Create your website through the basics of medical marketing, because patients will not wait any longer until you create a website. While reading this article, thousands of Internet users in Egypt and the Arab world are searching for the best medical center using search engines, and comparing several options – Until now, your site is not among them.
Creating A Website Is the First Step Towards Effective Medical Marketing to Increase Patient Visits
People consider the website to be the new interface of the medical center, and the development of electronic means of communication has provided people with the ability to check the website of the doctor before physically visiting him.
An opinion poll indicates that 61% of patients compare at least two websites before they decide to book an appointment. Hence, you have to be present online, otherwise, you will lose a large portion of your potential patients.
The High Number of Egyptians Who Visit the Website Before Booking An Appointment
The culture of online shopping has expanded and now it is more than purchasing products online. Egyptian patients now trust the Internet to recommend a physician and book medical appointments.
84% of Egyptians use their mobile phones to search for a product or service online before making a purchase, according to a report prepared by the British research company Public First.
(Source: Al Watan)
Google statistics also indicate that Egyptians’ search for doctors has increased steadily over the past few years.
Read also: Five Myths about Medical Marketing
Is Medical Marketing through Social Media Sufficient? Or A Website Is Needed?
As a general rule in medical marketing, you should know the platform that potential customers use and their choice of marketing channel, to ensure that your services are exposed to the largest possible number of patients.
According to Pew statistics, 77% of patients use search engines to find the best clinics, while only 1% search on social media.
If you limit your medical marketing to social media marketing only, you’re limiting and restricting your potential to reach new customers.
Digital marketers also believe that the link between your medical website and social media channels strengthens your professional presence, increases patient awareness of your brand, creates more opportunities for content publishing, and a longer life span of your content.
Four Important Factors to Attract More Patients to Your Clinic
In many cases, your patient’s first impression comes from your medical website.
It is important that you understand the importance of owning a website – and focus on the following aspects:
1. Good design gives your patient confidence
Whenever the patient is looking for information he wants to acquire it quickly and easily during his visit on your website. The higher the quality of your website design, the more it gives credibility to your clinic
Read also: Branding your medical practice
If your website is designed with a high level of professionalism, this will give the patient a glimpse of the quality of health services your clinic provides.
2. Quality content attracts patients to you
“Content is king”
Bill Gates – January 1996
Content plays a major role in improving your online presence, and it contributes greatly to attracting patients to your clinic.
Your website can display two types of content:
Essential content:
Such as the clinic’s address and map directions, phone number, and social media channels, making it easy to find you, and providing the necessary information that answers common patients’ inquiries.
Creative and medical content:
Read also: Online Medical Marketing for Pharmacies in Saudi Arabia
This is important in improving your online presence. Patients search for medical services daily on search engines.
Studies have proven that one in every twenty Google searches is about health services and information, and its users expect to obtain information from an expert. (Source: Google)
Including high-quality medical content to your website is the first stone to build trust with new patients for your clinic, ensure your website appears in the first results of the search engines and receives more traffic.
3. User-friendly websites encourage patients to book an appointment with you
Many people visit the medical website to find a suitable doctor, and it is important that it is easy to use because the user is often in distress because of his illness – or the illness of a member of his family – and does not want to be preoccupied with details that may not help him.
So checking the performance of all the pages of your medical site, creating a section for the medical services you provide, and making sure that it is easy to use on computers and mobile phones, will increase the patient’s chances of booking an appointment with you.
62% of mobile phone holders (of all ages) search for health services, and 75% of mobile phone holders (between the ages of 18-29) search for health services.
4. The possibility of booking through the website
The website is not just a promotional tool; it is a direct educational and interactive platform with patients, so that they can book appointments, after reviewing the physician’s experience and services.
The website provides the user with the ability to book and schedule an appointment with ease and comfort, without the hassle of visiting the doctor’s office or making a phone call, and this increases the number of patients coming to your clinic.
The clinic and hospital website has tremendous visits every day to book and check-in. All of these factors made patients turn to search engines to see the best medical websites.
