why even doctors need to have a website of their own

By Jason Sherrill
Posted on Jun 9, 2007

Like many people, I visit my dentist twice each year for a routine cleaning, one-sided conversation (I still haven't mastered annunciating clearly with hands in my mouth), a free toothbrush and a discussion about the state of the e-commerce industry. For the past two years, during each cleaning my dentist has said something like, "I should get a website, but I have no idea why. I just feel like I should have one. But I don't know what it's going to do for me. Am I really going to attract a lot of new patients from the web?"

No, he isn't going to attract a lot of new patients from the web, but there is a critical reason why he, and other medical practitioners should have at least a basic website.

I'm searching for a new pediatrician for my girls. First, I emailed to ask a few friends and relatives who they recommend. While waiting, I turned to www.beaumonthospitals.com to use their physician search to find local doctors. I found six doctors that were local.

Beaumont provides the typical basic info about each doctor: specialty, schools attended, phone number, blah, blah, blah.

Screenshot of Beaumont referral page physician details

What was missing from each doctor's profile was a link to his or her website. Surely some of these doctors must have websites? So I did what any good netizen would do, I Google'd them. Within sixty seconds, I knew exactly why Dr. Henry, my denist, and every other medical practitioner needs to have his own website.

Look at this screenshot of the first three results returned when I searched for Sharon Geimer, the physician who is closest to my home and office.

Screenshot showing search results for Sharon Geimer query

None of these results, or even the top 10 results, link directly to Dr. Geimer's website. Heck, I don't even know if Dr. Geimer has a website. The first two sites contained about the same info as the Beaumont site. The third site allows patients to rate their doctors and share comments with others.

Screenshot showing patient rating for physician

If you're a doctor and all of your patients like you, then this can be good for you. But apparently Dr. Geimer rubbed at least one patient the wrong way, and this patient shared that experience with the world.

Screenshot showing patient comments for physician

Unfortunately, it's also the only opinion posted on the website, so that was the first, and only, feedback that I read about Dr. Geimer. It's also enough to put her at the bottom of my list since there are several other doctors that I'm considering.

If Dr. Geimer had a website, and a good SEO expert helping her, then it's very likely that a search for her name would return her website as the first search result. For many users, that would be the first and only website they'd visit before deciding whether to schedule an appointment, especially if the website was well-designed with clear, concise content.

Dr. Geimer need not spend thousands of dollars on her website either, a simple one or two page blog-style website would be a sufficient offer would-be patients an introduction to Dr. Geimer's own words. Seth Godin provides a simple set of plans on his blog to get started for only $5.00 per month.

P.S. For now, let's hope this review of my dentist, Dr. George Henry, in Sterling Heights, Michigan, ends up near the top of the Google search results. :)