, what happens when a potential new patient types your name into Google after one of your existing patients passes along your name at the water cooler? What are these potential patients finding in Google’s highly regarded search results with respect to your name & reputation? With all of the new review sites that keep popping up online, you need to stay on top of what people are finding when they search for you on Google. Make sure they’re getting an honest, transparent view of you & your practice…and not just another random website squatting on your name to sell advertisements for other doctors.
Want help making sure potential patients are finding the reputable info about you online? Would you like some highly-respectable stars included in your search results on the highly-respectable Google? Claim your free profile at DoctorBase to get both & more at:
http://doctor.DoctorBase.com/claim
