Earlier this month, Facebook unveiled their new “Timeline” for pages. While this may have you worried about you practice’s Facebook page, breathe easy! These changes are actually good. Timeline for pages offers more tools and functions to better brand and tell the story of your practice.

Tomorrow, Facebook will automatically upgrade your page to include Timeline. Now, it’s important to note, you don’t have to change anything, but we recommend using these new features to your advantage.

Here are 8 Facebook “Timeline” features that could benefit your practice:

1. Cover photo:

Identical to Timeline for personal profiles, your practice’s page will showcase a large, wide cover photo atop your page. A page admin can choose to use an existing Facebook photo or upload a new one. This prominent image space is a great opportunity to brand your practice. Choose something catchy and consistent with your practice’s image.

Note: Cover photos cannot include price or purchase information, contact information, calls-to-action or any indicators such as “like” or “share” your page.

2. Call-to-action at top:

Quite possibly one of the most convenient new features for your practice is the new location of your contact information. Your address, phone number and hours of operation will now be “above the fold,” visible and apparent to all viewers.

3. Custom tabs are now applications at top:

If you hadn’t already used custom tabs for your practice’s Facebook page, now is a great time to consider the addition. Custom tabs used to run in a vertical list below your photo.

Your tabs may have included a promotion you run through Facebook or links to your blog or Twitter account. Now, these tabs will be applications displayed as boxes below your cover photo. You can change the images of these tabs as another opportunity for branding.

4. Pinning or highlighting posts:

Another great feature is the ability to pin posts to the top of your Timeline. This ensures that page visitors are viewing the most important posts on your page. Each post you pin will remain at the top of your Timeline for 7 days, before returning to its chronological spot.

Similar to pinning, you can now highlight posts. Perhaps you have an important post, but already have something pinned to the top; you can highlight that post to appear bigger than the rest.

5. Milestones:

You can share your practice’s history with milestones. Did you expand to a new region? Take a new doctor on board? Share these events in your timeline for a more personal visitor experience.

6. Friend-to-brand interaction:

In the new experience, page viewers will now see how their Facebook friends have interacted with your practice’s page. This feature is great because it’s been proven people are more likely to use a service if their friends like it!

7. Direct messaging:

Now your patients, practice friends, and prospects can send you private, direct messages through Facebook without posting the comment publicly. This is a great solution for those who may have questions they don’t want to post publicly on your wall. You will see the message in your new admin panel.

Note: You cannot initiate contact with a Facebook fan or user.

8. Improved admin panel:

There’s a new admin panel on top of your page where you can view all recent page activity. This is much quicker than having to click through to view notifications and page “likes.”

As you can see, there are many changes in Facebooks’s Timeline for Pages. If you use these changes as an opportunity to optimize your Facebook presence, your practice’s page will can only become more purposeful. Use this as an opportunity to brand your practice, and to interact and engage with fans.

Take a look at this video to learn more!

Any questions?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Facebook Timeline for Pages, feel free post on our wall.

Earlier this month, we posted a two-part blog series about Pinterest. We explained what Pinterest is and why it’s becoming a leading social network. We also shared tips and best practices for using Pinterest in the healthcare industry. What we didn’t explain is why Pinterest is so addictive!

So, why is Pinterest so addictive?

Check out this infographic by Column Five Media for more reasons why Pinterest is so addicting.

Flowtown - Social Media Marketing Application

What’s your favorite thing about Pinterest?

Let us know what you love about Pinterest! Also check out our boards and tell us which you like best.

As more and more people are using search engines over the almost-extinct yellow pages to find services, making sure your practice is maximizing local SEO is crucial. Over the past year, there has been a shift in Google’s ranking algorithm based on the new Google Places Search (formerly Google Local).Google Places listings, especially those that are “owner verified,” are becoming more and more visible by search engines.

Google Places is one of the most effective ways to increase the visibility of your practice, and it’s free!

So, how do you verify your Google Places Listing?

Follow these simple steps to take advantage of YOUR Google Places listing:

1) Visit the Google Places for Business Page. You’ll be taken to a login screen prompting you to sign into your Google account.

2) If you currently have a Gmail email address:
That automatically counts as a Google account—use that login to sign in and then follow the steps to claim your listing.
If you DO NOT have a Gmail email address:
It’s okay because you can register any email account that you have as a Google account by doing the following:

3) You’ll be prompted to enter your phone number to see if your practice is already listed. Enter your practice’s main phone number. If you don’t see your business, click on “Add a New Listing.”

4) Chances are your practice is probably already listed, but the information is probably outdated, or even inaccurate. Click “edit” to add addition information or delete inaccurate information from your listing.

5) Now here is the most important step! After editing this information, you will need to verify your listing with Google. The claiming process will involve the verification of a pin number that will come on a post card mailed to your office.

