Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Health services practitioners face a number of challenges in the digital economy, especially when it comes to growing their business presence online.

Online Challenges For Health Businesses

Today, more than ever, medical services professionals must work hard and find smarter ways to remain competitive and source new clients. Not only do you have to actively participate in the community your business serves, you must also maintain a strong web presence. This includes having an effective web presence and learning how to better promote your services online.

As well as spending dollars marketing offline, businesses in the medical-related industry are now finding that increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget need to be delegated towards developing and managing a website that attracts leads, engages users, outranks the competition in search engines and social media, and helps create wider marketing exposure online.

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

Another problem that medical practitioners face, as most other professions do for that matter, is that your site has around thirty seconds or less to provide visitors 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 Medical And Health Businesses

As well as facing a number of business and technology changes, there are also many online opportunities available for businesses in the medical-related industry that can evolve to meet digital demands and who can think progressively about marketing their business services better online.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn new ways and opportunities to find more clientele and build more online credibility for your health-related business.

As well as providing tips and information on ways to improve your medical or health-related business online, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) to power your medical website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS), see these articles:

• Learn How A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Cost You Business And What To Do About It
• WordPress For Small Business Owners – A Complete Guide To Growing Your Successful Small Business With A WordPress Site

Useful Tips To Improve Your Website

We’ll start first by going over the basic stuff. In this section, we’ll look at how to improve your health or medical website and get better results. We show you what pages a medical or health-related site needs, what type of content works best, your navigation structure, etc.

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

Essential Website Pages

All business websites need several essential web pages. Let’s review the pages your  need and how to set up your medical or health website for best results.

Services And Products Description Page

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

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. pain management, orthopedics haematology, cosmetic surgery, rehabilitation medicine, renal, gastroenterology, optometry surgical outpatients, etc.
• Dental Services – e.g. cosmetic dentistry, children’s dentistry, gum disease, teeth whitening, dental braces, emergency dentistry services, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. heart surgery, coronary care
• Prenatal/Postnatal – e.g. obstetrics, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health services – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screens, skin cancer, x-ray, gynaecology, psychosis, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – lab testing and analysis, emergency pathology testing, clinical trials, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health services, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, trauma counselling, wellbeing, social work services
• Alternative treatments – Chinese medicine, homeopathy, holistic medicine, yoga, osteopathy, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services – weight management, podiatry, lymphedema therapy, stomal therapy, inherited diseases, artificial limbs, mobility, home care, clinical information, medical equipment, etc.

List all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about the benefits of using these services and why they should book an appointment.

Who We Are

This page needs to describe your business and what it stands for, its unique approach, causes supported, etc.

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

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

Team

Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know your organization better.

You want your business to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your employees or team members. It should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in health terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. It should include social buttons that will allow your visitors to follow some of your team members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline each person’s expertise and qualifications, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add an employee description page. Image source: southperthchiro.com.au)

If you need help how to add an easy-to-manage list of staff members in WordPress without coding skills, refer to this tutorial: Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory

We’re Hiring

List any job or career opportunities available within the company. This page would include training provided, benefits, professional development, social aspects of working for your organization, etc. You should also include information about new 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 newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials

Client reviews and case studies are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. By adding a page with testimonials from previous clients and case studies, you will also help to are also providing social proof online for your business.

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

If you would like to learn more about using testimonials, case studies and client reviews go here: How To Create Better Results Online With Captivating User Testimonials

Contact Page

A contact page is essential.

It should include some or all of the following:

• Name
• Physical address
• Phone number
• Fax
• Email address
• Map
• Website address
• Contact form
• Request for more information – contact details
• Links to social media profiles
• Live Chat/Skype

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

Consider also including links pointing to the most commonly asked questions page, main pages, booking request, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Blog

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business by publishing content like events, updates, training information, discussions on current topics, educational videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an existing site, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to create more exposure for your medical company.

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

Very few people know that an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic machine that will help begin to drive new visitors to your web site, simply by adding content on a consistent basis to your website.

(WordPress can generate new traffic automatically to your website)

Go here to learn more about this:

• WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Turn Your Website Into An Automated Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Pages

Having a compliant website is very important. This is not only important for building trust with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no laws or regulations are being breached wherever you practice.

Depending on the services and products you provide, adding the legal pages below to your medical-related site will help you stay out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential sources of threats and legal 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.

Go here to learn more about adding legal pages to your site: Why You Need To Add Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Improve Your Web Content

In today’s ultra-competitive online economy, the practice of content marketing has become one of the key differentiators for businesses selling similar products or services.

Providing useful content with tips, advice or information will get your readers to share your information with others online and come back for more. Using content is a great way to educate site visitors and prospects about using your services and products.

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

• What is fiber and how can it help you with weight loss?
• The role portion control plays in helping you you lose weight
• Tips for developing an exercise plan you can enjoy and will stick with
• How to incorporate an occasional fast food into a healthier diet plan
• And many other content topics

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

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

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

Improving Visitor Experience

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

Adding RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your visitor engagement and UX in several ways.

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

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
• Feeds can be shared
• Users can subscribe to your feed
• It provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides several ways for your readers to 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 many useful RSS feeds for your website by searching online for relevant government departments or industry bodies.

Below we have listed some useful RSS feeds you could consider adding to your site:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog posts feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SelectedHhsBlogPosts, etc. You can also choose individual feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breast cancer, Health care for women, HIV/AIDS, Menopause, 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. Nucleic Acids Research, The Psychiatrist, American Cancer Society, Neurology.org, American Institute of Biological Sciences, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Get many health-related RSS feeds here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Get FDA-related RSS feeds (e.g. consumer health information, food safety, tainted products, foods, etc.) and podcasts here: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/StayInformed/RSSFeeds
• Department of Health UK (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. Victoria – http://www.health.vic.gov.au/rss/newsfeed.xml
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (www.cdc.gov) - Find many health-related news feeds and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News Feeds: You can search medical news 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 – Weekly Health and Medical News Digest: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/weeklyhealth.xml. You can also select individual RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Allergies, Cancer, Cholesterol, Diet & Weight Management, Prevention & Wellness, Hearing, etc.)
• MedicalNewsToday.com – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• Medical News Today – You can also choose specific feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Gout, Fertility, Radiology/Nuclear Medicine, Sleep/Sleep Disorders/Insomnia, Bones/Orthopedics, Dyslexia, Clinical Trials/Drug Trials, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific areas, e.g. “lymphedema rss feeds”, “bones rss feeds”, “crohn’s rss feeds”, etc.

(Use RSS feeds to improve your site’s UX.)

Provide Downloadable Forms And Checklists

Checklists and charts are a great way to help increase visitor engagement and add value to your visitors. Checklists and charts can provide useful information and resources to get necessary tasks done. They are great client educational tools.

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

• Checklists and forms for booking appointments
• Checklists for post-surgery recovery
• Health checklists for specific medical conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, caries prevention program, general dentistry, etc.
• Weight loss and nutrition program checklists and charts
• General charts & infographics (e.g. acidity level of different foods, sleep requirements at different stages of development, etc.)

Provide Unique Tools

Providing unique online tools and applications on your website is a great way to increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to potential clients. Calculators, for example are useful tools for your website. Other tools would include things like nutritional tools, and even recipes.

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

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This is the end of part one of this guide on ways to grow your medical-related business online.

Click on this link to continue:

• A Practical Guide To Building And Growing Your Medical Services And Health-Related Business Online Successfully With WordPress – Part Two

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