Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Health and medical services practitioners face many new challenges in the web economy, especially when it comes to growing their business presence online.

Challenges Health And Medical Professionals Face Online

Today, more than ever, health or medical-related businesses must work harder to remain competitive and obtain new clients. Not only do you have to participate in the community you serve, you must also maintain an active web presence. This includes having a dynamic website and searching for smarter ways to market your services online.

In addition to spending dollars marketing offline, you will probably find that in order to remain competitive, you will need to assign a more significant portion of your marketing budget to develop and maintain a website that can bring new prospects, engage users, outperform the competition in search engines and social media, and help give your business a wider degree of exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look great, your web pages have to be fast-loading, and your website layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, your site’s needs may change in time and some aspects may need to be frequently updated. This requires implementing well-developed website and content management strategy.

Another difficult challenge that health-related organizations face with their websites, as all other businesses do for that matter, is that you have around thirty seconds to provide visitors with what they are looking for or they will go elsewhere to get their needs met.

“Websites have evolved into central information hubs where service information is still present but enhanced with web portals, hyperlinks to state and federal sites, and a variety of free tools.”

Michael Alter, http://www.accountingweb.com/technology/accounting-software/tips-for-improving-your-website

Opportunities For The Health And Medical Profession In The Digital Economy

As well as facing a number of significant challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for businesses in the health-related sector that are willing to evolve to meet the demands of the digital economy and can think strategically when it comes to marketing their business better online.

In this detailed guide, you will learn about new ways to drive more traffic and see noticeable improvements in your online results.

As well as providing practical tips and information on ways to improve your website, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system to power your health website.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system, go here:

• Learn Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Money And What To Do About It
• Using WordPress – The Business Owner’s Guide

Tips To Improve Your Website

This section will show you ways to improve your health website and get better results. We will look at what pages you need, what type of content works best for health websites, tips for improving your site’s layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need specific help with website planning, go here: A Cost-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Ways To Improve Your Web Pages

All websites require a number of essential pages. Let’s review these.

Your Products And Services

You need a page that explains your products and services. Depending on which area of health you specialize in, this page could include services such as:

• Medicine & Surgery – e.g. anaesthetics, nephrology haematology, maxillofacial surgery, neurology, renal, gastroenterology, ophtalmology surgical outpatients, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. cosmetic dentistry, children’s dentistry, gum disease, veneers, crowns and bridges, braces, emergency dentistry, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient education, coronary care
• Prenatal/Neonatal – e.g. birthing, maternity services, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic – breast screens, lung screening, radiology and imaging, gynaecology, magnetic resonance imaging, allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – laboratory testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, food and water testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling services – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, domestic abuse, wellness coaching, social development services
• Alternative treatments – Chinese medicine, reflexology, colloidal silver therapy, massage therapy, osteopathy, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – weight management, othopedics, lymphedema therapy, stomal therapy, inherited diseases, artificial limbs, sleep therapy, home care, sexual health, medical transport, etc.

List all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using your services and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

About Us Page

This page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, sponsored community services, etc.

Remember to also mention any awards, recognitions, certifications, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your business and set yourself above similar service providers.

(List all of your awards accreditations, certifications, recognitions, associations, publications, etc. in the About page. Screenshot source: squaremedical.com.au)

Meet The Team

Are you looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products or services online and get prospects to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

Prospective clients need to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff or team members. This page should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors won’t be well-versed in health or medical terms it should tell who they are and what they specialize in. You may also want to explain what those specialized areas do. This page can also include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow selected staff members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your employee’s experience, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your team to prospective new clients. Screenshot image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

We have created a detailed tutorial on how to easily add a simple and easily updatable simple team members directory in WordPress with no coding skills required here: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory

Recruitment

List any job or career opportunities available within the business. This page can include type of training provided, benefits, professional development, etc. It should include stories of graduates who have established a solid career path thanks to your organization and information about upcoming career opportunities in the medical industry.

Maintain a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, join your announcements list, follow your social pages, etc.

Testimonials

Case studies and reviews from clients are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. By adding a page with case studies and testimonials from previous clients, you will also help to provide potential clients with social proof.

(Add a page with reviews from clients and case studies. Image source: arrowsmiledental.com)

We have written extensively about using client testimonials and client reviews to improve your business results online. Go here to learn more: How To Get Better Results Online With Powerful Customer Testimonials

Contact Page

A functional contact page is essential.

Your contact page should provide:

• Business Name
• Your address
• Telephone number
• Fax number
• Contact email address
• Google Map and directions
• Website address
• Contact form
• Request for more information – contact details
• Links to social media networks
• Online Chat/Skype (optional)

If your business services several areas you should make that clear when displaying your address and contact information.

You could also include links to an FAQ page, main pages, booking form, support area, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Health Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs are built around a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to promote your business by publishing content like events, updates, training articles, opinions and discussions, educational videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to create more exposure for your practice.

