Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Health professionals face many new challenges in today’s online economy, especially when it comes to growing their business online.

Online Challenges For Medical Services Professionals

Today, more than ever, businesses in the health 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 a strong digital presence. This includes having an effective web presence and learning better ways to grow your business online.

In addition to investing dollars advertising offline, businesses in the medical or health-related industry are now also finding that they will need to designate a larger portion of their budget to develop and manage a website that drives new prospects, engages users, outranks the competition in search engines and helps give them wider marketing exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look great, 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 sections may need to be frequently updated. This requires implementing sound web and content management strategy.

One other difficult challenge that health businesses (and most businesses) face online, is that your site has an average of thirty seconds to help visitors find what they are searching for or they will leave the site.

“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 Services Professionals

As well as facing a number of significant challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for businesses in the medical or health-related 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.

The article below will help you uncover new opportunities to generate new clientele and create significant improvements in your online results.

As well as providing practical tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your health business online, we also emphasize the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform to power your health website.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system, see the articles below:

• Why A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Cost You Customers And What To Do About It
• An Online Guide To Growing A Business With A WordPress Site

Practical Tips For Improving Your Website

This section covers how to improve your medical or health website and get better results online. We show you what pages a medical website needs, what type of content you need, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need any help with website planning, check out the article we have written here: The Website Planning Process - A Practical Blueprint For Business Owners

Essential Web Pages

Professional websites need several essential web pages. Let’s review the pages your  should have and how to structure your website for best results.

Your Services

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

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. ear, nose & throat, neurosurgery diabetes, cosmetic surgery, neurology, rheumatology, urology, optometry elective surgery, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. cosmetic dentistry, children’s dentistry, oral health, veneers, crowns and bridges, dental implants, emergency dental, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient rehabilitation, chronic heart conditions
• Prenatal & Neonatal – e.g. obstetrics, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screens, skin cancer, medical imaging, pap smears, psychosis, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – lab testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, clinical trials, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, trauma counselling, diet and nutrition counselling, social development services
• Alternative treatments – acupuncture, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, meditation, chiropractic services, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – diet and nutrition, othopedics, reproductive endocrinology, speech therapy, medical genetics, prosthetics, mobility, home and community care, clinical information, medical transport, etc.

Make sure to list all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using these services and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

Who We Are

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

This page should also include any awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, publications, associations, etc., that could be used to promote your business and to position yourself above the competition.

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

Meet Our Team

Are you searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to engage more with your site? Then help prospects get to know your business better.

You want prospects 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 mini bio. Since most visitors will not tend to be very well-versed in medical terms it should tell who they are and what they specialize in. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page can include social buttons so your visitors can follow selected staff members on their social pages.

On this page, make sure to highlight your staff member’s expertise, how they add value to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your employees or team members to prospective new clients. Image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

We have written a detailed tutorial about how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of employees to your site using free WP plugins here: Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory

Job Opportunities

This is a listing of job or career opportunities within the business. This page would include type of training provided, employee benefits, professional development, social aspects of working with your business, etc. You can include stories of graduates who have worked their way up in your company and information about upcoming career opportunities in the 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 the page, join your updates list, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies

Testimonials from previous clients and case studies are a great way to attract potential clients and showcase what kind of services you offer. By adding a page with testimonials from past clients and case studies, you will also help to provide visitors social proof for your business.

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

We have written a detailed article on using testimonials, case studies and reviews get better results online. For more info, see this article: Learn How To Improve Your Conversions With Captivating User Testimonials

Contact Page

A clean contact page is vitally important.

Your contact page should provide some or all of the following information about your practice:

• Name
• Your address
• Telephone number
• Facsimile number
• Contact email address
• Map and directions
• Web address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media web addresses
• Chat feature (optional)

If you operate in different locations you will want to make that clear when showing your address and contact info.

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

Add A Health-Related Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs typically comprise of 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 information, discussions on current topics, how-to videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an health or medical-related website, then consider adding a WordPress-powered blog to create more exposure for your practice.

If you don’t have a website yet, or if your existing health-related site is very hard to keep updated with new content 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 into an automated traffic machine that can instantly attract targeted traffic to your business, simply by adding regular content to your website.

