David Straight, Author at E-rehab

Physical Therapy Website Design for 2022

Here are five features that your physical therapy website developer must include in 2022.

1. Define your offer above the fold.

This means that you should state clearly what you are going to provide a viewer of your website (i.e. prospective patients). What kind of offer to we recommend? It depends on the type of patients you serve. For the orthopedic practice, we suggest you include something about pain relief. 90%+ of the patients that come into your practice have pain, so you want to let them know you can relieve it.

2. Repeat Your Calls to Action.

Why is it that department stores have cash registers throughout their location? They want to make it fast and easy for your to check out. On your PT website you don’t know when someone has read enough to take the next step. Make sure you include your calls to action frequently as the reader progresses down your homepage.

3. Add an Outcomes-Oriented Image.

Patients are more likely to work with you if they can see themselves as a successful patient in your clinic. Include pictures of happy, smiling patients on your website so patients can see themselves in the story that you are telling.

4. Stack Your Value.

There are a number of factors that can persuade a patient to choose your practice. Make sure that you list your value propositions clearly on your website. Make them short and easy to read as well for mobile viewers.

5. Make Sure You Have a Click-to-Call Button

Take a look at your website analytics and in particular, the number of visitors to your website that are using smartphones. You’re likely to see that half of your traffic or more are seeing your website on their smartphones.

If that is the case, then you need to make it easy for them to call you right from your website. While most phone browsers will recognize your phone number and enable this. you can use the <tel> tag to make sure this is happening. Then make sure you test this.

Add in These Features to Better Convert Website Viewers to Patients

Too often PT practice owners are more concerned with how their website looks rather than how they communicating with potential patients. If you include the following features in your PT website design, you’ll increase your conversion rate without spending any additional money on marketing.

Need help with Your Physiotherapy Website Design in 2022?

If us a call at 800-460-5161 or you can click here to request an appointment.

Google’s Vicinity and Physical Therapy Private Practice SEO

Physical Therapy SEO – A Big Hit for Some in December, 2021

Back in end of November/early December of 2021, Google made some significant changes to the Google Maps ranking algorithm. Search Engine Optimization companies (SEO’s) termed this Google algorithm change – Vicinity. Sterling Sky was one of the first to write on this Google Vicinity update.

The update primarily impacted the proximity of the person searching for a particular business. For example, if someone is searching for physical therapy clinic south San Diego, Google Maps results favor businesses that are within/closer to south San Diego.

In other words, the Vicinity algorithm update was engineered to not only make it harder for physical therapy practices to rank when searches took place far away from their office’s physical location, but was also designed to penalize practices that were blackhatting, keyword stuffing, or adding in keywords into their Google Business Profile’s name.

Here’s an example of a hypothetical clinic that has an office in South San Diego. If your business name is Acme Physical Therapy and you entered the business name (in your Google Business Profile) Acme Physical Therapy South San Diego, chances are you would be penalized (i.e. your Google Maps ranking would drop down lower on the list).

In other words, Google has now given PT practices that are newer/less-established and closer to the searcher, a greater potential to rank higher than the older, more established physical therapy practices that are further away from the searcher.

How the Vicinity Algorithm Update May Have Impacted Your Business

Here are some examples reports of local SEO graphic reports. Each place you see a pin on this map represents where the practice ranks on Google Maps for a physical therapy search.

Here’s how this practice ranked before the Vicinity algorithm update.

Here’s how this practice ranked after the Vicinity algorithm update.

You can see that the PT practice isn’t ranking as often in the top 5 spots on Google Maps.

Not All Physical Therapy Practices Were Negatively Impacted

Here’s how this practice ranked before the Vicinity algorithm update.

Here’s how the practice ranks after the algorithm update – this PT practice actually improved.

Interpreting These Graphics

Note, that the further away the searcher is from the practice (represented as a pin on the map), the lower the practice ranks on the Google Maps results page (represented by the number within the pin). In other words, the closer the searcher is to the business (i.e. in the vicinity or proximity of the practice), the higher, in general, the practice ranks on Google Maps.

What Can be Done if You Were Impacted by Vicinity?

Right after major algorithm updates, many businesses (understandably so) end up in a panic.

Typically, you’ll see a flurry of ads and social posts from some SEO company(ies) advertising “the solution” to Google’s algorithm changes. Often those SEO techniques are blackhat methods. As Hubspot puts it:

Black hat SEO is a practice against search engine guidelines, used to get a site ranking higher in search results. These unethical tactics don’t solve for the searcher and often end in a penalty from search engines. Black hat techniques include keyword stuffing, cloaking, and using private link networks. ReferenceDebbie Millman

Try to Compose Yourself and Look at the Bigger Picture

There is always an element of uncertainty when it comes to search engine traffic and the numbers you find in your Google Business Profile Insights and your web analytics. Here are six things you can do to combat the Vicinity update:

