Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only revolutionised business worldwide, it has also created a number of difficult challenges and opportunities for health services providers.

Challenges Professional Medical And Health Services Practitioners Face Online

Today, more than ever, businesses in the medical sector must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do you have to be fully involved in the community you serve, you must also develop and maintain a strong presence online. This includes having an effective website and learning better ways to market your business online.

In addition to spending dollars in offline marketing, you will probably find that in order to compete, you will need to designate a bigger part of your marketing budget towards developing and managing a website that will drive clients, engage users, outperform the competition in search engines and help to give you a wider amount of reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, your 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 the website may change in time and some areas will need to be frequently updated. This requires implementing well-developed website and content management strategy.

One other problem that health or medical organizations face, as do most businesses for that matter, is that they have only around 30 seconds to help users find what they are looking for or they will look 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 & Health Businesses In The Digital Economy

As well as facing a number of challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available to businesses in the health industry that are willing to evolve to meet the challenges of the digital economy and who can think outside the box when it comes to marketing their services better online.

In this guide, you will learn new ways to find new client bookings and see significant improvements in your business online.

As well as providing practical tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your medical or health-related web presence, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform to power your medical business website.

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

• How A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Money And What To Do About It
• How To Grow Your Small Business Using A WordPress Site

Practical Tips To Improve Your Website

This section looks at ways to improve your website and get better results. We will look at what pages your site needs, what content works best for health or medical websites, layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, check out the detailed step-by-step guide we have written here: A Basic Guide To Web Site Planning For Business Owners

How To Improve Your Website Pages

All business websites require some basic web pages. Let’s go over the pages your  should have and how to structure your website for best results.

Services Page

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

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. ear, nose & throat, orthopedics diabetes, plastic surgery, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, renal, weight loss surgery, ophtalmology elective surgery, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. cosmetic dentistry, children’s dentistry, cleaning services, restorations, dental implants, emergency dental services, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient education, chronic heart conditions
• Prenatal & Neonatal – e.g. birth suites, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health services – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic – breast screens, skin cancer, radiology, pap smears, MRI scanning, allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology – lab testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, occupational and environmental testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling services – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, couples, diet and nutrition counselling, social work services
• Alternative therapies – acupuncture, aromatherapy, holistic medicine, meditation, osteopathy, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services – weight management, podiatry, fertility services, optical services, inherited diseases, artificial limbs, hearing aids, home and community care, community health, medical supplies, etc.

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 why they should book an appointment.

About Us

This page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, community activities, etc.

It should also list any industry awards, recognitions, certifications, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote your services and to set yourself above other competitors.

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

Core Team

If you are looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online, then something you can do, is help visitors get to know, like and trust you, your team and 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. This page should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in medical terms your 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 also include social buttons that will allow your prospective clients to follow your team members on their social pages.

On this page, make sure to highlight your employee’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 staff page. Image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

We have created a detailed tutorial on how to add a list directory of employees or team members in your web site using free plugins here: How To Create A Simple Employee Directory For Your WordPress Site

Career Opportunities Page

This is a listing of career opportunities within your organization. This page should include type of training provided, benefits, professional development, etc. You can also include information about new career opportunities in the medical industry.

Maintain 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 you on social media, etc.

Testimonials & Case Studies

Customer reviews and case studies are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. Adding a page with case studies and testimonials from past clients also helps to provide visitors social proof online.

(Add a page with reviews from clients and case studies. Image sourced from: arrowsmiledental.com)

We have written a comprehensive article about using client case studies and reviews improve your business online. For more info, see this article: Convert More Visitors Into Qualified Prospects With Effective Client Testimonials

Contact Page

A contact page is absolutely vital.

It should include some or all of the following information about your business:

• Name
• Location
• Phone number
• Facsimile
• Contact email address
• Map
• Web address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media links
• Live chat feature

If your business services different locations you want to make that clear when displaying 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 Medical Or Health-Related Blog

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool. Blogs typically include a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business by publishing timely content like news and announcements, updates, useful articles, opinions on current topics, educational videos, infographics, etc.

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

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

Something not many businesses know about, is that WordPress can become an automated traffic-generation system that can help begin driving web traffic to your business, simply by adding regular content to your website.

(WordPress can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more about this:

• Website Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Turn Your Website Into A Traffic Machine

Legal Info Pages

It’s very important to make sure they have a website that complies will all legal requirements online. This is not only important for building trust with visitors, but also to ensure that you are not contravening any laws and regulations in whichever region you do business.

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

• Contact Page
• Privacy Policy
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Health/Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

We have written a comprehensive article about adding legal pages to your website. Go here to learn more about this: Why You Need To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Tips For Improving The Content On Your Website

In today’s globally competitive economy, the sooner you begin publishing good content on your site, the sooner you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from competing businesses.

Provide useful content with tips and information that will get your readers sharing it with others and coming back for more. Using content is a great way to inform and teach your 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 can write about include the following:

• What’s the difference between being overweight and obese?
• How to figure out how many calories you burn each day
• How to develop an exercise regime you can enjoy and will stick with
• Vitamins and minerals that aid in weight loss (chromium, calcium, magnesium, etc.)
• Etc.

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

Include the keywords and terminology in your articles that your prospective clients will search to find you online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with easy-to-digest information that will teach exactly 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 presence online using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Improve Visitor Experience

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

Syndicating Content Using RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide plenty of benefits for your business.

If you provide content that adds value to others, other sites 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 content updates are kept in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Users can subscribe to your feed
• An RSS feed provides a way for external links to point back to your content
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are several ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. users can view your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also benefits when it comes to providing 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 loads of useful content by searching online for health-related government departments and respected industry bodies.

For example, here are examples of feeds containing useful information that you could consider adding to your site:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SelectedHhsBlogPosts, etc. You can also select specific RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breastfeeding, Fitness and nutrition, HIV/AIDS, Mental health, Screening tests and vaccines, 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. Haematologica, ADA (American Diabetes Association), Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Radiology, Respiratory Research, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Get various feeds on health-related news here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) – Find feeds on fda-related topics like criminal investigations, FDA drug shortages, pet health, animal and veterinary 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. Western Australia – http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/feed/?types=news
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention - Find many health-related 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 feeds section (e.g. Fitness & nutrition: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Nutrition.xml)
• MedicineNet – Weekly Health and Medical News Digest: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/weeklyhealth.xml. You can also choose individual RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Allergies, Mental Health, Migraine Headaches, Oral Health, Sexual Health, High Blood Pressure, etc.)
• MedicalNewsToday.com – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• MedicalNewsToday.com – You can also choose specific feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Abortion, Headache/Migraine, Medical Insurance, Neurology/Neuroscience, Primary Care/General Practice, Breast Cancer, Personal Monitoring/Wearable Technology, etc.)

You can also just search online for general RSS feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific areas, e.g. “pregnancy rss feeds”, “nursing rss feeds”, “psychology rss feeds”, etc.

(Use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to improve your site’s user experience.)

Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and educational charts to your site is a fantastic way to increase user engagement, add value to your readers and provide something unique. They can provide users with step-by-step information and resources to complete necessary steps. Checklists and charts can also be great client instructional tools.

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

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

Adding Other Tools

Providing useful tools and applications on your site can help increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your potential clients. Health-related calculators are great tools to add to your website. Other applications could include things like nutritional tools, or even recipes.

In the next section of this detailed guide, we will look at a several WordPress-based tools you can add to your site that can help improve your seo, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part 1 of this article on ways to grow your health or medical business web presence.

To view Part Two, click this link:

• How To Build And Grow A Health Center Services Web Presence Successfully With WordPress – Part 2

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