Creative Ways to Add Content

Everybody knows content is king on the search engines, but quality combined with quantity are what make a site go from good to great. Just like inventions, it is important to think about what you could do to make your website different from other websites. Uniqueness is just as important as heavy content.

Here are some ideas to tailor your website exclusively for your LASIK practice:

* Add a Blog or Forum

Blogs or forums allow for frequently updated content to be added to your site. Usually the topics are keyword heavy and relevant to your site. Blogs and forums are easily customizable and are a great way to gain a regular readership base. Whether your blog or forum is about the most recent findings in vision correction, basic eye health, your LASIK practice or just social commentary, it is sure to spruce up your site.

* Reviews

Whether you are reviewing new products or new procedures, reviews are a great way to get your name out there as a reference on the subject. You cannot only publish reviews on your site; you can also send them to online publications. By getting articles out there, you are promoting yourself and your practice. It often does not matter what your opinion is, it is more important that you have one.

Noël Otten
Account Manager
Page 1 Solutions

Creating Effective Email Campaigns

Many times clients will setup email campaigns thinking that they can produce results by sending out a monthly solicitation to a list of potential leads. As we all know, SPAM is aggravating and many times these emails are viewed as SPAM. It’s often times hard for a practice to accept this, but the fact is, that unless you are providing useful information you’re no better than the Viagra resellers.

So how do you re-purpose your email campaign? The simplest way is to consider changing the overall delivery. Instead of considering it as an advertisement, start thinking of it as a newsletter or a method to deliver information to your list of potential LASIK patients. Consider tying your website into the email campaign and promoting the two. This sort of campaign would start bringing repeat visitors to your LASIK website and create an information source for potential LASIK patients. A simple way of doing this is by adding a blog to your site. Blogs are simple and allow anyone in the organization (who you permit) to access your site and post articles. If you married the email campaign with your website you could promote your site more effectively through your emails. People will in turn value the information and view your emails less as a solicitation, or intrusion, and more as an informational source, or at least a gateway to one.

This type of viral advertising benefits not only your email solicitations but in turn the overall effectiveness of your website.

Aaron Gerblich
Account Manager
Page1Solutions

A Good Description for Your Google Listing

Did you ever wonder how Google comes up with the description for your site in the listing? It is pretty simple, and now you can have some control over it.

Google starts by checking the Open Directory Project to see if your site is listed in that directory. (By the way, if your site is not listed there, I strongly encourage you to submit it today as it will boost your position in the Google listings.) If your site is listed in the Open Directory Project (also known as DMOZ), Google uses the description assigned to your site by the DMOZ editors. If your site is not listed in DMOZ (sometimes it can take six months or longer to get listed there), Google will take the description you provide in your Meta Description Tag.

The problem with this situation is that the description that Google uses for your site in its listings is VERY important since it is a major factor in determining whether potential clients click on your listing. Further, DMOZ editors are known for using bland descriptions that are not very compelling. As long as you are not listed in DMOZ, you can control your listing since it will show what you want it to from your Meta Description Tag. However, once DMOZ accepts your site, you were stuck with their description of your practice - until now....

Now you can override the DMOZ editors' bland description of your practice by adding a very specific meta tag. MSN allows you to do this too. In fact, they were the first to allow this tag and now Google has followed suit. It is called the NOODP (no ODP) tag and it is simple to add in.

Just use any or all of the following:

< name="robots" content="NOODP">
< name="msnbot" content="NOODP">
< name="googlebot" content="NOODP">

Your web marketing firm should know how to use this. The key is making sure that the description that you do use is compelling enough to make potential clients want to click on it.

Dan Goldstein
Page 1 Solutions

Using a Blog to increase SEO results

Using a blog to augment your search engine positioning results is a great way of focusing on specific keywords – like LASEK, epiLASIK, or crystalens - and growing your ophthalmology practice’s website into an informational source for users and a powerhouse on the search engines. Many times blog writers will not focus their attention on creating articles that focus on what the blog should be about. Blogs should be an avenue for you to talk about exciting new ophthalmic procedures, technology and your services to your patients and potential patients.

The question always arises “What should I write a weekly article about?” Well, look at how your website is doing on the search engines. If there is a specific term or phrase that you’re not showing up for, start writing articles focused on that term. Spend a month writing weekly articles on that specific topic. After the month is over, try a different area of practice. You should start seeing results percolate up. This will be due to the increased content on your site and because the articles are specific to what you and your practice offers.

Aaron Gerblich
Account Manager
Page1Solutions

Organic SEO - More than just free listings

When you think of "organic SEO" (search engine optimization), you probably limit your thoughts to the “free” or unpaid listing on search engine results. However, there are different ways to achieve such listings and for the more credible SEO firms, “organic SEO” also applies to HOW they achieve top results.

Search engine optimization companies can generally be divided into two categories. "White Hat" search engine positioning firms focus primarily on a content-based approach and avoid tactics that undermine or deceive the major search engines. "Black Hat" SEO companies typically rely largely on a technology driven approach, that many times ignore the search engine’s terms of service.

Although both approaches can achieve high rankings, a search engine optimization company that interprets and applies the word "organic" more universally believes that a "Black Hat" tactic is not "organic SEO." They approach search engine optimization similar to how Google grew in popularity, organically, and through providing good content and results (rather than relying on mass media advertising).The following are just some of the comparison differences between the two approaches taken by SEO firms.

