Category Archives: Best Practices

Security, Brand Promise, and the Healthcare Website

Posted on by
Reply

Not Secure website warning appearing in Google Chrome.

You’ve worked hard to build a reputation of integrity, safety, and security for your healthcare brand. You take your PHI seriously, and consistently reassure your patients that their confidential health and personal information is safe in your hands. But if you’re not prepared, Google’s upcoming plans may very well undo all your efforts by labeling your website Not Secure when viewed in the Chrome web browser (see above).

This upcoming change is part of Google’s HTTPS Everywhere initiative. If you’re in healthcare marketing, manage a website, or are involved with digital strategy, you need to know what it is, what the impact will be, and decide whether or not you need to take action to protect your visitors and your brand’s reputation for security.
Continue reading →

Optimizing Your Content for Search Engines & People

Posted on by
Reply

Themis statue on the table in lawyer's office in black and white.

Your health care organization has big news. Maybe a renowned physician just joined your medical group. Or you’re building an addition to your heart hospital. Or your medical center is expanding its pregnancy and birth services.

How do you help make sure your target audience can find out about it through search engines? You know there’s more to it than posting a press release on your website.

Equally important, how do you write the story in a way that’s meaningful and engaging for the people who want and need your information?

Achieving both those goals might seem like a tall order. But you don’t have to choose between optimizing content for search engines or people. You can – and should – craft natural-sounding copy that speaks to users AND pleases Google.

Continue reading →

What’s Holding Your Digital Marketing Back?

Posted on by
Reply

What's holding your digital marketing back?
Lack of budget. Lack of time. We’ve been asking healthcare marketers what their top barriers to success are for almost a decade through our digital trends survey. And every year they report lack of budget and time as your top hurdles. This year’s stats are no different, with more than 170 healthcare marketers reporting budget and time as their two overall barriers to digital success.

But, when you divide the survey respondents into the self-reported segments of leader, average, and laggard a different story emerges.
Continue reading →

Healthcare Website & Digital Governance Demystified

Posted on by
Reply

Healthcare Website Governance
We wouldn’t consider building our dream homes without blueprints for design, tactics for construction, and strategies for maintaining our new residence over the long haul. So why do we jump into creating our healthcare websites without embarking on the same kind of preparation and planning? Insert sheepish grin here.

Well, let’s take the mystery out of website governance, look at what a governance framework might include, and see how we can benefit from using governance to help us manage our healthcare websites long term.

Continue reading →

Effective Healthcare Marketing in the Attention Economy

Posted on by
Reply

People standing and looking at their cell phones
The problem is real, and one you’re likely familiar with: your digital marketing budget is supporting an increasing number of activities and you’re under growing pressure to connect the top of the funnel to the bottom, delivering business value in terms your CFO and CEO care about.1 What tactics do you prioritize if you’re going to actually start running marketing as a revenue center? How will you measure your progress and communicate it throughout the organization? For healthcare marketing leaders it’s more important than ever to find answers that help you solve the new and evolving marketing puzzle you’re faced with.

Continue reading →

Taking the Lead in Healthcare Marketing

Posted on by
Reply

Image of cyclists

In healthcare marketing, staying competitive takes many different forms. Staying ahead of the organization across town. Adjusting to acquisitions and changing alliances. Keeping up to date with ever-changing technology and search algorithms. Exceeding consumers’ ever-increasing expectations.

So while you’ve been cranking away at the day to day, it may feel like your website is drifting behind. But is it time to act? Recent advances and the maturation of several marketing technologies means that now is the time to shift gears, find your energy and put your site back in the lead.

For many organizations, that sense of ‘lagging the competition’ is centered around website features and functionality. You’re looking to boost the online user experience while simultaneously increasing its alignment with organizational strategy. Where to begin? Let’s look at where one of the most visible areas of your website is headed.
Continue reading →

Is it time for a site redesign?

Posted on by
Reply

is-it-time-for-a-redesign

Chances are a lot has changed since the last time you redesigned your organization’s website. For the last few years the push to go responsive triggered a number of prominent redesigns in our industry. Since then most brands have followed suit. But even if you’ve already gone responsive, changes in devices, user behavior and technology all contribute to a different user experience today than even a year or two ago.

Wondering if your site is still delivering the value it should to your site visitors and your organization? Here are the three most common indicators that signify it’s time to redesign.
Continue reading →

4 Ways to Enhance Mobile User Experience Beyond Responsive Design

Posted on by
Reply

enhance mobile user experience

When it comes to providing mobile users the best online experience, many healthcare marketers think going responsive covers everything. And, with most healthcare organizations reporting 30-60% of all traffic coming from mobile devices, they’re not wrong.

