Websites and traffic

One of the most frequent requests we receive is to heighten a websites position on the search engines.

So lets break this down and learn what this question is really asking. In another post we will address marketing strategies to increae website traffic.

Wikipedia offers a concise definition ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization ):
Some key points from there are:

1. Google remains the dominant search engine worldwide as of 2007, garnering about 75% of all searches.

2. Eye tracking studies have shown that searchers scan a search results page from top to bottom and left to right (for left to right languages), looking for a relevant result. Placement at or near the top of the rankings therefore increases the number of searchers who will visit a site.[35] However, more search engine referrals does not guarantee more sales.

3. SEO is not necessarily an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be much more effective, depending on the site operator's goals.[36]A successful Internet marketing campaign may drive organic traffic to web pages, but it also may involve the use of paid advertising on search engines and other pages, building high quality web pages to engage and persuade, addressing technical issues that may keep search engines from crawling and indexing those sites, setting up analytics programs to enable site owners to measure their successes, and improving a site's conversion rate.[37]

4. SEO may generate a return on investment. However, search engines are not paid for organic search traffic, their algorithms change, and there are no guarantees of continued referrals. Due to this lack of guarantees and certainty, a business that relies heavily on search engine traffic can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors.[38] It is considered wise business practice for website operators to liberate themselves from dependence on search engine traffic.[39] A top ranked SEO blog Seomoz.org[40] has reported, "Search marketers, in a twist of irony, receive a very small share of their traffic from search engines." Instead, their main sources of traffic are links from other websites.[41]

So, what does all this mean for clinical professionals? Optimize your site, promote your site in organic ways and make sure not to forget to use traditional marketing methods to drive traffic to your site.

Blogging slowdown

Well, as you can tell blogging is not for the faint at heart. It has been a year since we started a blog and the year went by with many priorities pushing the blog by the wayside.

Starting again.....like in life and in marketing our practices, we are starting again....picking up where we left off to see if the outcome is different this time.

2008 has brought escalating gas prices and a mortgage crisis with it.....it has captivated readers of newspapers and the economy is a huge topic of discussion for many.

Luxury items like SUV's and therapy appointments get put on hold and not purchased. So what is a therapist to do?

This can be a great time to re-evaluate your marketing plan. Expand your client list and load. Consider new target markets with different demographics. So far this blue collar "recession" has not taken hold with white collar workers. Target doctors, lawyers, executives in local companies as a new possible source of clients.

What about your website? Do you have one yet? If so get it updated with key infomation for new possible client groups. If you do not have a website what are you waiting for? White collar people are shoppingon the interent and you should have your business available for them to shop at when they are online.

Think about it , act on it, reap the benefits.

What ideas do you have for reaching the millions of online searchers and shoppers?

How many patients does your practice get from the internet? We want to know!!