Update your business name in your Google Business Profile – if you were one of the many that keyword stuffed your business listing, it’s probably a good idea to change it so it more accurately reflects your business name without the keywords.
Give it some time – if you were negatively impacted by the Vicinity update, it may not have as big an impact as you may expect. When searching for physical therapy, people use different search phases, different devices (mobile, tablet, desktop), and are searching from a variety of locations. While you may have fallen on Google Maps, it may not change the number of new patients that come into your office.
Take a look at your natural listings – even though you may have dropped in the Google Maps rankings, you may still rank well in the organic listings. If this is the case, you’ll still get some significant traffic from this search results page ranking. If you don’t rank well, consider hiring a company like us – E-rehab.com a physical therapy SEO company.
Don’t forget your Google Business Profile Insights – even if you did drop in the rankings, take a look at your Google Business Profile rankings for a quick reminder of how many people still see your business listing each month.
Stick to the core principles – no matter where you rank, you always want to continue to work on your Google ratings and reviews. Consistently obtaining Google ratings and reviews may help you recover your search rankings and will undoubtedly help convert some of those people that are already viewing your Google Maps listing.
Consider running Google Ads – yes, this is ultimately what Google wants you to do. If your maps listing has plummeted, there is always the option to run Google Ads. Yes, it’s a new cost to the business buy for some, it can still be fruitful.

As Things Unfold, We’ll Provide More Information

Having been in the SEO business for over 15 years, we here at E-rehab.com can tell you that algorithms will continue to change, Google will make modifications to the algorithm that may be in your favor in the future, and you have to move on.

As we discover new insights and strategies, E-rehab.com will continue to follow these new and best practices to improve the search rankings of our clients.

Hang in there for updates.

Were You Even Aware of the Vicinity Update?

If you were not aware of the update, chances are the changes in your Google Maps rankings didn’t negatively impact your new patient volume and/or you were too busy to notice.

If you were negatively impacted, you need a PT private practice marketing company that’s keeping an eye on these kinds of things and can offer you insight and solutions.

Need Help with Physical Therapy Marketing?

Call (800) 468-5161 or Click here to book a time on my calendar Thanks for reading – David Straight, DPT, Co-owner, Marketing Consultant

New for 2022 – This May Be the Best Way (and By Far the Cheapest) to Generate More New Initial Evaluations

Have you heard of conversion rate optimization? It is the practice of increasing the percentage of users who perform a desired action – hotjar.com

“How does this apply to a physical therapy practice, and does it really matter?” The answer is a resounding “yes”.

To clarify the above definition as it applies to you, the practice owner, conversion rate optimization is the practice of converting more patients that are considering you to initial evaluations.

Three Ways to Improve Your New Patient Conversion Rates

Again, to give you some context, we are talking about converting more prospects (warm leads that are one or two steps away from booking an appointment) into patients. Here are three fast and easy ways to improve this, with one of them, in my experience, being the very best.

Tell a better story that is consumer centric, not company centric. Take a look at the copy (the words on your website home page that are meant to funnel viewers to your call to action), on your website home page. Is it about the patient, their pain, their desires? Or, is it mostly about you, how good you are, & details about services that may never matter to the reader?
Take a look at your mobile website experience. Does it follow Google’s golden rules of being fast loading, super easy to read, and friction-free? Too many PT websites have long paragraphs that prospective patients don’t want to read. Moreover, it isn’t easy to scan, which just so happens to be the way many read websites, i.e. they scan them.
Finally, the Best Way to Increase Conversions – Add a tracking phone number, record your calls, and improve communication. This is by far the best thing that you can do. Do you know what your receptionist (who gave the first impression of your practice to a caller) is saying to patients?

Quick, True Story

I recorded calls for a practice once, and a prospect called with a TMJ problem wanting to know if PT was right for them. After they finished the call, the prospect undoubtedly hung up and was wondering if they had cancer. The caller went from pain in the TMJ to I might have a problem that could kill me. The receptionist had so badly mismanaged the communication that it undoubtedly hurt the practice’s reputation.

Quit Wasting Money on Expensive Marketing and Examine How Well Your Existing Marketing is Doing

Therefore, Take a look at your conversion rates.

Action Items:

Look at the text on your homepage – is it telling a memorable story that funnels people to a call to action (do you even have a call to action)?
Check out your website on your smartphone. Is it fast loading, easy to scan, and there are easy ways to take the next step in the buying process?
Get a tracking number and put it on your website and Google Business Profile (add it as an alternate number). Record some calls and use them as teaching moments.

If you need help with your conversion rates, and your online marketing, let’s connect.

Click here to request an appointment or if my calendar doesn’t have something available just call (800) 468-5161.

Thanks for reading – David Straight, DPT

Four of the Most Important Physical Therapy Website Content Tips Most Don’t Even Know

Having worked with over 2000 practices, generated over 100,000 appointment requests and over 600,000 phone calls, we’ve continued to evolve our physical therapy marketing services based on data, feedback, patients case studies, and client wants and needs.

Below you’ll find four tips, based on considerable experience, that will help you develop a better PT private practice website and convert more prospects that are considering you, into paying patients. Here are some of our recommendations.

