Have you ever Googled yourself?
Who owns your-name.co.uk? If no one does…should you?
If you have never considered these questions, now is the time to start.
Search engines already know a lot about you. Google in particular is by far the largest, used for over 70% of searches in the UK. If your picture has appeared electronically on any hospital website, it is likely that Google will have seen it. Enter your name into a Google search and select ‘images’ from the left column. You may see yourself: at the very least, it is always interesting to see what people with the same name as you look like and do for a living!
Google has recently created Google profiles. You can search for this by typing ‘profiles’ into the Google search bar. Here you may find information about yourself which you may not have been aware is there. You can claim your profile and fill out the relevant details including photos and CV. This way you can make sure that Google has the correct information on you for viewing around the globe.
What Can Your Patients Learn About You Online?
Increasingly, patients and relatives of patients are using search engines to research you. Would you want the family of a patient you are caring for to see you letting your hair down on your Facebook profile? Do you want them knowing personal information about you such as your relationship status?
As a medical professional should you even be on Facebook? You can change the settings on Facebook to make your details more private. The default setting for Facebook is not particularly private and your information can be widely viewed. If you have got a Facebook page, therefore, we would strongly suggest that you look at the security settings.
We would also recommend (if you have not already done so) that you research what Google and the other search engines already know about you. Change and correct anything that is incorrect and try and limit access to accurate information that you would like to be kept more private.
Never Underestimate the Power of Google
The position in which you appear on a Google search is of crucial importance.
- Over 80% of people click on the first 3 results in Google
- The majority only ever click the first result
- This leaves only approximately 20% of your potential online business looking at the results lower down the page
- Some people are not even aware of more than 1 page of results on Google!
If you are trying to get people to your site rather than a competitors’, your position on Google is therefore vital; if you can be in first rather than second position you can expect twice the about of traffic, enquiries and hopefully business.
Your business should aim to appear on page 1 of Google, preferably as near to the top of the page as possible. If you do not appear here or your position drops unexpectedly, this can have very negative effects on your business.
In our next Marketing Your Business Online Blog…Claiming your Territory Online! If you are interested in more in-depth business marketing training for the medical aesthetics industry, Cosmetic Courses are experts in providing this. Call us today on 0845 230 4110 or [email protected]
