FROM THE RANKS PART 3: Death by Jargon

Our lead copywriter Cathy has a few words for people with big brains who write their Web sites without thought of their audience.

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Picture this. You’re roaming the Web one evening after a light day of patient consults. You decide to look for some extra help getting your brand new PDA to synch up properly with your old computer. You’re getting close; you think you may have found the right site…eureka! Here’s your advice:

Microsoft Windows Installer can be used to install signed driver packages that are associated with applications in a Windows Installer installation package.

You heave a big sigh and abandon that quest in favor of checking out the classes your college student daughter has signed up for this term. You locate her university’s Web site and here’s the scoop:

This symposium aims to provide ethnographic and anthropological substance to the political philosophy of publicization. We hope to elucidate the ethnographic forms that the new public forums (Helga Nowotny et. al. call them agora) are taking in our anthropological contemporary.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” you say. “Wait just a minute. I know where you’re going with this. I’m smarter about medical Web marketing than you think. My site’s nothing like that.”

Is that right? You’re sure?

Just as doctors aren’t usually skilled in geek-speak or university blather, most prospective plastic surgery patients aren’t experts in medical terminology. Think how they may react to gobbledegook like these gems from real Web sites:

There is no blind dissection of the space for the implant. The fold below the breast (inframammary fold) as well as the medial aspect of the pocket (the cleavage area) is precisely created.

Dr. X prefers the small 3 mm,triple lumen Mercedes cannulas to 1 atmosphere of vacuum suction pressure.

External Ultrasound Assist is a method of preparing tissue for surgery by infusing fluid followed by high frequency ultrasound using a special device
designed especially for this procedure.

Not only will most searchers fail to understand what these passages are trying to say, the average patient does not want to be talked to this way. They are real people seeking understanding, support and expertise in their pursuit of self improvement—they want to connect with a physician, not receive a lecture.

An early study of the behavior of Web site visitors revealed that over 75% of them look at text first (rather than photos or other graphics). What will happen when their eyes land on “1 atmosphere of vacuum suction pressure?”

Sure you don’t want to take another look at your Web site?

Proponderance of Pay Per Lead Programs Popping Up

One of our clients in San Francisco, a facial plastic surgeon found a fantastic new scheduling utility that would be perfect for his practice if using it weren't illegal in California.

The service, found at Genbook.com, is a very slick tool to add a "Schedule an Appointment Now" button to your Web site and your various online advertisements. It does everything you would want from an online scheduling utility. I'll be the first to admit it is one of the cleanest interfaces of its kind (there are several other companies offering similar scheduling services).

Where California physicians need to beware is their pay-per-lead, lead generation model. According to their Web site, participating physicians pay $2 per appointment when the booking is initiated from the physician's own marketing efforts (say from a Web site visitor or existing patient) but as much as $40 per lead when Genbook finds the lead for you.

We've written extensively on the dangers of pay-per-lead programs for California physicians in the past. I've submitted an inquiry to Genbook and I am waiting for their feedback.

I Can Still Remember When...

I can still remember when the doctors I spoke with argued with me over the value of the Internet and whether they should be online. While those days are long gone (ok, true, I did have a doc question the value of web sites in general yesterday), some people still don't know how to quantify just how important a web site is in their medical marketing efforts.

Check out this great bit of research from PEW Research Center. Titled Seeking Health Online, author Susannah Fox discusses the extent of Internet users who rely on the Web to research medical information, and the problems associated with the credibility of online health assets.

My favorite quote:

"On a typical day some 10 million Americans now turn to the web for health information - about as many as those who pay bills online, read blogs or look up a phone number or address."

Check out the report for yourself, it is rife with inspiring insights.