"In today's turbulent economy and in the wake of numerous re-imbursement cuts, more and more physicians are replacing conventional forms of marketing with more cost-effective forms of marketing such as internet marketing. It's no secret that patients are using the internet more and more to make important decisions such as selecting a family doctor. Patients are also using the internet to learn more about a physician that they've been referred to by their primary care physician. It's therefore crucial for both primary care practices and specialty practices to have the right kind of online visibility.



How can I increase my online visibility?

At Medical Web Experts we recommend the following 3 techniques for the majority of our clients.

1) Online Directories ? Just like you may have multiple types of telephone books circulating in your community the internet has online directories that are frequently used by patients to find a physician. It's critical that your practice is listed in all the major online directories. Some of these online directories include Google Maps, Yellow Pages Online, Super Pages, to name a few.

2) Pay Per Click ? If you're looking for an instant spike in your website's traffic then you should consider implementing a Pay-Per-Click campaign. Pay-Per-Click advertising is offered by all the major search engines, including Google, Yahoo and MSN. In a Pay-Per-Click campaign you will select a list of keyword phrases that you'd like patients to be able to see your ad when they type in one of your keyword phrases. These ads are typically served in a column on the right side of the regular search results. For example, if you wanted your ad to be displayed when a patient typed in ?Chicago family doctor? into a search engine you would make that keyword phrase part of your list and your ad would be displayed. The term Pay-Per-Click means you only incur a cost when someone clicks your ad and you can choose to have your ads served only when one of your keyword phrases is searched from a computer originating from a certain geographical region (cities, counties, states, countries). Pay-Per-Click campaigns are very effective forms of marketing because of their ability to target particular regions and because they offer provide instant traffic.

3) Search Engine Optimization ? Also known as SEO, Organic SEO or Natural SEO, Search Engine Optimization is the most powerful and cost-effective form of internet marketing. Search Engine Optimization signifies the improvement of a website's natural ranking in the major search engines. It is different than Pay-Per-Click campaigns because you don't pay the search engine for your ad/listing to appear. SEO is not a form of advertising but instead the ?art? of promoting a website in the ?opinion? of the search engine so that the search engine has a clear understanding of your business, for example, its services offered location, physician names, etc. SEO is incredibly cost-effective since you are only paying once for a marketing company to promote your website to the search engines then you just pay a small ongoing fee to maintain those rankings. While the cost is higher upfront in comparison to other forms of marketing the long term benefits are far greater.

If you're interested in increasing your website traffic using one of these techniques we'd like to invite you to speak to a Medical Web Experts internet marketing specialist. You can contact us by visiting our website at Medical Web Expert or by calling 1-866-932-9944"