Here is our best case scenario for email address configurations. Please note that the email set-up for each client tends to differ somewhat based on historical choices they have made and these are only guidelines.
#1 Clinic’s Public Email Address
This is the email address promoted to the public online and in print.
How to set it up:
- It is generally a generic email such as info@mydomain.com or clinincname@gmail.com
- This is an email address you can transfer to the new owner if you sell your practice.
- This email address should be monitored throughout the day
When to use it:
- Printing on business cards
- Printing on flyers and ads
- Contact email on website
- Displaying as contact email on Google, Yelp, Yahoo
- Receiving messages related to patient care
#2 Clinic’s Business Operations Email Address
This is an email that is generally shared by the doctor and administrative staff.
How to set it up:
- It is generally a generic email such as admin@mydomain.com or clinincadmin@gmail.com
- This is an email address you can transfer to the new owner if you sell your practice.
- Messages coming into this email should be appropriate for all admin staff to seeEmail can be checked sporadically – every few days.
- This email address should be check every few days
When to use it:
- Enrolling in Google Places, Analytics and Webmaster Tools
- Enrolling in Bing Business Portal and Yahoo Local
- Creating a Facebook Fan Page for the practice
- Creating a Google+ Business Page for the practice
- Establishing YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest accounts for the practice
- Establishing and claiming profiles on key review and directory sites such as Yelp or Yellowpages.com
- Receiving online performance reports (rankings, traffic, and web activity)
- Receiving notifications of new patient reviews left for you
#3 Clinic’s Reputation Management Email Address
This is an email used to register for and post to lesser known directories and social accounts.
How to set it up:
- It is generally a generic email such as social@mydomain.com or a fake first and last name such as juliedoe@mydomain.com
- This is an email address you can transfer to the new owner if you sell your practice.
- This email is hardly ever checked. It is used to register for accounts and will receive a high volume of automated messages from all those different sites so that these messages don’t clog emails #1 and #2
When to use it:
- Registering for second and third-tier directories and review sites
#4 Doctor’s Personal Email Address
This is your personal email address used for your personal life.
How to set it up:
- It is generally a personalized email such as myname@comcast.net, myname@gmail.com, myname@aol.com
- It is for your personal communications.
- It stays with you across different careers and locations.
When to use it:
- Establishig a LinkedIn profile
- Creating a Facebook profile (for you as the person)
- Creating a Google+ profile (for you as the person)
- Establishing Google Authorship (for you as the person)
#5 Doctor’s Professional Email Address
This is your business email used to manage your practice.
How to set it up:
- It is generally associated with your domain such as drfirstlast@mydomain.com
- It is for private business-related communications
- How often you need to monitor it depends on whether you publish it for patients to use.
When to use it:
- Confidential discussions about patient care
- Confidential practice management discussions
- Enrolling in industry associations or networking groups