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

Go here to learn more:

• WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Turn Your Website Into An Automated Web Traffic Machine

Legal Pages

It’s crucial for health and medical services professionals companies to have a website that complies will all legal requirements online. This is not only important for building credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaching laws or regulations wherever you practice.

Depending on the products and services you provide, adding some or all of the legal pages below to your medical site will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:

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

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your site here: What You Need To Know About Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s ultra-competitive online economy, the sooner you start publishing good content on your site, the sooner you will begin to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Provide useful content with tips, advice and information that will get your readers to share your web pages with others and come back for more content. This is the most effective way to inform and educate site visitors and prospective clients about using your services.

For example, if you provide solutions that help people manage their weight, then some of the topics you could cover as content on your site:

• Common medical conditions that can cause weight gain
• How to set realistic, but achievable weight loss goals
• How you eat your food - just as important as what you eat (eat at table, chew slowly)
• How a personal chef can help you lose weight (what they do, is it affordable)
• And endless other content topics

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your your prospective clients gain a better understanding of your medical or health services, by explaining benefits, procedures, costs (including payment plans, insurance coverage, etc).

Include keywords in your articles that your 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 site, save money creating useful content for your visitors and grow your presence online using content. 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 (generally referred to as UX) will help keep visitors coming back and using your site. This section will show you different ways to improve visitor engagement and UX.

Syndicate Content Using RSS Feeds

RSS feeds provide plenty of benefits for your website.

If you provide useful information, other businesses will want to syndicate your content.

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

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared online
• RSS feeds allow for subscribing
• It provides links to your site
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides a number of ways for readers to receive your content (e.g. subscribers can read your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

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

To find RSS feeds with useful content for your website, search online for relevant government departments and respected industry bodies.

Here are some examples of feeds you could add to a medical or health-related website:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Latest news feed: http://www.hhs.gov/rss/news/hhsnews.xml, etc. You can also select individual RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breast cancer, Health care for women, Heart health and stroke, Mental health, 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 well-known medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. Dermatology Times, Human Molecular Genetics, Obesity, Medscape, BMJ British Journal of Ophthalmology, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Find various health-related RSS feeds here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Find RSS feeds on fda-related news like consumer health information updates, health fraud, tainted products marked as dietary supplements, vaccines, blood and biologics, etc. and podcasts here: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/StayInformed/RSSFeeds
• UK Department Of Health (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health) – 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. Western Australia – http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/feed/?types=news
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (www.cdc.gov) - Find various RSS feeds on health-related news and topics and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News: You can search medical news feeds in places like the NYTimes RSS feeds section (e.g. Fitness and 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 select individual RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, Menopause, Chronic Pain, Pregnancy, Eyesight, High Blood Pressure, etc.)
• Medical News Today – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• MedicalNewsToday.com – You can also select specific feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Eye Health/Blindness, Bird Flu/Avian Flu, Muscular Dystrophy/ALS, Irritable-Bowel Syndrome, Bones/Orthopedics, Biology/Biochemistry, Statins, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific subjects, e.g. “infectious diseases rss feeds”, “leukemia rss feeds”, “wearable technology rss feeds”, etc.

(Add RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to improve your site’s UX.)

Provide Online Checklists

Adding checklists and educational charts to your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement, add value to your audience and set yourself apart from the competition. Checklists and medical forms can provide visitors with step-by-step information and resources to complete steps. Charts and checklists are also great educational tools.

Checklists, charts and medical forms can address 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, maintenance program, cosmetic dentistry, etc.
• Fitness and exercise program checklists and charts
• General charts & infographics (e.g. caloric level of different foods, the importance of sleep at different stages of development, etc.)

Add Other Tools

Providing useful online tools, gadgets and applications on your site can help increase visitor engagement and add value to your users. Calculators are some of the most popular tools for your website. Other applications could include things like nutritional tools, and even recipes.

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

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This is the end of section one.

Click here to keep reading:

• Your Medical Services & Health Practice Website – How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Generate More Visitors To Your Website Using Plugins & Themes

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