6) After verifying your pin number, double check that you have successfully claimed your Google Places listing by clicking into the listing again; it should now display a green check mark and say “Owner-verified listing.” If you see this, you have successfully claimed your listing!

Well, congratulations! Your Google Places listing is verified…

Now What?

Now that your listing is verified, being proactive in editing and adding to your listing is what will really give you a leg up in the search engines. Here are the next steps:

All of these additions to your listing (especially the reviews) strengthen the listing and provides your website more opportunities to rank when local searches are performed.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions regarding your practice’s Google Places listing, or furthering your practice’s SEO efforts, feel free to contact a MedNet Representative.

As millions of people are adopting Smartphones and migrating to the mobile web, medical practices and hospitals are looking at their options for creating mobile websites. While the choices may seem endless, it’s important to make the best decision not only for the aesthetics of your site, but also for your site’s visibility in mobile search engines.

Which is the best approach for Mobile SEO?

According to an article on Search Engine Land, the best approach for mobile SEO is a “one URL strategy.”

One URL Strategy = Full Mobile Site!

A one-URL strategy means that your site URL—the address of your website—is identical on both mobile devices and desktop computers. This is also known as a full mobile site.

Why is this the best approach?

The one-URL approach for mobile sites is the preferred format of two major search engines: Bing (officially) and Google (unofficially). This means that patients using search engines to look for your services from their mobile devices will be more like to find your site if your mobile site has the same URL. Learn more here.

In addition to finding your site on search engines, this approach ensures that potential patients have the ultimate user-friendly experience. When viewed on a mobile device, your site will have the same look, navigation and images, but everything will be sized appropriately for enhanced visibility on mobile devices.

Interested in a Full Mobile Site?

Contact a MedNet Representative to learn about our full mobile site packages!

Since it was launched six years ago, the growth and success of Twitter has been incredible. From popular brands generating millions of followers, to hospitals creating a sense of community for their patients, Twitter has definitely changed and improved marketing in many industries—including healthcare! Twitter allows doctors to establish credibility with patients, keeps users in the loop with the latest healthcare news and acts as a platform to teach users the specifics of surgeries and procedures.

Here are the top six ways we feel Twitter has improved the healthcare industry:

1) Fostering Doctor-Patient Communication

Twitter allows doctors to be in constant communication with patients. While Twitter should not (and legally cannot) be used to discuss any personal patient matters, it’s a great way to answer general health questions. Quick responses are very impressive and will definitely earn you bonus points!

2) Providing Latest Healthcare News

Major news publications including the New York Times (@nytimeshealth), MSNBC (@msnbc_health) and TIME (@TIMEHealthSci) are constantly sharing updates about the latest health industry news, treatment developments and fitness tips. These updates allow the average Twitter user to stay updated on medical news.

3) Connecting Patients to Each Other

Twitter and other social media platforms such as Facebook, Google+ and blogging have provided an outlet for online patient-to-patient support. Patients can share their blog posts and stories via Twitter and generate conversation with others that may have the same medical issues.

4) Community Building: Tweet Chats

Tweet chats have become a popular way of rounding up people with common interests and generating conversation. By using a hashtag (e.g., #HighBloodPressure), Twitter users worldwide can share answers to questions, opinions and tips. There are tweet chats that serve doctors sharing tips with one another, patients and caregivers asking questions to doctors, and patients supporting each other. Symplur provides a full list of existing health-related tweet chats.

5) Raising Awareness

Twitter has also helped raise awareness of several diseases and disorders. Hospitals, national foundations and non-profits raise awareness by sharing facts, statistics and stories about disease. For example, The National Breast Cancer Foundation (@NBCF) urges women to get mammograms, shares stories of breast cancer survivors and encourages people to ask questions.

6) Live-Tweeting Surgeries

Perhaps one of the most controversial uses of Twitter in the healthcare industry is live-tweeting surgeries and procedures. As discussed in our previous blog post, it’s become popular for surgeons and doctors to tweet status updates, pictures and videos during surgeries. This is not only a great way to teach medical students, but also a great way to educate patients on exactly what doctors do.

What do you think?

These are just a few among many ways Twitter has changed the healthcare industry. How has Twitter changed the way you interact with patients and other doctors?

Celebrating all of you as we turn six. blog.twitter.com/2012/03/twitte…

— Twitter (@twitter) March 21, 2012

A study done by BerylHealth shows the importance of building strong patient relationships in order to achieve patient satisfaction. In addition, regular interaction with patients increases the likelihood that they see the right specialists, make follow up appointments and take their health more seriously.

Keep Patients in the Loop!

With modern technology and the web, there are always new ways of keeping patients in the loop. Share your practice updates on social media accounts and send out frequent emails alerting patients of any new services your practice is offering. Utilize your blog to discuss the latest healthcare news and ask patients for their opinions!

