3 Best Practices for Promoting Your Healthcare Organization Online

While they typically have more KPIs to track and measure than private sector firms — such as clinical care standards and HIPAA compliance — the fact remains that healthcare organizations are indeed businesses, which means to remain strong and successful they must onboard a steady stream of loyal, profitable patients.

To that end, here are 3 proven and practical best practices for promoting your healthcare organization online: 

1.  Showcase a World-Class Website

According to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a growing number of people are surfing the web to find a diverse range of health-related information, such as when they need to seek advice from an orthopedic surgeon. As such, healthcare organizations need to make sure that their web footprint is truly world-class, since if it falls short, they may not get a second chance to spark a relationship.

2.   Don’t Shy Away from Social Media

Despite the fact that social media has been around for several years — heck, Facebook is nearly 15 years old — some healthcare organizations remain reluctant to dip their digital toe in the social media waters, because, well, it seems a bit too “consumer-driven.” That is, social media may be great for gadget makers and rock bands, but it’s a too informal for the conventional, traditional and science-minded healthcare space.

However, many potential patients view social media as a legitimate communication channel, and rely on them to both learn about a healthcare organization, and in some cases reach out and make contact. What’s more, some healthcare organizations that don’t have a social media presence can have that omission held against them, since it makes them look like they’re stuck in the past. This is especially the case with younger cohorts (e.g. Millennials and Generation Z), for whom social media is as ordinary and conventional as the web itself.

3.  Generate an Ongoing Stream of Fresh, Relevant Content

Unlike some e-commerce websites where visitors are primarily interested in browsing products, people who visit healthcare organization websites are seeking information. As such, it’s vital to meet this demand by generating an ongoing stream of fresh, relevant content — typically through blog posts.

As an added and important benefit, pushing out good content helps with search engine visibility, which simply means that a healthcare organization’s web pages (and hence, its website) will show up when people search for keywords, such as “pediatric doctor” or “orthopedic surgeon.”

The Bottom Line

Whether they help people alleviate pain and discomfort or achieve optimal health and wellness — or often, all of the above — healthcare organizations play a vital role in the community, and in the lives of their grateful patients.

But that can’t and won’t happen — at least not to its full potential — if healthcare organizations are “the best kept secrets” in their marketplace. The above best practices help prevent that from happening, which means more helping, more healing, and more success for healthcare organizations and patients alike!