6 internet marketing strategies optometrists need to know

Whether your optometry business is fresh out of the blocks or an established practice, you need a marketing plan. Marketing strategy varies from business to business, so finding out what really works in optical practice marketing is key. These days, no matter what your business or profession, you need a website and internet marketing should be a big part of your marketing campaign. Why? Quite simply it is one of the most effective ways to reach existing and potential patients. Internet marketing today is vital. People can access your website 24 hours a day. Importantly, digital marketing is extremely cost effective and can drive a good return on investment. One study by the Pew Research Center last year found that a quarter of US adults are almost constantly online and roughly three-quarters of Americans go online on a daily basis. The reach is huge. Even if your business is going well, you could be missing out on untold leads, patients and sales. It’s actually quite simple to reap the rewards. Here are 6 aspects of internet marketing you should be embracing.

6 Internet marketing strategies for optometrists

1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

It’s all very well having a great website, but not so good if no-one knows your website is there. Search engine optimisation (or SEO) optimises your website for search engines. It means people who are looking for optometry services will be able to easily find you online. Moz have a great beginner’s guide to SEO. It’s a good place to start. Of course, it can be worth making the investment and employing the services of a digital marketing expert or agency. Whether you decide to tackle SEO yourself or get help, it’s a good idea to build some knowledge around the topic first.

2. PPC Advertising

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. PPC advertising enables you to target specific audiences, such as by geographical areas, or other demographics. With PPC advertising, businesses only pay each time their ad is clicked. Google and Bing make PPC advertising available on an auction basis. To find out more about how PPC works, see here. The marketing budget is often precious to smaller optometry businesses, but PPC is worth the investment.  To make the most of your campaigns, proper PPC budget management is essential.  There are many reasons small businesses should use PPC advertising, so don’t rule it out because of cost.

3. Social Media

Engaging with your patients on social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, is a sure way to build lasting relationships, which will help improve client retention rates. Social media posts educate on eyecare, encourage annual eye examinations, and let your clients know about any offers or promotions. You will need to post on social media fairly regularly and respond to comments and enquiries. There is no magic formula on how often you should post on each social media channel. It is best to aim for a consistent presence with interesting posts rather than more frequent posts that don’t say very much. It’s a good idea to create a plan and stick to it.

4. Blogging

The easiest way to keep your website updated with fresh content (search engines love frequently updated websites offering high quality content), is to write a blog. Your blog is a great way to educate, answer commonly asked questions, address topics in depth, show off your business and deep link to pages on your website. If you have something valuable to say, then why not share it! Be sure to promote offers in your blogs and share your posts on social media too. See some more benefits and tips of blogging for your business here.

5. Online reviews

Word of mouth happens just as much online as it does through other more traditional forms of media. Consumers increasingly use online reviews to research healthcare practitioners, including optometrists. Adding testimonials to your website is key, as is encouraging clients to leave reviews about you on other review sites and forums.

6. Email newsletters

Email marketing is a cost-effective way to build credibility, boost sales, strengthen relationships with your existing patients and generate new business. According to global technology company, Campaign Monitor, email marketing drives $44 for every $1 spent, and produces 174 per cent more conversions than social media. Make your email marketing personalised as these emails have higher open rates than those without personalisation. Internet marketing is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s essential for optometry business success. I hope you have found these 6 digital marketing tips helpful.

Related: what a genuine product review looks like

Building an Optometry Marketing Plan From Scratch: The Order That Gets Results

Most optometry practices do marketing backwards. They pick a tactic (usually social media because it's free and visible) before they've worked out what the practice needs. Here's the order that works, and why skipping steps is why so many practices spend money without seeing more patients through the door.

• Step 1: Audit what's already bringing patients in. Before touching anything new, find out where your current patients come from. Ask reception to log it for two weeks: Google search, referral, walked past, insurance directory, existing patient recall. If you don't know this, every marketing pound after this point is a guess.
• Step 2: Fix your Google Business Profile before anything else. This is the single highest-return step for a local optometrist and it's free. Correct categories, opening hours, photos of the actual practice (not stock images), and a steady stream of reviews. If this is wrong, nothing downstream matters because most local searches stop right there.
• Step 3: Get the website doing one job well. Not five jobs. One: converting a visitor searching "eye test near me" or "optician [town]" into a booking. That means a booking button above the fold, clear pricing or at least a starting point, and no stock photography of models with obviously fake glasses.
• Step 4: Build the recall and referral system. This is the part practices skip because it's not glamorous. Automated email or SMS reminders for two-year checkups, contact lens reorders, and post-appointment review requests. This is usually cheaper than any acquisition channel and it's aimed at people who already trust you.
• Step 5: Add one paid channel, not three. Once the above is solid, add Google Ads targeting high-intent local searches (eye test, contact lenses, specific frame brands you stock). Don't start with Facebook ads for a first-time eye test. That's a discovery-based platform, and eye tests are a need-based search. Match the channel to the intent.
• Step 6: Layer in content only once the funnel works. Blog posts about children's eye health or blue light glasses are useful for SEO and trust, but they're the last step, not the first. Content without a working booking system just brings visitors who leave.
• Step 7: Measure monthly, not annually. Track new patient bookings by source every month. If Google Ads brought in 12 bookings for £400, that's a number you can act on. If nobody's tracking it, you're marketing on faith.

The mistake worth naming directly: practices often reverse this order, launching a Facebook page and running ads before the Google Business Profile is even claimed . Fix the boring, high-intent stuff first. The interesting stuff comes later and works far better once the foundation is there.

Other questions worth answering

How long before an optometry marketing plan shows results?

Google Business Profile improvements can shift call and booking volume within two to four weeks. Paid ads show results almost immediately but need a month of data to optimise . SEO and content take three to six months minimum. Set expectations accordingly rather than judging everything on a 30-day window.

Should optometrists handle marketing in-house or hire an agency?

Depends on the step. Google Business Profile setup, review requests, and recall systems can be done in-house with an hour a week and the right templates. Paid ads and ongoing SEO usually need specialist time, because getting them wrong wastes budget fast. A hybrid approach, in-house for the basics and outsourced for the technical work, tends to be the most cost-effective.

What's the biggest budget mistake optometry practices make?

Spending on brand awareness (boosted social posts, generic display ads) before the booking system and reviews are sorted. Awareness without a working conversion path just bur