Topic: Marketing Effectiveness

There’s no doubt that digital marketing is an essential part of any business’s marketing strategy. However, many medical practices are still relying on traditional methods to market their services. There are a number of reasons why digital marketing is a better option for medical practices, and in this blog post, we will discuss some of them.

What Do We Mean by “Traditional Marketing for Medical Practices?”

Before we discuss the benefits of digital marketing, let’s first define what we mean by “traditional marketing.” Traditional marketing is any form of marketing that relies on methods such as print ads, TV commercials, or direct mail. While these methods can still be effective, they are becoming less and less popular as more businesses shift their focus to digital marketing.

Understanding Digital Marketing for Medical Practices

Digital marketing is the process of using online platforms such as websites, social media, and email to promote a business. Unlike traditional marketing methods, digital marketing allows businesses to target their audience more specifically. This means that you can reach more potential customers with less effort.

Benefits of Digital Marketing for Medical Practices

Now that we have a better understanding of What Is Medical Digital Marketing is, let’s discuss some of the benefits it has for medical practices.

Online channels are more affordable.

First of all, digital marketing is much more affordable than traditional marketing. With traditional marketing, you have to pay for print ads, billboards, and radio or TV commercials. Digital marketing is much cheaper because you only have to pay for online ads and the cost of maintaining a website.

You get more results with online marketing.

Another reason why digital marketing is a better option for medical practices is that it’s more effective. Studies have shown that online ads are far more likely to be seen by potential patients than print or billboard ads. In addition, websites are often the first place people go when they’re looking for information about a particular service or product.

Digital marketing is easier to manage.

Finally, digital marketing is more convenient than traditional marketing. With traditional marketing, you have to hire a team of experts to handle your advertising and marketing campaigns. With digital marketing, you can easily manage all of your online activities yourself with the help of a few simple tools. So, what are you waiting for? Start using digital marketing to promote your medical practice today! For more information on how to get started, contact Guideway Care. We specialize in medical digital marketing! Get seen online. Read How Can Healthcare SEO Improve the Visibility of a Website?

“How can I get my medical website top of Google?” If you’re a doctor or run a medical website, you know that ranking high on Google is essential to success, so you may have asked yourself this question a few times. In this blog post, we will discuss 5 ways that you can improve your ranking and get more traffic to your website. By following these tips, you will be able to outrank your competitors and generate more leads for your business.

Tip 1: Publish high-quality content.

One of the best ways to improve your ranking on Google is to publish high-quality content. This means writing articles that are informative and engaging and providing valuable information to your readers. If you can do this, you will be able to rank higher than your competitors.

Tip 2: Use keywords in your titles and descriptions.

Another way to improve your ranking on Google is by using keywords in your titles and descriptions. When people search for information online, they use specific keywords or phrases. By including these keywords in your titles and descriptions, you can ensure that your website will show up on the search results pages.

Tip 3: Optimize your website for mobile devices.

In recent years, the number of people accessing the internet via mobile devices has increased dramatically. If you want to make sure that your website is reaching its full potential, you need to optimize it for mobile devices. This means making sure that all of your content is easy to read on smaller screens and that your website is responsive and looks good on different types of smartphones and tablets.

Tip 4: Use social media to promote your content.

Social media can be a powerful tool for promoting your medical website. By sharing your content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networks, you can reach a larger audience and generate more leads. Additionally, social media can help improve your ranking on Google by increasing the number of links to your website.

Tip 5: Make sure your website is fast and responsive.

One of the most important factors that Google takes into account when ranking websites is page speed. If your website is slow or unresponsive, you will likely lose out to competitors who have faster websites. To make sure this doesn’t happen, make sure that you optimize your website for speed and use caching plugins to improve performance. Now you know how to get your medical website to the top of Google. For more assistance on getting your medical website to the top of the rankings, contact Guideway Care. Is your site lagging? Read It’s Not Too Late: Google Speed Test Your Healthcare Website NOW!

You might be wondering how long you should expect it to take before seeing results from your medical SEO strategy. There isn’t a set answer for this since it all depends on what you are trying to achieve, but there are some averages that can help give you an idea of when to expect results. Here’s everything you need to know, straight from Guideway Care, your medical SEO experts.

For Most Practices, It Takes Three Months

The average timeline for how long it takes to start seeing initial results from medical SEO is around 3 months. This is because it can take a little while to start seeing movement in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and for your website to rank higher for relevant keywords. However, there are things you can do to help speed up this process.

If You Want Quick Results, Focus on Content Creation

One of the best ways to see quick results from your medical SEO is by focusing on content creation. This means creating high-quality, relevant content that will help you rank higher in the search engines.

Promote on Social Media

You can also promote your content through social media and other online channels to help it reach a larger audience. By doing this, you can start seeing results in as little as a few weeks.

Invest Heavily in Keyword Research

If you want to see results even faster, then invest heavily in keyword research. This will help you find the right keywords to target and rank for. By doing this, you can start seeing results in as little as a few days.

Maintain Your Google My Business Profile

Another way to see results quickly is by maintaining your Google My Business profile. This will help you rank higher in the local search engine results pages and make it easier for the average person to learn more about your business.

Target Local Searches

Finally, if you are targeting local searches, you can start seeing results in as little as a few hours. This is because local SEO is more competitive and takes less time to rank for relevant keywords. So, how long do you need to wait before seeing results from your medical SEO strategy? As with most things, it depends, but here at Guideway Care, we know the strategies that get results as quickly as possible. For more information, read our Guide to Improving SEO & PPC For Doctors in 2021.

There are many similarities between medical marketing and medical advertising. They both focus on patients, they can be integrated with each other, and they share the goal of raising awareness about a condition. However, there are some key differences between healthcare marketing and healthcare advertising that set these two tactics apart from one another. In this blog post we will discuss what the difference is between marketing and advertising in the healthcare industry.

