Marketing your medical practice online begins with a modern and professional-looking website.  This website alone, however, may not be enough to increase your firm’s online visibility and draw more clients to your door.

Whether you’re seeking a professional medical website as a jumping-off point for an online marketing campaign or simply as an online reference for your existing clients, don’t forget that a website is a fantastic opportunity to expand your medical practice’s client base.  Here are the top five mistakes that doctors make when they first start marketing their practice online.

1. Ignoring branding. Playing with your website’s colors, graphics, pictures, and design can give it a unique feel and image – and this expands into your practice itself.  By “branding” your practice with an easily recognizable logo and graphic design scheme, you’re giving yourself an image that your site’s visitors will remember.  Not only will they remember your company in the future; they’ll come to associate your image with the services you provide.
2. Not paying attention to your client base. It’s important to mold your practice into what you want it to be, but it’s also important for the success of your business to pay attention to what your clients need.  This means not only taking the time to communicate with and take care of care of your existing clients, but also listening to their feedback and translating it to what your potential client base might need.  This helps you focus in on particular services on your website and increase turnover.
3. Using tired marketing methods like yellow pages and print flyers.  With internet use and access becoming more widespread, fewer and fewer people are using print materials and print directories to find a doctor.  While paying to have your practice listed in an online legal directory is a good internet marketing option, it won’t necessarily increase the visibility of your practice or your practice’s website. When marketing a medical practice A professionally organized internet marketing campaign can link readers directly to your website while increasing your presence in the search engines.  This has the distinct advantage of allowing you to list your credentials, your experience, or a personal message from your attorneys on staff.
4. Neglecting SEO. Research shows that around 95% of people searching in Google don’t click past the first page of results – so it’s important to get your website to the front of the list on important search terms like “Cardiologist in Miami” or “New York dermatologist.”  By implementing a medical search engine optimization campaign, your site will begin to rank higher on the relevant keywords for your practice and area.  With more and more people using online resources to find a doctor, higher rankings in Google and other search engines increases your overall exposure far more than online directories ever could.  Unlike a pay-per-click advertising campaign, the benefits of SEO build over time and are often permanent.
5. Neglecting good content. Having a professional-looking website, a uniquely branded image, and a killer SEO campaign will undoubtedly increase your practice online visibility – but being the best doctor for the job is what will ultimately increase conversion.  Be sure to express this with quality, relevant content that clearly expresses your message, communicates your services, and turns your site’s visitors into potential patients.

Additionally, choosing a comprehensive medical web design service like Medical Web Experts gives you the option of incorporating professional graphic design, branding, and content writing services with expert SEO knowledge.  Building your client base begins with building a professional website and a professional presence online.