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Why should you read this newsletter? Because you will learn about:
How do we use the Internet to market our practices? We always get great comments from customers and dentists about our websites ( The Neem Tree Dental Practices), so i thought i would give some quick tips about how we use the Internet to market to our market place. It starts with a story..... All the Neem Tree and Samera websites were initially started by myself. I was the web designer, graphic designer and technical expert. I initially started with MS Frontpage which is not a bad package for a beginner. However, after a few years (around 4 years back now) i realised my skills were not best spent being a web designer, but in fact getting someone to design the templates and then we can update the websites when we need to. So nowadays i get the templates designed by someone who knows how to design great looking templates ( well i think they are great looking) and then someone internally (some times me, some times others) update the site for content. We use Macromedia Dreamweaver, and over the years we have come dab hands at web design using dreamweaver. We do not use the package to its full ability, but know plenty enough to ensure we have a constantly updated website. In addition, we have Photoshop in house too, so we can add new graphics and images when we need them. Yes, the software packages are expensive and they do take a lot of time to learn, but my experience has shown that our websites are amongst the most valuable marketing aspects of our businesses, and it is well worth the time and money learning these skills. Free Downloads and Offers On our neem tree site, we have regular offers where vouchers can be downloaded, printed and then taken into the practices. This is done regularly and works well. In addition, we have an e-newsletter that people can join, and once in a while we send to those subscribers the offers and tips about keeping their oral health well. We don't spam people who are NOT on the list! Google Adwords can be expensive and not right for you! Around 3 years back we started using pay per click advertising with Google adwords, this worked for a whlle, however, now that many other practices in our areas are using Google adwords, it does not work out very profitable for us. I have no idea what the current price for the popular keywords are, but i have a feeling they are not very low. So if you are using Pay per click (PPC) advertising be careful of the pricing! The price of clicks add up very quickly! Search Engine Optimisation This is a key aspect to any site. No point in having a site and no-one knowing about it! However, rather than pay lots of money for PPC adverts it is important to ensure your site is content rich and all the necessary tags have all the key words. We have over the years added more words to the tags, and only with time does Google pick this up. In our respective markets for our dental practices we are usually in position 1 or 2 to get to the top of the unpaid listings. Did you know your customers are much more likely to go to the top rated sites as opposed to the pay per click google adwords at the top? Google Analytics This is again a free service from Google and well worth integrating into your site. Numbers are my game, so as an accountant i cannot stress how important it is to me to see which pages people are visiting. By far the most popular is the fees page. Around 10% of all visits go to our fees page, in these financial times this will probably rise even further! So be sure your fees are clear and up to date on the site. If you have not already, sign up to Google Analytics and start analysing your website traffic. This is fundamental not only to your website but to your business. Is our website out of date? Probably. Our Neem Tree website is a little out date with web site standards. No video, social forums etc, but we will be adding to these in due course, so watch out. The technology is changing rapidly so trying to keep up can be tough. However, the key is to ensure you are getting the basics right and then building on what you have. So how much has it cost us? Well apart from the annual hosting, and the template design costs, it has only cost us the software we have bought and the time to develop, nurture and build the websites. I cannot stress how important this has been as part of our business growth strategy. I have now trained some one else in the team to do most of the things i used to do, so they now have the key skills to develop the site further, benefitting their skills too! Now more than ever, we need to embrace what the web has to offer. It can enhance your business, but it also has the potential to seriously damage your business, with the advent of blogs. Ultimately the Internet enhances transparency in business now more than ever. You've probably see this already, but irate customers do have the power too! See http://ihatedell.net/ Being a great dad... is my most important job in the world. My business, my friends, my team are all extremely important to me, but nothing comes even close, as to being a great dad. Take a peek of my brief video, if you want more time for yourself and family, whilst earning well, and ensuring you have the quality of life you desire. Feedback always welcome, and if you want to come along we have a great offer, so click on the link below, i can assure you, you won't regret it!
No video? Click here! SPECIAL OFFER - UNTIL 11th March - £50 off "Master your Wealth...even in a recession!" - click here to book! Quote MYW50 when booking to get your £50 online discount. Samera's Ultimate Practice Manager Programme Fed up with your practice? Frustrated with your team? Struggling with your Practice management? Then, if you have not already, check out our hands on 12 month Ultimate Practice Manager Programme. We have managed to get funding approval for this programme, so if you are serious about stepping up in your practice and creating the practice you deserve, come along to our free introduction evening on the 19th March and make 2009 your year of Practice Management! We can assure you that you will no longer struggle with your practice, team and practice management after 12 months with us! Click here for more details and to book your space to our introduction evening. Have a wonderful week! All the best Arun
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