I. Put Some Time Into It – Provide Content that Prospective Patients Want

In a service business like physical therapy, people judge what they can’t see (e.g. the quality of your service) based on what they can see (i.e. a great looking, fast, easy to use, website with clear communication, is extrapolated by viewers, as a representation of the quality of your PT services).

I am just floored at the number of mistakes I see on so may physical therapy websites. Younger PT owners, that spend more of their time on social media than searching for services, often make these mistakes. They’re more interested in funnels and Instagram than the marketing opportunities that are right in front of them.

Here are some examples to name a few:

No attention to detail – misspelled words and inconsistent/inaccurate information,
Large paragraphs that never get read,
A practice website that make viewers hunt for and/or work very hard just to find their address & phone number,
Little to no use of quality media like service photos, video, or interactive educational tools,
Websites that were down in-house with little to no experience or strategic forethought.

Do you know how many people visit your website each month? Is it 100, 300, 500 or more? With those kinds of numbers, why would you do something fast, cheap, or get a website from a company that has no idea how the physical therapy market works?

Here are some basic things you need to do to address problems right away.

Think Like a Patient When Analyzing Your Physiotherapy Website

When someone visits your home page, the most visited page on your website, you need to tell a memorable story. Don’t make it all about yourself, understand who the real hero is…it’s the patient.

Have you ever thought about what’s on a patient’s mind when they are visiting your website?
What questions are they pondering?
Are they comparing you to someone else?
Are they simply wanting to know how to contact you?
Are they questioning whether the services they’ve been referred for are worth their time and money?

Try This Simple Exercise

Here’s a simple exercise you can do to answer these questions. Ask 4-5 of your patients if they visited your website and if they did, ask them open questions like:

What were they looking for and did they find it?
When did they visit during their buying process?
Why did they visit?
How could you done things better?
What did they like and what can you improve with physical therapy website design?

By simply putting yourself in the mindset of your website users and asking them a few questions, you’ll get some good insight about how it’s used.

A Word of Caution – Don’t let the tail wag the dog. Feedback from 4-5 patients is just that, feedback from an n=5. It’s a small sample and may not bet representative of the 200+ visitors that are viewing and using your PT website every month.

Make sure their feedback makes sense. For example, I once heard from a PT that they included summaries of social posts on their home page and patients loved them. Maybe this is true for some patients, but you might want to ask, “How many times did you visit our website?” to better clarify the first question.

Most won’t visit anymore than once or twice. They aren’t likely to re-read your home page content unless they are returning months or years later.

So, is it really that important to have a social media post feed on your home page? Maybe, but not likely. Will potential patients choose you still without it?

There isn’t a right or wrong answer. I’m simply suggesting that you consider the bigger picture when making tactical, online content decisions for your home page, beyond the feedback of a few patients.

II. Use Your Own Physical Rehab Website Photos (including PT, OT, Speech photos)

I want to share a quick story here, about a PT owner that spent $17,000 on her PT website. $17,000 – that’s a lot of money and a long time to recover your ROI. When I compared her website to ours, fundamentally & technically (I.e. speed, on -page SEO, etc.), they were very similar to what we here at E-rehab create for a fraction of the cost.

There was one main difference though – the photos. On the home page there were nice images of patients and staff, and each internal page had a service photo, and the staff images were well done too. Certainly, it wasn’t worth $16,000 more than what E-rehab charges though.

Here’s my point. It’s 2021. With modern iPhones, and Android phones, you can shoot phenomenal photos. Some movie directors have shot independent films only with iPhones.

Another reason to use your own photos is that prospective patients want to see you. Moreover, they want to see the smiling faces of patients like them. Remember, your patients are the heroes in your story and you are the expert, empathetic guide. Click here to read more about our StoryBran-based methodology recommendations for your home page.

Donald Miller mentions in his book Marketing Made Simple, that people that see themselves in they story and photos you are telling on your website, are more likely to buy. It’s called narrative transformation, and a big step toward accomplishing this transformation is including your own photos.

NOTE: there are times when a stock photo can do the job almost as well. Images from product vendors about your aquatic equipment or how a high intensity lasers works are a couple of examples. However, it’s always best to use your own photos.

Take an extra few minutes to take your own photos. It will be a simple way to gain a competitive advantage over many of your physical therapy private practice website competitors….and you certainly don’t need to spend $17,000 to get it done.

III. Mobile Optimize Your Website to Help Execute Other Online Marketing Strategies

When we look at the analytics across hundreds of PT websites, we see that about 50 percent of your visitors are on smartphones. Check your web analytics (we provide those to all of our customers at no additional cost), and you’re likely do see the same.

As I mentioned above, I’m just floored at the lack of quality and the mobile user experience on so many PT websites. Often they look poor without any attention to design detail. Often the content is long, run-on paragraphs that are really hard to read.

I’ve seen the converse as well. Wix or Squarespace websites that have little to no content at all. When I question the current owner about this, I’ve heard more than once, no one wants to read stuff on our website. My counter question is, “Tell me the average age of your patients?”

