Dr. Robert Pahnke is our newest client. Dr. Pahnke is a chiropractor in Newport News, VA, and his website can be found here: Pahnke Chiropractic Center.

For more information about upgrading your chiropractic website, give us a call at (800) 295-3346.

Dr. Leslie Holcome is our newest client. You can visit her new website here: Jefferson Spine Center.

Getting your chiropractic website at the top of the search engines is an important goal — but be wary of companies that promise you high rankings for a charge.

Some of these companies may temporarily get your site a high ranking, but they may do it in ways that will eventually harm your site’s ranking.

As Google states on it’s website:

• No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or through the Webmaster Tools and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.

For more information about the potential dangers of SEO companies, visit the Google search engine site.

For free help on getting your chiropractic website to rank better, call me at (800) 295-3346.

Michael Melton

Auto injuries are a common problem seen in clinical practice. Most of the time, a patient will have some temporary discomfort that will resolve within a few weeks. A significant percentage of patients – around 20 to 30% – will develop some kind of chronic pain or disability from their injury. Four recent studies have looked at the issue of chronic pain to see if there are any predictive factors that can help us determine who is at risk of developing long-term problems.

The following is a list of documented risk factors found in these studies:

• Gender. One of the four studies found that women were more likely than men to be injured in general, which confirms previous studies. Researchers speculate that the lower muscle mass in female necks may increase the risk of injury.
• Turned head. Two recent studies have been done on this issue, and they both have found that when the occupant’s head is turned at the moment of impact, the spine is exposed to motion that exceeds the normal physiological range. This can result in ligament tears or damage to the spinal nerve roots.
• Direction of impact. It has been known for years that a rear-end collision is more likely to result in injury than is a frontal collision. Pape et al found in their study that rear-end collisions were a greater risk factor than frontal impacts.
• Previous injuries. It’s not surprising that a pre-existing injury to the neck or shoulder could be worsened after an auto collision, and that’s what Pape et al found. In fact, patients with a history of neck and/or shoulder pain were more than twice as likely to have chronic problems three years after the collision.
• Muscular tension immediately after the crash. Pape et al. found that patients with increased muscular tension soon after the crash were 3.43 times as likely to develop long-term symptoms.
• Reduced range of motion. Sterling et al. found, as have other studies, that reduced ROM predicts symptoms two to three years after the injury.
• Immediate pain and/or numbness. Both Sterling and Berglund found that patients who reported symptoms immediately after the crash were more likely to develop chronic pain. Immediate numbness indicates that the patient suffered some kind of nerve injury in the collision, and unless these types of injuries are diagnosed and treated quickly, they could easily develop into chronic pain. Berglund found that these patients were 6.5 times as likely to develop long-term problems.

This article is from my monthly newsletter, the Injury Briefing. Click here for some free sample copies of this popular newsletter.

Welcome to Dr. Albracht! He’s our newest client at InjuryTV and his new website is here:

Chiropractic Center of McAllen

Dr. Gary E. Harcourt and Dr. B. Timothy Harcourt are chiropractors in York, PA and our newest clients. Their new website site is www.YorkRelief.com.

Welcome Dr. Harcourt!

Dr. Randy Smith is a chiropractor in Tacoma, WA and our newest client. His new site is www.TacomaInjuryCenter.com.

Welcome Dr. Smith!

Everyone has heard of blogs. The question is: can a blog help with your chiropractic marketing and is it hard to set one up?

A blog for your chiropractic website can help in at least three ways:

First, a blog can most definitely help with your chiropractic marketing. You see, search engines thrive on content. The more content the better, and a blog makes it very simple to add new content to your chiropractic website. You can simply log in, type in a short article, and post it. Voilà! New content for the search engines.

Second, a blog is a great way to stay in touch with your patients. It’s like a newsletter, but something that you can update every day. Your chiropractic blog can cover news items that your patients will find useful — articles on health, for instance, or chiropractic research.

Third, potential patients will see your blog and can have a better sense of you as a person. Rather than just finding your contact information on your site, your chiropractic blog is a great way for potential patients to get to know you and feel comfortable with you.

Finally, setting up a blog is easy. With our InjuryTV service, we provide our doctors with a blog at no charge. Here’s a chiropractic blog on one our client’s sites: Dr. Bill Thesier.

If your web design company doesn’t provide a blog, there are other easy ways to set up a blog. Blogger is one common service.

If you have questions about the benefits of a blog for your chiropractic website, feel free to contact me with questions.

Michael Melton
(800) 295-3346

Not too many years ago, a website for your chiropractic clinic was optional. Most people, when looking for a chiropractor, would simply go to the Yellow Pages and find the closest doctor.

The web really has changed how patients find their health care. A 2006 study by the PEW Research Center found that 80% of Americans are using the web to research their health issues: Online Health Search 2006

With so many patients now going online to find health information, your office needs to have a web presence. And you have to have more than just a page with your phone number and address on it. You need to have a complete chiropractic website with compelling content that will get patients to call and make an appointment.

A 2002 study on Internet usage by patients summed up the issue quite well:

“In some markets today, a physician without a Web site might as well not exist.”

I get calls every day from doctors asking how to boost their website’s rankings in the search engines. Search engine optimization is an important component of any website, as that’s how people are finding doctors in 2008. Making sure your chiropractic website is properly designed for search is critical.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll cover some of things you can do to make sure your website shows up in Google and other search engines.

Today’s tip: don’t use frames!

Frames are a web design technique that takes different web pages and has them all appear on a single page. They’re a short-cut that allows you to link different kinds of content while maintaining a consistent navigation.

The problem? Search engines can’t see the different frames on a page! And if a search engine can’t see a page, it can’t index it…and it might as well not exist.

So, if your chiropractic website isn’t showing up in the search engines, check and see if your website is using frames. And if it is, have your webmaster fix it immediately!

If your chiropractic website isn’t doing its job, we’re here to help. If you have questions about your current site, or are looking to upgrade, feel free to contact me at (800) 295-3346.

Michael Melton