Information vs. Technology Loopholes

Studies indicate that search engine users primarily seek one thing: credible information. They are not investing online time to be entertained or “wowed” by fancy sites or splash pages. They are not looking for digital art. An “organic” search engine optimization company that is truly practicing "organic SEO" recognizes this and refuses optimization work when prospective clients insist that content addition is not an option. Technology-driven SEO firms will allow a practice to leave its website as it is, even if it offers no substantive information. This is because their work is largely technical and designed to trick the search engines into showing content that it would not otherwise. Although there are acceptable technical aspects that any good search engine optimization firm will use, such as relevant page titles and meta tags, there are many more unacceptable methodologies including cloaking, redirects, multiple sites, keyword phrase stuffing, hidden links, and numerous others. A company practicing "organic SEO" will avoid these.

Building A Resource vs. Chasing SE Algorithms

For those somewhat familiar with SEO, you may be familiar with the terminology, search engine algorithms, which are used to help engines index their listings. Search engines modify algorithms for two reasons. One is to improve results using their most recent research on users. The other is to remove sites that are ranked artificially high. Such changes raise panic in SEO firms, especially "artificial SEO" firms who discover that their core trick no longer works and even may have gotten their clients websites’ removed all together.The websites that typically remain highly ranked, even through these algorithm updates are sites that have value to their visitors and are seen as a resource for their industry. Organic SEO firms generally do not have go back and redo all their work to react to algorithm changes. Artificial search engine optimization companies scramble, looking for a new technical loophole to re-attain the rankings it lost, while organic SEO firms continue adding valuable information-rich content, increasing your website’s value and solidifying its rankings.

Attracting Good Links vs. Link-building Schemes

Inbound links are critical to the success of a natural listing campaign. But there are different ways to go about it. Firms that employ "organic SEO" will look at the website and find ways to make it something that other sites would want to link to. Artificial SEO tries to find ways to get links pointing to this site without adding anything of value. The latter usually incorporates reciprocal linking schemes, link farms, purchasing text links, and more.

Any decent search engine optimization company should ensure your website is listed in the popular directories, like the Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory Project. An organic SEO firm also continually seeks industry specific directories where your site should be listed. Generally speaking, though, "organic SEO" means your site evolves into something that has real value to your prospects.

Learning from SE Research vs. Exploiting Search Engines

Search engines continually invest in expensive research on what their users expect to see when they conduct search queries, and no company has a bigger vested interest in giving the results their users want than the engines themselves. An "organic SEO" firm will try to learn the results of this research by continually examining websites that figure prominently on top results over an extended period of time. In doing so, the SEO firm using "organic SEO" not only makes the website better for search engines, it leverages the search engines’ research so that the website offers what their users desire. Artificial optimization firms have no real interest in these studies and prefer finding the next technical loophole to exploit, particularly after recent ones no longer work.This also brings up a point about the experience of the users after they find your listing. Since artificial search engine results only focus on loopholes, they don’t invest in finding out what users want, which defeats the whole purpose. In short, you may get visitors, but they will be brief, short-term visitors that do not find what they are looking for and immediately leave.

"Organic" Growth

An organic SEO firm also looks at a good website as a growing organism, where an artificial SEO company is ok with things remaining continually static. An organic SEO website builds upon itself and learns how to grow and thrive within its search engine environment.

So if you want to be "organic" in your search engine marketing, think of your website like organic foods. What makes them organic isn't just the end product, but the process it takes to grow it. It may also require more work and attention, but the value of the end product is much higher.

Bill Fukui
Page 1 Solutions

5 Overlooked Ways to Promote Your Website

I find it interesting that out of the many ways in which ophthalmologists can promote their practices and services, many neglect to place their website address on the advertising they're already paying for. Sometimes, placing your website address on your paid advertising is simply overlooked. I'll go over five not-so-obvious ways to promote your practices’ website.

1. Always include your website address on business cards, stationery, brochures, direct mail and all other literature. This may seem like a no-brainer but it is often overlooked. Amazingly, many practices either forget to place their website address on their business cards or don't think it's important enough to include. Be sure that anytime you do include your website address to leave off the http:// and only include the www.domain.com portion. The only exception to this rule is in the case of press releases. Press releases may get picked up by an online publication and in that case, the http:// will make the address into a link that potential patients (and search engines) can follow.

2. Use your email and email newsletters to bring potential patients to your website. Make sure to include your website address in the signature portion of your emails right along with your name, company name, phone, etc. Always utilize your practice’s email instead of one of your free email accounts or ISP emails.

3. Publishing a weekly, monthly, or quarterly newsletter can be very time consuming but it's one of the best ways to stay in touch with your patients and potential patients. You can also use this newsletter as a way to develop trust, generate eye care awareness, and build future business. Just remember to place your website address in every newsletter that you send or look into sending out electronic newsletters.

4. Incorporate your website address in all your traditional advertising. Be sure to add it on any displays, classified ads you purchase, newspapers, magazines and materials you dispute. Use ads as a way to capture the reader's attention and then refer them to the website address where they can continue to gain more information from your practice. Carefully look at small displays or classified ads in the back of magazines or trade journals and consider that these ads can be more targeted and less expensive then online advertising. It's also vital to make sure all media sources include a link to your website on all online versions.

5. Become an online ophthalmology marketing expert. Use your expertise to promote your website for free. Sign up for Yahoo or Google Answers and answer ophthalmology questions asked by online visitors. You can add your website address to your profile and gain additional internet exposure for free.

Here’s an extra tip…

6. Use viral marketing techniques. Viral marketing utilizes your website's visitors' and current clients' communication networks to spread your "word". Some examples of viral marketing can include online public relations, "send to friends" links, blogs, podcasting, and anything to create a "buzz".

If you'd like to create more credibility and internet traffic for your website, don't overlook the obvious ways to promote your website address. The number of research-based internet users rise everyday. Use your website address in everything that will reach or be seen by potential clients.

Jessica Espinoza
Marketing Assistant
Page 1 Solutions