If you’re a chiropractor like me then you know that chiropractic internet marketing can be a real challenge. You have to take care of all of your patients, and then somehow find time to learn all the steps of the online game. There’s so much to learn that the majority of chiropractors just throw up their hands and quit. I wrote this article to help bring some sanity to the madness. The information here can help you take your website to the top of Google’s list, and that means more potential patients will be able to find you. Take time to work on each part of this list and I guarantee that you will see amazing success.
The Social Media Marketing Craze
Social media marketing has become the new buzzword in chiropractic internet marketing. There are a number of great salesmen out there telling chiropractors that social media marketing will bring them droves of new patients, but is this really true? Can Facebook , Google +, YouTube, and Twitter really bring you huge numbers of new patients? In my experience I would say no. Don’t get me wrong, I think that each of those sites have great merit, but I know that they are not the end all be all. In my work they are a part of the overall strategy. Each of the social media sites plays a role in the larger complex, but none of them are strong enough to stand alone.
There are dozens of different social networking sites, but my recommendation would be to stick with the few I have listed above. Set up a complete profile on each site, and then have a staff member post something on each site once a week. Find a great piece of chiropractic information that you want to share and write a few sentences about it. There’s not much to it, but it starts to build up your presence. You should also tell you patients to connect to you on each of the sites. It can be a great way to talk to them each week, and can replace things like newsletters. Use social media marketing for the things you can, but remember that it’s an important piece of a larger structure that you need to build.
The Benefits of Video Marketing for Chiropractors
If you’re going to reach the highest number of patients that you can online you need to implement chiropractic video marketing. Video is probably the best way to gain the trust of a potential new patient, and you can cover so many different topics. You can post videos offering an incentive to come into the office or you can post videos to help educate the public. It all sounds great, but how do you get your videos to show up in a place where a potential new patient could find them?
YouTube is the best place to post your videos. The user interface is very easy to use and you can upload a new video in a few minutes. YouTube even offers an area to edit your videos online for free, but just posting your video on YouTube will not be enough. You will also have to build back-links to your video. Google uses back-links as one of it’s criteria to decide what it should post when a search is done. Your video will not been seen as a popular choice if there are no back-links pointing to it. I’ll talk more about back-links later in this article, but remember that YouTube is a must for a successful marketing campaign.
Does Pay Per Click Advertising Work for Chiropractors?
I’m asked on a regular basis about Google pay per click advertising. Chiropractors want to know if it’s worth the cost, and it really depends on the city. In certain cities paid advertising on Google can be very effective, but I’ve seen it fail miserably in just as many cities. I should also say that it’s important to do your homework before you start spending money. You need to understand how the system works, and where to focus your money. The Google Keyword Tool is a great place to start. It allows you to see what people in your city are searching for. Are they searching for “chiropractor Green Bay” or “chiropractor Green Bay, WI”. There are dozens of possible combinations, and you really need to understand them before you start laying out money.
Which Chiropractic Website is the Best?
There are dozens of chiropractic website providers out there. The website that’s right for you depends on what your objectives are. If you’re looking for a website that will educate your patients there are a number of good choices out there, but many of the companies that provide education websites fall short when it comes to attracting new patients. The sites tend to be cookie cutter and lack the personal touch needed to gain the confidence of a potential new patient. In my opinion this is a very big flaw.
My experience has shown me that most chiropractic patients won’t spend much time learning about chiropractic on your website. They may visit once or twice, but they’re not going to spend hours each week learning about your philosophy. So if this is true it’s very important to have a website that is geared toward generating new patients. A chiropractic website that looks clean and professional, has an obvious new patient offer, and that performs well in a Google search. If you can achieve all three you’re in great shape, but it can be difficult to find a website provider that can do all of this. Do your homework and you will find the answers that you are looking for.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search engine optimization for a chiropractor means that you have done the work necessary to achieve a top Google rank in your city. It means that when a potential new patient does a search for a chiropractor in your city, they find your office at the top of the search results. So how do you accomplish this?
There are countless things that Google looks at to determine who they should display in a search, but most people that understand SEO will tell you that the number of back-links that you have is the most important factor. A back-link is a link on another website that points to your website. So if you write an article about chiropractic and post that article in an article directory it may count as a back link for you. Most article directories allow you to put a resource box at the end of your article which can contain a link to your website. The link might be in the form of the url to your website like < a target=”_new” rel=”nofollow” href=”http://www.yoursite.com”>http://www.yoursite.com< /a> or it might be in the form of anchor text like “click here” or “visit our website”. When someone reading your article clicks on one of these colored links it will take them to your website.
You can build links to your website from things like videos, articles, blog posts, blog comments, forum profiles, web 2.0 profiles, and social network sites. It’s also important to note that you want to have high quality diverse links. Today Google takes a close look at your link profile. If you are cheating the system, it’s likely that you will be penalized. Do things the right way and you will be rewarded in the future.
A Chiropractic Google Places Profile is a Must
You may have noticed the letters A, B, C, D etc attached to some chiropractors website listings. The letters correspond to the map that shows up in the upper right hand corner of the page. If you haven’t created a Google Places page it’s likely that they may have created it for you, but you must claim you page to have a verified listing. From there you can post pictures, videos, and information about your office. It’s important to make sure your website URL is added to the appropriate position on your Google Places page. It allows Google to attach your page to your website listing. The power of the two combined produces great results.
I hope the information above has given you some incite into the world of chiropractic internet marketing. There’s a lot to learn, but each of the above sections will give you a good head start on your competition. Work hard, stay consistent, and produce high quality information and you will see huge benefits in the future.
