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Most practices have had to tread uncharted waters given the pandemic. Doctors not familiar with available technology found themselves browsing tutorials and help articles on how to integrate telemedicine into their routines. But prior to COVID-19, technology has long been in use to augment and improve practices through an online presence. Here are some reasons why you should get your practice up and running online.
The Online Market
Like any customer to any good product, your patients looking for healthcare services will be searching for the best packages online. It’s true that you could have gotten by without the internet in the days before COVID-19, but there may have been one or two opportunities missed because your clinic couldn’t be located online. It rings all the more true nowadays as practitioners who developed websites or social media pages are garnering more business under the quarantine.
Reputation and Visibility
An online presence will market your practice and get your potential patients to know you better. When looking at healthcare online, it’s the same as any business. Customers (i.e., your patients) want to learn more about brands (i.e, the quality of your practice). Having an online platform allows customers to have easy access to information regarding a business’s products, services, and goals as a ‘company’. This is no different from a healthcare practice. Investing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will help your practice gain exposure and visibility.
Allow Potential Customers To Find You
Businesses can get ahead and reach potential customers easily when they’re online. This can be done through search engine optimization. Optimizing your online platform/s for search engines will help you gain exposure and visibility in search engines, and establish your identity on the Internet. SEO, if done right, will bring in customers who are actively seeking to find your product or service.
Communication and Response
On social media, you can address concerns and garner insight or feedback in realtime. Yes, this may be done through the telephone – but that limits your message to the sender and receiver only. An online presence serves as a banner for all to see. As most shops have opted or were mandated to remain closed, the most traffic you’re going to get into your practice is through an online platform. It allows you to communicate with other doctors or potential patients. It gives you space to display your services and foster more genuine relationships with patients from the vast distance of cyberspace.
With most conventions thrown out the window, businesses and practices have had to adapt to the shifting times. Investing in an online presence is a cost-effective way to remain relevant and in view of the public. The more traffic you get, the more patients will be drawn to your practice.
Antoinette Tiu started writing as a student journalist at age 11. Ten years later, she still finds herself at the service of creating meaningful content for her readers. When she isn’t writing, you can find her finishing an oil painting, taking portraits and stories of locals (wherever she may be based), or recreating runway looks on her Instagram.
