Randall Wong, MD

Here are five lessons learned from having my own blog for the last three years. Bottom line: No website means no patients.

Pick and choose what elements of Web 2.0 fit your personality as a physician. You can always do more later.

Every medical practice needs a website, but what size and how fancy?

Today will be my last regular post here on “Internet marketing.” I’ve been writing weekly for more than one-and-a-half years about the role of “Internet marketing” and I’m still uncomfortable using these two words in the same breath as ...medicine.

One of the basic tenets of marketing is to know your customer. By doing so, you should identify the needs of the customer, and, if you are able to provide a solution to his or her problem, you are likely to make a sale and build a relationship.

In my quest for finding a great doctor to take care of the inevitable, there were so many details about the great physicians available that I couldn’t distinguish between them - even though I’m a doctor myself.

Starting a blog, for those of you considering private practice, is more important than publishing a paper in a peer-reviewed journal.The peer-reviewed journal may impress your colleagues, but your blog puts you ahead of them by making you more visible to the public.

Old, abandoned and outdated websites are not benign. They are a clear statement that you can’t be bothered to engage this new medium and you have no interest in joining this new conversation. It says that you are really not interested in engaging new patients.

In business circles, calculating ROC seems like a very easy calculation. So why is measuring the impact of your practice’s website and social media efforts so challenging?

On 9/11, I was working in a private practice setting for two of the largest groups in Maryland. Remembering led me to reflect how far I’ve changed ...in ten years.

A negative online review could be one of the best things that can happen to your practice.Maybe you were having a bad day, or maybe you had one too many emergencies to fit into your schedule. Regardless, someone has had the audacity to leave a nasty comment on the Internet. Maybe ... you deserved it.

Have you thought about the image or perception that your patients have of you? If not, now is the time to start.

In the Internet “search” world, there is more of a difference between eye doctor and Ophthalmologist than um ... meets the “eye.”

As with traditional conversations, social media relationships influence our decisions like choosing a doctor.

SEOQuake is an essential tool for checking your site’s Google score and more.

Similar to a car engine, webmaster tools ensure your site is running smoothly under the hood.

Every website owner – including your practice -- should have familiarity with three tools: Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, and SEO Quake. These three provide the owner with ability to run diagnostics, ensure proper indexing of a site and determine page ranking.

If you’re thinking about ways to boost traffic to your practice's website, you may be tempted to add filler content. Well, now there’s an argument for quality over quantity. Google just changed its rules.

Twitter is not the best social media tool for a medical practice, in my opinion. Though one of the largest social media platforms, Twitter appeals to a demographic much different than the typical medical practice.

In an attempt to develop a sense of social media, I have a challenge for you and an office re-decorating tip for you this week. Take down your “Wall of Fame.”

Traffic to your practice website comes from three distinct sources. Here are some tips to get online traffic out of gridlock and flowing smoothly.

Facts about you are arguably more important than your credentials. Get patients interested in you in a number of different ways.

You can still safely, and properly, use e-mail with your patients if you follow three technical limitations on its use, as well as ensuring privacy measures are in place.

The businessperson of today builds and maintains relationships through the Internet using social media. We’ve been building relationships for years. Take the time to reach out and say hello. The more information your referring docs have about you, personal and otherwise, the more they’ll talk you up to patients.

While there is a lot of excitement about the merits of social media, don’t forget the power of e-mail as a practice builder and efficiency tool. With e-mail, you and your staff can improve efficiency, maximize convenience, and, most importantly, build a bond between you and your patients.

Useful Web sites have some value added. So, too, must a medical Web site. A successful site that has a great exposure and great page rankings must have tremendous value added. Your medical knowledge is your most powerful asset.

New patients are constantly looking for any and all information about us. Others’ comments, bits about our life and personality, another's satisfaction all are important in the decision process in how doctors are chosen these days.

Creating your own Web site or blog is easy. As the New Year is fast approaching, make a resolution to get started. Here are three easy ways to do so. You might want to try a personal site before launching a more serious site for your practice. No matter which way you choose, you can’t spend a lot.

You can create your own Web presence in less than six months. If you have followed me here at Practice Notes, it may seem insurmountable, but it isn’t. You can do what I’ve done in a short period.

New 4G networks mean faster transmission speeds for consumers and healthcare professionals to access information wherever, whenever they want it.