Orthopedics is seeing a shift in healthcare. In the past, many orthopedic patients were seen as a result of a physician referral. Today, however, that decision-making power has now largely shifted to the patient.
Many patients go online to look for answers to their injuries or search for a reputable orthopedic office nearby. This urges orthopedic practices to cater content and services to the patient that will drive practice growth. It’s time to learn more about what is vital to ensuring your orthopedic practice has a solid online presence.
Key Considerations When Marketing Your Orthopedic Practice Online
It is vital to make sure your practice has a solid online presence that includes the following five tips:
- Expands Reach Using SEO or Ads
- Utilizes Various Media for Marketing
- Listens to Patients
- Focuses on Convenience
- Considers Content Marketing
Expands Reach Using SEO or Ads
The first step in building your online presence is making sure people know where and how to find you.
If you provide top-notch care, but your search engine optimization (SEO) is lacking, it will be of no value. You need a well-thought-out plan to make sure your practice will rank well online.
Consider performing an SEO online evaluation to take a look at:
- Your keywords, metadata, titles, and phrases
- The images on your site are optimized so your page can load quickly
- Organization of the site and added value
- Your Google Business profiles to ensure they are properly optimized, categorized, and link to back to your site’s location and provider profiles
You may even take your site a step further to use a Google Ads campaign, or to target patients actively searching for your orthopedic services. A Google Ads campaign can help drive targeted search engine traffic to your website from potential patients who already have a high level of intent to take action.
Utilize Various Media for Marketing
As patients search for a reputable orthopedic practice online, they may search a number of platforms.
For example, if you have knee or ankle pain a patient may begin a search on YouTube looking for instructional videos for common questions.
There are a number of ways you can highlight video content or other interactive media to help build trust in your orthopedic practice.
Consider using media:
- To introduce your orthopedic surgeons
- Provide important information to prospective patients
- Answer frequently asked questions
- Provide procedure overviews or post-op care instructions
- Build trust and a sense of familiarity
Listen to Patients
The most effective way of generating new reviews for your orthopedic practice can be by simply asking your patients and their families to leave honest reviews on Google, Facebook, or Healthgrades.
The more reviews you receive, the more prospective patients will be able to trust you. This helps establish your practice as a popular, credible place.
Remember in addition to reviews to always:
- Address patient complaints or feedback
- Make changes that will improve your practice
- Communicate openly and timely with upset patients
- Automate surveys or reviews after appointments to get more feedback
Focus on Convenience
One of the best ways your site can help market your services is to focus on convenience.
As you build your online presence, consider what it would be like to be a patient. What are they looking for? Is it easy to find the condition that I need help with? Can I find a hand or shoulder doctor that a friend recommended?
The more user-friendly your site is, the better the experience.
In addition, your actual practice operations can be a great source of positive marketing.
Be sure to:
- Keep wait times down
- Use automated reminders for pre-opt and follow-up appointments to decrease no-shows
- Provide a variety of ways to be accessible – orthopedic urgent care, online scheduling, digital appointments, text messaging, or telehealth
You want patients to find you easily, come in quickly, leave happy, and tell others about their experiences.
Consider Content Marketing
The content you provide online can help build trust and connection with patients.
If you are looking to expand your marketing efforts, you can consider content marketing. This means using blog articles, social media, email campaigns, and multiple channels to keep your patients engaged.
As you regularly publish and share relevant content, you can boost your overall practice marketing.
Always be sure to think like a patient. Use the questions, keywords, and phrases that you hear most often and generate content that would appeal to the patient’s needs.
Practis is here to help with marketing your orthopedic practice
Overall, as you follow these five tips you can improve your marketing presence online. Patients have many choices for orthopedic care – be sure you are standing out.
Get started and obtain a free assessment of your online presence.
