In the last newsletter we took a look at the various platforms that you can use to promote your healthcare services on for free… this month we are looking at some of the paid for options that are available. 

There are so many platforms to choose from, we picked the two big boys Facebook and Google AdWords and then 6 specialist healthcare platforms. 

Google AdWords:
Google AdWords is a very effective advertising tool. It allows very precise targeting based on keywords and location of users.  

You don’t get much space to play with, just 140 characters so chose your words carefully. It is important to target advertising very precisely, it is very easy to have a scatter gun approach on AdWords which will result in a large volume of clicks but won’t necessarily generate business. Less is more with Google AdWords. 

The platform is relatively simple to use once you understand it. You will need a website to send clicks to, so not suitable for you if you don’t have one. 

You can set a fixed monthly budget for your AdWords campaign to control costs. Typically, our clients will spend between £150-£300 per month.   

Facebook advertising:

Facebook advertising works on you profiling your target audience based on interests, age, gender, location and more. 

If your typical patient (is there such a thing?) can be profiled it is very easy to target very precisely. The less targeting criteria you use will increase the clicks as you’ll reach a wider audience but may not be the right audience for you. 

One word of warning for some healthcare providers… Facebook advertising works on profiling an individual. You must be careful that the adverts aren’t intentionally targeting a vulnerable group of patients. Some specialties will need to be more careful than others.

You can set a fixed monthly budget for your campaign to control costs. Typically, our clients will spend between £150-£300 per month.

LaingBuisson International: 

LaingBuisson run a large portfolio of websites alongside its other healthcare businesses. For this article we are just focusing on the two main UK focused sites that they operate (Private Healthcare UK & HarleyStreet.com) 

These sites are very well established; Private Healthcare UK has been around for over 20 years and the dedicated Harley Street site is over 10 years old (was previously called Harley Street Guide) 

They offer consultants a “Silver” (£200 pa) or “Gold” (£750 pa) profile page on their websites. We are focusing on the gold profile here as give you full access to the services the platform offers. 

The website search tool is effective and relatively simple to use. They have a very large database of consultants so it is great for the patient using the site but does mean more competition from other healthcare providers. 

The Gold profiles are comprehensive with details about you, your treatments, locations, etc… the profile includes direct email links and links to your website. They produce the profile on your behalf and you have a dedicated account manager. 
You have the opportunity to publish additional content such as news, patient recommendations, patient advice articles and videos. You do need to supply this content yourself. 

Gold profile from £750+ vat pa. (£634 for PHAST Media clients)  

Doctify:

Doctify was launched in 2016 and focuses on consultant promotion. 
The site has a very straight forward search functionality and the profiles are very comprehensive. Search engine visibility is OK but they are spending money on AdWords to further promote the platform and have an active consumer social media presence. 

Concentration of consultants is in the London area so competition for some specialties are quite high in the capital, much less competition nationally but traffic is likely to be lower too. 

They don’t allow you to include your email or your website details. Emails are sent via the website through their own system. You are able to expose telephone numbers on the website. It has a good patient review tool which you can connect with your own website. 

Consultant profile is £828+vat pa  

WhatClinic:

WhatClinic has been around for about a decade and as a result has pretty good search engine visibility. It differs from the other directory websites we’ve featured in this article as it works on a “Lead Generation” model. There is no upfront fee to list your practice. If you subscribe to receive leads you are given priority for leads from patients for your specialty. 

Simple search function, profiles are relatively short but contain key information. The site does allow you to expose your telephone number but all email communication goes through their system and you don’t get a website link. They do have a simple patient review tool which you can connect to your own website. 

They charge approx. £10 per lead and estimate your traffic in advance based on a guestimate of likely lead volumes. Actual cost will vary depending on your location and specialty. For a bariatric consultant outside London but near a major city we were quoted approx. 200 leads per annum which would be £2,000+vat.  

My Health Specialist:

My Health Specialist was launched in 2013. The site is little flat visually but actually has very straight forward search functionality so accessing records of doctors is very easy. It has a nice filtering tool to refine search results. Some specialties are not provided for outside of London which is common with some directory sites. 

Consultant profiles are comprehensive but visually very dated. Profiles include all contact details including email and website address. 
Costs £660+vat per annum to listed 

MedStars:

MedStars was launched by two consultants is 2014. The site is very simple to use and the consultant profiles are comprehensive, you don’t get a website link though. 

Natural search engine visibility isn’t particularly strong but they are very active on social media publishing frequent consumer advice articles and they also promote consultants on their network via these channels. 
MedStars differs from its competitors as it claims to personally vet every consultant on the website and to monitor patient satisfaction. You are only getting on the site if they want you. They offer a concierge service for patients to help them find the right specialist for them. 

It is one of the cheaper sites on the market as just £250+vat pa.