What Is Medical Marketing?

Medical marketing is the process of creating and delivering messages that promote the interests of healthcare organizations and their patients. It involves understanding the needs of both groups and developing strategies to meet those needs. Medical marketers use a variety of tactics, including advertising, public relations, digital marketing, and event planning, to reach their target audiences.

What Is Medical Advertising?

Medical advertising is a subset of medical marketing that focuses on promoting healthcare services and products to potential patients through advertisements. It can take many forms, including print ads or television commercials. While there are some similarities between what constitutes medical marketing vs. medical advertising, the division comes from how these messages reach their target audiences: via media such as TV/radio/newspaper for advertising or through interpersonal interaction such as doctors and nurses for marketing.

The Difference Between Medical Marketing and Advertising

Medical marketing is a much broader term that encompasses all forms of communication used to promote the interests of healthcare organizations and their patients. This can include activities like public relations, website design, and event planning. In contrast, medical advertising is an advertising tactic that falls under the category of medical marketing. Medical marketers use various channels to reach their audiences, including print ads and radio commercials.

What Is the Relationship Between Marketing and Advertising?

Medical marketing can be used as a standalone approach or in conjunction with other tactics like social media, SEO/SEM services, etc., depending on the business goals of the healthcare organization. For example, an orthodontist might use medical digital marketing to promote their services among potential patients who are researching dental care online. Then, once they’ve gained someone’s interest via their website or social media profiles, they can then leverage medical advertising tactics like print ads and television commercials to put a face (and name) to their brand. Medical advertising is one of many tactics that fall under the category of medical marketing, which uses various channels to reach healthcare audiences. However, because it often involves running ads in media like print or TV, there are some key differences between what constitutes medical marketing vs. medical advertising including who they target and how/where these messages are delivered. If you’re still not sure what the difference between medical marketing and advertising is, don’t worry! We’re here to help. Feel free to contact us for more information or chat with one of our healthcare advertising experts. Dig into medical marketing; read The Biggest Challenges in Marketing in the Healthcare Industry.  

Healthcare marketing is a constantly changing industry. As new technologies emerge and healthcare laws change, marketers must keep up with the latest developments in order to remain relevant and competitive. In this article, we will take a look at the top healthcare digital marketing trends for 2022. Help your business flourish by using the latest healthcare marketing trends!

Emerging Healthcare Marketing Trends for 2022

1) Social media advertising: Social media is a powerful tool for healthcare marketers. In 2022, we can expect to see more social media advertising campaigns aimed at reaching potential patients. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram offer great opportunities for targeting specific demographics with relevant ads. In addition to traditional social media advertising, we can also expect to see more use of chatbots and other interactive technologies on social media platforms. Chatbots can be used to provide patients with information about specific treatments or conditions, and they can also be used to answer patient questions in real time. 2) Video content production: It is no secret that video content can be extremely engaging with audiences. Healthcare marketers are always looking for ways to engage potential patients, and they know that videos are an effective way of doing it. In 2022, we will see more healthcare companies producing high-quality video content in order to stand out from the competition. 3) Influencer marketing: In healthcare, it is important to build trust with patients. One of the best ways for marketers to do this in 2022 will be by teaming up with influencers who have strong relationships with their audiences. 4) Employee engagement strategies: Healthcare marketing is an ever-changing industry, and healthcare employees must be engaged in order to keep up with the latest developments. In 2022, we can expect more strategies aimed at engaging healthcare employees so that they are better equipped to help market their products or services. 5) Content creation strategies such as infographics and blogs: As we mentioned above, healthcare marketing is constantly changing. In 2022, marketers will be looking for new ways to produce engaging content that their audience wants and needs. One way they can do this in the coming years is by creating infographics and blogs about topics such as trending treatments or innovative technologies in their industry. 6) Data analytics beyond demographics: In order to create effective marketing campaigns, it is important to understand who your target audience is. However, in 2022 healthcare marketers will also be looking at other types of data such as psychographics and behavioral data in order to better understand their patients. These are just a few of the top marketing trends in the healthcare industry for 2022. As new technologies and strategies emerge, we will continue to update you. Stay tuned for more details on healthcare marketing trends from Guideway Care!

As a healthcare provider, you know that it is important to be found on the internet. You also know that there are many different ways for potential patients to find your clinic or practice. Here are five creative ways to be more effective at healthcare SEO.

1. Get Blogging!

First, you can create a blog. A blog is an easy way for people to learn more about your practice and the services that you provide. You also do not have to be a blogger or writer by trade in order for it to work well for you! In fact, some of the most successful blogs are written simply with their target audience in mind (plus the right keywords for healthcare). Blogs give potential patients information on what they want and need without feeling like they’re being sold something at every turn-which will help them trust this new source of healthcare information online even more than before!

2. Branch Out into Social Media

Second, use social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook effectively. Social networks often times get overlooked when trying to increase exposure through organic search engine results pages (SERPs). However, social media is a great way to get your practice or clinic in front of more people. You can use hashtags and healthcare keywords on different platforms to increase visibility even further!

3. Be Sure Your About Us Is Up to Snuff

Third, make sure that you have an amazing About Us section for your website as part of your SEO strategy for medical clinics. It should be easy for potential patients to find out who you are as a healthcare provider, and it should also include everything that they need, from what kind of doctor you are down to how many locations you have throughout the city where their family members will be able to go if necessary. Having this information readily available without forcing them off site with popups or intrusive ads shows credibility, which will help attract new patients using organic search results pages.

4. Embrace Visuals

Fourth, optimize images! Use relevant, compelling images that connect with your target audience. This can be done easily by looking at what other people in the healthcare industry are doing and using images similar to theirs if they seem to work well or creating your own unique visuals that help tell a story about who you are as an organization or clinic.

