Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Think about the last time you went to the dentist.  Most likely, this has been your family dentist for many years and the reason you go to this dentist is because of familiarity, relationship and trust.  

But what if, for some reason, you had to choose a new dentist.  What would you do?

Typically you would first search online for dentists near your location - this could be near your home, workplace or you could be on holidays and in need of a dentist close to where you may be staying.  Regardless, your research starts off on the Internet.

From there you are now presented with a list of dentist around your area or an area of speciality.   Now begins the process of shortlisting and ultimately, choosing.

So here's what happens.

You see a listing online, click through to their website and start reviewing the practice to see if this is for you or not. 

The judgements you form will be based on;

• Your first impressions based on the look and feel of their website,
• Are the services offered clear and related to your needs,
• Can you easily move around their website,
• Can you find what you're looking for,
• Is there a compelling reason why you should contact them and
• How do you contact them

After your initial review, you may then move onto what other's have to say about this dentist - reviews and testimonials. 

All this adds up to building trust and comfort - encouraging you to make the decision to contact the practice.

If this is the typical 'online evaluation' process, then there a few simple online strategies a dental practice can put in place to earn trust and comfort with prospective patients and have them contact the practice.

Oh, and by the way, the same evaluation process happens even if someone recommends a dentist to you

Here are 5 simple digital strategies for dentists that help with building trust and comfort.

No. 1
Ensure your website is professionally designed and one that is responsive (can be viewed on mobile devices easily).

By professional we mean visitors should be taken down a path that leads them to want to get in touch with the practice.  So many sites are presented with an overload of text, images and links to the point the visitor is not sure what to click on, where to go or even what to do!

Striking a balance between presenting enough detailed information versus ease of navigation, consistency and clarity is a fine balance.

Your website is the first opportunity to instil comfort and trust through; letting clients know how they will be looked after, patient care information, why they should trust you and of course, what you have to offer - by way of services and your methods.

Given that a majority of searches typically happen on a mobile device, you must ensure the website is optimised for a mobile experience, so it is easily read on anyone's mobile phone.

The content presentation should be in such a way that those scanning quickly can get a feel for the practice whilst those looking for more in-depth information, e.g. information on procedures or how to guides, will also be catered for.

Finally, you need to be very clear with Calls To Action on your website. What would you like the visitor to do?  Call the practice?  Fill in the contact us page?  Complete an initial consultation form?  The calls to action need to be up front and centre - a key objective of the website is to also generate new patient leads.

No. 2
Make sure your website is setup for local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). 

Local SEO is a very targeted online marketing approach.  Local SEO allows the clinic to position the practice on search engines and other digital marketing platforms so they're seen by potential patients on their terms.

This involves not only structuring the site so that it's found for chosen geographical keywords, yet also setting up the practice on platforms such as Google My Business and Bing Places for Business with localised content.

Local search marketing is highly targeted and timely - the practice can found as and when a potential patient is searching for a dentist or a particular treatment.

A proper local SEO structured site will have one of the highest conversion rates of any advertising channel.

No. 3
Blogging - the number one content marketing strategy for dentists.

Search engines love websites that have fresh and ever changing content.

However, there are only so many times you can update the About Us page or a page on Dental Implants.

So, the best way to ensure fresh, up to date and relevant content is via blogs.

A dental practice has a wealth of information to share, ranging from dental tips on hygiene through to the latest advancements such as  'invisible' braces as well as keeping patients up to date with the newest happenings in the practice, new staff and community involvement.

All this information can be shared through blogs.

Blogs are great because they are so versatile.  They can be used to share technical information, 'how to' information as well as personal and light-hearted insights, making the practice more appealing and encouraging reader engagement.

Hand in hand with blogging is Email Marketing [link to email marketing blog].  You can communicate with your existing patient database with news, announcements, reminders and technology advancements and hence staying top of mind.

