Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

The web economy has not only revolutionized business around the world, it has also created an increasing number of challenges and opportunities for medical services professionals and financial service providers.

Online Challenges For Health Services Practitioners

Today, more than ever, health services providers must find smarter ways to remain competitive and find new clientele. Not only do you have to participate in the community your business serves, you must also develop a strong presence online. This includes having an effective web presence and learning smarter ways to promote your health or medical services services online.

In addition to spending dollars marketing offline, you will probably find that in order to compete with other health or medical businesses, increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget will need to be delegated to developing and maintaining a website that drives prospective clients, engages users, outranks the competition in search engines and social media, and helps you create a wider degree of marketing exposure online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, your web pages have to be fast-loading, and your website layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of the website may change over time and many areas will need to be updated often. This requires a well-developed website and content management strategy in place.

Another problem that health or medical businesses face, as most other professions do for that matter, is that they have an average of thirty seconds or less to provide visitors what they are searching for or they will leave 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 a number of significant challenges, there are also many online opportunities available for businesses in the health or medical industry that are willing to evolve to meet online demands and can think progressively when it comes to marketing themselves better online.

In this detailed guide, you will learn ways to attract new visitors and establish online credibility for your business.

As well as providing tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your web presence, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system (CMS) to power your medical business website.

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

• Why A Poorly Designed Website Can Cost You Customers And What To Do About It
• Everything You Need To Know About Growing Your Business Using WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Medical Center Website

This section will show you ways to improve your medical or health website and get better results online. We show you what pages a health-related website needs, what type of content works best for health or medical websites, suggestions for improving your site’s layout and navigation, etc.

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

Your Website Pages

Professional websites need some essential pages. Let’s review these.

Description Of services And Products

It’s essential to have a page that explains your services or products. Depending on which area you specialize in, this page could list services such as:

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. anaesthetics, nephrology haematology, reconstructive surgery, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, respiratory, infection control, eye diseases operating theaters, etc.
• Dental Services – e.g. preventive dentistry, children’s dentistry, oral hygiene, veneers, crowns and bridges, dental implants, emergency dentistry, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac monitoring, chronic heart conditions
• Prenatal and Postnatal – e.g. birth suites, maternity services, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screening, skin cancer, radiology, pap smears, psychosis, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology – laboratory testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, fine-needle aspiration cytology, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling services – mental health services, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, trauma counselling, diet and nutrition counselling, social work services
• Alternative therapies – acupuncture, homeopathy, reiki, tai chi, chiropractic, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – weight management, podiatry, fertility services, occupational therapy, medical genetics, artificial limbs, assisted living, home and community care, clinical information, medical equipment, etc.

Make sure to list all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using these services and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

About Us Page

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

It should also include any industry awards, recognitions, certifications, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that can be used to promote your business and set yourself above similar service providers.

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

Your Staff Page

Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online and get prospects to stay longer on your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

You want prospective clients to relate to your business. 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 brief bio. Since most visitors won’t be familiar with medical or health-related terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what they specialize in. It should also explain what those specialized areas do. It can include social buttons that will allow your site visitors to follow some of your team members on their social networks.

In this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your staff member’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 a page that introduces your staff members to prospective new clients. Image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

If you need help how to easily add an easy-to-manage list of employees to your web site with no coding skills required, refer to this tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory

Recruitment Page

This is a listing of job or career opportunities within the organization. This page can include training offered, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, etc. It should include information such as the job outlook and career opportunities in the health or medical industry.

Also include 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 you on social media, etc.

Case Studies

Case studies and reviews from clients are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. By adding a page with client reviews and case studies, you are also helping to establish social proof online for your business.

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

To learn more about using testimonials, case studies and reviews, refer to this article: Learn How To Improve Your Sales With Knockout Testimonials

Contact Us

A clean contact page is absolutely vital.