5. Focus on Local Searches

Fifth, optimize for local search results pages. Make sure that all of the information on your website is accurate when it comes to location! For example, make sure that both Google+ Local listings and Facebook’s directory listing have the correct address listed so potential patients will know exactly where you are located before even searching for clinics nearby them online. You should also include business hours because this gives users peace of mind knowing that they will be able to come into your clinic or practice when it is convenient for them. If this seems like too much to take on, hire a professional online reputation management company to increase visibility on social media platforms and build up reviews/testimonials across several directories locally. For the very best, turn to Guideway Care. And to learn more, read The Ultimate Guide to Healthcare SEO.

Your practice is just one of hundreds competing for local online visibility. Many doctors are taking advantage of the internet to grow their patient base and generate more revenue, but it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. This blog post will provide you with a guide on how to use Google My Business as a tool for building your healthcare practice’s reputation and search rankings on Google Search and Maps.

What Is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free service offered by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence through the use of a business profile. This profile can include information about your practice, such as service offerings, hours of operation, location details, and more. For instance: Your office’s website should be optimized for local search engine results. Medical SEO on your website will get you far, but Google My Business takes you even further. Google My Business allows users to manage their business profiles on Google Search and Maps, which are two of the most popular search tools today. As more people use mobile devices for internet searches, being found in local results is increasingly important to drive traffic to your website or physical location.

What Can I Do With A Google My Business Profile?

Google My Business for doctors provides you with a variety of tools that can be used to manage your online presence. Some of these include:

• Creating or changing business information on Google Search and Maps.
• Managing & generating the Google review link of your medical website for your customers.
• Answering questions from people curious about your practice.
• Uploading photos related to your practice, such as new or services, patient room renovations, or even updates to your waiting room.

How Can I Use Google My Business for Local Medical Practice SEO?

Claim Your Listing: You must claim any listings related to your business before being able to manage them. Even if a listing is automatically generated, this isn’t very useful until you have ownership of it. Optimize Your Google My Business Profile: Name, address, and phone number are often the most important details to include. Be sure that all information is fully visible on a desktop computer as well as a mobile device. Remember that you can add links from other websites in your Google My Business description section. Enhance Your Presence: Once you claim your business information on Google My Business, most of the work is done for you. However, if your profile does not show up in local search results or has incomplete data, you may want to work on enhancing your presence. Map Optimization: Location, location, location! The physical address of your business is the most important aspect for search engines and potential customers alike. Make sure you include directions from major roads or landmarks if your address alone isn’t enough to get people there without confusion. For more information about GMB for medical practices and how to make it work for yours, speak with Guideway Care. We are a comprehensive medical digital marketing service. For more information on boosting online visibility, read our ultimate guide to healthcare SEO.

Doctors are under a lot of pressure these days. You have to juggle seeing patients, staying up to date on the latest research, and practice within your state’s guidelines. On top of all of that, you have to think about healthcare reputation management. This can be difficult because you’re always being watched by someone who might be a little too critical about what you’re doing wrong or getting right. However, with proper medical reputation management, you can ensure that your overall standing is strong.

What Is Reputation Management?

Reputation management for medical practices is essentially public relations for your brand. Given you aren’t a celebrity, you don’t really need a PR manager like someone in Hollywood would. However, you do need to exercise a certain level of control over your public image and that of your practice and work to make sure people are saying good things about you. Another way to put this is that it is about building your brand. You want prospective patients to see your name or that of your practice and instantly feel a sense of trust in you. Medical online reputation management goes a long way towards making that happen.

Why You Should Care About Your Online Reputation

It is easy for doctors to assume that quality results and a kind demeanor are all that is needed to build a strong reputation. And not all that long ago, this was true. But now, your online healthcare reputation will reach prospective patients before you ever do. A sloppy website, lack of information on Google, and just a couple of poor reviews without good ones to balance them can tank a career you’ve spent years trying to build. But, if you engage in medical practice reputation management, you can be seen as a genuine authority in your field, even if you’ve never headlined a conference or published your research. As a medical professional, your reputation matters—and it matters, even more, when people are looking at reviews on Google or Yelp. Our team can help with everything from monitoring what is being said online to helping craft positive content that will endear your patients to you. At Guideway Care, we believe in protecting this most important asset; after all, who wants their livelihood impacted by an angry customer review they never saw coming? So don’t hesitate; contact us today. Interested in patient engagement solutions? We can help you with everything from surveys to healthcare CRM.

No matter your specialty, your medical practice exists in a competitive environment. Medical digital marketing helps ensure that you remain at the top of the pack. But what are some concrete reasons why you should invest in online marketing for doctors? In this article, we will give you 7 reasons why digital marketing is essential for any medical practitioner.

1. Digital Marketing Is Cost-Effective

Compared to older methods of marketing, such as print and radio ads, online marketing for medical practices is incredibly cost-efficient. Depending on the methods you choose and the companies you work with, you might be able to spend just a few hundred dollars a month to reach thousands of people across multiple platforms.

2. It’s Easy to Promote New Services and Products

Do you often add new services and products to your practice’s offerings? Digital marketing makes it easy to promote them. With just a simple social media blurb and a blog post, you can accomplish more than print media would allow.

3. It Can Help You Build Relationships

Digital marketing for medical practices makes you more approachable to patients, especially when you embrace social media. This not only brings in more patients, but it makes those you have feel more comfortable being open with you.

4. You’ll Be Able to Reach People You Might Not Otherwise

You need to reach patients where they are, and many are not listening to the radio or looking at billboards on their drive into work. This means you need to grab their attention in online searches or through your social media profiles.

5. You Can Use It for Branding Purposes

Part of any good healthcare digital marketing strategy is branding, and chances are you’ve already invested in this for your other forms of advertising. All you need to do is tie that into your online efforts.

