Medical SEO

Just How Important Are Titles to Page Optimization?

MedicalSEO — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 22:51:35 +0000

Most of the time, the first thing the search engine spiders see when they crawl your site is the page title. Incidentally, it is the first thing most human readers see when they get to your site as well. Since they are so predominately displayed to both robots and human visitors, titles are considered an extremely important part of web page optimization.

Unfortunately for many amateur web designers, they read about website optimization and spend a great deal of time with only keywords and content optimization. They fail to see that beyond the keyword, there is a whole world of page optimization that they completely neglect. For evidence of this, keep an eye out for how many websites you visit that have Home or Index in the browser tab. This means they didn’t take the time to give their page a title, so they probably didn’t spend any time on page optimization either.

The Importance of the Title to SEO
When a search robot, or search spider, comes to a site, the title clues them into keywords that they should be looking for throughout the content. Likewise, when a visitor comes upon a web page, the title is often what gives them some idea as to what the site is about.

Failing to give your pages unique titles is basically neglecting both the search engines and your visitors. Make sure that you take the time to create page titles that help your site achieve the search engine ranking it deserves.

Spam and Email Marketing

MedicalSEO — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:44:17 +0000

With the amount of spam that proliferates email inboxes these days, it becomes harder to use email marketing as a way to get information out to patients. However, email newsletter services continue to run successful marketing campaigns for all sorts of websites. The trick is getting people to want your content so that:

They request your email newsletters
They make sure to keep your newsletter out of their spam box
They are concerned when your newsletter has not arrived on time

Successful Email Marketing
The keys to a good email marketing campaign can be attributed to interesting medical content and good SEO copywriting.

Interesting medical content is a no brainer. If you want people to read your newsletter it has to include more than just advertisements. It has to give visitors something they can use. Content about your medical practice can be useful, but it still looks like advertising. Instead, include information about current health trends. During flu season, talk about flu symptoms or what can be done to prevent catching the flu. Provide information on how nutrition can prevent illness or how exercise boosts immunity. SEO copywriting is a different story. You don’t necessarily have to concentrate your SEO efforts on your newsletter content, but website optimization brings visitors to your site. The more visitors that come to your site, the more opportunity you have to turn them into subscribers.

Steps in Medical Website Development Part V

MedicalSEO — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:14:53 +0000

At this point in the medical web development process, your website should be in a rough-draft state. Everything should be designed, developed, and complete. Now you will want to go through and make sure that everything works and that the website looks professional. Again, it is important to include others in these steps so that nothing is left unchecked and there is more than one opinion.

Testing – Step 8

This is the most important step in professional medical website design because nothing looks more unprofessional than broken links or technology that doesn’t work. Test everything, and have other people test it as well. Make detailed notes about things that don’t work and any aspect of your site that you may not be happy with. This is also a good time to review the notes that came out of the conceptualization stage and to ask, “Is this the website we envisioned, and does it meet the goal we set out to accomplish?”

Fixing any problems – Step 9

Once the notes of everyone who took part in the test stage have been reviewed, it is time to fix anything that is not working properly. Once something is fixed, test it again. Any problems with the content should be addressed here as well.

Launching the site – Step 10

Now that everything has been checked and double-checked, it is time to launch your website to the public. This would be a great time to send out press releases and submit your site to the pertinent directories to help improve the SEO of your website.

Steps in Medical Website Development Part IV

MedicalSEO — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:59:02 +0000

By now, your medical website design should be taking shape. You have a well-thought-out plan, you know what technologies are needed, you have designed the site, and you have built the pages. Now it is time to apply the technologies to your site and optimize your website copywriting for the search engines.

Developing the site – Step 6

It is time to apply the technologies agreed upon to your medical website. Medical web development can consist of something as simple as making sure you have linked to the necessary pages through your navigation system, or it can be as complex as installing a scheduling system onto your website. Whatever technical requirements you plan to apply, this is when they should be integrated.

