May 2014: 5 things practices do to sabotage their Internet marketing strategies

The 5 things practices do to sabotage their Internet marketing strategies

In today’s digital world, attracting new patients to your practice means being found on the Internet. At this point, most practices have purchased nice-looking websites, and many have invested in Internet marketing strategies such as SEO. However, some of these same practices have undermined their efforts by taking shortcuts or missteps that irritate Google or hurt their website conversion.

Here are five things that are sure to sabotage your Internet marketing strategy.

1. Plagiarizing

We all grew up being taught that plagiarizing was wrong, but somewhere along the way it seems that some of us forgot. Copying content from other websites and placing it on yours is plagiarism, plain and simple. Not only does it risk putting you in legal jeopardy, it also makes you look just like everyone else and provokes the ire of Google and other search engines.

If you want potential patients and the search engines to view your website as a unique resource, your content must be unique. And if you have the same content as everyone else, you won’t come across as unique; canned content = canned surgeon or dentist.

If a significant percentage of your website content is copied, Google may penalize you. Some practices have even had their websites de-indexed by the search engines.

2. Duplicate Websites

As with plagiarizing, placing the same content on multiple websites, even when you own all of the sites and content, puts you at risk of being penalized by Google. The search giant could penalize both the original site and the duplicate website.

3. Lack of Contact Info

Some web designers are so concerned with the look and integrity of your website design that they lose sight of the forest for the trees. A good design doesn’t do you much good if people don’t know how to contact your practice, so make sure your designer places a contact form or your contact information above the fold on every page. You only have a few seconds to capture the attention of website visitors and convert them to patients, so it is crucial that this information, particularly your phone number, be prominently displayed.

4. Cheap Links

In the past, purchasing links to your website was potentially beneficial, but these days it’s a terrible idea. Nowadays purchased links are always viewed as “low quality” in the eyes of Google and other search engines. Google now determines the value it places on links on the reputability and applicability of the source from which they derive. For example, links to your website from a site that also has links to advertisements for pantyhose or cell phones will not be valued highly. What you want is legitimate links from reputable sources in your industry, not links from link farms featuring everything from plastic surgeons to pantyhose.

Put another way, links to your website are similar to word-of-mouth recommendations. The value of a recommendation depends on who is recommending you. If the recommendation comes from someone who is well respected in your field, it’s valuable. If it comes from a website that also links out to sites focusing on home improvement or fashion design, it is of limited value and potentially detrimental.

5. Missing Value Proposition

Some practice websites fail to convey what’s in it for the potential patient — in other words, how the patient will benefit from the practice’s services. While it may seem obvious to you, people viewing your website for the first time don’t know why they should choose your practice. So, make sure that the imagery and text on your homepage focus on the results they can expect. Use short, concise tag lines like “Stunning Results,” “A Beautiful New You” and, of course, “Schedule a FREE Consultation.” Also convey what makes your services better, and make sure that your contact information is front and center!

To learn more about what you can do to avoid sabotaging your Internet marketing strategy — and what you can do to make it shine — contact Ceatus today.

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