It’s almost always people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, or older. They indeed want to read a memorable story about you to find out if you are an expert, do you have a caring staff, do you treat their problem, have others had with their diagnosis had success? The take-home message here is you need to match the right type of media (i.e. a good website) with your market (your average users).

Other common problems on mobile sites:

I’ve seen videos that run off the page,
No click-to-call functionality or mapping functions,
No facilitation of reviews or social following

…all important functions that your mobile optimized website should offer its users.

So, take a look at your website on iPhone and Android devices. Does it represent the quality of the physical therapy services that you deliver or does it fall short?

You can’t afford to make this mistake, especially if you are competing agains the large corporations that have spent 5-figures on their website and have full-time staff members that oversee their design, form, and function.

IV. Have More Than an Online Brochure – Differentiate Your Practice

Here’s the stereotypical physical therapy website. On the home page is one of two kinds of content.

1. The “Our Mission” Content – it’s all about the practice, doesn’t tell a story, is often brief with trite statements like “we are the best…”

2. The “Misaligned Sales” Message Content – On this type of home page, you find workshops, some typical copywriting like the “treat yourself for free” ebooks (that suggest the practice would rather teach you how to care for yourself and spam you in exchange for your email address, rather than have you come into the clinic for care,) and then some mixed message videos.

Rather than sharing platitudes or dissuading your viewers from connecting with you, follow a specific formula – tell a memorable story, that funnels viewers to a call to action.

Realize that by the time a potential patient gets to your home page, they generally aren’t asking:

“Is physical therapy is right for me?”

They are probably asking themself:

“Is your physical therapy practice the better choice compared to the clinic right down the street?”

Take the opportunity to differentiate and educate with tools like:

A. A Nice Introductory Video. Shoot an expert interview confirming they are at the right website; or answer the question why you are the right choice and share what makes you better.

B. Social Proof. Make sure you have testimonials. You don’t need long paragraphs or 60+ of them on your home page. On the contrary, post short testimonials that answer the most common objections your view might have. Objections to using your practice might include the amount of time it takes for care, the cost, travel time, insurance coverage, appointment availability, and expertise.

C. A Differentiation Table. You’ve seen these when shopping for products like software. Create a table and by comparison, feature your strengths and expose your competition’s weaknesses.

D. Include a Chat Bot that Educates Rather than Misleads. I’ve seen chat bots that portray themselves as being a live service. Not only is this illegal in some states, they often push the viewer toward an appointment rather than educating them on the value of your physical therapy services. Half of consumers that visit your website don’t trust you. Rather thank trying to sell them on your PT services, educate them and motivate them choose you with good patient education.

E. Describe the Recovery Process. If a website viewer of yours has never experienced physical therapy before (and that might be 50-70% of new initial evaluations), show them what the recovery process is like. Share what they will be experiencing that will take them from pain and dysfunction to recovery and wellness.

In closing, I am shocked that even in 2021, so many small PT private practices completely miss the mark when it comes to online marketing. Only after wasting lots of time and money looking for the marketing “silver bullet”, do some circle back to tried and tested strategies to convert more physical therapy web viewers into patients.

Give the above tips a try and let us know what you think.

If you’d like help designing and developing your physical therapy website, give us a call.

Let us help you get more PT online marketing right. Contact us today at 760-585-9097 or click here to schedule an appointment.

A 15-Point Checklist to Make Sure Your Physical Therapy Website is Converting Visitors to Patients

There’s a saying in marketing: “People judge what they can’t see based on what they can see.”

With new patient acquisition becoming more difficult, it’s critical that your physical therapy website be a reflection of the high-quality service you provide.

Moreover, it’s a lot easier to convert viewers that are visiting your website right now into patients than trying to drive new traffic (which is expensive and time consuming).

Here’s a 15-point checklist that will help you make sure your website isn’t turning visitors off and causing them to choose the competition.

1. Check Your Images & Staff Page – the staff page is one that often needs updating. Are the headshots consistent and high quality? What about the images on the home page? Do they entice people to choose your practice?

2. Check Your Spelling and Grammar – You can utilize a web-based service like W3C Spell checker at https://www.w3.org/2002/01/spellchecker

to scan pages. If you have questions about grammar, then grammarly.com is your best resource.

3. Cross-Browser Testing – your physical therapy site might look great in Google Chrome but does it look great in other browsers and devices? Make sure your site looks great in Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge. Rather than paying for a service to test this, I’d recommend just downloading the browsers and scanning through your website.

4. Test Your Website on Smartphones – with about half of your traffic coming from smartphone users, it has to look great on mobile devices. I recommend blisk.com for this. If you are serious about it, Sizzy is my favorite tool for testing. Try the 14-day trial, install it, and make sure your site looks awesome on lots of devices…both mobile and desktop.

5. Check for Broken Links – Screaming Frog is a tool that visits all the webpages on your site and reports back to you if there are any broken links.