It is important to remember that this phase of medical web design can take some time and can be quite frustrating. Some of the technologies required to run different elements of your website may require a lot of code to be written and a lengthy debugging process. Make sure that you keep your project within budget for both time and money in this stage.

Optimization – Step 7

At this point, you should begin optimizing the content of your website for the search engines. Search engine optimization is a highly specialized field, and you should make sure that you and your staff take the time to understand SEO before diving into it. It is also important to make sure that when optimizing your content, you don’t forget to write for your visitors as well.

Next: Steps in Medical Website Development Part V

Medical Practice Marketing Through Traditional Channels

Nic Nevin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:20:25 +0000

There are many different strategies to choose from when starting medical website marketing. Search engine optimization, sending out email newsletters, pay per click advertising, and link building are just a few ways that a medical marketing company may suggest to help bring your medical website to the top.

However, when deciding on what medical practice marketing strategies to use for your website, it is important not to forget traditional marketing channels as well.

Using a Traditional Medical Marketing Strategy

Since your medical website falls under technology, it is usually marketed using web technologies, and in the rush to build a strong online marketing campaign, other means of marketing can easily be neglected.

Include your website address on your stationary, brochures, business cards, and other print marketing. You may have to send these items back to the printer to include your website’s URL, the web address, but it is well worth the cost since people reading your marketing literature will likely visit your website for more information. Because they chose to pick up the marketing materials, they are more targeted than a random click as well.

While you are updating your marketing materials to include your URL, make sure any classified advertising or radio/television advertising includes your website address as well. Internet marketing companies will usually make sure that this is included in any campaign, so follow the pros and update these ads as well.

Finally, consider direct mail opportunities. Talk to your Internet marketing consultant about setting up a direct mail campaign that can help drive traffic to your website. You can include incentives in this type of marketing to help convert more people into patients.

Steps in Medical Web Design Part III

MedicalSEO — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:15:36 +0000

In Part II of this series, the planning stages of designing a professional medical website were covered. In this part, the actual design of the site will be looked at to better understand what needs to be done for the aesthetics of the web site and its usability.

Modeling – Step 3

Medical website design services will start this phase by drawing up several wire frame models of the website. When the website begins to take shape, it is important to assess what you like or dislike about the design. Like conceptualization, it is important to include others in this step to gain a better insight as to how the website looks to a wide audience.

Design – Step 4

When you have found a model for your medical web design that you are happy with, it is time to start designing the site. Using CSS, HTML, and any other technologies required, the site will begin to take shape.

Building web pages – Step 5

Once the skeleton of the website is completed in the design step, it is time to start building the pages. This step includes website copywriting, placing images, and incorporating other technologies. An important aspect of this step is the website’s usability. Make sure that the pages are easy to navigate, that they load quickly, and that they can be read rather easily. This is one of the most important steps in healthcare website development because if your website is not usable, people will not want to return.

Next: Steps in Medical Website Development Part IV

Steps in Medical Website Development Part II

MedicalSEO — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:11:47 +0000

In the first part of this article, the reasons for carefully planning your medical web development were spelled out, and the steps that many website design companies use were given. To better understand what each of these steps entail, we will break them down and explain how they apply to healthcare web development specifically.

Conceptualization – Step 1

The conceptualization step is when you brainstorm ideas for your medical website. This process should include yourself and any partners as well as your official staff. One of the most important things that should come out of this step is a goal for your website. Before you begin your medical web design, you should have a clear idea of what you want your website to do for you and your practice.

Technical Assessment – Step 2

Once you have decided what you want your website to do, you have to review the technology required. Medical website development has grown over the years, so there is a lot that is possible. If you wish to include a blog, the appropriate software needs to be installed. If you want patients to be able to make appointments through your website, you will need to have the code to allow this included, but also make sure that the patient’s confidentiality is not compromised. This step may affect the overall conceptualization of your website, but that’s okay. Make any changes necessary as a result of the technical assessment.

