Have you ever done an online search for your healthcare practice to see what business directories show your profile? Or have you ever seen your practice appear on a website like Yelp or YellowPages.com, yet you never added yourself to this online listing service – and in fact, the information provided isn’t even correct? Over the past several years, hundreds of online directories, both business and medical, have sprung up to help people find the right healthcare provider. But if you haven’t claimed your listings, then chances are you are losing out on a lot of new patients.
What Makes Online Directories/ Listings Important?
Online directory listings are available 24/7, which makes them a significant part of your digital marketing strategy. Unfortunately, many of these directories create profiles for you and your practice without your even knowing it. They do this by pulling data from other sources, which often leads to profiles with inaccurate, missing or outdated information (think old address, wrong phone number) that can have a big impact on your practice.
Adding Information to Your Online Directories
Claiming your online directory listings allows you to edit your information, including your address, logo, contact information, video links, office hours, specialty and social media links. We suggest creating an outline of the content you will use for your listings to ensure you use the exact same information for each one. Details as minor as the formatting of your phone number, how your office hours are entered, and whether you use DPM on one site and D.P.M. on another can lead to confusion for potential patients.
You can also customize your profile when you claim your listings. We suggest making the most of the expanded listings offerings to provide as much information as people in your community might need to help them make the decision to choose your practice. And don’t forget to include a link to your website! Once search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing see a link from an online directory to your practice’s site, they’ll consider you “reputable” and will accordingly push your website up in the search rankings.
Many healthcare-focused directories, such as WebMD.com, Healthgrades.com, and Vitals.com, also allow patients to leave reviews. Online reviews can have the power to make or break your practice, so it’s important to understand how your responses can impact your practice. They can not only help amplify awareness of your practice with new patients, but they can even minimize potential damage from a bad review. (Here are some Do’s and Don’ts of Responding to Online Reviews.)
If you haven’t claimed your online directory listings yet, you may have the wrong information reaching potential patients, not enough information on the web, or find bad reviews or comments that could be affecting your practice in a negative way.
Managing and monitoring each and every directory listing takes time – time which most medical practitioners would rather spend taking care of their patients! That’s why iHealthSpot offers a full range of online marketing services, providing the expertise and experience that you need to create online directory listings that will help you grow your practice. If you are interested in learning more, contact us today, toll-free at (877) 709-0999 for your FREE consultation with our experts today!