6. Video Grabs Attention Where Words Alone Cannot

One major issue with older advertising methods? They’re static, while modern patients are dynamic. With an online strategy, you can incorporate video, which is the most eye-catching medium. Read more: How Video Marketing Can Influence The Future Of Healthcare

7. Online Presence Is Essential

In today’s digital world, it’s essential for any medical practice to have a strong online presence. From the moment they’re searching for your office on Google Maps, prospective patients are looking at reviews from previous customers and reading through your website content. With so much competition in the healthcare industry, how will you stand out? Don’t worry—we can help! Our team of experts is ready to create online medical marketing strategies that attract quality patients with minimal effort. Ready to learn more about how digital marketing benefits you? Give us a call.

Our world has gone digital. Unfortunately, many medical practices are lagging behind. Even doctors on the cutting edge of their fields find themselves struggling to understand the scale and scope needed for their digital presence. Medical digital marketing is perhaps the most complex aspect of all. And it is indispensable. The right approach ensures that you reach patients searching for medical information online and that your message is tailored so that they are receptive to it. But what is this nebulous “medical digital marketing,” and what does it mean for you? Let’s take a look.

Online Medical Marketing: The Basics

Think about traditional marketing methods: signs outside your place of business, brochures, and radio spots. Online medical marketing takes the spirit behind these approaches—creating a brand and getting your message out—and moves them to the digital sphere. Your sign transforms into your Google My Business page. Your brochures into your website. Your radio spots into social media advertisements. Medical web marketing is fairly similar to marketing for any other type of business, though there are key differences, as you’d expect from any industry. The ultimate goal is to meet patients where they are and reel them in.

Why Is Medical Internet Marketing So Important?

It used to be that when people needed a doctor or were interested in a specific procedure, they’d as around for recommendations, or even just go into the phonebook and start calling practices. Now, they hop online to find practices nearby and reviews. The healthcare industry is extremely competitive, and if you really work on your online presence, you will be able to claim a larger share of the market. Plus, all the efforts you make will work to improve your reputation and establish yourself and your practice as an authority.

Essential Elements of Digital Medical Marketing

We suggest that all medical practice incorporate the following elements into their digital marketing: • A visually attractive website that is easy to navigate and answers essential questions • Video content that is short, well composed, and engaging • Social media pages on at least three platforms • Mobile marketing • An email list with frequent, relevant content If this sounds like a lot to take on in house, don’t worry; .Guideway Care has you covered. We keep up with the healthcare digital marketing trends and predictions, ensuring your content is always up to date and relevant to your audience.

One of our top 10 healthcare marketing tips in 2020 was to embrace social media. This hasn’t changed in 2021. And one of the best ways to get into social is through healthcare Instagram advertising.

Why Instagram?

For many healthcare companies, bridging the gap between themselves and prospective patients is difficult. We are in an age where people are quite skeptical of medical providers or jaded based on poor experiences. Success on social media relies on your ability to get past that skepticism and connect with people. Instagram is all about the personal connection. Medical Instagram accounts help people see practices as families, and see healthcare as something warm and welcoming. Of course, your success depends upon doing it right.

Tips for Instagram Medical Accounts

With any social media effort, you need to engage in best practices. But what are those for Instagram healthcare pages? We suggest the following.

Be Personable, Not Personal

Your professional Instagram account should read professional, but warm and accessible. This is very different from the tone of a personal page. While you want patients to feel like they are getting to know you, never forget your professionalism.

Use Your Profile Info

Your Instagram business profile should have all the information a patient might need to work with you. This includes your hours, location, phone number, and services you offer. Be sure to set up the contact button as well.

Follow Other Healthcare Accounts

You want to become part of the Instagram healthcare community, and part of that is following other accounts. Target those that are in your sphere and don’t be afraid to engage with those accounts. It’s a great way to learn from others.

Vary Your Content

A lot of medical practices fall into the trap of creating Instagram medical accounts that are just one infographic after the other. You need to switch up your content if you have any hope of garnering engagement. Some types of posts to include are: • Quick videos explaining relevant topics • Before and after treatment photos (get permission) • Inspirational quotes related to healthcare • Commentary on notable medical news • Explanations of new research• Tips and tricks for wellness

Figure Out Those Hashtags

Finally, one of the only ways to get discovered on Instagram is through hashtags, so make sure you are using the right ones—and verify what they are actually about to avoid embarrassing situations. For more information about the best healthcare advertising practices, contact Guideway Care. Also if you want to know what makes advertising via Instagram so effective. Read on our detailed blog about “Instagram Marketing for Doctors“

Video has long been used in healthcare; anyone who has sat through a training video in a back room knows that. However, medical video production has come a long way from those grainy VHS tapes. Modern approaches can help you reach patients, empower staff, and serve as healthcare engagement solutions. If the idea of engaging in video production is new to you, don’t feel overwhelmed. We are going to cover the basics so you can better understand how healthcare video marketing can help you.

Video Is an Appealing Medium

This is especially true when compared to long pieces of text. There is a misconception that people today read less than those in the past. In truth, they read more, but in different ways. Given how much we rely on text to communicate, many people constantly consume small snippets—not long-form educational pieces. Medical video production allows you to take pages of text and condense them into easy-to-consume videos that combine fun narration with engaging visuals. While they might take a little longer to produce than an essay, they will deliver the results you seek.

Patients Want to Learn

Modern patients aren’t interested in the outdated dynamic of an all-knowing doctor and an obedient client. They want to be informed and empowered when it comes to their healthcare. Videos are wonderful for this. You still get to control the narrative to a degree, helping patients get on board with the philosophy of medicine you follow, but they don’t feel as in the dark.

