A Web site allows you to teach as you reach for patients

By William M. Austin, DC, CCSP

The “yellow pages” telephone directory used to be the first place consumers used. It’s still a basic research tool, but consumers who want more information before making a “buying” decision are turning, with increasing frequency, to the Internet.

Unlike the printed advertising page, however, the Web — through your own Web site — allows you to educate and provide value-added information to patients and potential patients. With your own Web site, you can become connected to patients even before they walk through your front door.
And if you optimize the potential of your site, the Web can help position you as your community’s expert on chiropractic. That’s because you will be teaching, even as you are “reaching.”

The Web is not relegated to “kids” or techies. Even senior centers have installed computer classrooms to teach seniors how to access the Internet. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than half of the houses in the United States have one or more computers and almost half (about 42 percent) have Internet access. A top use of this technology is research: The Web has become the “yellow pages” of the 21st century.

What kind of information should you put on your Web site? Consider posting information in three general categories: your practice, information on chiropractic and useful resources:

Your practice
Use this section to provide not only basic information about your practice, but also to update patients about your upcoming activities. For example, include information on:

• Your credentials — and those of your staff. Post resumes and highlight special training. Don’t be afraid to include photographs to help potential patients connect with you.

• Your practice. Post office hours, telephone and e-mail information, and location. Consider using a map to show how to get to the office.

• Insurance. You don’t have to list every insurance company or PPO/HMO you belong to. But if you accept insurance, state that on your Web site.

• Financial policies. Along with the insurance statement, consider posting your basic financial policies.

• Upcoming events. Highlight your schedule of free screenings, patient-education seminars, talks you are giving and similar events.

• In the news. Post articles you have published (with publisher’s consent), news releases and newspaper stories in which you have been quoted as an expert.

• Your newsletters. Do you send out a periodic newsletters — either by mail or e-mail (or both)? Have past and current issues of these available for downloading on
your site.

• Specialties. Are you a family practice? Do you specialize in sports? Do you use specialized equipment or techniques that make you unique? Tell Web users about these things.

Information on chiropractic
You can unleash the power of the Internet to educate anyone who uses your site as a resource for information on chiropractic. Your influence can easily go beyond your local community. And the more information you provide, the more you will be viewed as the “expert” on chiropractic and healthcare.

Here are some suggestions for this section of information on your Web site:

• FAQs. These are frequently-asked-questions. Make a list of the questions your patients ask you. Post them and your answers — short, sweet, direct and in lay terms.

• Biomechanical workings of the human body. Post articles that discuss how the musculoskeletal system works — and why it gets into “trouble.”

• History of chiropractic. People new to chiropractic want to know more about our science. Tell them.

• Case studies. Nothing educates and influences more than success.

• Testimonials. If you use testimonials, however, be sure to get written permission from your patients before posting.

Resources
One thing that makes people come back to a Web site is its usefulness in helping them locate the information they need. You may not have all of it — but if you can point them in the right direction, your expertise shows.

Additionally, some of the major Web search engines use links as a way to identify which Web pages pop up on a search. So a links page can serve double duty. Here are some links you might consider including:

• Chiropractic suppliers. Your suppliers may provide collateral materials that you can post to your Web site — or send visitors to theirs.

• Professional organizations. If you belong to a professional organization, use your Web site to tell visitors about your affiliation and send them to the association’s Web site for additional information on chiropractic.

One last thing: Use lots of pictures on your Web site. Take digital photographs (or scan photographs into electronic JPG format) of your office, staff and yourself and upload them onto your Web pages.

Use your pages to connect to your patients! As they interact on your Web site, they will not only learn about chiropractic, they will begin to feel a comfort level for you and your office even before they pick up the phone to make an appointment.

How to initiate your Web presence
Getting started on a Web site is as simple as counting to five:

1 Decide what you want to say. What is the primary purpose of the Web site? Will it serve as a simple information resource – a cyber yellow-pages ad? Or will you make an offer on it — perhaps a free exam — if the Web visitor e-mails you from the site? Or do you want it to become a resource center for patients?

Whatever your purpose, keep it in mind, then outline the information you want to include. Prepare as much in advance as possible, such as articles, links, etc.

2 Register for a domain. A domain is your “name” on the Web. And, indeed, it could be your name, such as www.drcharleschiropractor.com. Domain registration costs between $8 and $30 per year, depending on the company you use to register.