But it’s just the beginning of creating the best user experience (UX) possible.

Here are four ways you can go beyond responsive and continue to deliver exceptional UX to your mobile users.
Continue reading →

ACA 1557 Pushes Web Accessibility to Healthcare

Posted on by
Reply

web accessibility in healthcare

Ensuring your organization’s website is easy-to-navigate and intuitive are top priorities for healthcare marketers today.

But it’s important to consider that optimal website usability can look and sound very different to people with sensory impairments like blindness, low vision, deafness or hard of hearing. People with cognitive disabilities, or whose native language isn’t English, can struggle with content comprehension. It can also be more difficult to navigate a website with certain motor skill impairments.

For people with a range of abilities different from your own, you must take usability a step further and address accessibility.

Continue reading →

Launch An Intranet That Outperforms Your Competition

Posted on by
Reply

 

123-image

As the sun has set on the 2016 Olympic Games, it’s inspiring to think back on the sportsmanship, athleticism and teamwork demonstrated by the thousands of competitors.

At Geonetric, we’re reflecting, too. And we’re proud of the recent feats of functionality we’ve “coached” into hospital intranet launches, making them stronger, faster and more efficient while they support your organization. Thinking of overhauling your organization’s intranet? Here are the medalists you want on your team:

Continue reading →

The Most Effective Way to Extend Your Digital Marketing Team

Posted on by
Reply

Client-satisfaction-survey

“My team is swamped and just doesn’t have the time to focus on our website.”

While I was the Product Owner for the Geonetric sales team, we heard comments like this all of the time.

It’s not surprising to me to hear that marketing teams are swamped. Most healthcare marketing teams run lean, and digital is only one of their many responsibilities. For these organizations, hiring a new team member focused on digital efforts would be ideal – but finding the budget to hire and taking the time to onboard can be difficult.

But there is another way to extend your team and add someone who understands digital marketing and the healthcare industry.

Continue reading →

What You Need To Win At Digital Marketing In Healthcare

Posted on by
Reply

2016-Survey-Banner
You’re not investing in digital marketing just because it’s fun – you’re investing in it because you know it can help you win new patients.

But if you want to win, you need to know where you stand. How do you compare with other healthcare organizations like yours? Are your results competitive? Do you have the team, partners and budget that you need in order to succeed?

If you don’t know where you stand, you’re in luck! We’re proud to announce that Geonetric has partnered with eHealthcare Strategy & Trends magazine to once again conduct the most comprehensive survey on digital marketing in the healthcare industry.

The 2016 Digital Marketing Trends in Healthcare survey is officially open – and we want thought leaders like you to participate!
Continue reading →

Avera’s New Website Advances System-Centric Approach

Posted on by
Reply

Avera Website Homepage

Great health systems are always evolving. The same is true of their websites.

Avera Health is a large, integrated health system. Based in Sioux Falls, S.D., Avera serves more than 100 communities throughout South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota.

Avera and Geonetric have been partners since 2005. Over the years we’ve redesigned their site a few times, each version offering new visual design, enhanced functionality and improved user experience.

Avera’s updated site launched earlier this month and, from its stunning design to the impressive new content, this site is a show-stopper.

Here are a few of the highlights.
Continue reading →

Three tips to improve your SEO strategy from SEJ Summit 2016

Posted on by
Reply

3 Tips to Improve Your SEO Strategy

In the wee hours of June 23, 2016, Geonetric’s Digital Marketing team loaded up on caffeine and made the four hour drive from Cedar Rapids to Chicago for Search Engine Journal’s (SEJ) Summit 2016.

As you probably garnered from the name, the conference covered all things SEO, but also provided a broader view of today’s digital marketing landscape. This year featured speakers from several leading names in the industry, and our Geo trio was especially excited to hear from two of their favorites: Google and Home Depot.

There was a myriad of great advice and information presented during the nine sessions, but for your convenience, we pared it down into three main points that could have the biggest potential impact on your current and future SEO strategy:

Continue reading →

How to Optimize Your Health System’s Brand for Local Search

Posted on by
Reply

How to Optimize for Local Search
Establishing an effective SEO strategy in today’s mobile age requires you to include local search efforts. According to Google, more searches take place on smartphones than computers – and combine that stat with the fact mobile users expect information returned or presented to be localized. Mobile users also expect the information returned to be accurate. But that’s not always the case – which frustrates searchers and healthcare marketers alike.

It’s time for you to take control of your local listings and get on the path to optimizing your organization for local search. We’re here to help show you how.

Continue reading →