Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only transformed businesses around the world, it has also created increasingly difficult challenges and great opportunities for health or medical-related businesses.

Challenges Professional Health Services Providers Face Online

Today, more than ever, businesses in the medical industry must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do you have to participate in the community you serve, you must also develop an active web presence. This includes having an effective website and searching for smarter ways to market your business online.

As well as spending money marketing offline, you will probably find that in order to compete, you will need to delegate a bigger share of your marketing budget towards developing and managing a website that drives new clients, engages visitors, outranks 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 great, your web pages have to be fast-loading, and your site layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of your website will change over time and many areas may need to be frequently updated. This requires implementing well-planned website and content management strategy.

Another problem that health providers (and other professions) face with their websites, is that you have an average of thirty seconds or less to give users what they are looking for or they will find what they are looking for 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 Medical Professionals

As well as facing many new challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available to medical or health practices that can evolve to meet digital economy challenges and who can think progressively about improving their online marketing skills.

This detailed guide will help you uncover new ways to attract and engage new visitors and build more online credibility for your business.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress CMS platform to power your medical or health business website.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS), go here:

• Discover How A Poorly Built Website Can Lose You Business And What To Do About It
• WordPress – A Business Owner’s Guide

Ways To Improve Your Medical & Health Center Website

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

If you need additional information about website planning, see this article: Planning A Website - A Cost-Saving Primer For Business Owners

Basic Web Pages

Professional websites need some basic web pages. Let’s review the pages your  need and how to structure your website for best results.

Your Services

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

• Medicine & Surgery – e.g. anaesthetics, nephrology hematology, cosmetic surgery, geriatric medicine, renal, gastroenterology, eye diseases operating theaters, etc.
• Dental Services – e.g. preventive dentistry, holistic dentistry, bad breath treatment, veneers, crowns and bridges, dentofacial orthopedics, emergency dental services, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient rehabilitation, chronic heart conditions
• Prenatal & Postnatal – e.g. obstetrics, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic – mammography, skin cancer, oral health, gynaecology, MRI scanning, allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – laboratory testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, insurance and corporate testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health services, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, couples, diet and nutrition counselling, social work services
• Alternative therapies – Chinese medicine, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, massage therapy, chiropractic services, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services – diet and nutrition, othopedics, lymphedema therapy, rehabilitation, neurosciences, prosthetics, mobility, home care, community health, medical supplies, 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 your services and why they should book an appointment with you.

About Us

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

Remember to list any industry awards, recognitions, accreditations, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that can be used to promote your medical, dental, chiropractic, surgery services, etc. and position yourself above similar service providers.

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

Your Team

If you are looking for cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to engage more with your site, then help visitors get to know, like and trust your organization better.

Your business needs to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team. This page should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors will not tend to be familiar with health-related terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. This page should also include social buttons that will allow your site visitors to follow selected staff members on their social networks.

On this page, make sure to highlight each person’s experience, how they contribute to the success of 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)

We have written a detailed tutorial about how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage simple employee directory in WordPress using free WordPress plugins here: How To Add A Simple Employee List To Your WordPress Site

Recruitment Page

This is a listing of job or career opportunities available within the organization. It would include training, benefits, advancement opportunities, etc. You should also include information about upcoming career opportunities in the health industry.

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

Case Studies

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

(Add a web page with case studies and client reviews. Screenshot image sourced from: arrowsmiledental.com)

We have created a detailed article on using client case studies and reviews to improve your business results online here: Achieve Better Results Online With Standout Testimonials

Contact Us

A contact page is essential.

Your contact page should provide the following information about your clinic:

• Name Of Your Business
• Street address of business
• Phone
• Fax
• Email
• Google Map
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media URLs
• Chat feature (optional)

If you operate from several areas you want to make that clear when displaying the address and contact information.

Consider also including links to an FAQ section, main pages, booking request, support page, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Health Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful business marketing tool. Blogs typically include a content management system that allows you to promote your business using timely content like announcements, product releases, useful articles and tutorials, discussions on current topics, how-to videos, media presentations, etc.

