Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only transformed businesses around the world, it has also created growing challenges and great opportunities for businesses offering medical services.

Challenges Health And Medical Services Practitioners Face Online

Today, more than ever, businesses in the medical and health sector must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do you have to participate in the community you serve, you must also develop a strong presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better promote your business online.

In addition to spending dollars marketing offline, you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to remain competitive, you will need to designate a greater amount of your budget towards developing and managing a website that brings in clients, engages users, outranks the competition in search engines and helps to increase your marketing exposure online.

This means that your site not only has to look professional, your web pages have to be fast-loading, and be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that your site’s needs will change over time and many areas will need to be updated often. This requires having a sound web and content management strategy.

Another difficult challenge that medical professionals face with their websites, as do all other professions for that matter, is that your site has around 30 seconds to provide users what they need or they will 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 Medical And Health Businesses In The Online Economy

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

This comprehensive guide will help you uncover ways and opportunities to generate new business and improve your business presence online.

As well as providing tips and information on ways to improve your business online, we also emphasize the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system (CMS) to power your medical or health-related website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform, see the articles below:

• Discover How A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Prospective Buyers
• Using A WordPress Blog To Grow Your Small Business Online

Useful Tips For Improving Your Website

In this section we will start with the basics and show you ways to improve your website and get better results online. We will look at what pages a health or medical-related site needs, what type of content you need, layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your medical or health-related website, check out the article we have written here: A Money-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Essential Website Pages

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

Your Services And Products

It’s essential to include a page that lists your products and services. Depending on which area of health you specialize in, your page can list services such as:

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. ear, nose and throat, neurosurgery blood disorders, maxillofacial surgery, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, rheumatology, endoscopy, eye diseases palliative care, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. preventive dentistry, children’s dentistry, oral hygiene, teeth whitening, dental braces, emergency dentistry, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. heart monitoring, coronary care
• Prenatal and Postnatal – e.g. birthing, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic – mammography, skin cancer, radiology, women’s health, magnetic resonance imaging, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology – laboratory testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, occupational and environmental testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, domestic abuse, diet and nutrition counselling, social work services
• Alternative treatments – Chinese medicine, homeopathy, reiki, shiatsu, chiropractic services, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services – diet and nutrition, podiatry, reproductive services, speech therapy, medical genetics, artificial limbs, hearing aids, home care, community health, medical transport, etc.

Make sure to list all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about what these services do and why they should choose you.

Who We Are

The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

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

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

Your Staff

If you are looking for ways to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help prospective clients 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 team members. It should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors will not tend to be that well-versed in health-related terms your bio descriptions 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 that will allow your site visitors to follow some of your staff members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline each person’s 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 staff to prospective new clients. Image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

If you need help how to create and add an easy-to-update simple staff directory in WordPress using free WP plugins, go here: How To Easily Add A Simple Employee Directory On Your WordPress Site

Recruitment

List any job opportunities within the company. It could include type of training provided, benefits, professional development, etc. It should include information such as the job outlook and new career opportunities in the health or medical-related industry.

Also include 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 contact list, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. Adding a page with case studies and testimonials also provides prospective clients with social proof.

(Add a web page with case studies and testimonials. Screenshot image source: arrowsmiledental.com)

We have written extensively on using testimonials, case studies and reviews to grow your business online. For more details, go here: Improve Your Visitor-To-Lead Conversions Using More Effective Testimonials

Contact Us

Having a functional contact page is absolutely necessary.

It should provide some or all of the following information:

• Company Name
• Address
• Telephone
• Facsimile
• Contact email
• Map
• Website address
• Contact form
• Request for information – contact details
• Social media URLs
• Live chat

If your business operates from different locations you will want to make this clear when showing your address and contact info.

Consider also including links to an FAQ page, main pages, online booking request, support page, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Health Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful business marketing tool. Blogs typically include a content management system that is easy to use and allows you to promote your business by publishing content such as news, updates, training articles and tutorials, opinions and discussions, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established medical site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your medical business.

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

Something few businesses know about, is that WordPress can become an automated traffic system that will begin to drive new targeted traffic to your web site, simply by publishing content on a regular basis to your website.

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

Go here to learn more about this:

• WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Increasing Your Traffic Automatically

Legal Information

Having a compliant website is vital. This is not only important for building trust with visitors, but also to ensure that no laws and regulations are being contravened wherever you provide services.

Depending on the services and products you provide, adding some or all of the legal pages below to your website will help you stay out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

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

We have written a comprehensive article on adding legal pages to your website. Go here to learn more: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Improve Your Web Content

In today’s highly competitive global business economy, the sooner you begin to publish good content on your site, the faster you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from other competitors.

By providing great content with tips, advice or information, you will get your visitors sharing your web pages online and coming back for more content. Using content is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospects about using your products and services.

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

• Emotional causes for weight issues (possible causes, how to identify yours)
• The role portion control plays in helping you you lose weight
• Is using a measuring tape better than a scale when it comes to weight loss progress?
• How to incorporate a little fast food into a healthier diet plan
• And endless 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, terminology, etc.

Use the same keywords and terms 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 actionable information that will show you how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating useful content that will add value to your site 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!

Tips For Improving Visitor Experience

Improving your site’s user experience (generally referred to 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 UX.

Using RSS Feeds

Using RSS feeds can help to improve visitor engagement and UX in a number of different ways.

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

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

• All of your updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Users can subscribe to your feed
• A feed provides links to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides several ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. users can view your content on their mobile device using different applications)
• RSS is built into WordPress

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

To find useful RSS feeds just visit sites of health or medical-related government departments or key industry bodies.

Below we have listed some RSS feeds containing useful information that you could add to a medical or health-related website:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog posts 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, Fitness and nutrition, Heart health and stroke, Minority women’s health, Pregnancy, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a directory of RSS feeds from leading medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), BMJ Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, jobs.ac.uk health and medical jobs, Cambridge Journals Online, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Find many feeds on health-related news here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Get FDA-related feeds (e.g. FDA drug safety, FDA drug shortages, pet health, tobacco news, 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. Victoria – http://www.health.vic.gov.au/rss/newsfeed.xml
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (www.cdc.gov) - Get many feeds on health-related topics and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News Feeds: You can search medical news RSS feeds in places like the NYTimes RSS feeds section (e.g. Medical research: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Research.xml)
• MedicineNet.com – Weekly Health and Medical News Digest: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/weeklyhealth.xml. You can also select specific feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, Men’s health, Migraine Headaches, Diet & Weight Management, Eyesight, Sleep, 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, Multiple Sclerosis, Eczema/Psoriasis, Dermatology, Smoking/Quit Smoking, Epilepsy, Cancer/Oncology, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific subjects, e.g. “bird flu rss feeds”, “disasters rss feeds”, “psychology rss feeds”, etc.

(Adding RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your health or medical website’s user experience.)

Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and educational charts to your site is a great way to help increase user engagement, add value to your visitors and set yourself apart from the competition. Checklists and charts can give them step-by-step information and resources to complete steps. They can also be great client instructional tools.

You can provide a range of online or downloadable checklists and forms covering subjects such as:

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

Online Tools

Providing useful tools and applications on your site can help increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to your users. Health-related calculators, for example, are useful tools to add to your website. Other applications could include things like nutritional tools, and even recipes.

In part 2 of this detailed guide, we take a look at a number of online tools you can add to your health or medical-related website using WordPress plugins and themes that can also help to improve your seo, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section one of this comprehensive guide on ways to build your health business web presence.

To continue, click this link:

• Grow Your Health Practice Website – WordPress Plugins That Can Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Visitors To Your Website

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