As the Coronavirus spreads and things change on a daily basis, it’s important to keep your patients up to date on the outbreak and how your office is being affected. By now, you’ve probably alerted them to your initial changes, but what is the best way to give them updates in the coming weeks? Here at Functional Medicine SEO, we’re helping our clients keep their current and potential patients informed.
These are the best ways to share Coronavirus updates:
1. Update Your Google My Business Listing
Both new and existing patients will benefit from updating your Google My Business (GMB) listing. Keeping this listing current is one of our top local SEO tips for functional medicine practitioners.
Google is asking that all business owners change their hours if they reduce or increase when they are open. Also, they suggested that you utilize your business description to keep people informed. Just add a sentence or two at the top sharing the highlights. Let them know whether:
- You are seeing new patients
- If you’ve moved to emergent care only
- You are closing the office for a period of time
Since the first few lines of the description are shown on the listing, they’ll get the information they need. You can update this section as much as you need to reflect changes.
2. Add a Blog Post to Your Website
At this time, your patients need to know their health is your number one priority. Write a blog post outlining safety guidelines your office has always followed along with any new precautions you are taking.
This is a good way to inform your patients about special instructions you want them to follow when they get to your office. For example, many functional medicine practices are asking people to wash their hands as soon as they come into the waiting area. Also, they are taking a patient’s temperature before treatment.
3. Send Out a Link to Your Blog
If you send out an email or text reminder for appointments, update the message to include a link to your blog post. This is a great way to drive traffic to your website, but also, it makes it easy to keep your patients up to date. As you make changes in the office, simply update the information in the post.
4. Put a Sign On Your Front Door
Healthcare offices are being encouraged to place a sign on their front door asking patients to stop and evaluate themselves before coming into the building. The sign should be short and ask the patient to call and reschedule if they have:
- Had a fever in the past 24 hours
- Recently traveled outside of the US
- Been around someone that has had a fever in the past 24 hours
- Had exposer to the Coronavirus
This is the last line of defense before a patient enters your functional medicine clinic and potentially putting others at risk.
Need Help Getting the Word Out? Contact us.
The team here at Functional Medicine SEO works with practitioners every day to get their message out to new and existing patients. As part of our SEO packages, we’ll be happy to write content for your site to keep others informed. Also, we manage your Google My Business listing and can make changes as needed.
Now is the best time to invest in the SEO on your website. People are looking for functional medicine practitioners to help them boost their immunities and stay healthy during the pandemic.
Want our team to help you? Fill out this form for a free strategy session and we’ll get back to you right away.
