41 Chiropractic Internet Marketing Ideas
BY: MIKE HAMILTON
If you're confused by chiropractic internet marketing you're not alone. Over the years I've helped thousands of chiropractors with their marketing and very few understand the internet.
The 41 chiropractic internet marketing ideas listed in this article will give you the ideas you need to succeed in your city.
#1: Conversion Optimized Website
It's not enough to have a chiropractic website. You must have a "Conversion Optimized" website. A website that gets a new patient to take action.
The majority of chiropractic websites today are overloaded with information. Clients are not selecting you because of your philosophy or your technique. They are selecting you based on what you look like, what your office looks like, and how many reviews you have. Win the Know...Like...Trust battle and you win the new patient battle.
This should be one of the first chiropractic internet marketing ideas you work on.
#2: Properly Optimized Website
This chiropractic internet marketing idea is a very large topic, and it's a topic that very few people understand. Every chiropractic website company says they do SEO (Search Engine Optimization). While I agree that they do, there are different levels of SEO. Adding a page to the website is technically a form of SEO, but clearly there's more that can be done.
The reality of SEO is that it is an experts game today. 10 years ago, it was simple. There were a few cheats and tricks that would allow you to dominate the search. Today it's about legitimate work. You truly have to outdo your competition in the eyes of Google. It's a slow and steady process that takes expert level execution.
My suggestion here is to reach out to John on our team here at Inception. John is a world class expert in the area of Search Engine Optimization. In other words he understands how Google ticks, and what they want to see. I think you'll find a conversation with him will be beyond anything you've experienced in the past.
Here are just a few of the things you need to understand to achieve a top ranking chiropractic website:
Chiropractic Internet Marketing Ideas to
IMPROVE YOUR WEBSITE
#3: Call To Action
Idea #3: Call To Action
Every chiropractic marketing piece needs to have a call to action that's easy to see. About half of the chiropractic websites out there today don't have a call to action. The other half have a call to action that no one will find.
New patients spend about 5 seconds looking at your website, and if they don’t take action in that period of time they will leave. You only have a few seconds to attract a potential new patient. If they miss your call to action you're losing new patients.
Click here for a website that has a great call to action.
#4: About Us Page
Idea #4: About Us Page
Did you know that your about us page is one of the most visited pages on your chiropractic website. People want to see your picture, and they go to your about us page to see it.
You need to spend time really thinking out what you put on your about us page. Stop thinking about what you want to tell them and start thinking about what they want to know. Answer the questions that you know they have instead of forcing your services on them.
You also have to remember that they are only going to stay on that page for ten seconds or less. You're not going to be able to tell them your life story. Keep it short, use bullet points, and provide great pictures if you want to have success.
#5: Office Pictures
Idea #5: Office Pictures
One of the best chiropractic marketing ideas is Professional Pictures. When a potential new client visits your website they generally want to know what your office looks like. Having some pictures there can make a real difference. On top of that adding pictures to your website content can improve your on page optimization. Especially if the pictures have the proper alt tags.
Another way to use those pictures is to place them on pictures sites like Pinterest. Optimizing those pictures on sites like Pinterest can be a great SEO boost. Especially if your channel is receiving some traffic.
#6: Mobile Friendly
Idea #6: Mobile Friendly
As surprising as it is there are still a lot of chiropractors that don't have a mobile friendly website design. At Inception our clients have been mobile friendly for over four years. This is a big deal because it has a large impact on the rank of your website today.
It's also important that the mobile layout of your website is easy to navigate. Think about what a patient wants to see and make sure those things are at the top of the mobile layout. I'll give you a hint...they want to see who you are.
#7: Website Load Speed
Another important chiropractic internet marketing idea is the load speed of your website, on desktop and mobile, are very important. Google would like your site to load in under three seconds. You'll find that most chiropractic websites are well above that number.