6. Page Titles and Descriptions – As mentioned above, Screaming Frog is again a good tool for this. You should keep your page titles about 50-60 characters long.

7. Check Image Alt Descriptions – the alt tag helps tell Google and other spiders what an image is about. Use Screaming Frog spider to check and ensure you have images optimized.

8. Check Your Webforms – Manually check each form by inputting test data and make sure that you receive the data/the data is being used correctly. Of course, appointment requests are super important.

9. Check Your Brand Favicon – look at the browser tab at the top of the computer screen. In the tab of a web page you should see an image then a title. This is your favicon. Make sure that it is your logo.

10. Codes and Scripts – Make sure your web analytics and any other tracking codes for things like the Facebook pixel are set up properly and functioning.

11. Check NAP with Schema – verify that your name, address and other contact data is proper and properly formatted with Schema code. Google has a free tool for this: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/structured-data

12. Check Your 404 Pages – Type in a web address that doesn’t exist on your website. This will display a 404 error. For best results, utilize a customized page for this that has an error message that’s better than the default page error.

13. Check Your Site Map – your site map should be up-to-date and have all of the pages listed on it. A WordPress plugin like Yoast SEO is a good tool for this.

14. Test Social Links – Click on all of the social media icons on your website. Make sure they go to the appropriate social media page. Also, make sure that your content on your social property is up-to-date. If it isn’t, consider updating it or closing down that social property.

15. Check Your Addresses & Hours of Operation – go through the various pages and your footer to make sure that your name, address, phone number, and hours of operation are consistent. Consistency not only communicates the proper information to viewers but helps give the Google algorithm confidence and can help with SEO.

Go through this list with your website developer. Any fixes should be fast and easy. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

David Straight, DPT is the co-owner of E-rehab.com, a physical therapy private practice website design, development, and online marketing company that has been helping PT private practices get their online marketing right since 2003.

For more information about how we can help you out, click the button above to request an appointment.

What’s Your PT Company’s Story?

“For a football fan, there might be nothing better than watching a playoff game at Lambeau Field – and seeing it decided, dramatically, in overtime. ”Cris Collinsworth - Sunday Night Football

One of the human brain’s most fascinating qualities is its ability to remember narratives…like a playoff game at Lambeau Field. You may not remember what time your mail carrier comes or recall your Netflix password instantly, but I bet you can talk about a sporting event, like Sunday Night Football, or a movie you love even if it happened weeks or even months ago.

Do You Recognize the Power of Story Almost Every Monday Morning?

If your practice is anything like ours, you probably have no shortage of team members arriving on Monday mornings eager to discuss the previous night’s episode of “Sunday Night Football!” Even if you don’t know all of the players on each side of the ball, I’m sure you can share some of the exciting plays and names of superstars like Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson…that happened days or even weeks ago. This simply demonstrates just how impactful stories, like an exciting football game, can be.

Make Sure You Tell a Memorable Story About Your PT Practice

Leveraging the power of narrative is a great way to make current and prospective patients remember you. Think about the brands you most admire. Odds are that in addition to having great products and excellent customer service, these brands convey their identity and their purpose in a lasting way.

Have You Thought About Your Story?

Despite this truism, many practice owners I speak to haven’t thought about the story of their practice. Maybe that’s because telling this story in a succinct way can be difficult. One tool I’ve found immensely helpful is the BrandScript model created by Donald Miller of Building A StoryBrand.

Miller, an accomplished fiction author turned marketing guru, created a formula that allows all types of business owners to quickly articulate their core principles and message in a way that compels readers to action.

He achieves this feat by making the customer — in your case, the patient — the main character of the story. Generating a BrandScript involves zeroing in on the core aspects of your story, so you can quickly define who you are and what you can do for a patient.

You’re Not the Hero…Your Patient is the Hero and You’re the Expert Guide

We’ll call that patient a character for the purposes of this exercise. The character, like all protagonists at the beginning of a tale, has a problem they need to solve. After meeting a guide (the PT at your clinic), the character now has an action plan to solve their problem.

Your plan needs to compel them to that action (treatment), help them avoid failure, and lead them down a successful path. If you can convince the character that you are the guide they need, you’ve just earned a new patient.

The details of your story will vary depending on the size and nature of your practice. Nobody is a better fit to tell that story than you, and you should be an integral part of the message you convey anytime somebody logs onto your website. After all, somebody on your site is already looking for a guide. You need to demonstrate to them you are the right one, and there’s no better way to do that than through a story.

Formula = Hero, Problem, Guide, Plan, Call to Action, Avoid Failures, Achieve Success

In closing, I ask you one simple question: What is your story? If you need a little help defining it, I recommend buying the book Building a StoryBrand and then visiting MyStoryBrand.com and giving the BrandScript tool a shot. You can create one for free, and it will help you control the story you’re telling.

If You Want Help Writing Your Story for Your Practice Website, Give Us a Call

Reference: Image is from Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand book.

Common Physical Therapy Branding Mistakes

If you are just starting your practice, here are some physical therapy branding mistakes that could torpedo your company’s image.

