The New Consumer
We are seeing a macro trend towards people making their own medical decisions. There’s a reason that the pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars a year on advertising their products, and WebMD gets millions of people on their site every month for the same reason. People want to feel in control of their lives. They want to feel smart. They don’t just go to a Primary Care doctor and take their word and referrals as gospel. The best case scenario is that patients get a referral and then do a search to see the reviews and the website. They could also go and do a search on their own scouring Google, Vitals, and other sources to see who they should trust.
While it’s hard to remember a world without smartphones and the internet, we have to realize that all of the work with review sites, directories, ratings, and the rest are inventions of the last decade when it comes to medicine. *The best doctors and practices are focused on tapping into the exponential improvements in technology in order to deliver exceptional patient outcomes, not top search results on Google. That’s where we come in. (*The best doctors have been harnessing new technologies to create better patient outcomes. The rest have been using technology to look like they’re the best.)
The average patient is the average consumer, and the average consumer has been taught that the best will be in the top spot on Google. The best will be on Page one. Retailers and Media companies spend billions on optimizing search results every year and getting top billing. They’ve trained an increasingly impatient consumer to expect instant gratification because the cream rises to the top. The best products appear at the top, and the most relevant new articles appear at the top. Why would the best doctor be buried on Page 3? Google is creating the first impression for you and your competitors. Do you want to trust them with the future of your practice or do you want to trust us?
Your Reputation-Your Future
When you hire a company to handle your web presence, you’re entrusting them with your reputation and the future of your business. How seriously are you taking this decision?
Your reputation is being written on the internet. Do you want it to be an autobiography written by you or a biography written by the masses?