You Can Prep for Procedures

If you are a specialist, you likely have a limited number of procedures you perform, and before each of these, you need you patients and their support people to be informed on what to expect. Rather than spending a lot of time giving the same speeches over and over, you can create customized video guides for each procedure, communicating the information they need in a fun and friendly way. It is an amazing healthcare engagement solution.

Be the Influencer You Wish Existed

The idea of being both a medical provider and an influencer might seem a little strange, but there are quite a few who are not only making it work, but genuinely changing the face of healthcare while they do it. These doctors are getting patients excited about their own health and helping them come into the office feeling informed and ready to get to work. You can really put your practice on the map with the right content. The future of video marketing is bright. You just need the right approach. Guideway Care guides providers in their medical marketing strategies, including video-based and interactive content.

You’ve heard that online presence is essential to building your healthcare practice, so you’ve done your best. You’ve created your own home on the web inspired by the best health and wellness websites; you’ve joined the bigger social media sites; you’ve even tried your hand at a little email marketing. Despite your best efforts, you likely aren’t seeing a big difference in patient traffic—if you are seeing any. Why is that? Most likely, a lack of healthcare SEO.

What Is Healthcare SEO?

SEO—short for search engine optimization—refers to many different strategies that help websites rank higher in search results, generating more traffic to them.The more traffic your healthcare website sees, the more likely you are to pull in new patients and become a medical authority in your area. It is important to note that SEO tactics change all the time as search engine companies change their rules and algorithms.Healthcare SEO services stay on top of these changes for you, giving you less homework to do on a monthly basis.

Strategies that Improve Healthcare Search Engine Presence

Encourage Online Reviews: As patients check out, encourage them to leave a review of your practice. You can also do this by text message or email. Try to be specific and direct them towards a specific place to leave a review—typically Google or Yelp. Create Informative Content: There is a lot you can do with this one. From informational videos to patient surveys to blogs, you can create a lot of content for your practice that stands out from the typical list of services and “about us” page. You are an authority figure in your field, and search engines love authority content. Take Your Google My Business Page: These are automatically generated once Google realizes where your practice is located. However, you can claim ownership over this page, and doing so is important. For many prospective patients, this will be the first thing they check to get to know you, and it can help you rank better in searches. Utilize Healthcare Keywords: Patients will only search your exact practice name if they already know who you are. You need to pull in the people who don’t. Healthcare keywords reflect common search engine terms people would use when looking for a practice like yours. When they are tied into your content, it helps the search engine land on your page as a top result. Could you use a helping hand in navigating healthcare SEO? Allow Guideway Care to serve as your guide. We offer solutions to healthcare marketing and patient engagement that put your practice on the map.

Who is the top healthcare provider in the United States?

While you wrack your brain trying to think of the busiest practice or doctor you know, someone else is likely heading to Google to find the answer. And you know what? That right there is the answer. We live in the age of Dr. Google. What do we mean by that? Essentially, before seeking treatment from a medical professional, most U.S. adults will first ask Google about their symptoms. • How can I tell the difference between allergies and coronavirus? • What does a spider bite look like? • What are the symptoms of appendicitis? Of course, Google itself doesn’t provide them with answers. Websites do. And which websites show up first in the search results comes down to medical SEO.

Increasing Patient Interest With Online Marketing

If you can rank in those top results, you can pull in more patients and increase your practice’s profile. Medical online marketing is essential to your success—word of mouth doesn’t cut it anymore. This isn’t a small amount of traffic, either. One in every 20 searches on Google is related to health and healthcare. While these come from all over the globe, many are local to you. On top of that, just being seen as an authority can help boost your reputation.But how can you do keyword research for medical industry topics? Here are a few tips that could work for you.

Think About What You Would Write

Start with the services you offer, then ask yourself what you would write if you were to head to Google to find a provider or learn more about a condition. Make a list—a long one—with all the phrases you can think of. Then, add your location to them to help them be more specific. Now, you have keywords to incorporate into your website.

Look at Competitor’s Pages

Back to Google. Search the following phrase: [your type of practice] + [your location] So, if you are a podiatrist in the Bay Area, search “podiatrists San Francisco.” Then, click on the top three results—not ads—and see what keywords they are using. Try to mimic these in your content.

Turn to Professionals

Keyword research for the medical industry isn’t easy, and you don’t have to do it alone. Digital marketing companies specializing in healthcare can locate the ideal SEO keywords for your practice. In fact, Guideway Care excels at this. If you need assistance in creating a robust digital marketing campaign, we are here to help. Schedule a consultation today.

Plastic surgery is by and large an elective specialty. Therefore medical marketing strategies are more crucial than ever to reel in this select group of informed and value-conscious patients. Even the more affluent patients will still weigh affordability, convenience, and benefits against their discretionary spending. The foundational concepts to keep in mind when designing plastic surgery marketing strategies are: 1   People don’t buy procedures 2  People buy happiness 3  People buy from people they trust These three factors can help differentiate marketing for plastic surgeons. Remember that your typical patient is not buying a Blepharoplasty, or rhinoplasty, or nose-shaping. They are buying a beneficial solution that will fulfill their aspiration – happiness. Thirdly, patients want to know that they are clinically and emotionally secure in the hands of their qualified, experienced, and reputable plastic surgeon. With these 3 factors in mind let’s discuss some cosmetic surgery marketing strategies.

Connect With Previous Patients

This goes back to building trust. Prospective patients will look at the stellar work on the faces and bodies of your previous patients and ask for some of the same. So apart from giving your patient an excellent experience to crow about on the rooftops, consistently feed them with information about your practice. Informative email newsletters, social media posts, and texts are just some of the applicable tools for this. Offer referral perks for high-value patients and throw in seasonal and birthday greetings which make your patient feel appreciated. They’re thus more likely to send new patients your way.

