Hospitals Ailing in Their Web Marketing Efforts: Study

They might be cutting edge when it comes to medical treatments, but in the online marketing arena, top hospitals need serious resuscitation.

That’s the findings of a new report from Oneupweb, which analyzed the online marketing initiatives of 19 healthcare organizations recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the “Best Hospitals Honor Roll.”

“We were surprised to some extent,” says Carly Desmet, director of marketing for Oneupweb. “But traditionally hospital are behind the times when it comes to their marketing initiatives.”

The report, which looked at factors such as the use of SEO, showed that 63% of the hospitals studied have little presence online. Criteria used included general, medical, local and Spanish keyword searches.

“Hospitals are missing an opportunity to educate potential patients about their services and facility,” says Desmet, noting that in particular they need to beef up not only their local search terms to reach neighboring communities but their general medical search rankings as well.

Of the 19 hospitals, only 37% had a blog and 47% had podcasts. Hospitals need to get on the social bandwagon, Desmet notes, to interact with patients and offer ways for people to rank the facility online.

California’s Stanford Hospital and Clinics came out on top in Oneupweb’s rankings, thanks to high local search rankings. There is room for improvement though, notes Desmet, citing the organization’s lack of social media offerings.

The bottom two in the report were also in California—Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center and Cedars Sinai Medical Center, both in Los Angeles.