Jonathan's Web Marketing Blog
8.26.2009
Dental Web Marketing - The Key To More Cosmetic Patients
I regularly talk to dentists who run general practices, and would like to see more patients who are interested in cosmetic work. Dental Web marketing is the best, most cost effective way to attract new cosmetic patients.
More and more people look for health services online rather than going through the hassle of looking through an insurance company directory, and when it comes to cosmetic work, most people assume that their insurance company probably won't cover cosmetic work anyway, so they go online to find the best provider. This makes the Internet a rich source of new cosmetic patients. You just have to know how to tap into the market.
Dental Web marketing begins with a great website design that screams "high end cosmetic dentistry". If your website is outdated, and it smacks of family dentistry, then patients will get the feeling that cosmetic dentistry is not your specialty and will go to someone else whose website is more impressive, imparting a higher standard of care.
Once your website portrays the right image, your next challenge is getting in front of the right audience. You'll need a company that specializes in dental search engine optimization. At Page 1 Solutions, we have a wide range of search engine optimization strategies that work to obtain the best search engine positioning results for our clients. These strategies include SEO, blogging, regular content additions, advanced link building, and more. Success comes from being thorough and having a comprehensive approach that goes beyond a simple one-time optimization of a website.
There is demand for cosmetic cases online (and this is true for other medical and legal fields as well), and if you have the right "mouse trap" that is positioned properly to take advantage of that demand, you will see an increase in cosmetic dentistry patients that you see walking through your front door.
More and more people look for health services online rather than going through the hassle of looking through an insurance company directory, and when it comes to cosmetic work, most people assume that their insurance company probably won't cover cosmetic work anyway, so they go online to find the best provider. This makes the Internet a rich source of new cosmetic patients. You just have to know how to tap into the market.
Dental Web marketing begins with a great website design that screams "high end cosmetic dentistry". If your website is outdated, and it smacks of family dentistry, then patients will get the feeling that cosmetic dentistry is not your specialty and will go to someone else whose website is more impressive, imparting a higher standard of care.
Once your website portrays the right image, your next challenge is getting in front of the right audience. You'll need a company that specializes in dental search engine optimization. At Page 1 Solutions, we have a wide range of search engine optimization strategies that work to obtain the best search engine positioning results for our clients. These strategies include SEO, blogging, regular content additions, advanced link building, and more. Success comes from being thorough and having a comprehensive approach that goes beyond a simple one-time optimization of a website.
There is demand for cosmetic cases online (and this is true for other medical and legal fields as well), and if you have the right "mouse trap" that is positioned properly to take advantage of that demand, you will see an increase in cosmetic dentistry patients that you see walking through your front door.
posted by Jonathan Fashbaugh
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8.21.2009
Content Management System Websites and Web Marketing
With more and more frequency, I am encountering websites that are constructed in content management systems (CMS). Content management systems can be really useful in some situations. In others, they can get in the way and hinder Web marketing success.
Speaking of money, CMS websites can be more expensive than regular websites, and when you don't actually use the CMS side of the site, you might as well have built a traditional HTML site.
Another money issue is ownership and ease of transfer. Many CMS systems are built in proprietary software with templated designs. Sometimes these templated, "website-in-an-hour" websites are dirt cheap, and sometimes they are pricey. In either case, you have to really look at the fine print, because you may find that you don't actually own the website. So you've invested all this money in a website that you can't take with you if you want to leave your Web marketing company. The other problem is that, even if you don't own the website, finding another provider to host it may be a challenge. Some CMS systems require that the hosting server install a particular program, which not all hosts are willing to do, and if they do, the hosting fees go up. At Page 1, there are certain systems that we just cannot/do not work with, and if we want to work with one another, we have to rebuild the website in a format that we can actually use.
One of the main challenges that can prohibit us from working on a CMS website goes beyond simple hosting. CMS systems are many times designed with little to no consideration for search engine optimization. The most common and most problematic offense in this regard is the consolidation of header information. These systems will dynamically pull in title and meta tag information from one central location, which means that the website cannot be optimized on a unique, page-by-page basis. For example, not to get too technical, the meta tag on a truck accident page should look like:
If you don't have the time and resource and/or you're not comfortable taking on any more risk than you have to in your marketing, then it's best to stick with the tried and true method of building a website based on the standards of Web design, programming, and search engine optimization. For the average practice, this is your best bet.