Google knows that people leave websites that don't open quickly. They demote the rank of websites that take too long to load. Load speed is just one factor in the rank of your site, but it's an important one. Click here to check the load speed of your website.
#8: HIPAA Page
The information on this topic is a bit vague right now, but we feel it's important to have a HIPAA compliance form on your website. A few states are talking about this right now, and there has been some indication that Google wants to see this on healthcare related websites.
#9: Sitemap
A sitemap is a list of the pages on your website. Make sure that your chiropractic website has a sitemap. A sitemap gives Google and other search engines a map to the pages on your website. They use this file to more intelligently crawl your site.
I would guess it's a tiny ranking factor, but why not check off every box that you can in the eyes of Google. Click here to learn more about sitemaps and how to build one.
#10: Terms of Service Page
A terms of service document or a privacy policy should also be present on your website. Google has been pretty clear about wanting to see this on websites. Make sure your website has one. Click here to generate a terms of service page.
#11: User Metrics
In general user metrics refers to the number of patients that visit your website. It also is a measure of how much time they spend there, and what actions they take. The better your user metrics are the better your website will rank. In fact I would say that user metrics trumps all other factors. You could be doing everything wrong and still rank well if your user metrics look great.
Try to find ways to get your current patients to visit your website. While visiting they need to do something there. I can't give away all my secrets here, but this is a very important thing to work on.
Call us if you want to learn more about how to show Google this signal.
Chiropractic Internet Marketing Idea
#12: Video Marketing
Video Marketing is a chiropractic internet marketing idea that can be difficult, but it can be successful.
Here's what it looks like:
- You collect a bunch of video testimonials from your patients with different symptoms you've helped.
- You use Facebook paid advertising to send that video out to targeted demographic groups.
- You then send the people that click on your ads to a landing page that is specific to that topic or condition with an offer of some kind.
It takes a good deal of time and money to accomplish this. If your ads do work they can burn out and your approach must be reinvented. The companies doing this kind of work are charging a fortune, and they rarely live up to their promises.
If you can manage to do it on your own, and you're willing to spend thousands of dollars on ads, then it might work for you. I know very few chiropractors that are capable of pulling this off on their own, and I don't know of any companies that are really doing it properly.
Chiropractic Internet Marketing Idea
#13: Rank for Keywords
About once a week a client calls us asking about trying to rank for a specific keyword they are interested in. Keywords are not something that we just sprinkle into websites to get them to rank. They are a part of greater picture that Google is looking for.
Here's how I get myself ranking for the keywords I want to go after:
- I first write a good long article on the topic I want to rank for.
- I then insert my keywords into that article as naturally as I can within the text.
- Next I make a video about that topic and post it to YouTube.
- I then put that video in my article on my website.
- Finally I launch that article link out on my social media channels.
I could keep going with small additional things, but in general you need to show Google that you are the best place for information on that topic.
The more areas that Google sees your article, and the more robust your content is, the better it will rank. Do your best to provide the reader with everything they want, and Google will reward you.
#14: Landing Pages
This is a popular chiropractic internet marketing idea and we receive calls about it every week. Most of those calls are regarding landing pages for Facebook advertising. As I said earlier I don't think that kind of landing page is very effective at the moment. Facebook advertising can work for certain medical conditions though. If you work with neuropathy patients or you have a medically integrated practice it might be effective.
A landing page can be effective for traffic coming in from external advertising. As an example let's say that you bought a laser for your practice. You might try running newspaper ads about the conditions your can help with the laser. When someone reads your ad you need to give them a website address for more information. Having a topic specific landing page can be much more effective than sending that potential patient to a chiropractic website.
Landing pages have their place, but they are not the answer for everything. There are a lot of guru's out there today pushing this landing page idea hard. They'll tell you that you have to have them to collect leads that you can continue to nurture along. It sounds great, but it doesn't work.