Once you have completed these two steps, you will move into the aesthetic stage of the medical web design process.

Next: Steps in Medical Web Design Part III

Steps in Medical Website Development

MedicalSEO — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:07:23 +0000

Professional medical website design can be a lot of work, but if done correctly, you can minimize the chore of having to fix different elements of your website after the fact.

When a website design company begins work on a new project, they don’t just rush in and start building pages. There is a process that they use to make sure everything goes smoothly throughout the development process. Your medical website design should be developed in the same manner.

The Steps to Professional Medical Website Design

The following steps, or ones that are similar, are frequently used by web designers.

Conceptualization
Technical assessment
Modeling
Design
Building the pages
Developing the site
Optimization
Testing
Fixing
Launching

Following each step can help make the process of designing a website for doctors much easier because it helps the designer build a foundation from which the site can grow. Without first conceptualizing what you want from your website, you may wind up adding more and more throughout the medical website development process. This is known as scope creep and happens when proper planning doesn’t take place. Scope creep can prove to be costly, as the project can quick spin out of control and take you away from the reason you are building a website for your practice in the first place.

In addition to giving you a solid foundation and keeping the development on track, following a plan similar to the one laid out above makes sure that you don’t forget anything. By the time you are finished with your medical web design, it is truly ready for the public to see.

Next: Steps in Medical Website Development Part II

Choosing the Right Medical Marketing Services

Nic Nevin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:21:45 +0000

Just as you wouldn’t expect your medical website designer to perform surgery, it is hard to expect your office staff to market your website effectively. There are some things that people in your office may be able to handle, but when it comes to really heavy duty marketing you may decide to go with those who are experts in medical marketing management.

The problem is that when you search online for medical marketing services, there are hundreds of thousands of results to choose from. Some may be internet marketing consultants that carry a wide variety of clients and some may specialize in marketing a medical practice. These are easy to sort through. The difficulty comes when you have narrowed down your list to 5 to 10 different companies. How do you choose the best one for your needs? By asking the following questions, you can more easily weed out the marketing companies that aren’t right for you.

Do they understand medical marketing? Unlike tangible products that people buy online, you are marketing your services. It is important that your Internet marketing consultant understands that. Also, make sure they are knowledgeable when it comes to medical keywords and developing a strategy surrounding them.
Are they current regarding SEO trends? Traditional marketing and online marketing have intersected over the last few years, but not all marketing companies understand the intricacies of SEO. Make sure that the company you are dealing with is well versed in SEO strategies to build local organic traffic.
Do they really understand social media marketing? There are many out there that claim to be social media rockstars, but when it comes down to medical promotion they fall short.

The best way to see if a marketing service is all hype or if they can produce is to sit down and discuss your expectations, and listen to the strategies they plan to use to meet your goals.

Guest Posting for Local Website Traffic

MedicalSEO — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:16:17 +0000

When people think of guest posting on blogs it usually doesn’t fall under their local Internet marketing strategies. Blogs, people assume, are global sites, and when you guest post on them you are reaching a global audience. However, many blogs can help bring more local website traffic to your medical site. You just have to know where to look for them.

Newspaper Blogs for Local Website Promotion
Many newspapers have turned to blogs to help increase page views for their websites. This is a perfect place to start. Contact your local paper and ask them if you can contribute an occasional guest post on a medical topic. Small papers are especially welcoming to community members contributing. While they get the benefit of a professional opinion, you get some free local online marketing. Don’t be surprised if they ask you to contribute more regularly if you write well though!

Community Driven Sites
Larger cities often have a number of blogs that speak directly to their citizens. These too offer you a great way to hone in on website localization. By offering to write a guest post on a health related issue that is timely, you can help make more people in your locale aware of your medical website.

Television Station Websites
Even some of the local television affiliates are starting to embrace blogging as a way to increase local website traffic. By producing some relevant guest posts on these sites you can piggyback on their web localization efforts and tune more local residents into you and your practice.