Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Medical professionals today are facing significant challenges thanks to the web economy.

Online Challenges For Health And Medical Businesses

Now, more than ever, businesses in the medical and health industry must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do you have to become more involved in the community you serve, you must also develop and maintain an active digital presence. This includes having an effective web presence and figuring out smarter ways to grow your practice online.

In addition to spending money marketing offline, businesses in the health-related industry are now also finding that increasingly larger amounts of their budget will need to be delegated to develop and maintain a website that attracts new prospective clients, engages visitors, outranks the competition in search engines and helps them gain a wider marketing reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your web pages have to load fast, and be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of the website may change over time and many aspects may need to be frequently updated. This requires the implementation of a well-planned website and content management strategy.

One other difficult challenge that medical-related businesses (and most professions) face online, is that they have only around thirty seconds or less to provide visitors what they are looking for or they will look 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

Online Opportunities For Health And Medical Services Practitioners

As well as facing a number of business and technology changes, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for businesses in the medical or health sector that can evolve to meet the demands of the online economy and who can think outside the box when it comes to improving their online business marketing skills.

The article below will help you uncover new ways and opportunities to source more potential clients and notice significant improvements in your online results.

As well as providing useful website improvement tips, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform to power your health-related website or blog.

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

• Learn Why A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Cost You Money And What To Do About It
• Everything You Need To Know To Grow A Successful Business Using A WordPress Site

Useful Tips For Improving Your Health & Medical Center Services Website

This section will show you how to improve your website and get better results online. We will look at what web pages you need, what type of content works best, useful tips for improving navigation structure, etc.

If you need help with website planning, read this detailed step-by-step guide: A Practical Guide To Website Planning For Business Owners

Ways To Improve Your Web Pages

Professional business websites require several basic web pages. Let’s discuss these.

Products And Services

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

• Medicine & Surgery – e.g. ear, nose and throat, neurosurgery diabetes, cancer, hyperbaric medicine, respiratory, endoscopy, optometry elective surgery, etc.
• Dental Services – e.g. preventive dentistry, holistic dentistry, cleaning services, teeth whitening, orthodontics, emergency dentistry, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. heart surgery, chronic heart conditions
• Prenatal & Postnatal – e.g. obstetrics, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screens, skin cancer, oral health, gynaecology, MRI scanning, allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology – lab testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, insurance and corporate testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling services – mental health services, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, domestic abuse, wellness, social work services
• Alternative therapies – Chinese medicine, reflexology, holistic medicine, yoga, chiropractic services, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – weight management, sports medicine, reproductive services, occupational therapy, neurosciences, artificial limbs, assisted living, home and community care, sexual health, medical transport, etc.

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

About Us

The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, community involvement, etc.

This page should also mention any awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote your practice and set yourself above your competitors.

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

Core Team

If you are looking for simple ways to sell more products online, then help your visitors get to know your business better.

You want people to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team members. It should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors are probably not familiar with medical terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should also include social buttons that will allow your site visitors to follow some of your team members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight each employee’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 ‘meet the team’ page. Screenshot image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

For a detailed tutorial about how to add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory to your site with no coding skills required, go here: How To Easily Create A Simple Staff List For Your WordPress Site

Career Opportunities Page

List any job or career opportunities available within your organization. It should include training provided, benefits, professional development, social activities promoted or encouraged by your business, etc. It should include case studies of recruits who have established a solid career path thanks to your company and information about additional career opportunities in the medical or health industry.

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

Testimonials

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

(Add a page to your site with case studies and client reviews. Screenshot source: arrowsmiledental.com)

We have written extensively about using client testimonials and client reviews improve your business online here: Create Better Results Online Using Standout Customer Testimonials

Contact Us

A functional contact page is crucial.

It should provide visitors with the following:

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

If your business services multiple locations you want to make that clear when showing the address and contact information.

You should also include links pointing to the most commonly asked questions page, useful pages, booking request, helpdesk, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Medical-Related Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful business marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that is easy to use and allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content such as news, updates, educational articles and tutorials, opinions and discussions, promotional videos, media presentations, etc.

If you already have an established health-related website, then consider adding a WordPress-powered blog to promote your services.

If you don’t have a website yet, or if your existing site is hard to manage or not giving you the results you want, then WordPress can act both as your business website and your blog.

Very few businesses know that WordPress can turn your web presence into an automated traffic-generation system that can drive a stream of new visitors to your site, simply by adding regular content to your site.