The value of a strong brand cannot be overstated when it comes to growing your business. We call adhesive bandages Band-Aids and cotton swabs Q-tips because those companies excel at creating memorable, trusted brands that consumers can rely on.

There’s no recipe for creating a brand so strong that the name of your practice becomes common vernacular, but developing a strong, consistent brand is within the reach of every clinic owner.

DO IT RIGHT – AVOID THESE MISTAKES

This is why it’s frustrating to see practices hurt their branding through easily avoidable mistakes. Practice owners often deprioritize branding in the early stages of their company, but that’s a dangerous mistake. If a potential patient interacts with your brand and it doesn’t resonate with them, it’s going to be hard to convert them into a patient or win them back as a repeat client.

By avoiding these common errors, you can create a brand that people will support and interact with.

AVOID BLAND PHYSICAL THERAPY PRACTICE BRANDING

Branding is deliberate differentiation…Debbie Millman

In other words, don’t create your brand by copying somebody else’s. The best brands stand out. Think about the iconic Nike swoosh, one of the greatest logos in business history. There was nothing like it at the time, and there’s little like it today.

A Quick Example

If you do a search for physical therapy logos, you’ll see so many of them have what we call a “stylized human” that is moving. We just signed a new client recently who rebranded his company by creating a new logo. His comment on logo design was, “The first thing we were NOT going to do is have a one of those moving people (i.e. a stylized human) in our logo.” Take-home message – search for the competition in your area. Look at their logos. How can you make yours different?

DON’T WRITE SLOPPY WEBSITE COPY

Branding is far more than just a cool logo and a flashy website. The words you use to convey your values — and the value you offer customers — are crucial. Bad grammar, weird word choice, and other linguistic faux pas can make you look silly. Make sure you have professional editors look over your copy to ensure it relays your intended message.

AVOID PLATFORM INCONSISTENCY

Have you ever logged onto a mobile version of a website and wondered if you were in the wrong place? When that happens, it’s because a company hasn’t made the effort to mirror their branding across all platforms. It’s one thing to have an irreverent online presence — look to MoonPie’s Twitter feed for an example — it’s another to have such disparate branding that you leave customers confused.

A great brand synergizes all aspects of their brand. Share your values, convey clear messages, and provide a professional image. Once you’ve done that, you’re on the road to building a brand that people want to support.

ONE LAST THOUGHT – TELL A GREAT STORY

Next month, I’ll review the power of telling a great story and give you a simple template that you can use to differentiate your physical therapy clinic from the droves of others in your community.

Thoughts on Physical Therapy Facebook Ads

Are you thinking about running Facebook ads for your PT clinic?

Here’s something that I really need to explain to practice owners:

Facebook ads are just the WORST marketing strategy to start with for physical therapy clinic owners. I’m not saying ads don’t work. But there’s just so much that goes into the success of Facebook advertising. There are just so many components of a good ad campaign that require hours of education and lots of variables that are outside your control.

What You Have to Consider with Physical Therapy Facebook Ad Funnels:

You have time hire an agency or dive deep spending hours learning about this yourself?

Then there’s the writing of the ads (ad creative).
Then you need to go through the ad approval process.
You’ll have to master the Ads Manager.
The you have to test various audiences depending upon your ad creative.
Next, you’ll need to decide what kind of offer you make to this audience and you’ll have to test those too.
Will you have enough budget to learn and pay Facebook? It will cost you hundreds to thousands per month.
What about Apple, IOS 14, and their new privacy rules. How will that impact your campaign?
Split test has to be part of the process.
Then you have to wait like 15-30 days for ads to fully optimize.

So why would you ever start with Facebook Ads for Physical Therapy?

You should start with a marketing strategy that goes after the lowest hanging fruit first.

In other words take fastest path to generating new patients, revenue, and most importantly, profits.

For Clinics That Have Been in Business – Physical Therapy Patient Reactivation is First Priority

We recommend marketing to your past patients and reactivating those that are in need of your care. It’s called PDR or Patient Database Reactivation.

For clinics that have been in business for 3 years or more, it’s always the first place to start your marketing.

It’s one of the easiest ways to get new patients and generate a positive ROI.

With one simple campaign, you can fill your calendar, without Facebook (or Google for that matter) ad spend .

While I can appreciate the willingness to spend money to generate more business, many small practice owners (those with < 3 locations) spend thousands or even tens-of-thousands without any success.

Don’t Make the Same Mistake – Get Your PT Online Marketing Right

I’ve heard it over and over…and so many times they say, “Well, I learned a lot.” While I can really appreciate the positive perspective, small practices simply can’t afford to waste money in a hyper competitive market like physical therapy.

In conclusion, if you are searching for an affordable marketing strategy that generates new business fast, make sure you incorporate Patient Database Reactivation into your marketing mix.

Click Here to Schedule a Free Assessment of Your Physical Therapy Marketing and Let Us Help You Get It Right!