However, beware of overselling.  Blog and email content should be 80% about the patient and 20% about the business.

Embedding appropriate and relevant videos in blogs is an even better way to increase engagement - everyone loves a good video.

No. 4

Encourage patients to leave you reviews and testimonials.

Why is this important?  Because it's part of building trust.  Positive and comforting reviews online from clients is the single most powerful way to instil a sense of trust.

Research has shown that consumers rely heavily on product and service reviews to help them decide on whether or not to go to the next step, i.e. contact you.

Your website is a great place to showcase client testimonials.  Equally powerful is to have clients leave you reviews on your Google My Business page (see point No. 2 above).

Reviews are a two-edged sword though.  When you do receive a review, you need to do something with it, else it may turn into a negative consequence.

For example, let's say a patient leaves a glowing review on your Google My Business page.  You should at least acknowledge and thank the person who left you the review - this shows active engagement on your part and that you are paying attention.

Conversely, if a client leaves you a less than positive review, again acknowledge the review with a response along the lines of "Thank you for your feedback.  We take all feedback seriously and do our best to improve our services based on your feedback".

Next, ask to take the conversation off-line so you can gain a better understanding as to what lead to the negative review.  This can be done by simply asking for a direct conversation.  At the very least, everyone can now see that you are more than willing to engage.

Remember, in the Internet world, good news will eventually get around, however, bad news is VIRAL!

No. 5
Remember to get social.

For the foreseeable future, social is here to stay, so don't ignore it.

Dentists can gain immensely from actively engaging on relevant social channels in order to show their more humorous and human sides - again, helping to gain trust and comfort.

Social channels serve to drive potentially large volumes of traffic to your website.

Here are some ways to use social channels to drive website traffic;

• Post interesting and relevant content for your followers and potential clients including; dental tips and the latest in modern (pain-free) dentistry.
• Customise your posts to suit the channel you're posting on.  For example, Twitter only allows your 140 characters to post, so the message needs to be clear and concise, whereas Facebook allows for longer form posting.
• Where possible, use short videos to get your message across.
• Don't sell!  Brands have come undone not because they don't have a great product or service to sell, rather, they've used social media to ramrod home a sales message.  However, that does not mean you can't post the occasional 'sales promotion', that is befitting your practice.
• Remember to drive traffic back to your website via links and 'read more' teasers.

What are the best social channels for dentists?  That really depends on how much you have to offer.  What your target market use (ask them). What effort you are willing to put in (better to do one regularly, vs many sporadically)  From experience though, the more relevant ones tend to be Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (very much a visual platform, great to show before and after work, e.g. teeth whitening etc).

Dentists can stand to gain immensely from having an integrated and professionally managed online presence.  Trust, Comfort and Reputation Management is key for dentists - your online presence will help you with this.

Find out how Bloomtools can help you establish a professional and results-oriented online presence.  Contact your Bloomtools Internet consultant today.

With more than 86% of people when looking for a local business, service or product will search online, Local SEO (search engine optimisation) has become one of the most important strategies to deploy on your website. Here are some of the top tips to rank your business locally.

Google My Business

Essential #1: have a Google My Business account for your company and it is even more essential to include the following:

• Informative and unique description
• Relevant links and categories 
• High-resolution profile photo, cover photo and additional photos that show your location, sell you, your services/products
• Local phone number 
• Real customer reviews 
• Update it at least every 6 months (add it to your diary)

The Important Details 

Essential #2: Have your full name, address and phone number (NAP) consistently written on your website, social media platforms, Google accounts and any other place your business is mentioned. 

Local Reviews

Essential #3: Real local customer reviews are dynamite for local SEO. Reviews are one of the biggest influencers in marketing, a great way to showcase reviews is to input your client reviews into your testimonial tool running on your website (if you have a shopping cart, ask your clients to leave reviews on the particular product they purchased online, in your thank you email to clients on delivery of your product).   Also get your clients to add reviews on other sites you are listed on eg. Yelp and other local directories.