(WordPress can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more about this:

• Web Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Increase Your Website Visitors For Your Business

Legal Information

As a professional health services provider, having a compliant website is crucially important. This is not only important for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not contravening any laws or regulations wherever your practice is located.

Depending on the services you provide, adding the legal pages below to your health or medical website will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:

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

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your website. For more details, go here: Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Improving Your Content

In today’s globally competitive economy, having a content marketing strategy has become one of the key success factors for businesses that sell similar products or provide similar services.

Providing great content with information, advice or tips will get your readers to share your web pages and come back for more. Using content is a great way to educate your visitors and prospects about your services.

For example, if your business provides products that help people lose weight, then some of the topics you could write content about include:

• Potential health issues caused by being overweight
• Tips for developing portion control habits (smaller plate, don’t put food on the table, more vegetables)
• Comparing different diets, e.g. Paleo diet, Mediterranean diet, Weight Watchers diet (what these are, how they can benefit you, how effective they are)
• Useful tips that will help you curb the late night urges for a snack (e.g. sleep earlier)
• And endless other content topics

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your readers gain a better understanding of your health services, by explaining benefits, procedures, terminology, etc.

Remember to use keywords and terminology in your articles that prospective clients will be searching to find you online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with actionable 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 business online using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

Improving user experience (generally referred to as UX) will help you keep visitors coming back and using your site. This section will show you ways you can improve visitor engagement and UX.

Syndicate Content With RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide lots of benefits for your health or medical business.

If you provide content that adds value to others, other businesses may want to syndicate your content.

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

• All of your content updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Feeds can be shared
• Feeds allow users to subscribe
• It provides links back to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• There are several ways readers can receive your content (e.g. subscribers can read your content on their mobile device using different applications)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also a number of 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.

You can find RSS feeds with loads of useful content for your website by visiting sites of relevant government departments and industry bodies.

Here are a few feeds you could consider adding to a medical-related site:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SelectedHhsBlogPosts, etc. You can also select individual feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Emergency preparedness, Fitness and nutrition, Heart health and stroke, Minority women’s health, 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. BioMed Central, CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal, American Cancer Society, American Chemical Society, BMJ Postgraduate Medical Journal, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Find many RSS feeds on health-related topics here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) – Find feeds on fda-related topics like consumer health information, MedWatch safety alerts (human medical products), tainted products, cosmetics, etc. and podcasts here: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/StayInformed/RSSFeeds
• UK Department Of Health (www.gov.uk) – 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. NSW – http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pages/rss.aspx
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (www.cdc.gov) - Find many feeds on health-related news and topics and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News: You can search medical news RSS feeds in major news publications like the NYTimes RSS feeds section (e.g. Research: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Research.xml)
• MedicineNet.com – Daily Health and Medical News: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/dailyhealth.xml. You can also choose specific feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, Cancer, Cold & Flu, Pediatrics / Healthy Kids, Exercise & Fitness, Infectious Disease, etc.)
• Medical News Today – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• MedicalNewsToday.com – You can also select specific RSS feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Abortion, Dentistry, Eczema/Psoriasis, Aid/Disasters, Men’s Health, Pediatrics/Children’s Health, 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 areas, e.g. “schizophrenia rss feeds”, “neuroscience rss feeds”, “tuberculosis rss feeds”, etc.

(RSS feeds can help to improve your medical or health-related site’s user experience.)

Add Checklists And Charts

Adding checklists and educational charts to your site is a great way to increase user engagement and add value to your audience. Checklists and charts can give them useful information and resources to complete tasks. Charts and checklists can also be great instructional tools.

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

• Checklists/forms for booking appointments
• Checklists for pre or post surgery
• Health checklists for specific medical conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, maintenance program, cosmetic dentistry, etc.
• Fitness and nutrition program checklists and charts
• General charts & infographics (e.g. sugar content in different foods, the importance of sleep at different stages of development, etc.)

Online Tools

Providing useful tools and applications on your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your visitors. Calculators, for example are useful tools you can add to your website. Others would include things like nutritional tools, and even recipes.

In the next section of this detailed guide, we will be discussing a several online tools you can use in your website using WordPress plugins and themes that can also help to improve your search engine optimization, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

***

This is the end of section one of this comprehensive guide on ways to grow your medical business online.

Click here to access the rest of this guide:

• Online Business Tips For Medical Services Providers – WordPress Plugins And Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Web Traffic Generation

***

***