ON Chiropractic Spring 2014 | Page 15

ON Chiropractic The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) Consumers used to generate their first impressions of products while scanning store shelves. This was known as the First Moment of Truth. The Second Moment of Truth came when they experienced the product after purchase. Then technology changed everything. The pre-purchase phase, when consumers are able to gather an unprecedented amount of data about a product or service, is now known as the Zero Moment of Truth. Consumer Idientifies Need 3  Help search engines find you Before a search engine can direct someone to your clinic’s website, it needs to learn about your website. Google and other search engines use software programs called “spiders” to visit millions of websites and take note of two main things: The words on the page, and where the words are found. If you use the words that your patients use when searching and if you use page titles and headings that describe your services clearly, this will help search engines send the right people your way. 4  Make it easy to book an appointment Success! A patient who is looking to book an appointment with a chiropractor has found their way to your website and they like what they see. Now what? Make it easy for them to book that appointment as soon as possible by providing an online booking function, your clinic’s email address and phone number and a map to your clinic. You can also direct people to your clinic’s e-newsletter, blog and social media accounts so they can engage with you regularly. Zero Moment of Truth First Moment of Truth (Shelf) 5  mobile-friendly Be Today, 25–30% of your website traffic probably comes from people on smartphones or tablets. And this number is rising. If your website isn’t attractive and easy to use on these devices, these searchers are likely to { Second Moment of Truth (Experience) leave and find another website that is. Google has noticed this and is now ranking mobilefriendly sites higher in their search results. By creating a website that is responsive and looks good on any screen size, you can increase your rank in Google search results. The Feedback Loop: How the Real World Affects Your Website Search engines decide how to rank their results based on two main factors: Relevancy and Reputation. By following the key tips in this article, your clinic’s website will have information that is relevant to searchers. The reputation of your site relies on your colleagues and patients. Who links to you? What do they say about you? Many patients leave testimonials and ratings of chiropractors on sites like Yelp.com or RateMDs.com. How well is your clinic rated there? Google and other search engines will assess whether other people speak of you positively or negatively when deciding how to rank your site in search results. By providing a great patient experience, you can increase your positive reviews and this will help new patients to find and choose your clinic. ON The OCA would like to thank Spark Internet Marketing for their assistance in the preparation of this article. For more information about Spark Internet Marketing, please visit www.chiropractic.on.ca/spark-internet. www.chiropractic.on.ca 15