On Page Factors

Essential #4: Add keywords and your city/region to your page title tag, heading tag H1, URL, your image attributes and throughout your content.  Create a page for each office/branch location.

Local Link Building 

Link building for local SEO is extremely important and something that is often overlooked.  Get your website listed, with a short succinct keyword rich message and your consistent NAP on local sites that are talking about similar things to what you do.  Add your website to local directories, supplier, industry, client websites etc

All of these essential factors lead to search engines picking up your business and ranking you higher when potential customers make localised searches. Call your local Bloomtools Consultant to discuss this further, we are only a call away and can help you set up a lot of this with you. 

 

How to have a stand-out online presence

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Bloomtools has designed and developed thousands of websites for all sorts of businesses across all different sectors.  In addition, Bloomtools has helped many clients to establish a successful and productive online presence by implementing digital strategies that go well beyond merely having a beautiful looking website.

The Financial Services sector is one of the most active and competitive markets.  This group also recognises the value of having a stand-out online presence in order to attract qualified leads.  Yet, despite the varied nature  of Financial Services (Accountant, Financial Planner, Wealth Advisors, Mortgage Brokers etc) we have found something very common amongst them all.

They all have a common set of questions about setting up a functional, productive and stand-out online presence.

In this blog, we thought we'd share with you these questions and our simple and effective solutions.

Here are 5 commonly asked questions by Finance Professionals who are looking to establish a stand-out online presence.

Question 1 - How can I reflect a professional online image?

Answer:

Remember that your prospective client will most likely first check you out online before making any contact.  This is either through searches on Google for your service offering and even if your business was referred to by another i.e. word of mouth.

Furthermore, research has shown that that once a visitor lands on your website, they will make judgements within the space of 5-8 seconds as to should I stay or take off to another site.

So first impressions really do count - it's in those 5-8 seconds that a visitor forms opinions about you and your business.

A professional online image is very subjective and 'professionalism' varies from one business to another.  For example, an automotive mechanic's online presence will be very different to that of a financial planner.

However, there is the one simple rule to follow; your online presence needs to reflect you, what your business does and who you want to talk to.

Sounds simple, yet so many times we see websites trying to copy another's style or wanting to have the latest and greatest gadgets, yet they fall short of connecting with their target visitor.

If the visitor 'feels' connected to your online presence, then you have succeeded in coming across professional for your target customer.

Also remember, the overall look of your website is an instant reflection - if it looks old, has lots of small text to read, complicated looking - you can guess what they think of your business.

Question 2 - How can I make sure a visitor takes action on my website?

Answer:

We live in an age of instant gratification - thanks again to the Internet.

When we search for information online we want the answers to be front and centre - very rarely will we go searching for it in long winded articles or on busy websites.

So when a visitor lands on your website, you need to give them what they came looking for without any effort on their part and most importantly, the visitor must 'feel' they've come to the right place.

Some simple steps to follow:

• Use headlines, images/graphics and stand-out text to highlight key points you want to get across.  This is particularly true if you have a niche target market.
• Be clear on what you do - what are you offering and who is it aimed at.  So many financial websites use images that are not appropriate for their business, for example, an accountant using an image of an athlete running has no immediate meaning or relevance.
• Following on from the point above, use images that reflect the type of visitor you are wanting to attract, for example, if you're an accountant or financial planner targeting millennials, then use images and pictures that speaks to this group.

For a visitor to want to take action on your site, you must answer these questions;

What do you do - am I in the right place?
Do you work with People / Businesses like me?
What makes you different - what's unique about you over others in your industry?
Why should I contact you - have you overcome my fears and doubts?
How can I contact you?  Clear standout calls to action, strategically placed within your website design and content.

Question 3 - How can my financial business be found on Google?

