How to Teach Web Site Visitors and Build a Larger Patient Base

Updated November 10, 2014 -

© Günter Menzl - Fotolia.com

Your website is sometimes the very first impression that your prospective patients have of you and your staff.  If your site is designed with engaging content, informative videos, and easy-to-find information they will be able to find what they are looking for.

Ultimately, because of the content on your web site, they should arrive at the conclusion that you are their first choice.  Teaching patients in the following three ways are some of the basic elements that cannot be left out of your web site.

Here are some tips for teaching online that will help you convert more site visitors into patients…and that’s the goal, right?

Good Quality Content = Success

Content is the single most important element of your web site and your medical marketing strategies.  The reason for this is because society has come to expect that the Internet is where we can go to get information and learn about the topics we are researching.

For aesthetic patients, it is crucial for them to be able to learn how a procedure works, what is entailed in the actual procedure, and the healing times and complications to anticipate.

If your site comes up in Google search results and is exactly what they were searching for, then they will see you as the expert.  Instant trust is built and they will be more likely to contact you for a consultation.

Video-Based Teaching

Videos are the most effective means to turn site visitors into patients and to effectively achieve your practice marketing goals.  Since people learn in different ways; visual, auditory, and by reading, it is beneficial for you to provide information on your site in these three mediums.

Visual learning can be accomplished through videos that can be simple PowerPoint presentations, short clips of patient testimonials, or even recordings from live procedures in the operating room.  Auditory learning can be accomplished through video as well but can also be through a podcast recording posted on your site.

You should also have a YouTube channel to showcase all of your videos and help YouTube visitors connect back to your web site in the video description.

Reading-Based Teaching

As far as providing reading-based teaching, be sure that your web site has dedicated pages for each of the procedures you perform.  You should also reach out to your potential patients through blog posts, medical social media marketing, email newsletters, and press releases.

These are all excellent ways to teach online while getting maximum exposure for your website through strategic medical marketing.  You will naturally attract patients as well as other authoritative web sites related to your specialty that will link back to your site.

The result will be your web site gaining crucial ground with Google rankings!

Educate Them, Don't Sell to Them

Something else to remember is that your web site visitors are there to learn from you, not to be sold to.  You’re not openly in the business of pushing procedures on people who don't feel that they need them, and your website should not convey that.

Instead, provide a casual, yet professional feel to your site.  What this means is that although you obviously want them to schedule a consultation, you don’t want to come across as selling at them.  This is the best way to flex your practice marketing muscles!

Instead of selling at site visitors, provide pages that educate them first.  Let them come to you and find what they were looking for.  Then, offer them the opportunity to get in touch with you.

If you choose to list your pricing, don’t put your prices in multiple places all over your web site to drive home the point.  Rather, include one page of pricing and you can link your other pages to your pricing page, where applicable, via links that say “view our pricing” or something like that.

By following these guidelines for communicating with patients on your web site, you’ll have a well-informed, trusting patient from the very first web site visit.  There’s no better way to connect with your patients online than through great web site content!

Ready to Start Making a Difference in Your Bottom Line?

If you need help with an overhaul of your web site content so that more visitors become patients, contact us today at 951.665.8360.  We provide a full array of medical practice marketing services for plastic surgeons, cosmetic dentists, and dermatologists.