Direct to Consumer: From Inquiry Through Admission
If you invest in the right methods for organic optimization you will see results. However, organic work takes time. Rehabs that have invested in these practices dominate the organic results.
SEM, PPC, Paid Search – it can be confusing when agencies throw acronyms and terminology at you. The dominant force in this space is . Paid search requires daily focus and optimization on keyword choice, ad copy, landing page design, and conversion funnel optimization. Did you know that drug names paired with “abuse” lead to some of the poorest conversion rates? Inexperienced agencies will pile on with poorly converting phrases because they often only look at clicks and calls, not the end of the funnel. The end of the funnel, when you overcome objections and obstacles and the client walks in your door, is ultimately all that matters. Anyone can get you “leads;” not everyone can build your census.
If your site has been damaged because of past practices we can help. We will do a full assessment of your site’s strengths and weaknesses and identify such issues as bad back links, shallow or duplicate content, and design flaws that impact search results.
Remediation is a critical process if you want to reverse the damage done by past contractors or employees who took short cuts to show quick results. Search engine optimization is a long-term strategy. Tactics will depend on how much damage has been done and whether Google has manually penalized your domain.
We have been working with behavioral health call centers since 2000. We have learned best practices for improving conversion rates on Internet inquiries by working directly with both small (4-5 advisors) and large (40-60) call centers and developing strong processes for transfers to admissions departments. We have worked with over 50 admissions departments over the years and have a firm understanding of what it takes to convert Internet inquiries to admits.
We have analyzed call tracking systems, call center processes, and admissions processes for over a decade and have found that incremental changes can increase conversion rates dramatically.
Brand is critical for effective marketing. This is one of the most neglected areas in the behavioral health field. Sales and outreach are often totally disconnected from Internet marketing. Collateral materials don’t convey the same message. Visual identities are often generic and poorly realized. A strong brand demands a systematic process for understanding who you are, why you are different from your competitors, and how you can project this identity through visual elements and content. There are few iconic brands in the behavioral health space: Promises, Hazelden, Betty Ford are some of the most well-defined brands. What can you do to rise to the top and be known as THE place to get treatment?
High quality content is key in today’s search engine environment. Some years ago people started to think of content as just words on the page – lots of blog entries written quickly for little cost. Penguin changed all that. Penguin was a Google algorithm update that pulled the rug out from websites that thought shallow, worthless content would put them in the sweet spot. Junk content has never been a good idea. Even before Penguin this content did not serve customers or website visitors. Today many rehab sites continue to publish the same old low quality content. Some rehab websites will have hundreds of pages of content that are essentially the same piece with a few keywords changed. The worst offenders write the same content over and over while plugging in different cities. This is not only a huge waste of time, it is killing your organic results. Content must be unique, meaningful, and shareable. This means you need true experts to write your content. Beware of agencies that talk about their SMEs (subject matter experts). They are likely low-cost, entry-level writers who are only experts because they know more than your grandmother about the subject.
The first step toward improving your Internet results is to get a full audit of your current practices and positions. Many times companies are surprised to learn what past agencies have done to their websites. They often discover that poor practices over the years have undermined their results. We can do a full audit of your search engine optimization, branding, and content strategy to ensure you know what steps to take to build your census through direct-to-consumer marketing.