subject: Strategic Internet Marketing For Doctors, Lawyers And Other Professionals [print this page] If you're a professional and you don't have a website, you probably have asked yourself if you really need one. It's just one more thing to deal with and you're already running other forms of advertising as a part of your marketing plan aren't you. But think about this for a moment. If your strategic internet marketing is not as comprehensive as the deli down the street or the dry cleaner a block away, then you are missing out on both a referral source and an opportunity to build reputation and credibility.
Take a look at your colleagues. Do they have sites? Do they have email addresses that have their business name as the domain? Does yours say gmail or hotmail? Your clients and potential clients may be more internet savvy than you are.
In today's marketplace the public has come to expect that whatever product or service they are looking for will have a website where they can get additional information. Not having a site lessens your credibility in the eyes of consumers that are accustomed to every business having one.
There is absolutely no reason not to have a web presence. On the contrary, even the simple tip we are going to pass on, bare bones as it is, satisfies the consumers need to see that proof that your in business for the long term. And if you do it right, you will have another valuable marketing tool for your practice.
Firstly, you can have a simple Wordpress site up and running in less than four hours start to finish. This platform is specifically designed for non-technical people and literally anyone who has a domain name and a hosting service can produce highly functional and professional websites in no time. You can either do this your self or contract it out. If you do contract it out, make sure you specify a Wordpress site to be uploaded to your own hosting account. This shouldn't cost any more than $150 total even in high cost areas like Los Angeles or New York.
If you don't want to go that route, join one of the online directories for your profession. Those directories typically allow you a page to talk about your service, upload a picture and provide email and phone contact information. The domain name is going to look really funky and you won't be able to use it on other marketing material.
To make this a much more effective option, buy two domain names. The first will be the name of your business. You'll use this for your email hosting account so now your business cards and other marketing material will have a professional looking contact information.
Purchase a second domain and have it redirected to the URL that has your directory page. Now you'll have a shorter, and far more relevant URL for your business. When picking that name, think about how your potential clients might search for your services. If you are a divorce lawyer serving San Pedro, CA then you may want to get a URL.
Why would you do that? Well if someone in San Pedro is looking for a divorce lawyer, that's pretty much the phrase they are going to enter. And guess what, there probably is little to no competition in the search engine for that phrase and your link will be on page one. When you consider that 80% of all visits to websites start as a search, being on that first page of the search engine is a pretty enviable spot to be.
So total cost for this strategic internet marketing for professionals is $20 for the two domains, $10 a month for hosting and whatever the directory charges you which should be next to nothing. How much did you spend on your last order for business cards? Welcome to the 21st century.