ONLINE REVIEWS
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of consumers say they read reviews about a business0%
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of consumers will never write a review on their own0%
of consumers will take action after reading a positive review#15: Google Reviews
This is an important chiropractic marketing idea. Very few chiropractors have a plan for improving their Google Reviews. If you can show patients that you have the best reviews in your city you are ahead of the game. In most cities you're lucky to see a chiropractor that has any reviews.
For about four years we tried to get our clients at Inception Websites to implement reviews programs inside their office. What we finally realized is that almost no one could pull it off. We needed to find another way to accomplish this important task.
Today we offer an automated reviews program. This program allows us to gather reviews for you behind the scenes. Our clients using this system are leaving their competitors in the dust.
#16: Yelp Reviews
The only reason Yelp is important in most cities is because it ranks so well. You'll see Yelp listings at the top of most "Chiropractor CITY" searches. Be cautious with this entity. A bad Yelp review can do serious damage to your practice, and they are almost impossible to get rid of.
Here's my strategy for Yelp:
- Completely fill out your listing and add pictures
- Try to find patients that are regular Yelp users and get them to review you
- Avoid Yelp advertising if possible. You will be very lucky to generate any new business from this form of advertising despite what the Yelp commission salesman will tell you.
As a former victim of a bad Yelp review I know how bad it can get. Here's an article that I would suggest reading to understand how this company functions.
#17: Facebook Reviews
Reviews on all the major review sites are important and Facebook is one of the major players.
Facebook has a star rating system that lets your patients share their experience with others. Star ratings encourage more people to rate a business. The more Facebook reviews you have the better, but make sure they are legitimate. Establish a program that gives you consistent reviews.
We recently launched a new reviews program at Inception that helps our clients protect their online reputation. So far the results have been outstanding. Don't leave your reputation to luck. Click below for more information on this program.
#18: Collecting Leads
This one almost drives us crazy here at Inception Websites. The idea is that you create a condition specific page, or a "Landing Page", and somehow drive traffic to it. The person that somehow lands on your page is then supposed to give you their name and email in exchange for a free report or something you're offering.
Chiropractors do not get enough traffic on their websites to make this work. I suppose you could if you spent thousands of dollars on paid traffic, but is it really worth it? It might be if you collect prepays in your office, but if your visit to visit it's probably not going to work.
I would avoid any system that is built on collecting leads that you can market to. I've never seen it work, but there's a lot of hypesters selling it. As long as we keep falling for it they will keep selling it.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INTEGRATION
Chiropractic Internet Marketing Ideas to
IMPROVE YOUR DIRECTORY LISTING
#25: Google Local Listing
Idea #25: Google Local Listings
One of the big reasons that many chiropractors don't show up in the maps listings is due to their Google business listing errors. Having multiple verified pages, or no verified pages can cause your business to lose thousands of dollars in potential new patients.
This problem is so large that we have a team of people that work only on this issue for clients. If we fail to correct issues with Google listings we are failing our client. Interestingly very few companies in the chiropractic website industry work on these errors.
#26: MOZ Local
Idea #26: MOZ Local
One of the things that influences the rank of a website are the number of listings talking about your business on the internet. In the past Yext was the go to company, but today we feel that MOZ is the best option.
For a small yearly fee MOZ will place your listing on hundreds of different directory websites. This is a critical thing for any local business that wants to rank well in the maps and organically. There are other options like Whitespark to accomplish this task, but MOZ is the cheapest, easiest, and arguably the most powerful.
#27: Bing Listing
Idea #27: Bing Listing
Right now Bing has about 33% of web traffic. That's a significant amount and it's worth having a confirmed business listing with them. We'll see what the future holds for Bing, Yahoo, and AOL that are combining to oppose Google.
#28: Angi
Idea #28: Angi
As of 2021, Angie's List is now Angi.
The big news in 2016 was that Angie's List removed their pay wall. This means that the public now has access to Angie's List information without having to pay for a subscription.
