Did you ever wonder how the internet can be used to grow your PT practice and increase your referrals? Well, let me start with an example.
If you were wondering where a good restaurant was or maybe upcoming concerts coming to your area, maybe even driving directions to a conference how would you obtain this information? Where would you look? If you're like the majority of people you would log onto the internet and do a quick search.
Within seconds you can have the answer to any question.
Let's take a look at another scenario.
A patient hurts their knee playing a pick up game of basketball.
They visit the emergency room and receive some x-rays.
The next day they meet with an Orthopedic surgeon who orders some MRI's.
The MRI's reveal a torn meniscus.
They head home with prescription in hand for Physical Therapy.
They want the best PT clinic to get them back on their feet so guess where they turn to find that "perfect" clinic? Yep, you guessed it the internet.
They do a quick search for "Physical Therapy clinics in RI" or wherever they are located.
Now I have one question for you.
Would your clinic come up? If not, then you are missing out on a large portion of people who are searching on the internet for PT clinics.
However, even if your clinic does come up that is just one key element to attracting prospective patients.
If your clinic does come up, have you positioned yourself as a valuable, expert resource in the field of Physical Therapy? Or does your site only contain general information such as hours, location and an "About us" page.
Now lets go back to our weekend warrior basketball player example.
His search for PT clinics comes up with several in his area.
The first one looks OK with general information about the clinic but nothing special.
The second clinic is more of the same with "About us", location, hours and pictures of the clinic.
The third has something special.
They have the appearance of being experts in Physical Therapy.
They have videos of different exercises.
They have several articles on various pathologies and PT treatments and even have a great article on meniscal tears and how PT addresses this issue.
They have an email newsletter for visitors to sign up for which includes a weekly email with health and fitness tips sent every week.
The patient in this example feels an immediate connection with this clinic and after viewing their videos he has complete trust in their expertise and professionalism.
This scenario plays out daily for millions of people all over the world who are seeking PT care.
My question for you is: Are you positioning your clinic in front of these prospective patients or does your competition have the upper hand?