Healthcare Marketing Update: Effective Domain Names

03 Feb Healthcare Marketing Update: Effective Domain Names

Healthcare marketing encompasses a variety of mediums — social media, advertising, SEO — but one of its most important elements can be found right at the top of your web browser. Just as important as your brand, your website’s domain name needs to both capture the scope of your practice while also hitting on some important tenets of branding, optimization, and good housekeeping.

While this seems easier said than done, it is important because your domain name is one of the ways prospective clients will find and connect with your practice. If it is done well, your domain will make it easier for individuals to find your practice throughout the web — including social media. And, in the best version of healthcare marketing, your domain will feature a targeted keyword or phrase that works to consistently give your website a boost in search engine rankings.

Ready to learn more? Read on!

Think about how you want people to find you. 

When it comes to choosing a domain name that represents your brand, it is easiest to simply think about your company’s name. While this can be a great tool to use for smaller practices, things get muddled when you’re competing with other practices in your area; it is important to remember that LADentalClinic.com is one of the top results when you Google “LA dental clinic.”

Are healthcare marketing keywords important to you? If so, choose a handful of targeted, industry-specific keywords and use them to brainstorm domain names that marry your company’s name with something that can be picked up by search engine algorithms. Not only will this allow new visitors to stumble across your website when they’re searching for relevant keywords, but it can also boost the content on your website’s other pages, too — which is important for organic growth overall.

Think about making things as easy as possible.

Of course, a healthcare marketing domain name like LAFreeEmergencyDentalClinic.com will not work; it will just leave a negative impression on potential clients. Remember that your name will function as your audience’s connection to your brand and practice. For that reason, your domain name should meet these basic guidelines:

• It should be short, unique, and contain as few special characters as possible.
• Make sure it is easy to pronounce — you’ll be sharing this name with people over the phone, in person, and online, and phew things are worse than trying to pinpoint the location of a hyphen in a website name.
• Avoid special spellings. Default to the assumption that people can’t spell, and your healthcare marketing domain name should be as simple as possible. If certain spellings are unavoidable, make sure you’re publicizing that distinction whenever possible.
• Are you violating someone’s trademark? Not sure? This website lists a ton of resources you can use to not only generate domain name ideas, but to also double-check their availability.

Think about covering your bases — and then cover them.

Have you ever accidentally gone to www.gooogle.com? Even if you type in an extra “o” in the middle of the name, you will still be redirected to Google’s main search page. This is intentional; mistakes happen, misspellings occur, and you should plan for these events in order to make it as easy as possible for patients to find your practice’s website.

It’s possible (and cost-effective) to register multiple domain names for the sole purpose of having them redirect to your company’s main website. If your company name is available, for instance, but you still want to register a common misspelling or targeted keyword URL, they can still redirect to your homepage if they’re registered under your name. This carries a huge benefit because it prevents competitors from buying up similar URLs, and it allows you to play a proactive role in your healthcare marketing reputation management.

Interested in learning more about building highly effective domain names? Contact HealthCare Marketing Group today!