Online Presence for Professionals

Online Presence for Professionals

It was not so long ago that professional practices were not supposed to do any “advertising.” There were no television commercials, radio ads, newspaper spaces or any other form of advertising for physicians, attorneys, dentists, accountants or other professions. Traditionally, this was one way of distinguishing a “business” from a “profession.” Business people competed with one another while professionals did not.

That seems totally outmoded today. Professional practices now develop their own branding strategies, use SEO techniques and employ local SEO services and direct mail marketing experts. Watching television for a few hours will probably expose you to ads from physicians who can help you grow hair, attorneys eager to help you sue for injury, tax experts who can erase past taxes due or dentists who can implant new teeth in your mouth.

Sometimes it seems that professionals have lowered their standards by engaging in direct mail marketing or using digital marketing solutions. There is no doubt that some of these branding strategies are in poor taste and detract from a professional profile, but if done properly, these efforts can build confidence in the ability of the practitioner to perform. In any case, it is clear that online and social media presence is almost a “must-have” for any modern professional practice.

Try a quick experiment –  doa Google or Bing search using terms like “dermatology Daytona” or “CPAs Orlando.” In both cases, the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) will show you numerous professional practices, office locations, phone numbers, links to their web pages, etc. Clicking on a few of the web page links will show you the branding strategy and the quality of digital marketing solutions employed by these professional practices. Some are quite good and others are very lacking.

In a sense, this should not come as a surprise. Accounting professionals, physicians or lawyers cannot be expected to be experts in developing branding strategies, SEO techniques or providing a logo design service. In some cases, even highly regarded professional practices have chosen a cheap web design and left it at that. In the early days of the internet, that may have been enough, but those days are gone.

AXIOM believes that the online and social media presence of a professional practice should accomplish several goals. That presence is an important part of a branding strategy and it should –

• Expose the professional practice to the widest possible audience of potential clients, patients or customers.
• Make the practitioner’s qualifications clearly known.
• Describe their professional experience.
• Build confidence in the ability of the practitioner to perform. What can the professional do to solve your audit problems or treat a skin condition?
• Inform the public, demonstrate professional skill and share knowledge.
• Make contacting the practice as easy and comfortable as possible.

Following the web links in the above examples will tell you who is board certified in dermatology or tax practice, who has “…over 20 years of experience in public accounting serving a wide variety of industries, including Real Estate Developers, Car Dealerships….,” who graduated “..in the top 3 percent of her medical school class, then went on to her medical internship and dermatology residency at Shands Hospital….”  Those points are all part of branding strategies that build confidence in the specialist’s ability to solve a problem or deliver professional services.

If you are struggling to define your branding strategies or to develop effective digital marketing solutions, it would pay to turn to a professional internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional digital marketing solutions and skills needed to guide your web presence to the ranking it should have.

Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Our digital marketing solutions teams are able to combine traditional marketing techniques like printing, a logo design service and direct mail advertising with creative web products. Please visit our home page or call Axiom at 800-888-6348 to find out how Axiom Administrative Services can fill your digital marketing needs.