Your contact page should provide the following information:

• Company Name
• Your physical location
• Telephone
• Facsimile
• Contact email address
• Google Map and directions
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Links to social media pages
• Live Chat/Skype

If you operate out of different locations you should make that clear when showing the address and contact info.

Consider also including a few links point to the most commonly asked questions page, useful pages, online booking form, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Many blogging platforms are built around a content management system that allows you to promote your business using timely content like news and announcements, updates, educational articles, opinions on current topics, educational videos, media presentations, etc.

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

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

Something few people know about, is that WordPress can turn your web presence into an automated traffic machine that can instantly begin to attract new visitors to your web site, simply by publishing regular content to your website.

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

Go here to learn more:

• Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Turn Your WordPress Blog Into A Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Pages

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is crucially important. This is not only important for building trust with visitors, but also to ensure that no laws and regulations are being breached wherever you provide services.

Depending on the products and services you provide, adding the following legal pages to your website will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), 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 Linking Policy
• Health and Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

Go here if you want to learn more adding legal pages to your website: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve Your Web Content

In today’s ultra-competitive online economy, the sooner you begin to publish great content on your site, the quicker you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from other competing businesses.

By providing great content with useful information, advice or tips, you will get your visitors to share your web pages online and come back for more. This is the most effective way to inform and teach your visitors and prospects about your business and services.

For example, if you provide weight management services, then some of the topics you could cover in your web content include:

• Common medical conditions that can cause weight gain
• Advice on ways to develop portion control habits (smaller plate, don’t put food on the table, more vegetables)
• Hypnosis and weight loss
• Useful apps for tracking calories and exercise
• And endless other content topics

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your prospective clients understand your health or medical-related services, by explaining benefits, procedures, terminology, etc.

Use keywords and terms in your content that readers will search for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will show you how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your visitors and grow your website using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Tips For Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Content Syndication – RSS Feeds

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

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

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

• All of your content updates are in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared online
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• It provides links to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• There are various ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. view your content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also benefits when it comes to adding syndicated content to your site 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 or respected industry bodies.

Below we have listed some examples of RSS feeds containing useful information that you could consider adding to a medical or health-related 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 select individual feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Emergency preparedness, Fitness and nutrition, Illnesses and disabilities, Minority women’s health, Violence against women, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a list of feeds from well-known medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. PhysiologicalReviews, Human Molecular Genetics, CDC USA, BMJ Tobacco Control, BMJ British Journal of Ophthalmology, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health - Get various feeds on health-related topics here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Find FDA-related feeds (e.g. criminal investigations press releases, food safety, recalls, foods, 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 - Find various health-related feeds and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News: You can search medical news feeds in major news publications like the NYTimes feeds section (e.g. Fitness & nutrition: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Nutrition.xml)
• MedicineNet – Daily Health and Medical News: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/dailyhealth.xml. You can also choose individual feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Medications, Menopause, Cold & Flu, Pregnancy, Exercise & Fitness, Women’s Health, etc.)
• Medical News Today – Featured 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. MRSA/Drug Resistance, Arthritis/Rheumatology, Infectious Diseases/Bacteria/Viruses, Aid/Disasters, Alcohol/Addiction/Illegal Drugs, Respiratory/Asthma, Statins, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific topics, e.g. “eczema rss feeds”, “breast cancer rss feeds”, “huntingtons disease rss feeds”, etc.

(Adding RSS feeds can help to improve your website’s UX.)

Add Online Checklists & Charts

Checklists and educational charts are a fantastic way to help increase visitor engagement, add value to your visitors and provide something unique. Checklists and medical forms can provide useful information and resources to perform a task. Checklists and forms are great client instructional tools.

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

• 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 exercise program checklists and charts
• General charts & infographics (e.g. sugar content in different foods, the importance of sleep at different stages of development, etc.)

Other Tools

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

In part 2, we will look at a number of online tools you can add to your website using WordPress plugins and themes that can improve your seo, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section one.

To view the rest of this article, click this link:

• Your Health Website – WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Better User Engagement And Generating More Traffic

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