As an aesthetic professional, you obviously spend a lot of time helping people look their best. Botox to erase wrinkles, Cellulaze to reduce cellulite, Vaser lipo to zap fat, etc.
You might want to think of your internet marketing efforts the same way. In fact, if you haven’t given your practice website and social media efforts a thorough exam recently, it might be time for some good, objective diagnostics. If they’re exhibiting any of the following symptoms, some revision may be in order:
Diagnosis: Anemic results in organic searches
Chasing Google rankings is a poor use of your time and energy but if people can’t find your website, they’re even more unlikely to find your practice. The culprit is often spammy SEO tactics, such as keyword stuffing and link schemes that are designed to fool search engines rather than provide actual value to users.
Treatment: Excise the offending elements
Earlier this year, Google introduced Penguin, an algorithmic update that analyzes sites for spam tactics and penalizes them accordingly. Instead of such “black hat” SEO tactics, focus on the basics: claiming your name/domain on all platforms, good use of URLs and page headlines and incorporating images and video to align with the search engines’ use of blended results.
Diagnosis: Visitors to your practice website don’t stick around
Do people visit your site but quickly turn around and leave? (Your analytic reports will tell you how long they’re staying, which pages are turning them off, etc.) If so, the most likely suspects are poor design and tired content.
Treatment: Better graphics and timely, genuinely informative content
Chances are people who are visiting your website have already conducted weeks’ or months’ worth of research so they don’t need another generic primer on procedures. Instead, they want to know why your practice is different, what others have to say about you through reviews and testimonials and why they should entrust their aesthetic decisions to you. High-quality photos and well-made videos offer compelling support.
Diagnosis: Little or no response to your social-media efforts
Social media, it’s often said, is a conversation, not a monologue, and if no one’s sharing your updates or mentioning your tweets, it may be because you’re being boring (sorry), overly self-promotional or simply using the wrong platform.
Treatment: Be active, available and authentic
It’s not (about) you; it’s (about) them. Businesses that succeed in social media listen to consumers, respond with useful, but not overtly promotional information and seek to build a relationship rather than make a quick sale. Remember, too, that cosmetic surgery is often a private matter and some people prefer to interact via platforms that honor their anonymity and don’t require them to broadcast their identity and intent to others.
Doctor Takeaway
When it comes to online marketing, there really are no shortcuts. Whether you manage your efforts in-house or through an outside agency, online marketing is not a magic bullet that will instantly build your practice. Doctors who forgo quick fixes in favor of giving it the time and effort it requires will like the results.