If you haven't done so, I'd get your business listed there. The might just end up being the new Yelp.
#29: Blogging
There was a time when posting useless blogs into a website that no one reads could help you. But today you have to have people interacting with your content. A great way to do this is to email your list of clients about your blog. You might even consider giving patients an incentive to read your blogs. The more people you have visiting your website the more powerful your website will become.
#30: Guest Posting
I'm only talking about this one because I still hear people talking about it in the industry. Guest posting on other websites with the hope of getting a link back to your site is pretty much a waste of time for chiropractors. Finding a high quality website that will allow you to submit an guest posted article is very difficult. I personally don't think I would spend much time on this.
#31: Blog Comments
Blog comments on spammy websites used to be a great way to improve your website rank. Today that old strategy is a bad idea, but it is good to make proper comments on industry related websites. If you have something useful to say on a chiropractic related topic go for it. The more links you have coming to your site from topic related sites the better. Especially if those websites are are trusted by Google.
#32: Educational Webinar
Not many chiropractors employ this idea, and that's probably good. The concept is good, but the work it takes to get people to attend your webinar is tremendous. Obviously if you can have a captive audience listening to you speak it's a great thing, but how are you going to generate that audience? It's possible for Facebook to work for this, but it can be expensive to implement.
#33: Local Sponsorships
In the past it was a great idea to build links to your website from external sources. Building links is a great idea, but today the links have to come from trusted legitimate websites. As a chiropractor, where can you find links like this?
One area to consider is your market. Local links, or links coming to your website from local businesses in your area, can be very powerful. Try to find websites in your area that a lot of people visit each year.
Once you make a list of those websites try to find a way to get your business mentioned there with a clickable link to your website. One easy way to accomplish this is through a sponsorship. Most local groups will allow you to have a link if you sponsor them financially. Stay away from expensive sponsorships. Look for the ones that you can pay $50 a year for.
This is an easy way to boost the power of your site, but watch out for the common mistake that most doctors make. The links have to be one way. Most doctors run out to their friends in town and say, "I'll link to you if you link to me." That's a reciprocal link and most of the power is lost.
Chiropractic Internet Marketing Idea
#34: Facebook Paid Advertising
The latest hype in 2016 is paid Facebook advertising for chiropractic. The idea is that you run paid ads to your target demographic to generate multitudes of new patients. All you have to do is hand over thousands of dollars to the guru's that are selling the idea.
What I've heard here recently is that if you're willing to spend $3000 per month there is a company that is having success. That same company will only work with offices that are doing care plans. They don't feel you will see a good ROI if you don't offer prepaid care plans. I have a great deal of respect for them for saying that.
In fairness there is one way of doing this that we have not explored. I've heard some chatter from the people selling these services that doing paid ads on Facebook with testimonial videos works. They are running condition specific testimonial video ads and driving them to a condition specific landing page. There may be a possibility of this working, but it will be expensive. If it does work the time and expense of doing it may negate the benefits.
Most chiropractic marketing companies get paid first and worry about results later. I feel that results need to be proven before you start telling everyone they need to signup.
Chiropractic Internet Marketing Idea
#35: Google Adwords
Google Adwords or Google Pay Per Click Ads have been around for a long time. In 2016 Google has made some important changes to this form of advertising.
The first is that they have changed the look of the ads. It has become very difficult to distinguish between the ads and the organic listings. In the past many people avoided paid ads and when below them to the organic search. Today Google is hoping that you don't notice.
The second big change is that Google just rolled out a maps ad spot. It just started rolling out this week, but soon there will be a paid ad that is a part of the maps listings. This could be a big deal, but time will tell.
As of today Google Adwords is marginally effective for chiropractors. In most cities you will be spending $600 to $1500 just on the ads. That spend will likely result in around four new patients. In my opinion that's pretty expensive for that many patients, but it depends on how your office financials are setup.
