Truth # 1 - You can't stand out if your website is built like 1000s of others.
Shortly after launching the new website for Clearlife Hearing Care in Texas, the owner and Audiologist had a patient sitting in front of him. Brad Stewart, AuD, the owner, had noticed a substantial increase in the amount of forms being filled out on his site.
As he typically does, Brad asked the patient how he found him. The patient went on to tell Brad that he found him on Google and had been researching practices and "everyone's website looked the same except yours". The patient could see what Brad and I have seen for years - that most practice websites are stuck in a sea of sameness, struggling to stand out from their competition.
Audflow creates custom websites that highlight what makes YOU unique and helps prospective patients see the why. In addition, we build our sites utilizing modern SEO and design practices, including blazing fast page speeds. Speaking of page speed...
Truth #2 -If your website is slow, you are in for a rude awakening (courtesy of Google).
Google has been focusing more on user experience over the last number of years. Winning in Google is no longer about keyword tricks and link building. Modern search engine optimization, in 2021, is more about satisfying the user and creating a great experience for visitors.
Recently, Google has announced that their new Core Web Vitals and site performance (aka page speed) will be part of their ranking algorithm this summer. That means that sites that perform slowly could see their visibility drop on Google.
Many new Audiology websites are being published at less than 50/100 on Google's Pagespeed Insights score. I recently saw a brand new website that scored a 1/100! The lowest score possible on Google's testing tool! Brand new! There are many factors that go into speed metrics, but many of our clients get 80+ on their websites, putting them among the fastest on the web.
Fact check: check your site speed (or ours) on Google
Truth #3 - Many practices are forced to spend WAY too much money on SEO because their website isn't very good.
Time after time, I speak to practice owners that are spending a lot of money on their SEO and getting little return. Their agencies are creating blogs and social media posts, but they aren't seeing a demonstrable difference in their business.
I believe this is because many of the practices are not starting with a solid enough "base" (aka website) and are in effect, throwing good money after bad.
Of course every situation is unique and every market is different, but many of the Erickson Built clients end up lowering their spend on digital marketing because the core of their digital marketing efforts (the website) is better and more effective. Visitors stay longer, they fill out more forms and they are rewarded on Google with better rankings - all with less effort than before.
Truth #4 - Many Audiology websites are missing simple SEO best practices.
Just like in Audiology, where there are core activities that ensure better outcomes for your patient - there are core best practices when building a website, that ensure better SEO and Google visibility.
Many of these items, like structured data (JSON schema), geo-focused title tags, great location pages and proper internal linking are missing from many Audiology websites. Because we are not a website factory, churning out dozens of websites a month, we can spend the time to focus on these small (but important) details.
Speaking of building the website...
Truth #5 - The people building your website are not the people you are talking to. They are often interns and outside contractors.
A dirty little secret in digital marketing agencies is that the people you see - the person giving the webinar or speaking at the conference - is not the person who will work on your website. After selling a website, the work is typically handed down to entry-level employees, outside contractors or even interns (yes, it happens).
At Audflow, we build the websites ourselves. We charge more so we can spend the extra time and we only work with practices that value having a better website. That means that Stephanie and I build every site we produce . We can't build 5-15 websites a month and we don't want to. But the sites we produce are among the best in the industry and we work hard to beat ourselves with each build.
In fact, we are working on some new sites that are about to launch - and I think they are fantastic. If you set up a call with me, I'd be happy to show you.
