Service-based businesses like physical therapy clinics need to think local when it comes to building a marketing strategy. Local marketing helps your patients find you, learn about your services and get in touch.
Did you know that 88% of searches for a local business from their mobile phone end up contacting that business within a day? The metrics prove that using local strategies for your physical therapy marketing is the best way to be discovered by your patients.
<<Did you miss our Zoom Cast on Digital Marketing for Physical Therapy? Watch it in the Zoom Vault today!>>
At MEG, we’ve gathered the local marketing best practices we consider when helping physical therapy startups or existing private practice clinics build out their private practice marketing plan.
8 Local Marketing Tips for Physical Therapy Clinics
Go Mobile Friendly
Almost half of all searches are made on a mobile device. Having a mobile-friendly and mobile-speedy website isn’t an option anymore – it’s table stakes. Visit your website from your phone or use a tool like a responsive design checker to see how your site stacks up.
We also recommend using Google Search Console – a free, insight-rich tool from Google. If you’re failing the Core Web Vitals tests in any areas, you’ll need to make some improvements to your website.
Remember Local SEO
How your site performs on mobile isn’t the only thing to look out for on your site. Read through your content and ensure that you talk about where your physical therapy practice is located, the community, etc. Give Google the right keywords to show up in local searches so that your practice is shown when people in your neighborhood are searching for your services.
Local Listings
Part of local SEO is looking at directory listings online. You’ll want to use a tool like Yext or manually check that your information is correct across all the main directory websites such as Better Business Bureau, yellowpages.com and Yelp.
Here’s what we recommend you check for:
- Your name and address is spelled correctly and consistent on every listing
- Your hours and operating information are up to date
- Your phone number is correct and current
If your information is incorrect, these inconsistencies can hurt your local SEO, so you’ll want to send in a request to correct your information.
If you haven’t claimed your Google My Business listing, this is the most important one of them all. Your Google My Business listing will show up alongside the search results, providing patients with your name, address and phone number without any extra effort like clicking and searching your website. This listing will also help you show up on “near me” map searches.
Use Social Media
Social media is excellent for marketing your private practice locally. Tag your location in your posts or use local-based hashtags when posting about your practice. These signals will help provide context to Google about your site, even if they don’t contribute directly.
Local Ads
If you decide to run paid ads on social media or Google, local targeting options will help you put your listing in front of people who live in your area. Local targeting helps you only spend money on local clicks which can lead to new patients and not someone from states away who would not be able to visit your practice.
Help Out Your Community
Being an active member of your community is a great way to act upon your mission, get some recognition and build local goodwill—plus, it will ensure that your community remembers you if they need physical therapy in the future.
Local Media
Media is great for local businesses because you know you’re reaching people close to you, just like targeting in paid ads. Billboards, local papers, radio spots and local television advertising are all ways to start building name recognition and familiarity with your services should someone need them.
Your Website Is Your Most Important Local Tool
Unless a patient calls you directly from one of your local advertising efforts, they’ll probably visit your website before contacting you. We’ve said before that your website is your hardest working salesperson and that’s why physical therapy website design is so important!
You want to have a website that ticks all the boxes (like SEO, user experience best practices, conversion path optimization, etc.) before investing time and money on other local marketing efforts.
To help improve your local marketing efforts and open the digital doorway for patients with a high-performing physical therapy website, check out MEG’s website design and redesign services.