There have been some new changes in the ad layouts recently which may make them more effective, but the jury is still out. Google Adwords is not a pot of gold, but it can produce a small profit if setup correctly. I think the new maps ad section is going to be a lot more promising.
Chiropractic Internet Marketing Idea
#36: Write An eBook
Let's talk about this one before you get too excited. If you actually do write an eBook it's possible that it could have some value. You could put a picture of it on your website, which might give you some credibility, but the chances of someone reading it are next to zero.
Ask yourself this question. If your dentist wrote an eBook would you read it? I bet you wouldn't and potential patients probably won't read your eBook either.
This isn't a bad thing to do, but your time as a doctor is precious. Do you have time to write a book that no one reads? I think there are better things you could spend your time on that would produce more new patients.
#37: Build An Email List
The best way to build an email list is to collect emails from your current patients. Once you have that list you can use Mail Chimp or something similar to reach out to your patients.
I can't stress the importance of sending something of value to your patients. Send out great recipes or something interesting to your patients each month. Stay away from drowning them in educational pieces. You can mix some of that in, but keep your content light and refreshing. You'll be surprised at how happy your patients are that you thought of them.
Another way chiropractors attempt to build a list is by putting an opt in from on their website. Guru's will tell you that you need to give away a free report and use niche specific pages with opt ins. I have never seen this tactic work for chiropractors. Chiropractors simply do not get enough traffic on their website to generate leads this way.
#38: Mail Your List
Most chiropractors understand that keeping in contact with patients is a good idea. Where they go wrong is in the way they try to stay in contact.
Just because it's good to stay in contact does not mean you can send anything. Sending canned garbage to a patients email box can do more harm than good. Spend a few minutes putting something together that has your heart in it and send that. A couple of well put together paragraphs will mean so much more than a canned newsletter with content they don't care about.
When you have something worth sending you can use services like: Mail Chimp, AWebber, or possibly Infusion Soft to send your messages out. I recommend Mail Chimp for most offices. It's free and it gets the job done. Infusionsoft is impressive, but at $300 per month it's probably not worth it for what you need to do.
Chiropractic Internet Marketing Ideas to
ADDITIONAL TOOLS FOR YOUR SITE
#39: Google Analytics
Google Analytics is great for showing you what pages people are visiting on your website and how long they are staying there. What it's told us is that patients generally spend about five seconds on the top of your "Homepage" before going right to your "About Us" page. They spend about five seconds on the top of that page also before either contacting you or leaving your website.
I wouldn't waste a lot of time trying to figure out the hundreds of data points inside of your Analytics account. I would look at it once or twice a year to see if people are going in the direction you think they are.
Once you know where they are going you need to make sure what they see on those pages is stellar. Simple is better. Think about what you would want to see if you were selecting a new dentist today. I doubt you would care about the new fancy drill they just purchased for you.
#40: Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools is important to keep an eye on the health of your website. It's a place for Google to communicate problems to you. It's also a place where you can submit pages for indexing.
Here are some things you can do with Google Webmaster Tools:
- Track your site's search performance
- Get support for your site
- Learn how to make a high-quality site
- Show up in search results
Google Webmaster Tools is a very useful tool for an agency like ours, but probably not something you need to spend a lot of time worrying about.
#41: Remarketing
Google Remarketing and Facebook Remarketing can be effective strategies, but it's important to understand how they work and where they make sense.
Remarketing allows you to more or less tag a lead that comes to a page on your website. When that person moves around the internet you have the ability to then show them ads about your business or services. You're able to "Remarket" them so that they don't forget about you.
It sounds amazing, but here's the problem. I haven't seen this be effective for the typical chiropractic office. Most offices simply don't get enough traffic to make this kind of system effective.
Now if you do a bunch of paid Google Adwords advertising or you do thousands of dollars of Facebook Paid ads then it may very well be effective, but you have to be driving a lot of traffic to build the mass necessary for remarketing.