Every podiatry business wants more new patients and throwing thousands of dollars each month at Google Ads is not the answer. It may seem like a smart thing to do because everyone else is doing it, but there is a better way that will save you money ($) and give you better results.
Taylor Cutler is the Head of Marketing at Podium Australia, and today we discuss how you can improve your online reputation, generate a constant flow of positive Google reviews and the benefits of using one platform to communicate online with your patients.
PODIUM is a rich communication platform that health practices use to communicate back and forth with their patients via text messages. It can be used for appointment reminders, setting appointments and generating online Google reviews.
Modern Consumers and Patients
Our patients are no different from average consumers, they want convenience, and they want instructions to be easy to follow.
Amazon and other online retailers have taught consumers they can order almost anything and with just a few clicks of the keyboard have it delivered to their door, and they want this type of convenience across the board.
How Are People Finding You?
Online bookings are now commonplace, yet some people still want that personal touch and prefer to talk to someone on the phone, but even these people are finding you online.
They are not staring at a billboard on the side of the road and typing in your phone number.
Simple SEO
If you have good SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), you’ll get more people finding you online when they search, and there are two types of SEO, Normal SEO and Local SEO.
WARNING: Some companies throw around terms like metadata to try and confuse you and make you think you need an agency, and you don't.
Smartphones
The smartphone has been the biggest disruptor to how we search for information. Not too long ago if you wanted to search for a business or service, you would have to wait until you get back to your computer at home or work, but now everything you need is in the palm of your hands.
Micro-Moment (termed by Google)
A micro-moment is when a person is in a moment when they WANT to BUY or DO something, and as business owners, we need to take advantage of these moments.
This is why Local SEO is way more critical than Normal SEO.
"When someone does a local search on their smartphone, 76% will visit a physical place within 24 hours of that search, and 28% of those people will make a purchase".
Google My Business Listing
When someone searches for a Podiatrist, you want to be in the top three of the local business search. Being on page one is less important these days.
How can you get in those top three spots?
- Relevance (are you a podiatrist, so that's easy)
- Distance (how close are you to the person searching)
- Prominence (how prominent is your business)
Prominence is based around your online reputation. How many online reviews do you have and how often are they coming in?
You have no control over Relevance and Distance, so the only thing you can control is your Prominence.
4 Factors with Local Search Rankings
- Recency (When was the last time you received an online review)
- Frequency (How often are the reviews occurring)
- Quality (Did they leave a star rating or did they write a well-written review using keywords Google looks for, like BEST podiatry clinic) )
- Quantity (how many reviews do you have)
Once you understand the importance of getting reviews, you need to start inviting your patients to leave an online review, and you need to ask everyone, not just suitable patients.
How Can You Make The Process Frictionless?
The modern consumer wants the review process to be convenient and super easy to do. If there are too many steps involved, they will not do it.
PODIUM uses text messaging via their app because text messages have an open rate of 99%, and most occur in the first three minutes.
Set the Expectation
You cannot just send a text to a patient asking for a review without first explaining the HOW, WHEN & WHY.
Patients have a sense of empathy and like feeling important, and if you explain what to do, they are extremely more like to leave a review.
Your Team
You could have the best review process in place (like using PODIUM) and still not get good reviews because your team give poor service, so everyone on your team needs to be well trained and wants to be part of the team.
Two Things You Should Do Immediately:
- Claim your Google My Business listing and make sure you own it and if it's not set up, create it. Just type in Google my business (This is the beginning of your local search optimisation)
- Make sure all your name and practice details are consistent on all online profiles and websites.
Google Ads Versus Rankings
Google Ads do work, but a lot of patients will quickly move past them and look at the businesses below in order as they are ranked. What do you do when searching?
If you rank below 3.2, patients will move straight past you and onto the next listing. You should have a ranking higher than 4.0 because often Google excludes businesses from specific searches if they fall below 4.0.
The magic number is 4.9
"One of the dumbest things you can do is buy reviews because Google can blacklist you".
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