Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Medical and health services practitioners face many challenges in today’s digital economy, especially in terms of growing a presence online.

Online Challenges For Health Practitioners

Now, more than ever, businesses in the health and medical sector must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do you have to become more involved in the community your business serves, you must also develop an active digital presence. This includes having an effective website and learning smarter ways to grow your practice online.

As well as investing money in offline marketing activities, you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to compete with other web-marketing savvy medical-related businesses, you will need to assign a more significant amount of your marketing budget to developing and managing a website that attracts new clients, engages users, outperforms the competition in search engines and social media, and helps you gain wider exposure online.

This means that your site not only has to look professional, your pages have to load fast, and your website has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that your site’s needs may change in time and sections will need to be frequently updated. This requires the implementation of a well-developed web and content management strategy.

One other problem that health practitioners (and most other businesses) face, is that you have around thirty seconds to provide users with what they need or they will leave the site and go elsewhere.

“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 Health Businesses In The Web Economy

As well as facing significant business and technology changes, there are also many online opportunities available to businesses in the medical profession that are willing to evolve to meet the demands of the online economy and who can think outside the box about marketing their business better online.

In this article, you will learn a number of ways to increase web traffic and see noticeable improvements in your business results online.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress content management system to power your medical or health website or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress, go here:

• Why A Poorly Designed Website Can Cost You Customers
• Learn How To Grow Your Business With A WordPress Site

Useful Tips To Improve Your Medical Services And Health-Related Site

In this section we’ll start with the basics and show you how to improve your health website and get better results. We will look at what pages your site needs, what type of content works best for medical websites, your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, visit this page: A Cost-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Your Web Pages

All business websites require some basic pages. Let’s discuss these.

Your Services

It’s essential to have a page that describes your products and services. Depending on which area of health or medical services you specialize in, this page could list services like:

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. anaesthetics, neurosurgery diabetes, plastic surgery, aged care, respiratory, urology, optometry operating theaters, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. preventive dentistry, children’s dentistry, bad breath treatment, teeth whitening, implants, emergency dentistry, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient education, chronic heart conditions
• Prenatal & Neonatal – e.g. obstetrics, maternity services, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screens, lung screening, hearing, women’s health, psychosis, allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology – lab testing and analysis, emergency pathology testing, insurance and corporate testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, domestic abuse, wellbeing, social work services
• Alternative therapies – acupuncture, aromatherapy, reiki, shiatsu, osteopathy, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services – weight management, podiatry, reproductive services, speech therapy, inherited diseases, artificial limbs, sleep therapy, home and community care, clinical information, medical supplies, etc.

Make sure to list all of the services you provide. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about what these services do and why they should book an appointment with you.

Who We Are

This page should give a description of your business and what it stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

It’s important to also include any awards, accreditations, certifications, recognitions, associations, publications, etc., that can be used to promote your medical, dental, chiropractic, surgery services, etc. and position yourself above other competitors.

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

Team Profile

If you are searching for ideas to sell more products online and increase user interaction on your site, then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know you and your organization better.

Potential clients need to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your employees. It should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors are probably not very well-versed in medical terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialized areas do. This page can include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow individual team members on their social networks.

In this page, make sure to highlight each staff member’s expertise and qualifications, why they are an asset to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your team members to prospective new clients. Image source: southperthchiro.com.au)

If you need help how to add an easy-to-manage simple team members directory to your web site using free plugins, go here: How To Add A Simple Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

Career Opportunities

This is a listing of career opportunities within the business. It could include type of training provided, benefits, professional development, social activities encouraged or sponsored by your business, etc. You can also include case studies of trainees who have established a solid career path thanks to your organization and information such as the job outlook and upcoming career opportunities in the health or medical-related industry.

Include also a positions available section in your page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, subscribe to your newsletter, follow your social pages, etc.

Testimonials & Case Studies

Testimonials from previous clients and case studies are a great way to attract potential clients and showcase your services. Adding a web page with case studies and testimonials from previous clients also establishes social proof.

(Add a page with testimonials from previous clients and case studies. Screenshot source: arrowsmiledental.com)

We have created a detailed article about using client testimonials and reviews to grow your business online. For more details: Discover How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Leads With More Effective Customer Testimonials

Contact Page

Having a functional contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should provide:

• Company Name
• Your address
• Telephone number
• Facsimile
• Email
• Google Map
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media networks
• Online Chat/Skype (optional)

If your business operates from multiple locations you will want to make that clear when displaying your address and contact information.

