For some time, Google’s been showing search results differently for geographically specific search terms. In English, that means when someone searches for something like “Chicago chiropractor”, “Las Vegas Acupunture”, or “Miami Massage Therapy” the results that come up look a little different.
To see the difference in the search results, click on these two links (they open in a new window):
If you don’t have a blog by now, you likely know someone who does. In fact, as of April 2007, there were approximately 120,000 new blogs being started each day. That’s right - each day.
So…as a practitioner, do you need one? Should you have one? Do you want one? Does it matter?
The other day I gave a little insight into how our website is going to bring us an estimated 100 new patients next year.
Today’s job? Teach you how to replicate this for your site using search engine optimization - creating your site in a way that helps it rank higher on search engines like Google. (If you’re not doing this on your own, pass these on to your web-geek. Web designers are often designing for looks not results, and a few little things can make a big difference.)
Let’s get this right out in the open: I don’t think you should create or update your own website.
Unless you really love doing it, it’s not worth your time. As a CAM practitioner, your time is better spent on your practice or on other things you love.
To kick off the practice website series, I want to focus on giving you some why before the how. Understanding exactly why your website will contribute to practice growth makes it a lot easier to dedicate the resources to creating your first website or improving your existing one.
Although you can make money directly online - you can sell supplements, run ads, sell books, etc. - the reality is that it takes some time and dedication to make money doing business this way. For the average CAM practitioner, your practice website is about patients. And although you can create good reasons for people to regularly re-visit your site, it’s new patients that provide a particularly compelling motive for having a website and making sure it does its job.
The posts from CAM Practice Website Series are listed below, including:
The posts are CAM-practitioner-friendly: as low-tech, and high-impact as possible. They should be helpful for any practitioners who don’t currently have websites, or those who want to get more out of their existing site.
NDUnion is a new website for Naturopathic students and alumni, with a mission to provide “open and secure communciation within the Naturopathic community.”
If you’re a grad or current student of a four-year graduate level Naturopathic medical school, you can post ads and events, network with other ND’s, and even get a free one page personal website from NDAccess. Registration is free.
