It's no longer enough to have a nice website. In fact, you might have the greatest website the industry has ever seen - but can your clients and potential clients find it?
Here's a quick test - go to Google (Google is used for nearly 70% of all searches world wide) and search for your clinic using this example: "Veterinarian Houston TX". Where do you appear? Are you on the first page? Can you find your website at all? If not, don't feel alone - most veterinary practices don't have the time or personnel to manage an aggressive Internet marketing campaign. It's why we started My Hometown Vet.
Understanding how the Internet works today will give you some insight as to where you can reach pet owners. It's no longer enough to publish a website and expect people to come to you. Today, your website should go to them. That's the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0
Web 2.0 Means Business
These tools are many times free and very easy to use. There are now a variety of tools available to veterinary practice for both knowledge sharing and collaboration. Here are a few examples to help get the creative juices flowing:
Web Sites
For the most part, traditional animal hospital Web sites limit visitors to viewing content. The sites are online versions of printed brochures that far too often are static—quickly becoming out of date and stale. Web 2.0 Web sites, on the other hand, expand the user experience by encouraging participation and asking users to add value. Some have defined Web-as-information-source as Web 1.0—contrasting that to the participatory Web known as 2.0.
What could that mean for your animal hospital? Instead of having an overly deep and content-rich Web site you have a “thinner” site with an integrated blog component. It is through the blog that the content remains dynamic, fresh and current. More importantly, current clients and prospective new clients can add comments to your posts. Thus, they are engaged and become active participants in your animal hospital “community.” Coincidently, they are adding value.
RSS
Really simple syndication, or RSS, is a basically a personal news wire service. When you create content you can use RSS to automatically notify the world that you have added information to your blog or Web site. People interested in your Web site or blog subscribe to RSS feeds so that when you site is updated, the RSS reader grabs the latest content and delivers it back to the them.
By using RSS feeds, content is pushed out to subscribers which is much more effective than expecting customers to “check in” to your site.
Del.icio.us
The Web 2.0 capability known as del.icio.us can be installed as a plug-in to your Internet browser. It allows you to bookmark and tag Web articles immediately with keywords that resonate specifically with you. As a result, rather than sending a link to an interesting article in e-mail, clients can access del.icio.us and can see the stories you have tagged.
Instead of using email you are using a tool where users can start to see the common interests of others. As confirmed by the golf “culture,” common interests in one area—even if they are not work-related—open conversations that often lead to professional relationships.
Social Networking
Many animal hospital owners question the value of social networking and think that those using social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are wasting time at the workplace—when they could be seeing patients or working with clients. Yet, social networking tools are becoming the building blocks of trusted professional relationships.
Think of these environments as today’s online Chamber of Commerce meetings, where interactions lead to business opportunities. But unlike Chamber meetings, these social networks offer even more relevant and targeted interactions with the sorts of clients a veterinarian may want to acquire. Technologies such as Facebook show the relationship and instill at least a small degree of trust between someone who sends an invitation to become "friends" and others within the network of friends.
Social networks, too, are fostering more collaboration within the veterinary industry. As an example, I have my profile on LinkedIn and I’ve found a several groups focused on the veterinary industry that share common interests.
Here's a quick test - go to Google (Google is used for nearly 70% of all searches world wide) and search for your clinic using this example: "Veterinarian Houston TX". Where do you appear? Are you on the first page? Can you find your website at all? If not, don't feel alone - most veterinary practices don't have the time or personnel to manage an aggressive Internet marketing campaign. It's why we started My Hometown Vet.
Understanding how the Internet works today will give you some insight as to where you can reach pet owners. It's no longer enough to publish a website and expect people to come to you. Today, your website should go to them. That's the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0
Web 2.0 Means Business
These tools are many times free and very easy to use. There are now a variety of tools available to veterinary practice for both knowledge sharing and collaboration. Here are a few examples to help get the creative juices flowing:
Web Sites
For the most part, traditional animal hospital Web sites limit visitors to viewing content. The sites are online versions of printed brochures that far too often are static—quickly becoming out of date and stale. Web 2.0 Web sites, on the other hand, expand the user experience by encouraging participation and asking users to add value. Some have defined Web-as-information-source as Web 1.0—contrasting that to the participatory Web known as 2.0.
What could that mean for your animal hospital? Instead of having an overly deep and content-rich Web site you have a “thinner” site with an integrated blog component. It is through the blog that the content remains dynamic, fresh and current. More importantly, current clients and prospective new clients can add comments to your posts. Thus, they are engaged and become active participants in your animal hospital “community.” Coincidently, they are adding value.
