Live Q & A Session
How many veterinary blog articles should I be writing per month?
The challenge is to be consistent, but not overwhelmed. I recommend that each month, you set up 2
veterinary blog articles. If you're able to use the schedule provided in one of the previous modules (click
to learn more about the practicegrowthacademy), then you'll be set up to write and release 1 during
the first 2 weeks, 1 during the next 2 weeks, and all of your topics will be prearranged. If you can write
more, that's great, but 2 per month will be 24 veterinary blog articles by the end of the year. Each of
those blog articles is going to be able to carve out a piece of online real estate for your practice, so in
5 years, you'll have over 100 avenues into your clinic. That is all valuable, virtual real estate working
behind the scenes to fuel the growth of your practice. A client recently pointed out how great the
program was, because this is such a head start. When practices 3 or 4 years down the road begin to
see all the benefits, and they try to come into the market, your presence is already solidified with your
online real estate.
What can I do about making changes to my veterinary website?
Typically, the older websites were very difficult to change, and you had to sometimes go through your
web developer, which could be extremely frustrating. Ultimately if this is the case, you and your staff
will stop trying to update your veterinary website, and it will become static and stagnant. Your clients
see this, and that becomes a poor reflection on your practice as a whole. This can unravel the growth of
your practice. The veterinary website design components should be handled professionally, but you and
your staff should have the capability to update and edit the website text, write veterinary blog articles,
and make those kinds of changes through your own admin panel in order to keep all information
updated and current.
What happens if someone has a current veterinary website for which they don't have edit/
update access?
The figure of web developer is becoming a new, professional service. Just like a practice's
lawyer, accountant or other specialist, the web developer is a key role. If you don't have a
good connection, a fluid interface with your web developer, where you can make changes
and adjustments on your own veterinary website right now, you need to address this aspect
immediately, because the problem won't get better on its own. Every single day that you
maintain a sub-par status quo, you're losing new clients and every new client you lose is draining
the lifeblood of your practice.
Do new client forms on a veterinary website actually work?/Should I have them on my veterinary
website?
From my veterinary marketing and practice perspective, forms are a major tool for collecting opt-in
information. This was a question for us when we were first developing the DVMelite platform, which
really utilizes new client forms. This isn't a lost form on your website, because the new client form is
front and center, and is designed to reach out and speak to those new clients. For example, If you're a
new client searching in your area on Dr. Google for a veterinary website, it would be good to find one
that says "New Clients Welcome! Start here for the first steps to solving your pet problems!" If you'll
remember when we discussed how to communicate effectively, we don't start with "Your bill is $79 to
see the vet. Come in immediately." What you do is encourage potential clients to take small steps
first.
Surprisingly, this concept has proven to be very effective. Most of your prospective clients may not fill
out the form, because they'll just pick up the phone, but many will fill out the form. Each month, you'll
see those clients who opted for the form method. For many potential new clients, they may access
your veterinary website after-hours, or may not have time for a conversation. The new client form
would provide a great alternative venue for them. An additional bonus is that the workflow for your
staff is improved. Instead of a call in the middle of the day, they will receive an email notification from
a completed new client form. Then they can get back to that client to verify the form information, and
then schedule the booking. This is a targeted way to capture clients who are interested in coming to
your practice. Whether the customer follows up or not, you now have a way to follow up with them.
This is an excellent method to increase the conversion rate for your practice, turning prospective clients
into actual clients. The fewer steps you place in front of a prospective client, the more likely they are to
become an active client. The new client form is just such a shortcut.
Is a client education database good to have on a veterinary website?
Client Education (CE), if not done correctly, will cause Google to penalize your website as it may mistake
this content as being plagiarized. To avoid this, your web developer must implement CE properly and,
when done so, it can be a very effective online resource to which the veterinarian can direct current
clients for research into problems their pets may be having. You, the practitioner, can save some time
in the exam room, while still delivering a high quality, educational value to your clients, under your
brand, on your veterinary website. Your ultimate interest is in your client and his/her pet, and having
your own online client education database available to them will help steer them away from potential
misinformation in Dr. Google. While the Client Education Database isn't the most important resource to
provide, it is a helpful, useful supplement to your practice.
What do you do if a staff member won't provide a photo or a bio for the veterinary website?
Sometimes your staff may have privacy concerns with regards to these items. Whatever his or her
reason, you can't force them to provide this information, but you can't allow them to hold up the
process either. Simply, continue on with the information provided by your other staff members,
because it is imperative that you get as much on your veterinary website as quickly as possible. One
thing you can mention to anyone who may be reluctant to put information on the website, is to just
keep things very general and basic. You can also recommend they use just their first name as this will
reduce their Google search privacy concerns.
How do I get staff to write blogs for my veterinary website?
The key element here is the editor, who is responsible for website updates, schedule creation,
veterinary blog assignments, proofing, publishing, social media outlets and assigning other duties as
needed. The staff member you've selected as editor is now in charge of this area, and he/she can then
map out a schedule, so that your staff knows their jobs. The scheduling calendar will then serve the
same purpose for which you've used it previously with regards to callbacks for client appointments,
client reminders, etc. The veterinary blog writing responsibilities simply become an integrated part of
the staff's daily workflow, on a calendar/schedule to which they're already used to referencing. With
these tools the system quickly becomes a well-oiled machine, so that you can consistently publish
articles and interact successfully on social media outlets. The editor and the schedule are the keys to
making this aspect another efficiently run part of your practice. [See chart of editor responsibilities at
the end of this document.]
What should I include on my veterinary website navigation bar?/How many components should there
be on my veterinary website design?
