San Diego, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/24/2016 --Pew Research has found that 72% of patients routinely consult the internet for information on medical facilities, treatments and providers. To stay competitive, healthcare businesses must meet the demands of an increasing digital generation – by going over and beyond simply having a website or social media presence, and actually providing customer service and scheduling functions via the web, says Mod Girl Founder Mandy McEwen.

In a recent blog post, she details four steps healthcare businesses can do to be more competitive:

1. Design a user-friendly website. "If you last designed your website at the turn of the millennium, then you likely need an update," McEwen explains. "Your website needs to be mobile-friendly with oversized click-to-call buttons, hidden or 'nested' menus, and GPS map functions." User experience consulting paid dividends for one of her clients, a psychology portal, that decreased bounce rate by 3% and boosted page views more than 87%.

2. Focus SEO efforts on quality content. "When people think of SEO, they think back-end coding and keywords," McEwen says. "So I get a lot of healthcare providers asking me about that, but holistic SEO is more about answering key questions and using key phrases that pique people's curiosity." She adds that many healthcare businesses make the mistake of using their blogs as announcement boards to share internal news, but that's not what prospects care about. "Your audience is seeking free medical advice – which you can't exactly, legally give them online," she says, "but you can steer them through your front doors." Her content suggestions helped one Tampa Bay plastic surgeon go from 2,729 to 12,886 page views in one month's time.

3. Don't overlook review sites. "For some industries, online reviews matter very little. For the medical companies I work with, it's everything. If you don't have at least a dozen five-star reviews in popular portals like RealSelf, HealthGrades, or RateMD, then you're losing an enormous amount of business," McEwen says. Soliciting reviews can be tricky, she admits, because it's not proper to outright ask patients to leave a favorable testimonial. However, through marketing automation that directs patients to surveys and feedback opportunities, her clients have seen tremendous increases in feedback and referrals. One Ohio plastic surgeon reported a 106% rise in leads with an 85% increase in conversions from an email lead nurturing campaign Mod Girl consultants set up.

4. Make your social posts more visual. "Text-based posts are no longer the standard. People want infographics, Snapchat videos and polls -- visual media that is more fun to interact with," McEwen explains. "One of our surgeons is totally killing it with Snapchat – an area that is still uncharted territory for most medical companies, but a great avenue to gain competitive advantage."

Mandy McEwen recommends that healthcare professionals seek a free website audit on Mod Girl's Healthcare Solutions page at http://www.modgirlmarketing.com/healthcare-marketing-solutions/ to discover areas for improvement. From there, companies can implement the suggestions on their own or partner up with Mod Girl consultants to power a new strategy.

To read the full blog post and download their recent plastic surgery marketing case study, please visit: http://www.modgirlmarketing.com/healthcare-marketing-trends-2016/

About Mod Girl Marketing
Mod Girl Marketing is an inbound marketing consultancy that provides custom inbound marketing solutions to healthcare and technology companies. From coast to coast, Mod Girl Marketing has helped numerous businesses transform their digital presence from bland to brilliant.

Contact Mod Girl Marketing at 800-388-7732 or by email at info@modgirlmarketing.com.

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