How do you make patient experience a priority at your practice?

Share your tips!

You may be wondering why you need to optimize your website for search engines, and even further, why you should turn to an experienced company for help. Due to Google’s constant updates and algorithm tweaks, it’s important to know what makes your website “Google-friendly” and how to implement frequent changes to stay afloat.

Early in 2011, Google announced the rollout of changes to their search results ranking algorithm, called the Google Panda Updates. Since, Google has made many updates designed to penalize websites with weak content and low quality backlinks, and reward sites with unique content and high quality backlinks.

How Do you Get on Google’s Good Side?

According to the infographic below by SEO.com, here are a few ways to get on Google’s good side:

1. Create Original and High-Quality Content
2. Get Rid of Low Quality pages
3. Avoid Duplicate Content
4. Become an Authority
5. Promote Unique Content on Social Networks
6. Improve Bounce Rate
7. Improve User Experience
8. Use language that sounds natural and edit pages that break this rule
9. Vary Anchor Text – Use 5-10 different keywords and alternate between them
10. Focus on High Quality Backlinks, especially if you only have low quality ones

MedNet’s SEO Solution

At MedNet, we offer a variety of SEO plans starting at $100/month. We’ll analyze your traffic, adjust your campaign for maximum performance, and send you ranking reports and custom executive summaries— so you know how well your SEO campaign is performing. Optimizing your site takes ongoing effort and doesn’t happen over night, start today! Contact us to learn more!

If you’re in the healthcare industry and actively using social media sites, especially Twitter, you’re probably familiar with the popular hashtag #HCSM.

If not, #HCSM stands for “healthcare social media,” and is often used on Twitter by those who share tips, ask questions or generate conversation about the use of social media in healthcare.

As healthcare Internet marketers, of course we feel strongly about health practitioners using social media to engage their patients. But take a look at the influence #HCSM has had on the Twittersphere in the past month and let the numbers speak for themselves!

infographic created with visual.ly

Some of the Most Influential #HCSM Tweeters this Past Month

@socialmedia2day- An independent online community of professionals providing information on best practices and tools regarding social media marketing.
@2cre8- Kathy Meyer is an e-marketing trends and tech enthusiast who tweets about all topics related to social media marketing.
@MeredithGould- An author who often tweets about using social media to empower patients and build community.
@MarkRaganCEO- CEO of Ragan Communications and publisher of many online publications, including Health Care Communication News, Mark often tweets about the use of social media to raise awareness about health topics and shares Internet marketing tips for hospitals and medical practices.

Who do you Follow for Healthcare Social Media Advice?

Know of another influential healthcare social media tweeter? Let us know where you turn to for #HCSM tips.

Follow @MedNetTech

Follow us on Twitter and share your favorite #HCSM tips and stories with us. We’re also glad to answer any questions you may have regarding social media and Internet marketing.

Blog Post: #LiveTweeting a Surgery: Genius or Risky? Shoutout to @houstonhospital! What do you all think? bit.ly/ygmsB6 #hcsm

— MedNet Technologies (@MedNetTech) March 5, 2012

According to American Medical News, many physicians are reporting increased patient anxiety due to the self-diagnosis of serious diseases via information found on the web. The abundance of health information on the Internet—some of which is unreliable—is contributing to a new phenomenon called “cyberchondria.” As AMN explains, cyberchondria is “an unfounded anxiety concerning one’s wellness brought on by visiting health and medical websites.” Read the full article for more information.

How can you use the Internet to prevent self-misdiagnoses?

1. Use your social networking profiles to urge patients to ask questions. Your patients and potential patients are constantly using social networking sites; make yourself available on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as a source for answers.
2. Use a blog to share informative answers to your most frequently asked questions.
3. Encourage patients to learn the facts about their health. Try asking health trivia questions on Facebook to get patients interacting and learning.

As a physician, you hold the answers to many of the questions your patients are asking on the Internet. Making yourself a resource for accurate information is a great way to not only prevent patient cyberchondria, but also to establish credibility as a trustworthy source of healthcare information.

Have you ever experienced patient self-misdiagnosis? What steps did you take to relieve their worries?

This week, March 4-10, marks the National Patient Safety Foundation’s annual Patient Safety Awareness week. For the past ten years, NPSF has led health care organizations to recognize the importance of patient safety by raising awareness and encouraging both healthcare providers and patients to become more educated.

This year’s theme, Be Aware for Safe Care, urges healthcare providers and patients to take notice of ongoing efforts to improve patient safety and to participate in the advancement of those efforts.

Hospital Corporation of America used social media to spread awareness by sharing this infographic, showing five ways patients and healthcare providers can establish safe care.

What will you do to raise awareness for patient safety at your practice?