You could also include a few links point to the most commonly asked questions page, useful pages, online booking request, support page, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Blog Section

A blog is a powerful marketing tool. Blogs typically comprise of a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business using content like announcements, updates, educational articles, discussions on current topics, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an health or medical site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to market your medical practice.

If you don’t have a website yet, or if your existing health or medical-related site is hard to add new content to or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can act as both your website and business blog.

Something not many people know about, is that WordPress can turn your web presence into an automated traffic machine that can instantly begin to drive new targeted traffic to your business, simply by publishing new content on a consistent basis to your website.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more:

• WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Generating More Website Traffic Automatically

Legal Information Pages

It’s very important to have a compliant website. This is not only important for building credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no local, regional or federal laws or regulations are being contravened in whatever area or location you do business.

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

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

If you want to learn more about adding legal pages to your site, see this article: Why You Need To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Tips For Improving The Content On Your Website

In today’s highly competitive online economy, engaging in the practice of content marketing has become one of the key differentiators for businesses.

By providing great content with information and tips, you will get your readers sharing your information online and coming back for more. This is the most effective way to inform and educate your visitors and prospective clients about your services.

For example, if you provide products or services that help people lose weight, then some of the areas you can publish content about include the following:

• What’s the difference between being overweight and obese?
• Is weight loss surgery right for you? (who should get it, risks, rates of success)
• Dieting pills (common ones, side effects, long term results, do they work?)
• How to make right choices when eating at restaurants
• Etc.

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your readers understand your medical or health services, by explaining benefits, procedures, terminology, etc.

Include keywords in your content that prospective clients will search for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with actionable information and practical tips that will teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your website, save money creating useful content for your visitors and grow your website using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Ways To Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

RSS Feeds

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed provides lots of benefits for your site.

If you provide useful content, other businesses will want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, include:

• All of your updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Users can subscribe to your feed
• It provides a way for links to point back to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are various ways readers can receive your content (e.g. view the content on their mobile device using different applications)
• RSS is built into WordPress

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

To find RSS feeds with loads of useful content just visit sites of relevant government departments or key industry bodies.

Here are examples of useful RSS feeds you could consider adding to your site:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Latest news feed: http://www.hhs.gov/rss/news/hhsnews.xml, etc. You can search by departments and choose individual feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Emergency preparedness, Fitness and nutrition, Heart health and stroke, Mental health, Pregnancy, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a list of feeds from leading medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. BioMed Central, ADA DiabetesCare , BMJ Emergency Medicine Journal, BMJ Archives of Disease, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Get various health-related feeds here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Find feeds on fda-related news and topics like enforcement reports, food allergy reports, tainted products marked as dietary supplements, drugs, 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. Western Australia – http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/feed/?types=news
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (www.cdc.gov) - Get many health-related news feeds and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News: You can search medical news RSS feeds by going to publications like the NYTimes RSS feeds section (e.g. Fitness and nutrition: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Nutrition.xml)
• MedicineNet.com – Weekly Health and Medical News Digest: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/weeklyhealth.xml. You can also select individual feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Allergies, Menopause, Migraine Headaches, Pediatrics / Healthy Kids, Exercise & Fitness, HIV, etc.)
• MedicalNewsToday.com – Featured Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• Medical News Today – You can also choose individual feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Stem Cell Research, Acid Reflux/GERD, ADHD/ADD, Lymphoma/Leukemia/Myeloma, Medical Devices/Diagnostics, Allergy, Obesity/Weight Loss/Fitness, etc.)

You can also search online for general RSS feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific topics, e.g. “public health rss feeds”, “breast cancer rss feeds”, “MRI rss feeds”, etc.

(RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your medical or health-related site’s UX.)

Provide Checklists

Checklists and charts are a great way to help increase visitor engagement, add value to your readers and provide something unique. Checklists and medical forms can provide visitors with step-by-step information and resources to perform steps. They are great client educational tools.

You can provide a range of checklists and forms (or links to these) covering subjects such as:

• Booking appointments
• Checklists for post-surgery recovery
• Health checklists and charts for specific systems
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, caries prevention program, cosmetic dentistry, etc.
• Fitness and exercise program checklists
• General charts & infographics (e.g. acidity level of different foods, sleep requirements at different stages of development, etc.)

Online Tools

Providing unique online tools and applications on your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to potential clients. Calculators are useful tools for your website. Others could include things like nutritional tools, or even recipes.

In the next section of this guide, we discuss a several online tools you can add to your website using WordPress plugins that can improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of part 1.

Click here to continue:

• How To Build And Grow A Health Practice Business Online Successfully With WordPress – Part 2

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