When A Content Management System Is Good:
Organizations that are constantly changing things on their websites can benefit from a CMS website because it eliminates the need for a professional Web designer for the day-to-day changes. The person in charge of making the changes logs into the website, navigates to the correct page, and clicks some sort of edit button. He/she then saves the changes and they are automatically live on the website. CMS systems, in theory, make simple changes very easy, even for someone who knows nothing about how a website works.Challenges With A CMS
I say, "in theory" because many CMS tools are not actually very user-friendly. They are designed by IT gurus who have a specific way of thinking that the rest of us don't automatically related to, so there is a learning curve. But even with a learning curve, the benefits would out-weigh the upfront investment in time, right? Well, the average law firm, dental office, plastic surgery practice, or ophthalmology practice doesn't need to make changes on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. This means that the person in charge of making updates, assuming that it's always the same person, has to re-learn the system every time he/she has to make a change. That kind of delay is frustrating and costs time and therefore money.Speaking of money, CMS websites can be more expensive than regular websites, and when you don't actually use the CMS side of the site, you might as well have built a traditional HTML site.
Another money issue is ownership and ease of transfer. Many CMS systems are built in proprietary software with templated designs. Sometimes these templated, "website-in-an-hour" websites are dirt cheap, and sometimes they are pricey. In either case, you have to really look at the fine print, because you may find that you don't actually own the website. So you've invested all this money in a website that you can't take with you if you want to leave your Web marketing company. The other problem is that, even if you don't own the website, finding another provider to host it may be a challenge. Some CMS systems require that the hosting server install a particular program, which not all hosts are willing to do, and if they do, the hosting fees go up. At Page 1, there are certain systems that we just cannot/do not work with, and if we want to work with one another, we have to rebuild the website in a format that we can actually use.
One of the main challenges that can prohibit us from working on a CMS website goes beyond simple hosting. CMS systems are many times designed with little to no consideration for search engine optimization. The most common and most problematic offense in this regard is the consolidation of header information. These systems will dynamically pull in title and meta tag information from one central location, which means that the website cannot be optimized on a unique, page-by-page basis. For example, not to get too technical, the meta tag on a truck accident page should look like:
meta name="keywords" content="Washington DC truck accident lawyer, Northern Virginia truck accident attorney"But if the meta tags are pulled from a central location, they would have to cover the entire scope of the practice, and so would look more like:
meta name="keywords" content="Washington DC lawyer, Northern Virginia attorney, medical malpractice lawyer, car accident attorney, defective product, truck accident lawyer, divorce lawyer, bankruptcy attorney"The latter example will tend to perform poorly on Google and the other search engines because Google can establish exactly what the page is about. There is not a high density for any one set of keywords.
Is A CMS Right For You?
Ultimately, you just have to look at your situation. If you have a ton of resources in terms of time and money to throw at your Web marketing, then you may be able to take a risk and develop a CMS system as long as it is done with SEO in mind. You have to be prepared to be more aggressive with your off-site SEO to compensate for the limitations that you may have in your on-site SEO.If you don't have the time and resource and/or you're not comfortable taking on any more risk than you have to in your marketing, then it's best to stick with the tried and true method of building a website based on the standards of Web design, programming, and search engine optimization. For the average practice, this is your best bet.
posted by Jonathan Fashbaugh
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8.19.2009
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Well, steady is the important part when is comes to blogging. Blogging can be a huge boon to your search engine optimization campaign IF you actually blog. Our hectic schedules can make it seem like we'll never have the time to make consistent blogging a reality, but there are a few things that you can do to make it happen:
So, use the strategy that best suits you. Just be sure that you have a strategy. A blog is worthless if it's left to disrepair.
- Schedule it. Actually block time out in your daily agenda. It doesn't have to be more than 15 minutes max. It you make it a priority, it will get done.
- Make it a team effort. You don't have to shoulder the responsibility of blogging on your own. Enlist the help of team members and create a blogging schedule. Tom blogs the first week of the month. Jenny the second. You the third. Angela the fourth.
- Pay someone to do it for you. At Page 1, we blog for our clients on an ongoing basis. The client decides how much they want us to blog, but the fact that we blog for them means that something is getting posted on a regular basis.
So, use the strategy that best suits you. Just be sure that you have a strategy. A blog is worthless if it's left to disrepair.
posted by Jonathan Fashbaugh
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Web Marketing Consultant:
Jonathan Fashbaugh
A cache of internet marketing insights from Jonathan Fashbaugh, a consultant at Page 1 Solutions. Check back frequently for great web marketing ideas for cosmetic dentists, personal injury lawyers, plastic surgeons, and ophthalmologists.
Favorite Internet Marketing Posts
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- Making The Website A Priority
- Does Web Marketing Make Sense for Orthodontists?
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