Answer:

Being found on Google organically is not a quick and simple fix.  Unless your business is truly unique and you have no competitors, you will be competing with thousands of similar businesses who are all vying for the visitor's attention.

Google uses 'bots' to search and index various pages of a website.  For a web page to show up for a particular search term, it needs to be seen as being RELEVANT and AUTHORITATIVE by these bots.  This is all about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) which takes time and persistence. 

However, there are simple steps you can take to ensure Google at least finds you and indexes your web pages;

• Your website must be built on a platform that Google can read and the website needs to be developed with proper coding techniques.  If you already have a website, use our website grading tool to see how well it's built.
• When Google bots read your website, the web pages need to have effective page names, titles, meta descriptions, links and alt tags (for images), that tells Google what your website should be ranking for.  These elements need to be properly set up and reviewed yearly to ensure they are relevant.
• Finally, Google My Business is a free Google business listing service and is great for organic SEO.  Set up an effective Google My Business page that includes; business description, business contact details, relevant photos and images and most important, customer reviews.

Question 4 - How can I appear high in Google rankings for my financial business?

Answer:

Being found by Google is one thing.  However, appearing high on Google search is another.  These are two of the most common objectives for any business regarding their online presence.

Once again, being found and appearing high is all about proper SEO.

As mentioned earlier, getting ranked by Google is all about a website's Relevance (content) and Authority (what other websites think about your website).  In the financial sector, where there is a lot of competition it is important that you are on top of this, to be found.

Some simple steps to improve both the Relevance and Authority of your website include:

• Regular content; users going to your website will rate you based on how they gauge your level of expertise, this is particularly important in the financial sector.  Google does the same, and a website that has content added on a regular basis and that is informative, will rank higher than a similar business site that does not have fresh content.  Fresh and informative content is about improving the Relevance of your site.  Consider adding a Blog to your website
• Backlinks; Google also wants to know what other sites think of you and do they see your site and it's content as a good source of information.  Earning and building good backlinks does take time and patience, however, there are other ways to establish backlinks in order to help with your site's Authority.  On top of these directories, more importantly, get your business listed with a good short phrase on industry sites, associations, alliances, community groups you support etc.
• Finally, while you work on SEO strategies, one way you can guarantee being seen on Google is through paid advertising.  If this is something you are keen to learn more about, get in contact with us to see if this would work for your business.

Question 5 - How can I keep my clients and generate more referrals?

Answer:

Did you know that 78% of clients will leave a business because of perceived indifference!

In other words, clients will leave a business because they felt ignored and unloved by them.

This is very sad indeed.  Why?  Because there is no excuse for not looking after your clients and giving them the attention they deserve.

As sad as it seems, this is one area many clients struggle with - and it's probably one of the easiest areas to fix.

How?  Stay in touch with your clients. 

It can be difficult or even impractical to schedule a regular face to face visits or even phone calls with clients for the purpose of catching up and staying in touch.  Typically the client may not have the time to do so and in some cases, you may not either.

However, there are other ways to stay in touch.

Email marketing has proven to still be the number one way to stay connected with your existing and prospective customers.  Research has shown that customers prefer a company to communicate with them via email.

There is so much information a finance professional has to offer and through a proper email marketing strategy, a business can stay in touch and hence stay top of mind with their clients; you can share stories, regular tips, ideas, other client successes and of course, provide information on other financial services offered by the business.

And yes an overload of emails can be frustrating and at times can lead to negative consequences, however, as mentioned earlier, a properly developed and executed email marketing strategy will yield more positive outcomes.

By staying top of mind with your clients, you are also more likely to have them refer you to others as and when the need comes up.

So there you go, 5 common challenges faced by clients in the financial services sector and simple solutions to address them.

Want to find out more?  Contact your Bloomtools consultant today.

We're almost at the halfway point of 2017 and two weeks into winter. This means that for the next three months or so, your customers will be more likely to snuggle up and buy goods online rather than brave the cold to make their shopping runs.