Complimentary ‘Photoshop’ Consultation

Now we’re tackling the concept of happiness. Despite a high success rate for most procedures, potential patients can still be very leery of committing to a procedure. Clarifying expectations and showing the patient exactly what they will look like can tip the scales in your favor. Apps such as Adobe Photoshop and Crisalix can help you alter your client’s appearance on-screen or even simulate the surgery. Advertize this service add-on everywhere to attract new patients who were on the fence about plastic surgery.

Streamline Your Digital Advertising and Online Presence

Speaking of advertising, the most effective plastic surgery marketing tips would be useless without a cohesive online presence. 70% of patients today will visit a new doctor based on positive online reviews. The areas to focus on for an attractive online identity for your practice are: 1  Build an effective and user-friendly plastic surgery website 2 Focus on local healthcare SEO to dominate search results in your area 3 Demonstrate your expertise with high-quality content (blogs, social media posts, or videos) 4 Invest in remarketing strategies for those who visit your website 5 Employ an online reputation management solution to handle reviews 6 Boost the reach of your content with paid search and Facebook advertising Competition in plastic surgery is stiff and it is no longer enough to be good at what you do. You have to reach out to your prospective patient and meet them wherever they are emotionally and goal-wise. You may need expert healthcare digital marketing companies to walk you through and help you design and implement plastic surgery marketing strategies. Contact us at Guideway Care today.

It is an inevitable stage in the growth of every practice, the crossroads that propels you to build key partnerships. The choice is to offer substandard service or to get professionals to do it. Customer relationship management is usually one of the first areas that require outsourcing to skilled partners. One such vital partnership is the medical call center service under the umbrella of solutions healthcare advertising companies offer.

Tips for Selecting a Healthcare Advertising Company

Align Your Goals With Their Strategies

Healthcare advertising is more than designing paid ads. The marketing agency you choose should understand the unique requirements of your business. Communicate your marketing goals and how they feed into the overall vision of the business. Ask the prospective advertising agency how they would go about meeting these goals.

Industry Experience

The healthcare industry is highly regulated and held to a different set of standards than other businesses since it deals with human life. Your agency of choice should these regulations and how they affect marketing strategies and the patient engagement solutions they offer.

Strong Measure of Success

Advertising agencies will likely have extremely attractive portfolios and websites. This is not enough. You need to ask tough questions about the success of these beautiful portfolio components. What were their goals vis a vis the results they achieved for each client or project?

Budget, Billing, and Payments

The serious money talk goes beyond how the agency’s work plan will execute the vision without exceeding budget. The right advertising partner will also plan for a high return on your investment. Before you even schedule a meeting to discuss figures, you should have a clear picture of the budget available in your practice, your cash flow situation, and whether your business can afford this new investment. Financial surprises can spell doom for your new business partnership. Make sure you’re all on the same page about billing cycles, fees, retainers, extra charges, and expense approvals. Read more: The Importance Of EMR In Medical Billing

Diverse Marketing Specializations

Medical online marketing today is different and dynamic. It involves an intuitive mix of paid advertising, content marketing, and organic reach tools such as medical websites and medical patient portals. The advertising agency you choose needs to bring a variety of marketing specialties to the table so that your marketing strategy is well-rounded. If your practice needs to partner with a healthcare advertising agency offering medical call center services, contact us today.

Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns in healthcare internet marketing yield immediate results in the form of website traffic, interested clients, and patient appointments. Organic SEO strategies are important in building the ranking of your website. But healthcare SEO needs time, patience, and lots of adjustments to succeed. In the meantime, PPC can jumpstart the traffic to your website and place your content and medical practice in front of interested patients. In fact, paid search listings outperform organic search results by double the number of clicks. Here’s how to create a PPC campaign for your medical practice.

Customer Research

This investigative stage aims to find out the search queries or terms your patients are likely to use or have used to find your services. You may already have a few buyer personas in your marketing plan which can guide you in finding these terms. These initial seed keywords will be used to target the right audience and save you from wasting money on too wide a net. Keep all the relevant keywords. Culling comes later.

Check Keyword Demand

Here the go-to tool is Google AdWords Keyword Planner. It will help you narrow down your list to the keywords that have the most weight. On the Keyword Planner, click the option that says “Get search volume data and trends.” Enter all the Keywords you had come up with and Google will supply these metrics 1 Average monthly searches 2 Competition level 3 Suggested bid cost for the keyword Keyword planner is a completely free tool provided you have a Google account. There are many in-depth tutorials on how you can research your keywords on the planner.

Organize Your Keywords

The next step is to group all your keywords according to related subjects. Some examples of these targeted keyword groups are: 1  Brand terms that encompass the practice name and recognizable taglines 2 Competitor terms are specific to your competitor 3 Generic terms which are names of services and procedures 4 Related terms refer to any phrases your patients might use while searching for your services.

Identify Negative Keywords

One of the keys to a successful PPC campaign for healthcare practices is targeting. So far you have found the right phrases and search queries to target. The other side of the coin is negative keywords. Negative keywords flag certain terms or phrases and prevent your ad from showing up for these search phrases. The idea is to consider the user’s search intent and how it relates to your ad. What answer are they looking for? Without negative keywords, your ad might show up for a search query that has the same generic terms as you but is not what you offer. You end up paying for clicks that were not interested in your product. Using negative keywords will improve your click-through and conversion rates as well as saving you money.

Good Ad Copy and Your Call to Action

In a nutshell, the recipe for creating effective ad copy is: 1  Personalization 2 Presenting the unique selling proposition of your business 3 Outlining what you customer can expect to find once they click the ad Your call-to-action (CTA) gets your customer moving. For example, “Schedule a Free Consult Today! Your CTA should be interesting and deliver a clear message about what to do. PPC campaigns are excellent ways to reach out to your patients and convert their interest into appointments. The learning curve may seem a little convoluted and that’s where Guideway Care comes in. Contact us today to discover our patient engagement solutions and how we can help you create PPC campaigns for your practice.

