How to get more patients for your practice in South Africa: 7 things that actually work
Before you spend a rand on adverts, fix these. Most cost nothing but time, and they're in the order I'd tackle them.
When practice owners ask me how to get more patients, they usually expect an answer about adverts. Paid ads can work, but for most practices they come later, not first. The patients you want are already searching (“physio near me”, “dentist in Fourways”, “GP open Saturday”), and the question is whether they find you or the practice down the road.
Here's what I'd do, in order.
1. Get your Google Business Profile right
For local searches, Google shows a map with three practices before it shows any websites. Getting into those three depends heavily on your Google Business Profile: the right primary category, every service listed, accurate hours and real photos. It takes about 20 minutes, and there's a step-by-step Google Business Profile checklist to work from.
2. Ask every happy patient for a review
Reviews affect both where you appear on the map and whether a patient picks you once they see you. The practices with a steady flow of recent reviews aren't lucky. They ask consistently. Here's how to ask without it feeling awkward, and what to do when a bad one arrives.
3. Give every service its own page
If your website has a single “Services” page, Google has one page to rank for everything you do. A practice with a dedicated page for “sports injury physio” or “teeth whitening” has a far better chance of showing up for those searches. More on this in why your practice website isn't showing up on Google.
4. Make it easy to contact you from a phone
Many people looking for a practice are on their phone, often in pain or with a worried child next to them. A tap-to-call number, a WhatsApp button and your address with a map link should be visible without scrolling. If booking means filling in a long form, plenty of people will simply call the next practice instead.
5. Answer the questions patients actually ask
Before they book, patients search questions like “do I need a referral to see a physio?”, “does medical aid cover a chiropractor?” or “what happens at a first psychology session?”. A short, accurate page answering each question puts your practice in front of people at the moment they're deciding. Keep it educational and within the HPCSA advertising rules.
6. Look after your referral relationships
Search isn't your only channel. GPs refer to physios, dentists refer to orthodontists, and biokineticists and physios refer to each other. Make it easy for colleagues with a one-page summary of what you treat, how to refer and how soon you can see new patients. Keep it factual, and never offer or accept anything in return for referrals, which the HPCSA rules prohibit.
7. Measure calls, not clicks
Website visitors and social media likes are easy to count, but they don't pay the rent. What matters is how many people called, sent a WhatsApp or booked, and where they found you. Your Google Business Profile shows calls and direction requests. Ask every new patient “how did you hear about us?” and write the answer down. After three months you'll know what's working.
Different practice, same principles
The details change by discipline. See how this works for physiotherapy practice marketing, dental practice marketing, GP and medical practice marketing and marketing for therapists and counsellors. Running a law firm, an accounting practice or a veterinary practice? Swap “patients” for “clients”. The mechanics are the same.