A recent study by YouGov has shown that in the colder months of June, July and August, these hibernating (or 'buy-bernating') Aussies who have the internet at their fingertips contribute to a significant spike in online sales.

Let's face it, the last thing anyone wants to do is to trudge outside in freezing temperatures to do the weekly shopping, not when it can be delivered to your doorstep in reasonable time at a competitive price.

The YouGov survey shows that comfort is a priority for shoppers in winter as over one-third of customers spend more on products for the home.

Additionally, 39 percent of customers say they invest in home furnishing and décor during the cold months, while 31 percent are buying home entertainment systems, media and technology items to keep themselves occupied whilst tucked up indoors.

The survey also revealed almost two-thirds of Australians plan to stay in during the colder months and 42 percent will shop online more often during this time.

So, what can online retailers do in order to tap into this buy-bernating market which accounts for almost half of the population?

Here are a few ways you can gear your platform to capitalise on the influx.

1. Offer your customers winter discounts

Everyone loves a bargain, and with the huge number of customers lurking for the best buy online discount codes will be your best friend.

Try some themed codes about the season to get your customers in the mood for buying.

Discount one or two winter products such as mugs, blankets or scarves to let the customer know that you're thinking about their comfort.

Plus, it's almost the end of financial year (EOFY), so if you need to move some stock why not combine your winter sale with an EOFY sale. Buyers are always looking out for deals to come around the end of the month, so make sure you get on the bandwagon.

2. Theme your website for the season

We know that visual cues and great design are always important, however a bit of a seasonal adjustment can really take your site to a new level.

An easy way to remind a customer that it's cold outside and that they are better off buying indoors, is to incorporate the 'chill factor' into your marketing collateral.

Designs featuring snowflakes, blue tones or people wearing warmer clothes serve to remind the customer how much cosier it is where they are.

Thankfully it isn't difficult to make these kinds of simple changes. If you have the animated header tool add in some winter looking images, add in some images or content on your home page or Bloomtools offers a suite of website design solutions that can spruce up your website to match the season

3. Tailor your marketing

Your customers will be looking for certain things during their 'buy-bernation' period.

Homewares and electronics are on the top of shopper's wish lists during Winter, so now is the perfect time to capitalise on the spike with clever marketing collateral.

Whether your strategy is focused on Google ads or email campaigns, the use of analytics and sales figures to push your most popular products is essential.

They key here is to anticipate what your buyers will be inclined to grab whilst rugged up at home. In short, encourage them to treat themselves!

Bloomtools is working with HotJar to help website owners know exactly how their site visitors are interacting with their websites.  It is just another way, you can take away the guessing game on what people actually do on your website.  And what changes you need to make, to get more conversions/people taking action on your website.

With HotJar you can:

• Get an overview of Heatmaps of how visitors interact with your website (what common areas they click on, where they scroll) to find out what areas you need to fix, move, or enhance to get better results. 
• Record individuals activity on your website, where their mouse goes, what they click, tap and navigate across pages.
• Set up conversion funnels, to track entry and exit of site visitors.
• Carry out feedback polls, on people as they visit your website to get to understand what they want.
• Collect deeper insights from your site visitors with surveys.
• Carry out your own user testing.

And doing this with your Bloomtools Internet Strategist / Consultants they will help you understand the data and make some decisions on making improvements to your website's layout, design and future enhancements.

This is the best tool for anyone who is thinking about doing a re-design on their website, to really know what areas of their pages they need to keep and areas you need to change.  By running this for 3 months prior to your design, you will gain enough data to make some informed choices on what you need to do.  But also we have a number of clients whose websites are more a vital component of their business, that keep it on full time to continue to monitor the results over time.

HotJar - helping you make decisions on data vs opinions.  

If you are interested in running this on your website and would like your consultant to help you analyse the data - contact them to take you through the process, and cover the monthly investment for you.