When it comes to Internet marketing, doctors often ask us: Is it better to focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or paid advertising, also known as CPC (Cost Per Click). The truth is that you should probably do both, but if you have to settle on one, go with SEO.
While building up your search engine ranking takes up to six months, it’s worth noting that you are building up traffic that will stick with you indefinitely.
If you have your blog set up correctly, you are providing a source of information that is unique and valuable to your audience. The more time you invest in blogging, the more people will come back to visit again and again.
Advantages of Organic Traffic
- Organic traffic is an excellent way to grow your website.
- It’s free, and it’s fast.
- Organic traffic will help you build a more substantial, loyal, and engaged audience by targeting the right people with the right message.
- Organic traffic is free, which allows you to use your budget for other marketing strategies.
Paid Traffic aka. CPC
SHANKX doesn’t like to rely too much on paid advertising. We’d much rather help you build up organic influence that will stick with you, and grow with you.
The cost per click in the medical space can be very expensive. Unless you’re a large system with a huge marketing budget, it’s unlikely that paying up to $250 per click makes sense for you. Using hospital tactics as a small practice is one of the biggest mistakes one can make.
Yelp Marketing for Healthcare Professionals
We do think that Yelp makes sense for small providers if they are paying for new patient leads. One of the strong elements of Yelp is that users are ready to engage in a transaction almost immediately. This allows for a quick evaluation of the ROI on Yelp. If you are interested in running ads on Yelp, please do reach out to us!
For healthcare professionals who would like to be more independent and learn how they can be their own marketers or take marketing in-house, we do offer live webinars at https://shankx.healthcare