To find a domain registrar, go to www.InterNic.com. This organization accredits registrars. It provides a listing of all accredited registrars.

3 Get a Web site. Some domain registration services offer free Web sites. The catch: You can use only templates that are offered by the service (which limits the content of your site).
One alternative is to use a Web-hosting service. One Web site that offers comparisons of Web hosts (companies that put your site on their server) is www.comparewebhosts.com. Costs vary, according to your needs, but begin as little as $7.95/month. Select a company that allows you to upgrade as your needs change.

4 Design the Web page. Three ways to design your Web page are to use a template provided by your Web hosting service, download a shareware program or purchase Web-design software. Some resources for shareware are available in the links section of www.chiro.org.

Shareware is an economical choice. However, shareware does not always come with full documentation or support. Buying your own software may be a better alternative.

Three popular Web-page design programs are Microsoft’s Frontpage, Hotdog Professional and Web Studio.

• Frontpage (www.microsoft.com/frontpage) offers the Microsoft brand and the familiarity of its menus. It is designed as a WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) interface, which means that you do not have to master HTML code to design your site. Microsoft also offers a number of tutorials, FAQs and other support on its site.

If you already own a Microsoft Office suite, check to see if Frontpage is included; some of its bundled suites come with this program. If not, you can purchase it retail for around $169.

• Hotdog Professional (www.sausage.com) is another popular Web-site design program. It uses “wizards” to walk you through tasks and even comes with multi-language support, if you would like to publish a Web page in a language other than English. Cost is about $129.

• Web Studio (www.webstudio.com) gives you a “drop and drag” feature for easy use. It is also WYSIWYG. And it gives you free Web-site hosting for previewing your work online. Its cost is approximately $59.

TIP: Once you have decided the software program you want to buy, compare prices by going to www.mysimon.com or www.pricegrabber.com.

5 Decide how you will manage the site. Good sites need to be updated frequently, providing returning visitors with fresh information. Who will do the updating? How often?
You can do it yourself, delegate it to an employee or contract the work out.

A final word of advice: Keep it simple. The message is more important than the bells and whistles. You can always get “fancy” as your skills become more sophisticated.

Making Web visitors come back

It’s one thing to put up a Web page. It’s another one to get traffic to your site. Whether you want to use your Web site as a patient-education resource or as a vehicle to provide ancillary products to patients, content is the key to making a one-time visitor come back for more, according to Matt Gagnon, author of The Million Dollar Manual 2 (Mazu Publishing).

“Content is the most important part of your Web site,” Gagnon states in his book. “You are going to have trouble trying to get people to your site if there isn’t any reason to come there,” says Gagnon. He believes that probably 95 percent of Web sites don’t have enough content.

Gagnon contends that most people don’t understand the concept of content. He insists that content — in the context he uses the term — is not:

• Information on your company (practice);

• Most of the “stuff” found on home pages;

• Information on the associations you belong to;

• Pictures of you and your staff;

• Fancy graphics, virtual tours and similar items;

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs);

• Contact information.
These items are all important — but, says Gagnon, they are not content.

What, then, is content?
Gagnon says content is the “meat” of an effective Web site.
It includes:

• Editorial articles. For example, articles on the history of chiropractic, chiropractic philosophy and subluxation. The information you provide as patient-education material is content.

• Articles on the industry. Consider posting articles on chiropractic, alternative medicine, wellness and fitness as part of the wellness industry.

• Processes. “Explaining a process [such as correcting a subluxation] … appeals to a more basic element in people,” says Gagnon.

• Industry news and commentary. Use charts, graphs, facts and figures. Let people know the extent and impact of chiropractic.

• Newsletters. If you publish a newsletter, have it available for Web-site visitors to read or download.

You don’t have to author all of the material that you post on your Web site, writes Gagnon. If you see articles elsewhere that would be of interest to your patients (and potential patients), ask for permission to post them. (Remember that material published on a Web site is copyrighted. You need permission before posting it on yours, even if you credit the source.)

Source: The Million Dollar Manual 2 by Matt Gagnon, www.bestmarketingmanual.com.

William M. Austin, DC, CCSP, is director of professional education at Foot Levelers, Inc. of Roanoke, Va. (www.footlevelers.com).

He can be reached by e-mail, service@footlevelers.com with “Attention: Dr. Austin” in the subject line.