RSS
Really simple syndication, or RSS, is a basically a personal news wire service. When you create content you can use RSS to automatically notify the world that you have added information to your blog or Web site. People interested in your Web site or blog subscribe to RSS feeds so that when you site is updated, the RSS reader grabs the latest content and delivers it back to the them.
By using RSS feeds, content is pushed out to subscribers which is much more effective than expecting customers to “check in” to your site.
Del.icio.us
The Web 2.0 capability known as del.icio.us can be installed as a plug-in to your Internet browser. It allows you to bookmark and tag Web articles immediately with keywords that resonate specifically with you. As a result, rather than sending a link to an interesting article in e-mail, clients can access del.icio.us and can see the stories you have tagged.
Instead of using email you are using a tool where users can start to see the common interests of others. As confirmed by the golf “culture,” common interests in one area—even if they are not work-related—open conversations that often lead to professional relationships.
Social Networking
Many animal hospital owners question the value of social networking and think that those using social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are wasting time at the workplace—when they could be seeing patients or working with clients. Yet, social networking tools are becoming the building blocks of trusted professional relationships.
Think of these environments as today’s online Chamber of Commerce meetings, where interactions lead to business opportunities. But unlike Chamber meetings, these social networks offer even more relevant and targeted interactions with the sorts of clients a veterinarian may want to acquire. Technologies such as Facebook show the relationship and instill at least a small degree of trust between someone who sends an invitation to become "friends" and others within the network of friends.
Social networks, too, are fostering more collaboration within the veterinary industry. As an example, I have my profile on LinkedIn and I’ve found a several groups focused on the veterinary industry that share common interests.
Groupsites are a new class of Web sites that basically allow any group the ability to create their own unique social network and collaboration site. Groupsites combine the features of traditional Web sites, blogs, collaboration software and social networks. Groupsites can be either public or private and provide a meeting place that typically provides members with a shared calendar, discussion forums, group blog member profiles, photo gallery, and file storage.
Conclusion
For all the benefits that Web 2.0 offers your animal hospital and our industry, the capabilities also pose challenges. Because people are accustomed to using the Web 2.0 tools at home, the line between personal and professional usage blurs. While your animal hospital can benefit from providing your employees with an open environment that fosters participation and collaboration, you will want to ensure that the technology is being used appropriately and professionally. These issues are particularly salient when managing young professionals who have grown up in a world where Facebook and MySpace are their primary way to share information.
The technologies of Web 2.0 continue to evolve and change at an ever-increasing pace but the social and cultural changes they enable have permanently transformed the way our world works. Ignoring the Web 2.0 Culture is not an option. Social media and other Web 2.0 capabilities are creating new opportunities by facilitating communication inside your animal hospital and extending collaboration beyond animal hospital walls. Having a strategy and setting goals are keys to insuring success with any new endeavor—this is especially true with something as transformational as Web 2.0. The rewards are great: When chosen and applied judiciously, nearly every Web 2.0 weapon can play meaningful and profitable role within your animal hospital.
Myhometownvet.com allows veterinarians to market their veterinary practice on the internet; marketing your veterinary practice website; search engine optimization for the veterinary practice. Veterinary practice management. Veterinary marketing.
Conclusion
For all the benefits that Web 2.0 offers your animal hospital and our industry, the capabilities also pose challenges. Because people are accustomed to using the Web 2.0 tools at home, the line between personal and professional usage blurs. While your animal hospital can benefit from providing your employees with an open environment that fosters participation and collaboration, you will want to ensure that the technology is being used appropriately and professionally. These issues are particularly salient when managing young professionals who have grown up in a world where Facebook and MySpace are their primary way to share information.
The technologies of Web 2.0 continue to evolve and change at an ever-increasing pace but the social and cultural changes they enable have permanently transformed the way our world works. Ignoring the Web 2.0 Culture is not an option. Social media and other Web 2.0 capabilities are creating new opportunities by facilitating communication inside your animal hospital and extending collaboration beyond animal hospital walls. Having a strategy and setting goals are keys to insuring success with any new endeavor—this is especially true with something as transformational as Web 2.0. The rewards are great: When chosen and applied judiciously, nearly every Web 2.0 weapon can play meaningful and profitable role within your animal hospital.
Myhometownvet.com allows veterinarians to market their veterinary practice on the internet; marketing your veterinary practice website; search engine optimization for the veterinary practice. Veterinary practice management. Veterinary marketing.
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