When your site is too visually busy, it can be overwhelming. Simplicity is key. We want to first engage
the client. Once we've made that connection, we can then give them more information. The two most
visited pages on a veterinary website are the About Us page and the Contact Us page. The client is
there because they want to learn about your practice, and then they want to contact you. If they can't
do those things, they will become frustrated and leave. Two veterinary websites can hold all the same
information, but how it's presented is a paramount consideration.
Where should the most important information for my practice be located on the screen when a client
visits my site?
In traditional newspaper media, you may have heard of the "above the fold" section which is essentially
the portion of the newspaper or website that a reader first sees. The same concept applies to the
placement of veterinary website information. There is also a concept called "reading gravity." We
know that people read from left to right and from top to bottom. These together mean that the two
most valuable places on your veterinary website are the top left and the top right, and then, in terms
of "below the fold," it would be the bottom right. The top left, the most valuable location, should
include the most important, impactful message, which is your company name and logo. The second
most valuable location, the upper right hand side, should include the "Call to Action." This is a "Call us
today!" message with your phone number. It should be noted that just a phone number alone is not a
call to action as you must provide instruction for your potential clients that guides them to engage with
your practice, ultimately increasing the conversion rate of prospects into active clients.
How should I budget for my veterinary marketing?
To achieve practice growth, you must appropriately allocate finances to your veterinary marketing
budget. About 1-1.5% of your gross revenue should be spent on your marketing/advertising (1.1%
is the national average). Where is the best place to spend this veterinary marketing money? Online.
Reallocate any monies that you previously put toward other advertising (Yellow Pages, newspaper, etc.),
and refocus that money on your company's veterinary website first and there after online advertising.
Through investing in online media you will be positioning your practice exactly where your potential
clients are - leading to significantly increased practice growth.
How do I know where I'm ranking in terms of new client keywords?
When someone searches keywords on Google, about 60-70% of people don't look past the top 3 results.
97% of people won't look past the 2nd page of results. If your practice can't be found at the top of the
1st page of Google search results, you are effectively invisible to your target audience. The first way
to find out where your practice shows up on the list of results is to type in "your city, veterinarian" or
the money key words developed by DVMelite. The DVMelite SEO Boost Network option will also help
your search engine rankings significantly. Additionally, if you are a DVMelite client you will be receiving
a monthly automated ranking report that will provide you with valuable online data regarding your
practice's online visibility.
If my practice appears with a town/veterinarian search in Google Places but not below in the
organic results, is that good or bad?
It's okay, but we want to maximize your presence, so you want to be in both places. You want
to be in the Adwords section, Google Places section as well as listed multiple times in the
organic searches. The more listings - the greater your visibility. As much as possible, you want
your practice to dominate the search results. You need to rank the veterinary practices where
the clients are searching.
Is Google Adwords for me?
Google Adwords is pay-per-click. This is a real time bidding process for keywords. The
approximate cost is between $.50 to $3/click, so, when someone actually clicks your add,
you'll be billed. First, competition is a deciding factor with how you're charged. Smaller cities,
with little to no competition will be charged on the lower end per click, whereas larger cities
with substantially more veterinary practices will be charged a higher fee. The second factor is
ad quality. Google wants to profit off of the adds that will be clicked the most. This is called
the click through rate. If your add gets clicked more often than another similar ad, Google
may lower the rate you pay, because you're bringing in so much traffic and therefore profit.
The more you increase the click through, the more you lower the price you pay per click. To
do this, your ad must be compelling in order to motivate potential clients to click your add.
Typically, you'll use between $50-$80 per new client. You can use this figure to determine if
your veterinary marketing is successful. If you spend between $150-$280/month on Adwords,
depending on your location, the key is to measure. Ask your new clients when they come in
how they heard of your practice. For example, if you're spending $150/month, and you see
after the first 90 days that you actually received 10 new clients/month, 10 X $80 = $800 asset
to your practice - $150 = $650 return on investment (ROI). If you see that Adwords are working
that well for you, you should increase your spend as much as you can, because you are in a
profitable, advertising campaign. Without measuring what works and what doesn't, you're
potentially losing money.
Is Adwords good for every practice regardless of location?
Any practice that is trying to grow should be using Google Adwords and measuring the progress.
In smaller locals, you'll receive a lower click through rate. If you try it, and it doesn't work,
cut this option out of your budget. But if it does work, increase the spend per month on the
Adwords portion of your advertising budget to really ignite the growth of your practice. The
conversion rate, after they click through to your site, is dependent on the professionalism
and "look" of your website. All veterinary marketing options and their success always circle
back to your veterinary website, and it being a 10 out of 10 experience for your potential clients.
If I have an announcement, do I put it on as a post or as a page?
Pages are essentially static, staying the same for their duration. Posts are dynamic, with
changing dates, information, etc. and are favored for usability. Specials and announcements
should be put on veterinary blog posts, which are automatically put on the home page of the
veterinary website with no further navigation necessary, saving the client time and effort.
This shows potential clients that you have a modern and up-to-date veterinary website, and
therefore a modern and up-to-date veterinary practice that is worthy of their business as
clients. With the correct SEO words included in your blogs, not only will updated information be
accessible to your clients, but it will also be accessible to Google to help further carve out that
piece of online real estate.
If I already have pre-written veterinary blog articles, should I go back and apply this system to
them?
Yes. Applying this system will maximize the impact of your existing articles. If you didn't include
tags the first time you published, go back and edit the post to include them.
What are tags?
When you write a veterinary blog, you can enter your keywords as text in the tag section before
publishing the article. Whenever anyone looks up your keywords, Google will find them. This a
free way to bring attention to your practice.