Grow Your Practice With the Right Marketing and SEO

Nicole Vélez, MD, FACMS

There are 3 keys to growing your practice with the right marketing and patient-centric experience: social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and streamlining. Nicole Vélez, MD, FACMS, and founder of Pittsburgh Skin Dermatology and Mohs Surgery presented pearls in the session “Growing a Successful Mohs Practice: SEO, Social Media, etc.” at the 2023 American College of Mohs Surgery Meeting in Seattle, Washington.¹

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Social Media

“Social media is critical and non-negotiable in today’s day in age,” Vélez explained. While a social media account is a great place for practice information, it remainsone of the best ways to provide education to longtime, new, and future patients—especially since there are non-dermatologists posting inaccurate skincare advice.

“I have followers as young as 8-years old following and commenting on our practice’s social media posts,” she shared. “This is a great time to educate and promote correct information.” Pittsburgh Skin Dermatology and Mohs Surgery posts a variety of content from procedure information and photos to community involvement on their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. 

Search Engine Optimization

SEO helps your practice stand out when patients are searching for your practice’s information. There are several ways to improve Google traffic. The first priorities should include claiming your business on Google, verifying your location and hours, ensuring up-to-date information, and a linking it to your website. Gaining quality reviews with stars and testimonials of patient experiences will help bump your business up when someone searches for dermatologists in your area.

“My office is set up with Birdeye, and there are several comparable services,” Vélez said. “It emails patients after their appointment and prompts them to leave a review. When a review is left, it automatically gets posted to Google and our website.”

Streamlining

The last of the 3 s’s to growing your practice is to find and retaina great team. Part of retainingand creating a positive culture streamlining mundane tasks to empower your team to complete tasks they take the most pride in, such as helping patients, assisting with procedures, and seeking educational opportunities. Vélez streamlines and utilizes her team’s skilled expertise by outsourcing IT support, web development, online scheduling, and call center to other businesses. The call center even comes at a cost savings, as the cost of a front desk assistant comes with a salary and benefits.

“I was skeptical of the idea to bring in a call center at first, but it helps our team focus on patients in front of them instead of a ringing phone,” explained Vélez. “Online scheduling is also great for patients because they can find availability and schedule 24/7 when their skin is on their mind. We’re happy to offer that for them.”

How do you enhance thepatient experience? Answer our poll we posted earlier in the ACMS meeting about how you make each visit stand out.

Reference

1. Beal B, Collins K, Mina M, Vélez N. Growing a successful Mohs practice: SEO, social media, etc. Presented at: 2023 American College of Mohs Surgery Meeting; May 4-7, 2023; Seattle, WA.