If you already have an existing website, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to promote your company.

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

Very few people know that an expertly configured WordPress site can turn into an automated traffic-generation machine that can instantly begin to deliver new targeted traffic to your web site, simply by publishing new content to your website on a regular basis.

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

For more details:

• WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint – How To Create An Automated Traffic Generation Machine With WordPress

Legal Info Pages

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is crucially important. This is not only important for building trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not contravening laws and regulations wherever you do business.

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

• Contact Us
• 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

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your website. To learn more, go here: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Website

Improve The Content On Your Website

In today’s ultra-competitive online economy, content marketing has become one of the key differentiators for businesses.

You want to provide useful content with tips and information that will get your visitors sharing your information and coming back for more content. This is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospects about using your services and products.

For example, if you provide weight loss services, then some of the areas you can write content about include:

• Emotional causes for weight issues (possible causes, identifying yours)
• What calories really are and how understanding them helps in weight loss
• Why using a measuring tape is better than a scale when it comes to weight loss progress
• Vitamins and minerals that help with weight loss (chromium, calcium, magnesium, etc.)
• Etc.

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

Remember to use specific keywords in your content that your prospective clients will search for online.

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 show you how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your website using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Ways Of Improving Visitor Experience

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

RSS Feeds

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

If you provide valuable content, other businesses will 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 updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared online
• Allows users to subscribe
• An RSS feed provides links to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• RSS provides multiple ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. subscribers can read the content on their mobile device using different applications)
• It’s built into WordPress

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

You can find RSS feeds with useful content by visiting sites of relevant government departments and respected industry bodies.

For example, here are some examples of feeds containing useful information that you could add to your website:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog posts feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SelectedHhsBlogPosts, etc. You can also choose specific RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Emergency preparedness, Health care for women, HIV/AIDS, Menopause, Smoking and how to quit, 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. The Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), JAMA & Archives, RadioGraphics, Medscape, Transplantation – Most Popular Articles, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health - Find various feeds on health-related news here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) – Find feeds on fda-related news and topics like enforcement reports, MedWatch safety alerts (human medical products), tainted products, vaccines, blood and biologics, 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. NSW – http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pages/rss.aspx
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (www.cdc.gov) - Find many health-related RSS feeds and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News Feeds: You can search medical news feeds by going to publications like the NYTimes RSS feeds section (e.g. Health news: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Health.xml)
• MedicineNet.com – MedTerms Medical Word of the Day: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/dailyword.xml. You can also select specific feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Lung Conditions, Menopause, Neurology, Diabetes, Eyesight, Sleep, etc.)
• Medical News Today – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• MedicalNewsToday.com – You can also choose specific RSS feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Eye Health/Blindness, Acid Reflux/GERD, Infectious Diseases/Bacteria/Viruses, Veterinary, Bones/Orthopedics, Cleft Palate, Liver Disease/Hepatitis, etc.)

You can also just search online for general RSS feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific subjects, e.g. “health insurance rss feeds”, “fitness rss feeds”, “clinical trials rss feeds”, etc.

(Use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to provide your visitors with a better UX.)

Add Online Forms And Checklists

Checklists and medical forms are a fantastic way to help increase visitor engagement and add value to your readers. They can provide users with step-by-step information and resources to get necessary tasks completed. Forms and checklists are also great client instructional tools.

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

• Booking appointments
• Checklists for post-surgery recovery
• Health checklists for specific conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, active maintenance program, general dentistry, etc.
• Weight loss and exercise program checklists and charts
• General charts & infographics (e.g. acidity level of different foods, the importance of sleep at different stages of development, etc.)

Adding Other Tools

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

In the next section, we look at a number of online tools you can add to your medical website using WordPress plugins that can improve seo, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part one.

Click on this link to view the rest of this article:

• Grow Your Health Practice Website – Improving Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Traffic With WordPress Plugins & Themes

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