3 Clinical Studies to Share with Physicians To Generate More Referrals

Physicians often overlook the value of physical therapy. But if you bring them clinical proof of the value it can provide to their patients, they’re more likely to refer to you than if you were to just ask them for a referral point-blank.

Here are three great clinical research articles you can download and drop off with your referring physicians next time you stop by their offices.

1. For a detailed study that found delayed physical therapy consultation is associated with increased costs and health care utilization for many patients, read “Timing of Physical Therapy Consultation on 1-year Healthcare Utilization and Costs in Patients Seeking Care for Neck Pain: A Retrospective Cohort” at L.PTClinic.com/36lHrNn.

2. For a conclusion that for those with acute low back pain, immediate referral to a physical therapist may lead to decreased health care utilization and costs, recommend “Immediate Physical Therapy Initiation in Patients With Acute Low Back Pain Is Associated With a Reduction in Downstream Health Care Utilization and Costs” at L.PTClinic.com/354hPV6.

3. For a compelling proposition that current literature indicates moderate support of using exercise therapy in the treatment of full thickness rotator cuff tears, try “Exercise Therapy in the Non-Operative Treatment of Full-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears: A Systematic Review” at L.PTClinic.com/358BQJV.

These articles, as well as hundreds more available online, are great resources for selling your services.

Whether you’re communicating via the internet or in person, don’t start the conversation empty-handed. Print the articles in full and deliver them.

Have a conversation about your services, and let them know the proven value you can bring to their patients.

Need Help with Physician Referral Marketing?

We can help. Click here to schedule some time with David Straight, DPT & co-owner or call 760-585-9097

We provide physical therapy marketing that’s affordable and doing it right is a must. Contact us today!

Physical Therapy Google Ads Management – 4 Ways to Improve

We’re well into 2021 and the pandemic is waning. If you’re still struggling to fill your clinic, so it may be time to think about advertising…in particular, Google

The first component (and usually the most expensive) of a marketing strategy is lead generation. John Jantsch calls this step getting people to “know” you.

Alan Dibb calls this the “before” stage of a marketing campaign. In other words, this is the process of making people aware that you exist and of what you do.

In terms of marketing funnels, this is called a “top-of-the-funnel” (TOF) strategy.

Advertising is a Necessary Component of PT Marketing in a Crowded Physical Therapy Market

Advertising is indeed a way to make your community aware of who you are and, specifically, one method of advertising online is Google Ads, formerly called Google AdWords.

Google Ads are the search results that usually show up first when you type in a search like “physical therapy in your town.”

You will be able to differentiate an ad from organic and local maps listings because ad results have a small box (with a border around it) right below the headline that says “Ad” along with the “display path,” URL, or web address in green next to it.

A good ad is going to capture the attention of the person searching for physical therapy and speak to what they may be looking for in a PT practice.

Headlines like “Physical Therapy Nearby,” “Same-Day Appointments,” and “Voted Best in the Community” often get a viewer’s attention. Adding the following extensions like a: SiteLink, Location, and Call extensions can also help.

In my 14 years of experience running Google Ads, I’ve found that most practices are missing huge opportunities to improve their Google Ads’ return on investment.

Many are just throwing money away using Google’s Smart Campaigns.

If you’re guilty of one or more of the following common flaws, change your strategy if possible. Here are five of the most common ad campaign mistakes I see with Google Ads.

1. Running the ad for people that show “interest” in your ad. Don’t do this. Change this in your campaign settings so that you are running your ad only for people inside your geo-targeted area. For example, look at the image of the Google Ads above. I’m in San Diego. Why are ads for Brampton, Ontario showing up in San Diego?
2. Running your ad at night or on the weekends. Doing this is only going to get more clicks from either competitors or people who would like to connect with you right now but can’t call you because you aren’t in your office. Run your adduring your hours of operation.
3. Practice owners under-budgeting for their ad campaign. If you don’t invest enough in your ad campaign,your ad will show less often and you will end up paying more than your competition.
4. Not managing your ads on a regular basis. Too many often he practice owners I talk with just set it and forget it. This is a great way to waste money.

Here’s an example of the metrics you should be measuring that we gathered from working with a client of ours.

Metrics You Should Be Measuring

Ad Impressions 8.16K;
Clicks 320;
CPC $5.54;
Leads 79;
Conversions/New Patients 63;
Conversion Rate 80%;
Money spent on ads $1.77K;
Cost per lead $22.40;
Cost per conversion $28.10;
Revenue generated from ads this month $31,500;
ROI 17.79x.

Part of a good marketing strategy involves lead generation or getting people to “know” that you exist and are a solution for their problems.

Google Ads for physical therapy clinics is one way to drive leads.

Try to avoid some of the mistakes as outlined above, and also make sure you are looking at the key metrics to confirm your advertising campaign is generating a positive return on investment.

Need help getting your PT Online Marketing Right?

We can help. Click here to schedule some time with David Straight, DPT & co-owner or call 760-585-9097

Physical therapy online marketing is affordable and doing it right is a must. Contact us today!