If you have implemented a medical SEO strategy and you can see the tumbleweed blowing across your desert of a website, something is wrong. There is a mistake in the strategy if it doesn’t lead to an increase in web traffic or appointment volume. At best medical SEO mistakes are a waste of your marketing budget. At worst, they can damage the ranking of your website. SEO is a fast-evolving field since algorithms and ranking rules are constantly changing. An SEO consultant who hasn’t specialized will apply generic techniques to the detriment of your practice’s online ranking. What are the common medical SEO mistakes?

Choosing the Wrong Keywords

Keywords are the access points to your content. They tell the algorithm that the search query typed into the search box by your prospective patients will be answered by your content. If you optimize for keywords that no one is using then you’re basically shouting into the void.

Competing for Highly-Competitive Keywords

The war of popular keywords comes down to who has the bigger budget. Bigger organizations with deeper pockets will outbid your growing practice for these competitive search terms. You will fail to rank on the first page and your efforts will be in vain. To fix this mistake, medical SEO strategies should instead focus on keywords that are low-competition and extremely focused, down to the practice and treatment.

Poor Targeting

46% of Google searches are looking for local information. SEO is less about manoeuvering the algorithm to rank your site on the first page and more about making your content visible to the right user. Google Adwords has tools to help you research relevant keywords to your practice and to discover what search phrases your prospective clients are using. It would be useless to rank on the first page for a keyword that has little to do with your practice or a location far away.

Ignoring Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are keyword phrases with multiple words that target users more effectively. Long-tail keywords will often include key additional information such as city, regions, and specialties. It’s the difference between optimizing your website for the keyword “Doctor in New York” versus “ENT specialist in Queens”. The former is too general whereas the latter is localized and specific and will get more hits.

Failure to Note Progress

Medical online marketing has no cut and dried formula. It has to be tweaked based on the specific data collected through multiple runs of keyword research and testing. Data and its proper analysis determine the success of marketing strategies. Tools such as Google Analytics should be used to gauge the impact of content, how the users are responding to your content, and their pain points. Marketers then go back to the drawing board to implement these insights in creating more effective strategies. Failure to track the progress of SEO strategies is pouring your budget down the drain. Experienced medical SEO consultants understand the specific challenges of marketing healthcare services, They have also perfected the right balance between high search volume and low competition. They will help you rank better and reach your target user. For such expert SEO solutions, get in touch with Guideway Care today.

Instagram Marketing for Doctors – A Guide to Patient Engagement

Instagram has put video content on the front burner. Whether it is IGTV, Reels, or Instastories, video is easy to consume and share. This is ideal for healthcare businesses looking to diversify their content and grow patient engagement. Healthcare advertising companies use video marketing to boost leads by 66% per year.

Internet users spend, on average, 7 hours a week watching videos. With 1 Billion users worldwide, Instagram claims a significant chunk of this watch time that you can tap into to grow your business.

Read on to learn how you can use Instagram to build brand awareness and patient engagement.

Create a Business Account

Your first and most crucial step is to create an Instagram business account. This is different from a personal account for the following reasons:

• You can add a phone number and email contact button
• At the 100 follower mark, you can get detailed analytics on who is engaging with your content
• 10,000 followers and above allows an Instagram business account to add direct swipe-up links

Business accounts have these specific tools and more to help with engagement.

Follow HIPAA Regulations

Some of the most popular medical content online such as patient transformation posts (before & after) can present ethical issues.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) has clear directives on protecting the privacy and security of patients.

• Always request explicit permission to share patient experiences
• Blurr out our hide personal identifiers such as patient name, location, age, etc.

Hashtag Strategy

Hashtags are basically a searchable directory on Instagram that will enable your patients to find you.

Healthcare hashtags on Instagram will grow your account since posts with hashtags receive 12.6% more engagement than those that don’t. Additionally, hashtags can also improve your brand’s medical SEO since they are indexed by search engines.

Here’s what you should know about hashtags.

• You can use up to 30 hashtags in a feed post and up to 10 in your Instastories
• No special characters or spaces are allowed in your hashtag but numbers can be used
• You should use a variety of hashtags whether they fall under community, branded, or campaign categories

If you want to know how to grow a medical practice on Instagram, create a flexible and relevant hashtag strategy. Here are some ideas.

1. Identify the best medicine Instagram accounts or those in your specialty and note their hashtags
2. Create several groups of hashtags that can be rotated post by post
3. Engage in the comment section of other related posts that rank in the hashtags you choose for your business

Consistency vs Frequency

These two words are often used interchangeably in the content marketing world. They are different and consistency is superior.

The frequency of posts does not positively or negatively affect your engagement. Clearly, the more sustainable option is to create a content plan and schedule and stick to it.

Consistency builds trust and reliance on the part of your audience.

Automation with tools like Later and Buffer can also help you nail the consistency problem

Create a Style Guide

“Don’t forget that you are using your Instagram account to promote and attract customers to your healthcare business.

“Having a cohesive content style, tone, font, and aesthetic makes your posts highly recognizable and shareable.

“Use branded images tastefully to get more eyeballs on your brand.

A style guide also means you can easily outsource the social media part of your digital marketing strategy

Get Help From Healthcare Advertising Companies

Speaking of outsourcing, consistent posting on your business Instagram account can be a full-time job.

That’s why healthcare advertising companies have honed these digital and social media marketing skills so you don’t have to.

Contact Guideway Care today for a free evaluation and a digital marketing program that will elevate your patient engagement.

Healthcare Content Marketing Strategy: Getting Started & Tips

Viral videos of physicians dancing while giving health tips are a dime a dozen. However, healthcare content marketing is much more nuanced than that.

