It’s 2019, and there are more options than ever before for marketing your business. There are traditional methods – direct mail, radio and TV ads, billboards, and word of mouth – and there are newer methods – online ads, reviews, social media, and websites. If you do only one thing about marketing your practice in 2019, it should be getting a website.
If you don’t already have a website, the thought may seem overwhelming. Websites bring a need for web design, development and programming, content, SEO (search engine optimization), and more. You own a local business, not a web design company! Luckily, there are few elements of a website that are truly necessary, and here at AudiologyPlus, we provide all of them.
If you already have a website for your hearing clinic, that’s a great start! However, because online marketing strategies change constantly, you will want to make sure that your website is modern and up to the latest standards. If you have not updated your website in a year or two, it’s probably getting lost in the competition.
Google has been the most popular search engine for years, and they often call the shots in how your website ranks in search results. Over the past few years, Google has changed how they display top local search results from a pack of the top 10 websites to the top seven, and from the top seven to the top three. With only three top local businesses highlighted on a Google results page – not to mention the encroachment of paid ad space – it’s more important than ever that you have a website and that it performs well in search engine rankings.
According to a recent study, there is a 75 percent correlation between organic website rankings and local pack presence on Google. This means that if your website performs well organically (or ranks high in the list of search results), then your website is more likely to be among the three highlighted local results. These highlighted results are more often clicked on by users, so your hearing clinic is more likely to gain new patients.
So, what about the impact of paid ads? While paid ads can help generate more clicks to your website, the best bet for long-term results is still a good website. Another study found that even on search result pages with Google’s Local Service Ads, 43.9 percent of users clicked on the organic (unpaid) search results. If your website performs well in organic rankings, you have a great chance of gaining new website traffic, which in turn means new patients.
As recently as 2017, CNBC found that 45 percent of small businesses did not have a website, and a recent analysis of Google My Business listings discovered that 27 percent did not have a website link. Nowadays, a website is essential to a strong marketing presence, even for small local businesses.
To ensure that your website performs well in organic search rankings, there are a few key elements to consider:
- Quality content with relevant keywords and useful information that potential patients are likely to search for and read. Think of some of your patients’ (especially new patients’) most frequent questions, and answer them right on your website.
- Link building with other local businesses. Natural link building, rather than paid links or link farming, is most effective. As a local business, consider opportunities for link building from sponsorships, online news, event participation or hosting, business associations, or B2B cross-promotions. Link building builds your authority within your local business community.
The key is to use modern SEO strategies to gain clicks on search engine result pages, and then draw website visitors to become new patients through a user-friendly, helpful website. To learn more about how you can boost your online performance and modernize your business’s website, please contact us at AudiologyPlus today.
