How much time and attention do you give to your online doctor profiles? Maybe your profile hasn’t been updated in a few years, or maybe you didn’t realize that you had a doctor profile. You may not give your online presence much thought, but potential patients and healthcare consumers do.
Finding a doctor can be frustrating for healthcare consumers. They’re most likely to turn to Google to start their search, often looking for a physician in their neighborhood who takes their insurance.
Millennials may not be in the market for a primary care physician and may be open to nontraditional care settings like retailers with a doctor on hand. Many rely on reviews of doctors. Those reviews often focus more on feelings about interactions, wait times, or billing than on medical outcomes or quality of care.
Overall, people looking for a doctor find that there isn’t much information available; the information they do find tends to be untrustworthy. You can make a difference by following these recommendations for doctor profiles at your website.
1. Share credentials.
Your prospective patients want to know where your physicians went to school and what board certifications they have. Information on healthcare grader sites may be inaccurate, so don’t skip this.
2. Include photos.
You may be surprised to learn how much attention your web visitors pay to the photos of your doctors. Go for a warm and competent look, and spring for professional shots.
3. Be thorough.
You want your doctor profiles to show up at the top of the page when people search for doctors by name. Incomplete or inaccurate information may reflect poorly on your practice. Have a complete, fact-filled profile of your doctor.
4. Do your keyword research.
You might think “board-certified pediatric physician” is the best description of your team members, but people are more likely to search just for “pediatrician” or even “baby doctor.” Use terms people search for and you’re more likely to show up in searches.
5. Use ordinary language.
A prospective patient may search for lung care without knowing the word “pulmonologist.” Use the most accurate terms, but explain any jargon and be clear.
6. Consider including cost information.
In surveys, health care consumers say they want to be able to compare costs. New hospital regulations haven’t helped with that.
7. Include personal information.
Your physicians’ family status, charity work, and hobbies help to round out the doctor profile and help prospective patients feel connected.
8. Focus on quality.
Google would rather show content with no grammatical errors, typos, or spelling mistakes. Google also prefers well-written, well-organized content.
9. Hire an SEO writer.
A good SEO copywriter will create consistent profiles for all the physicians in your practice and make sure that they communicate well with search engines.
10. Don’t forget social media.
Consumers often check out physicians on social media. What’s more, healthcare providers and facilities often have unofficial Facebook pages and other social media that isn’t under their control unless they make the effort. Make the effort.
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