| |
|
|
 Internet
Dental Marketing
Essential Tactics for Attracting New Patients
By
Fernando Diaz-Lundstedt
How
can you handle the marketing power of the Internet in a creative
and reasonably priced manner?
The options appear to be overwhelming and the challenge is
to develop a sensible plan to organize your research.
First, define a clear objective for your Internet presence.
Are you looking to attract new patients? Do you need an online
brochure for your existing patients? Are you interested in
enhancing your professional image using the latest communication
tool?
If you are interested in obtaining more new patients, the
following guidelines will assist you in the design of your
strategy.
- Search
engines position is critical for your success
You will need a top position with the search engines
for the key terms, in this case: dentist or dental
and your location. Secure a name for your website
that offers the best position. For example, if you are Dr.
Name located in NiceCity, one option could be NiceCityDental.com
or NiceCityDentist.com
Remember, the key concept is to be listed at the top of
the search engine listing for your location. You can always
add your name to the description of the home page:
NiceCityDental.com Dr Name's Dental Practice in NiceCity
That's the whole point of this exercise: Terms such
as dental, dentist, or dentistry associated with your location.
Your name and the name of your practice are secondary to
the objective of securing top listing with AltaVista, Metacrawler,
AOL, Yahoo and the other search engines.
One word of advice in regard to Yahoo: This is a directory
and not an automated search engine. That means that they
have a selective process and only websites with original
and relevant content are listed. Description of standard
services and general information about business hours and
such will not get you a listing with Yahoo.
- Only
a professional looking website will do
The free design website and the amateur look are not an
option for a dentist. Think about it. How can you expect
to have new patients willing to spend a significant amount
of money in dental services, when your website looks like
you may have plastic chairs in your reception area!
The website for professionals need to be creative, very
efficient and affordable. There are real differences between
the companies and individuals that are offering web development.
One way of separating rookies from real pros is by reviewing
their portfolios. If the candidate does not have previous
work neatly organized for your analysis, rule it out! It
is that simple. Don't pay somebody to learn web design at
your expense.
The other step that you need to take is surfing the web
relentlessly. Find websites design that are appealing to
you and add them to your favorites sites. After a while
go back and review them, most likely you will find themes,
colors, ideas that show a pattern. That is the starting
point for yourself and the web design professionals.
-
Work
with creative people
There are a lot of people that are trying to sell
cookie-cutter type of websites, regardless of your desires
and objectives. Stay away from them! They don't care about
anything other than recycling their own stuff.
Working with more creative professional may cost a few
dollars more but it will set the right tone for your Internet
presence. The overall look of your website needs to be
pleasant, graphically balanced and creative.
The home page of your site is the equivalent of the new
prospect's initial phone call. It needs to persuade the
potential new patient to review what you have to offer.
In this area, a professional writer can help you, too.
-
The
right budget
No serious company will quote you a price without finding
out what is the scope of the assignment. Simple web pages
without a lot of creative energy can be found everywhere.
The challenge is to sort all this options out and to determine
the right balance between quality and the obvious budget
requirements.
Many web designers don't want to work with anybody that
have less than a millionaire's budget. But I believe that
you can create an attractive, rich in content Internet
site within a reasonably cost range.
Through this website and our newsletters I will keep you
posted in regard to the best tools that you can use to
face the competition: news, reports and special tools
for the dental marketing of your practice.
Subscribe to our free monthly e-mail newsletter,
Dental Marketing Center Report, with the latest news and
analysis of what is working in the marketing of dental
practices. Just type your full e-mail address in the box
below and click on "Subscribe"
Fernando
Diaz-Lundstedt is a marketing professional specialized
in the development of dental practices. He offers
new and creative solutions for the acquisition of
new patients. Co-founder and Editor of the Dental
Marketing Center. He can be reached at fernando@dentalmarketingcenter.com
or call toll free 877-340-4545.
|
|
|
|