If you don’t have a website yet, or if your existing health or medical-related site is very hard to keep updated or not giving you the results you want, then WordPress can become both your business website and blog.

Not many people know this, but WordPress can turn into an automated traffic system that will help begin to deliver targeted visitors to your website, simply by adding content on a regular basis to your website.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can drive web traffic automatically to your site)

Go here to learn more:

• Website Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Turn Your WordPress Website Into A Web Traffic Machine

Legal Information Pages

As a professional business, ensuring that you have a compliant website is very important. This is not only important for building trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not contravening laws or regulations wherever you provide services.

Depending on the services and products you provide, adding some or all of the following legal pages to your site will help you stay out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions Of Use
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your website. Go here to learn more: What You Need To Know About Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s highly competitive digital economy, the sooner you start to engage in the practice of content marketing, the sooner you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from the competition.

Providing great content with useful tips and information will get your visitors sharing it with others and coming back for more content. Using content is a great way to educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business and services.

For example, if you provide services that help people manage their weight, then some of the topics you could cover in your web content include:

• What to do before you start any weight loss program (e.g. consult with doctor, record measurements, set goals, etc.)
• How to figure out how many calories you burn each day
• Hypnosis and weight loss
• What processed foods can ruin your diet (and healthier choices)
• Etc.

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your prospective clients gain a better understanding of your services, by explaining benefits, procedures, costs (including payment plans, insurance coverage, etc).

Include the keywords and terminology in your articles that prospective clients will search for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your website, save money creating useful content for your site visitors and grow your presence online using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Ways To Improve Visitor Experience

Improving your user experience (known as UX) helps you keep visitors coming back and engaging with your site. This section will show you different ways to improve your visitor engagement and UX.

Using RSS Feeds

RSS feeds can help to improve your visitor engagement and UX in several ways.

If you provide valuable information, other sites may want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

Some of the benefits of syndicating your content to other businesses using RSS feeds, include:

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Feeds allow users to subscribe
• It provides a way for links to point back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides multiple ways for readers to receive your content (e.g. subscribers can read your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits when it comes to providing valuable content on your website from other websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find many useful RSS feeds for your website by searching online for health and medical-related government departments and industry bodies.

Here are a few useful RSS feeds you could add to a medical or health website:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog posts RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SelectedHhsBlogPosts, etc. You can search by departments and choose specific RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breastfeeding, Health care for women, Heart health and stroke, Menopause, Violence against women, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a directory of feeds from leading medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. BMJ Evidence-Based Nursing, BMJ Heart, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, BMJ Evidence-Based Mental Health, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health - Get many feeds on health-related news and topics here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Find FDA-related RSS feeds (e.g. enforcement reports, food safety reports, recalls, radiological health, etc.) and podcasts here: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/StayInformed/RSSFeeds
• Department of Health UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health) – Latest news: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health.atom
• The Department Of Health (Australian Government): http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/xml/rssLatestNews.xml
• Department Of Public Health (Australia – State Level): e.g. Victoria – http://www.health.vic.gov.au/rss/newsfeed.xml
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention - Find many feeds on health-related topics and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News: You can search medical news feeds in major news publications like the NYTimes feeds section (e.g. Medical research: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Research.xml)
• MedicineNet – Daily Health and Medical News: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/dailyhealth.xml. You can also select specific RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Allergies, Cancer, Neurology, Oral Health, Sexual Health, Women’s Health, etc.)
• Medical News Today – Featured Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• Medical News Today – You can also select specific feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Bipolar, Dentistry, Blood/Hematology, Emergency Medicine, Smoking/Quit Smoking, Mental Health, Tuberculosis, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific areas, e.g. “pain management rss feeds”, “myeloma rss feeds”, “psychiatry rss feeds”, etc.

(Add RSS feeds to improve your medical or health website’s user experience.)

Adding Online Charts And Checklists

Checklists and charts are a fantastic way to increase visitor engagement, add value to your audience and provide something unique. They can provide useful instructions and resources to get necessary tasks done. They can also be great client instructional tools.

You can provide a range of checklists, charts and forms covering subjects such as:

• Checklists/forms for booking appointments
• Checklists for pre or post surgery
• Health checklists for specific conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, oral maintenance program, general dentistry, etc.
• Weight loss and nutrition program checklists
• General charts & infographics (e.g. caloric level of different foods, sleep requirements at different stages of development, etc.)

Other Tools

Providing useful online tools and applications on your site can help increase visitor engagement and add value to your visitors. Calculators are some of the most popular tools for your website. Other tools could include things like nutritional tools, or even recipes.

In the next section of this guide, we look at a several online tools you can use in your website using WordPress plugins that can help to improve your search engine optimization, increase user engagement and generate more web traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part 1 of this guide on ways to improve your health or medical business presence online.

To continue reading, click here:

• Tips For Medical Providers – WordPress Plugins And Themes That Improve Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation

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