How to Attract Online Enquiries For Your Care Home
Care homes are in great demand across the UK, and the need for extra beds is forecast to grow fast over the next decade. And yet, many of residential care home owners tell us that they struggle to generate enquiries online. In this article we look at 5 care home marketing ideas that are designed to increase your visibility online, and accurately target clients who are searching online for your services.
What is Care Home Marketing?
Whilst there is definitely still a demand for brochures that advertise your care home facilities, many of the people who are searching for care homes will probably start online. This means that most of your care home marketing will be digital, with a focus on your website and search engine optimisation.
Digital marketing is all about engaging with potential clients, using a range of content such high-quality images, articles, helpful information, videos, and fact sheets. A digital strategy will involve having marketing resources available for clients whether they’re just starting their search for a suitable care home, or looking closely at a shortlist.
5 Care Home Marketing Ideas
These ideas have been designed for people who need their care home marketing to increase their home’s online visibility and generate enquiries as a result.
Table of Contents
- An Optimised Care Home Website
- Care Sector Keywords
- Claim Your Google Profile
- Create Compelling Content
- Paid Ads Create Instant Visibility
1. An Optimised Care Home Website
Your website is a shop window for your facilities, so it needs to reflect your brand and demonstrate your values. We would recommend a professional website design for the simple reason that it will create a great first impression and offer first-time visitors an engaging and easy-to-use intro to your care home.
You should check that any website design is search engine optimised. SEO improves your website’s online visibility and it’s ranking on search engines like Google. A good position in the rankings is important because it means that when someone searches for ‘care home’, for example, you are more likely to be matched, resulting in a click through to your site.
Technical SEO ensures that your website is mobile friendly, loads quickly, and is easy for search engines to read and match to search enquiries.
2. Care Sector Keywords
What do people type into Google when they’re looking for a care home in their area? It’s likely to be something like:
- Care homes near me
- Residential care Kettering
- Find care home in Skipton
- Care homes for dementia
It’s important to know what words or phrases, known as keywords, are used in online searches, as these are the phrases that Google will look for on your website in order to make a match. If you have a local care home, for example, you will benefit from using the location in your online content.
3. Claim Your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile will give a real boost to your care home marketing, and it’s absolutely free! It gives businesses an authoritative online presence for their company. You simply fill in the details of your business online, and your listing will appear on Google Search and in the maps results. It offers important information about your business, such as the address, website, reviews, and services offered.
With a Google Business Profile, you can engage with customers by responding to their reviews, posting news, updates, or images. It’s a good way to boost your care home’s visibility in search results and start attracting more people to your site.
4. Create Compelling Content
As a business owner, you know what questions clients ask when they’re searching for the perfect residential care home. Care home marketing is the art of having the answers to those questions ready in a range of formats. It could be a fact sheet detailing the number of rooms and their relative sizes and facilities. Alternatively, you may want to share a representative schedule of activities, or a blog post about daily life for residents.
Images are hugely important in residential care marketing, so keep adding to your database and ensure that your website images are refreshed regularly. If you use Instagram as a social media channel, take the time to create a library of images from around the home and its gardens. Publish them frequently, so that viewers get a clear idea of the life of your home.
5. Paid Ads Create Instant Visibility
Search engine optimisation works with organic traffic to the website, which means that there’s no advertising involved. Paid ads (PPC) are used to target people who are searching for care homes online. They appear only when there is someone actively searching for residential care, and you only pay when someone clicks through to your site.
Paid Ads can be a very effective way to market a residential care home. Here are some of the benefits:
- Increased Visibility. When you run Paid Ads, your ads will appear at the top of the Google search results page, or Facebook page, which means that more people will see them. This can help you to attract more potential residents and their families.
- Targeted reach. You can choose to target your ads to specific demographics, interests, and even locations. This means that your ads will only be seen by people who are actually searching for what you have to offer.
- Trackable results. Paid Ads provide detailed reports that show you how many people are seeing your ads, clicking on them, and contacting your business. This information can help you to improve your campaigns and get more out of your investment.
Can Outsource Your Marketing Help?
Running a business is a huge undertaking, trying to manage your care home marketing at the same time could be too much of a stretch. Outsource Your Marketing has a team of specialists waiting to help, in whatever way you need us to. Maybe you want someone to design a website, run a paid ad campaign, or simply get your marketing up and running for you.
We can do as much, or as little as you want us to. Our work is goal-driven, so any marketing we take on, will result in enquiries, more traffic to your site, and new residents for your home. We have a good deal of experience in the care sector and will be able to offer guidance on campaigns that will deliver results.
