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Healthcare is a competitive industry both in small towns and large cities. People have more options than ever for healthcare, so how do you separate your business from everyone else? The right digital marketing strategies can turn your small practice into a booming business or your hospital into the number one choice for your area.

Healthcare digital marketing grows and advances as the Internet expands and Google dominates the search engines. We’ve developed 10 tips to help your healthcare business take the lead and drive patients to your website and business.

Don’t let the competition make the digital marketing moves first, learn and build your business. Click here to learn about top business strategies.

1. Your Website is Your Digital Hub

Marketing in healthcare begins with your website. The content, layout, and navigation are top priorities for Google and your patients. If they have trouble viewing it on mobile or finding the needed pages, they’ll move on to the next listing in the search results.

Your website is the hub for your healthcare digital marketing. When they click on the search results or advertisement, that’s where they’re going. It must be mobile optimized and filled with pertinent information.

2. Focus On Local SEO

There are two types of search engine optimization: general and local. If you’re a business selling products or services to anyone in Europe, then you’ll focus on national or international SEO.

Hospitals and doctor’s offices service a specific area or region. It doesn’t matter if people from 500 miles away see your website unless you provide a specific hard-to-find treatment or specialty. You want people only from within your business region to see your website.

Your web content and blogs should also be optimized for local SEO. Your business should have a Google My Business profile, so Google knows exactly where you are, so make sure business listing sites have the correct information.

3. Invest In Pay Per Click Advertising

SEO isn’t a fast process. If you’re starting with little content or optimization, then it will take time to create the content and for Google to recognize it. It can take weeks or months to see a significant ranking change for specific high-value keywords.

Pay Per Click advertising requires a budgetary investment to advertise on the Internet. The most common PPC platform is Google ads, but many social media platforms like Facebook also have PPC programs.

4. Keep Up To Date With Google Changes

Google uses a complex algorithm to determine search engine rankings. Many years ago, it was easy to use tricks to earn the top spot for specific keywords, but dozens of updates later, there is no way to “trick” the algorithm.

Google wants to provide its customers with the best product, so they regularly update the algorithm to improve the search experience. Over the past several years, the company implemented artificial intelligence into the algorithm to better learn the intent of searches.

Algorithm changes can significantly impact both positively and negatively on SEO efforts. It’s important to keep up to date with algorithm changes to adjust your SEO plan.

5. Email Marketing Keeps People Coming Back To Your Site

Email marketing is one of the oldest methods of digital marketing available and often provides the best return on investment. Contact forms and newsletter signups are a way to keep your potential patients updated on what’s going on with your business.

When they give you their email address, you know they’re interested. If you add a new doctor, new machinery, or procedures, then send out an email. Your weekly or monthly newsletter can contain information about your practice or general healthcare.

6. Social Media Engages Your Patients

Social media has exploded on the scene and is vital to advancing your marketing efforts. Healthcare digital marketing trends show it’s an important part of patient research. Everyone has a Facebook page and other social media such as Instagram and Twitter.

Use your social media to keep people up to date on hospital happenings. People often leave messages and comments on your page, both positive and negative. Respond to both and try to turn the negative into a positive through excellent customer service.

Social media has made it more difficult to reach existing followers and get new followers. You may need to provide a budget for sponsored posts to reach more of your existing patients and reach out to other potential patients. Find here more about digital marketing services for medical offices and law firms.

7. Don’t Underestimate The Influence Of Landing Pages

When you want to focus on a specific product or service, you may create a landing page that directs people using your digital marketing avenues to it. The makeup of a landing page is important in moving people to the next stage of their journey.

It should include a description and any special offers or discounts you’re having about the product or procedure. It should be an effective call to action that moves people to call or contact you for more information or set up an appointment.

Landing pages are vital in providing a snapshot of something specific that might be lost in your site’s content otherwise.

8. Create Authoritative Content

Many potential patients don’t know they need healthcare services. They have symptoms and decide to look them up on Google. They want information and not specifically to look for a doctor.

If your website has great informational blog posts and other content that answers their questions, you insert yourself as an expert. Google wants information that provides expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

If you have lots of good information on your site concerning the areas you practice, you’ll provide the answers and be front of mind when they seek help or treatment.

9. Keep Track Of Website Data

Digital marketing can help your business, but how do you know it’s working? Return on investment for digital marketing can be difficult to gauge unless you use a program like Google Analytics. It’s a free program provided by Google that helps track traffic and user interaction on your website.

You can see where your traffic is coming from, such as Google Search, Facebook, etc. You can see the most popular pages and what pages people leave your site on.

10. Diversify Your Digital Marketing Strategies

It’s easy to put all your digital marketing efforts into one basket. Many businesses think they can focus on one and then move on to the next later, but diversification is best in today’s competitive business climate.

Instead of just focusing on SEO, PPC, or social media, use all three. You don’t have to use all these methods above, but if you diversify, then others can shore up the traffic if one isn’t working. In fact, if you want to go for a more integral omnichannel approach, you can also incorporate a bulk SMS texting strategy into the mix. With over 90% open rates within 3 minutes of sending a bulk text, SMS messaging is the most effective communication tool. If you want to reach thousands or millions of customers across the globe, text messaging needs to be at the forefront of your marketing strategy. It’s best to choose which avenues sync with your marketing plan and go from there.

You’re still getting traffic from other methods as you tweak the one that isn’t working.

Build Your Healthcare Business Online

Everyone uses the Internet for everything from searching for illness symptoms, doctors, and more. If healthcare organizations are to keep up with the competition, they must enact digital marketing strategies to build and grow their business.