From online review forums and social media to healthcare advertising companies, patients and healthcare providers now have a slew of tools to help them find each other.

What’s the first thing you do when you’re unwell and don’t know the cause? You Google it! You and 77% of Americans use online reviews to find medical information and new physicians.

Patients want more detailed information about who they entrust their lives to. They want to make a connection. This is where medical content marketing comes in.

4 Tips for Successful Healthcare Content Marketing

Only if you do healthcare content marketing right.

Here is a quick cheat sheet on getting started and best practices for healthcare content marketing.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Only Your audience is your first stop. It’s important to understand what makes them tick.

What questions can help you create your target audience persona?

• What demographics do they fall under?
• What are their passions, fears, or anxieties?
• What problem do they need to be solved?
• What hot topics are they interested in?
• Do they want technical or simplified content?

Zero In on Quality and Expertise

Healthcare content falls under the YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) category according to Google. The stakes are high for this type of content which can adversely impact your reader if poorly researched or communicated.

These sites need to contain the highest levels of Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness E-A-T to be ranked well by search engines.

Stick to what you know. If your medical practice specializes in dental health, you shouldn’t have content about kidney stones.

Focusing on your expertise will cement you as an authority to both Google and your audience. They will keep coming back.

Make Your Content Interactive and Highly Shareable

The average person online has an attention span of 8 seconds.

Unless they are looking for in-depth information on a topic, they will be in and out of your website by the time you’re settling into your introduction.

The solution?

• Make your content easy to skim with images, infographics, lists, and tables
• Interact with your audience through polls and quizzes
• Diversify into shorter, highly shareable content such as pins, infographics, quotes
• Make it fun and easy to consume with podcasts and video

Get Digital Marketing Help

We get it. You’re good at delivering quality healthcare but digital marketing feels like an alien planet. PPC, SEO, and inbound funnels might as well be foreign languages.

So why slog through it alone?

As digital marketing experts, Guideway Care has perfected online healthcare marketing techniques. We boost your web presence, rank your practice competitively and handle reputation management. We ensure new patients can find you and that their feedback opens more doors for you. Contact us today for a free evaluation of your healthcare organization and find out how our solutions can take you to the next level.

Guide to Improve SEO & PPC For Doctors in 2021

The first page of search engine result pages (SERPs) receives the lion’s share of clicks and conversions. To improve healthcare SEO and PPC for your practice you need to implement organic content marketing as well as paid digital marketing.

Organic search results rely on a well-optimized site. However, Google also ranks your site according to user experience and how long patients stay on the site.

To improve user experience consider adding supportive off-site tools such as medical call centers and patient engagement solutions.

That said, let’s look at the best practices for improving your medical SEO and PPC in 2021.

Best Practices For Medical SEO in 2021

Evaluate Your Current Medical SEO

You can’t fix what you don’t know. Some of the areas to evaluate for your medical search engine optimization are:

• Website loading speed on mobile and desktop determines whether patients prematurely click away
• Google Analytics regarding the traffic to your site
• Missing content or metadata
• Inadequate or poor internal and external links

Optimize Existing Content

Improving the content already on your site can increase traffic to your site by over 100%. You can optimize old content in these straightforward ways:

• Refresh blog posts with new research and better writing
• Add better quality images and graphics
• Make the content relevant to your practice
• Fix 404 errors
• Change your hosting service to increase website loading speed
• Update local SEO with accurate business information (Name, address, telephone number)

Develop a Healthcare Content Marketing Strategy

Content is king is an overworked cliche but it consistently proves true. Patients are not looking for a digital salesperson on your website.

Your site content and social media pages need to add value to their lives and create a trustworthy connection with their healthcare provider.

Improving your medical SEO ranking requires you to consistently add new expert, authoritative, trustworthy content with well-researched keywords. You can outsource the content creation if you cannot keep up the consistency in-house.

A great tip is to integrate your website and social media pages so that the content is syndicated across platforms saving you time and resources.

Best Practices For Medical PPC in 2021

Pay-per-click (PPC) is one of the best ways for a website to rank on the first page of search results. PPC and SEO work together to increase the relevance, authority, and presence of your site in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Google collects site interaction and traffic data collected from your PPC ads to helps its algorithm with organic ranking on SERP.

What can you do to improve the performance of your PPC ad campaign?

A Foundation Of Great Content

Just as in SEO, PPC for doctors requires you to have an engaging and cohesive story across your ad copy and landing pages.

The ad should have a clear and captivating value proposition. Your potential patient should see the ad and immediately understand the benefit of choosing your practice.

Lastly, great content should build trust. Think patient testimonials and peer endorsements on the landing pages. Concise but informative doctors’ biographies and credentials add to your practice’s trustworthiness

Well Targeted Ads

PPC works by bidding on the keywords of your choice. When patients search the keywords you bid on, your ad appears in the search results.

Consequently, thorough keyword research and search query mining will form the basis of a successful medical PPC campaign.

Long-tail keywords and specific search queries comprising four to six words are cheaper and perform better than broad, short keywords.

Reduce wasted marketing spend by also compiling a list of negative keywords. These will prevent your ad from appearing to fine-tuning people outside your target group.

Evaluate and Tweak Daily

Successful ads are more art than size. There is no one-size-fits-all. You need to evaluate the analytics of your ads daily and adjust where needed. This fine tuning of your bidding strategy is done to achieve any or a combination of the following aspects.

• Lowest possible cost per click (CPC) for maximum clicks
• Enhanced CPC to enable Google to automatically increase or decrease your keyword bid
• Automatically adjust the cost per acquisition (CPA) for maximum conversion on landing pages

Boosting SEO and PPC performance can be a complex undertaking especially for the technical aspects of website backend and keyword bidding. Schedule a consultation today to take your pick of the medical marketing services we offer.