How to Turn a One-Time Patient Into a Repeat Customer

It’s no secret that it’s much easier to keep a customer than it is to obtain a new one. If that’s the case, what are the best ways to market specifically to previous customers? It doesn’t always involve direct marketing; much of it has to do with simple follow-up.

MESSAGES PATIENTS – GENERATE REPEAT BUSINESS BY STAYING IN TOUCH

People like it when you remember things about them. Mailing goodwill messages to your patients for events and milestones, like birthdays or anniversaries, can go a long way in keeping you top of mind. If they like you, they’re more likely to choose you again if they have a need for your PT services.

PHYSICAL THERAPY EMAIL NEWSLETTERS – THEY’RE AFFORDABLE, AUTOMATED, AND EASY

Creating an email list of your past patients is as simple as asking them to provide their email when they visit your office. Gather those emails, input them into your E-Rehab Control Panel, and we will send your patients a welcome, a thank-you, and monthly messages. Information about how to improve or maintain health, special offers, and reminders about follow-up services are all fair game.

NEW TREATMENTS – LET YOUR PATIENTS KNOW ABOUT NEW SERVICES

Some patients will no longer need your services because they’ve reached their goals, and that’s fantastic. But some patients may not be so lucky, and they will be looking for new ways to heal. So, when you have new treatments to offer, you should go back to this pool of patients and let them know. Even those who feel 80–90% normal might be interested in your new services.

TEXT MESSAGING – THE BEST WAY TO COMMUNICATE

Texting is becoming the easiest way to communicate with clients, both past and present. It’s fast, direct, and easy. Just as you would with email, keep a database of cellphone numbers and send text messages as necessary. Your previous patients will appreciate how quickly they’re getting useful information.

PRINT NEWSLETTERS – FOR THOSE WITH LARGER BUDGETS

If you’ve spent time reading this newsletter, you know it can be effective for staying top of mind. Newsletters put your business in your patients’ thoughts, provide information, advertise, and show personality. For some, a print newsletter is more effective than an email newsletter because there’s simply more impact when you hold something in your hand.

Need help getting your PT Online Marketing Right?

We can help. Click here to schedule some time with David Straight, DPT & co-owner or call 760-585-9097

Physical therapy online marketing is affordable and doing it right is a must. Contact us today!

Physical Therapy Marketing This Spring – Clean Out the Cobwebs

Spring is here, and that means you may be gearing up to do some hefty cleaning at home or in the office. But spring cleaning can be accomplished in other ways as well. This is a great opportunity to revamp your marketing strategies by cleaning out some of the “marketing cobwebs” you’ve been ignoring for too long.

The best way to start is by approaching your business from the position of a prospective patient.

It’s practically impossible to know the exact number of times your business is showing up online, but we can safely estimate it’s more than 300. There are so many online reference points for your physical therapy practice that if you aren’t optimized across a variety of different channels, you risk getting lost in the weeds. So how can you possibly know where to start? In order to get a handle on what potential patients are seeing and how best to cater to them, you should start with the most important web properties.

Begin with what I like to call the Big Five: Google, Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, and Bing. These are the essential online places that prospective clients use to help make decisions about who they want to see for PT care. If your business isn’t optimized on these sites, then it makes it that much harder for people to find you. They may go to the wrong location, or they may miss various services you offer.

Use these sites as though you’re a patient looking to find a new physical therapist. Each site has its own unique features that are slightly different than the others, but in general, they offer many of the same functions you should thoroughly explore.

First, do a simple search in their main database or search engine for your brand name (e.g., Acme Physical Therapy).

Type it into the search bar and take notes about what appears on the page. Where are you listed? What catches your eye? Are the images up to date? Is the information accurate? How difficult or easy is it to navigate to sites that are connected to your business?

Next, do a geographic search for physical therapy in your city. All of the Big Five sites I’ve mentioned have features that allow users to search for businesses based on location. When you navigate to these pages on each site and search for your business in your city, what do you see? Is the listing accurate? Is it displayed in a way that’s easy to understand?

How many reviews do you have compared to your competition? Are the small details (metadata and images) useful and representative of your practice?

Also do a general search for your physical therapy business and look at your maps listings. What comes up then?

The third step applies specifically to Google, Bing, and Apple Maps. These three sites have functionality that provides driving directions by way of Google My Business, Bing Places for Business, and the Apple Maps app on iPhones. When you navigate to each of these sites and search for your business, how does it appear? Ask yourself the same questions you did for a normal search engine site, and remember that for businesses, these subsequent sites are just as important as Google and Bing natural/organic listings.

Understanding exactly what your potential patients are seeing when they look for you is critical to keeping business coming through your doors. Potential patients want a fast and friction free experience when they are searching for a PT practice. Optimizing your online presence is the key to doing that. But you don’t know what your potential patients will experience until you try it yourself.

Need help getting your PT Online Marketing Right?

We can help. Click here to schedule some time with David Straight, DPT & co-owner or call 760-585-9097

Physical therapy online marketing is affordable and doing it right is a must. Contact us today!