Let’s face it! Advertising in traditional media can get really expensive. And while I do not suggest cutting your traditional marketing, I do suggest adding Online/Internet Marketing to your budget. But where do you spend your money on the internet?

Figuring Out Where to Spend Your Money Online.

Let me start off saying that there is no sure fire answer to this question. But I can give you some ideas and pointers to lead you in the right direction. First off, it might not be a bad idea to have a small questionare for your younger patients asking them what websites they frequent. I can guarantee you sites like myspace and facebook will pop up frequently, but I bet most Lasik surgeons don’t know what a myspace is, let alone have an account on myspace.

Also, consider many of your local newspapers. Younger patients arn’t going to be reading the newspaper anymore. They read the news on internet. So you could consider running banners on some local newspaper websites.

Search engines like Google and Yahoo are another place that people are flocking to find their lasik surgeon. These are probably the most obvious places to advertise and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a big plus to get first page ranking.

Pitfalls of Online Advertising

Well, I just mentioned SEO, and most Lasik surgeons have a company doing SEO for them currently. But sometimes your SEO company is doing nothing at all, or even causing damage. Here are a few tips to keep your SEO company in line

• Ask for weekly progress reports from your SEO company.
• Keep your SEO company in the loop. Let them know what’s going on in your practice. Sometimes Online PR can do good
• Gather testimonials from your patients and send them to your SEO company for content
• Have your SEO company explain everything they are doing to build your site’s rank
• Read up on SEO. It’s not really as complicated as they want you to believe, it just takes work.

Other pitfalls come from putting your banners on a site cluttered with banners or that use pop-ups. There is a thin line of creating online advertising that is eye-catching while not annoying the viewer. I have found that creating interactive banners can do really well in catching and keeping the attention of the viewer.

Final Note

There is no sure fire easy way to succeed in online marketing, but I have seen the cost per call (CPC) of internet marketing for lasik and it can be much lower than the CPC for traditional marketing.