A large number of doctors now believe that medical web marketing is important to promote their practice, but a majority of them still do not hold the same strong opinion about the power of social networking. It is time for all doctors and dentists to realize that medical internet marketing can no longer afford to be disjointed from promotions on social media.

Here are five social networking facts that every doctor should know. These facts drive home the point that doctors web marketing and social networking must go hand in hand.

1. Your Patients are Active on Social Networks

For successful medical market strategies, it is important that the doctor knows as much as possible about patients. With more than a billion active users on Facebook alone and hundreds of millions more on Twitter and Google+, it is quite obvious that most of a doctor’s patients are likely to be active on social networks.

2. Social Networking is Great for your SEO Value

A doctor’s SEO strategy can no longer afford to ignore the value of social media networking. Search engines are constantly evaluating the social media activity and publicity of websites and use the data to determine their page rankings.

3. Social Media Reach can extend beyond Local Market

For a doctor marketing point of view, the most important concern is how to get patients. However, your social networking efforts need not be confined only to your local area or target only your potential patients. A larger fan following on these networks helps boost the SEO prospects of your medical or dental website. Sometimes an influencer may become a part of your network and help you succeed in more ways that you thought.

4. Social Media is not Restricted to the Young Alone

There is a growing trend among older people to become active on social networks. 40 percent of all active users on Facebook are above the age of 35, and more than 50 percent of Internet users in the age group 55 to 64 are a part of at least one social network. These are crucial facts that should help redefine your medical market promotion strategy.

5. Patients take Social Networking Seriously

Social media communication is taken seriously by many patients. Patients tend to exchange personal as well as general health information, and listen to medical experiences of others with interest. Focused doctor patient engagement over a social network can go a long way in enhancing overall patient satisfaction and help achieve more patients for the medical practice over a period of time.