Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Medical services professionals face a number of challenges in today’s online economy, especially in terms of growing their business online.

Challenges Medical & Health Firms Face Online

Now, more than ever, health and medical services practitioners must work harder to stand apart from their competition and obtain new clients. Not only do you have to become actively involved in the community your business serves, you must also develop a strong web presence. This includes having a website and learning how to better market your health or medical services services online.

As well as spending dollars advertising offline on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television, etc., you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to remain competitive, you will need to delegate a more significant portion of your budget towards developing and managing a website that will drive leads, engage users, outperform the competition in search engines and social media, and help to increase your marketing reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, your pages have to load fast, and your website layout has to 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 well-planned website and content management strategy.

Another problem that health services providers (and other businesses) face online, is that you have only about 30 seconds or less to help users find what they are searching 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

Opportunities For Medical Businesses In The Digital Economy

As well as facing a number of business and technology changes, there are also many online opportunities available to medical businesses that are willing to evolve to meet the demands of the digital economy and who can think progressively in terms of marketing their services better online.

In this comprehensive guide, you will discover new ways to source new bookings and improve your business results online.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also emphasize the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to power your health-related website or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system, see these articles:

• Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Cost You Money And What To Do About It
• Everything You Need To Know About Growing Your Small Business Using A WordPress Site

Tips To Improve Your Website

This section covers ways to improve your website and get better results online. We show you what pages your website needs, what type of content you need, navigation structure, etc.

If you need help with website planning, read this article: The Web Site Planning Process Explained: A Basic Primer For Business Owners

How To Improve Your Web Pages

All websites require some essential pages. Let’s take a look at the pages your  need to have and how to set up your website for best results.

Your Services

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

• Medicine & Surgery – e.g. pain management, nephrology haematology, oral surgery, aged care, respiratory, endoscopy, ophtalmology surgical outpatients, etc.
• Dental Services – e.g. general dentistry, holistic dentistry, oral hygiene, teeth whitening, dentofacial orthopedics, emergency dental, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient rehabilitation, coronary care
• Prenatal and Neonatal – e.g. obstetrics, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screening, skin cancer, x-ray, pap smears, magnetic resonance imaging, allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – lab testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, occupational and environmental testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health services, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, domestic abuse, wellbeing, social development services
• Alternative treatments – Chinese medicine, reflexology, holistic medicine, massage therapy, chiropractic, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services – weight management, chiropody, reproductive services, speech language therapy, neurosciences, prosthetics, sleep therapy, home care, community health, medical supplies, etc.

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

About Us Page

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

It’s important to also mention any health-related awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, publications, associations, etc., that could be used to promote your practice and set yourself above your competitors.

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

Meet The Team

If you are looking for inexpensive ways to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site, then help your prospects get to know your organization better.

Your business needs to be relatable. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff members. This page should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors won’t be that well-versed in 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. This page can include social buttons so your site visitors can follow your staff members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your person’s experience, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a team profile page. Screenshot image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

To learn more about how to add an easy-to-manage list of employees or team members to a WordPress site with no coding skills required, see this tutorial: How To Create A Simple Staff Directory For Your WordPress Site With No Coding Skills

Recruitment Page

This is a listing of job or career opportunities within the company. It can include training provided, benefits, opportunities for advancement, social activities sponsored by your business, etc. You can include case studies of recruits who have risen within your organization and information such as the job outlook and new career opportunities in the medical-related 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 newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Case Studies & Testimonials

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

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

To learn more about using testimonials and client reviews, refer to this article: Learn How To Achieve Better Results Online With Captivating User Testimonials

Contact Page

A contact page is vitally important.

Your contact page should provide:

• Name Of Your Business
• Physical address
• Telephone
• Facsimile
• Email address
• Map and directions
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media pages
• Online Chat/Skype

If your business services several areas you want to make this clear when showing your address and contact info.

Consider also including a few links point to the most commonly asked questions page, main pages, online booking request, helpdesk, newsletter, blog, etc.

Blog Section

A blog is a powerful marketing tool for your business. Many blogging platforms typically comprise of a content management system that allows you to promote your business using timely content such as events, updates, training articles, opinions and discussions, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an health or medical-related site, then consider adding a WordPress-powered blog to promote your medical business.

If you don’t have a website yet, or if your existing website is very hard to add new content to or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can act both as your website and business blog.

Not many people know this, but an expertly configured WordPress site can turn your web presence into an automated traffic machine that will help begin driving an ongoing stream of targeted visitors to your business, simply by adding new content on a consistent basis to your website.

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

For more info, see this article:

• Web Traffic Blueprint – How To Drive More Website Visitors For Your Business

Legal Information

Having a compliant website is really important. This is not only important for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no local, regional and federal laws and regulations are being broken wherever you provide services.

Adding some or all of the legal pages below to your medical-related site will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• 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.

Go here to learn more about adding legal pages to your website: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

How To Improve Your Content

In today’s globally competitive economy, the practice of content marketing has become one of the key success factors for businesses.

By providing useful content with great advice or tips, you will get your readers to share your information with others online and come back for more. Using content is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business and services.

For example, if your business provides solutions that help people lose weight, then some of the areas you could cover as content on your site:

• Overweight vs. Obese – what are the differences?
• How to get support for your weight loss efforts (friends, family, weight loss seekers)
• Is hypnosis and effective weight loss treatment?
• How to incorporate a little fast food into a healthy diet plan
• Etc.

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your prospective clients gain a better understanding of your services, by explaining benefits, procedures, terminology, etc.

Remember to use keywords and terminology in your articles that prospective clients will be searching to find you 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 exactly how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your website using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Ways To Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Using RSS Feeds

RSS feeds can help to improve visitor engagement and user experience in several ways.

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

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

• All of your updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared online
• RSS feeds allow users to subscribe
• An RSS feed provides links back to your content
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are various ways readers can 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 a number of benefits 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.

To find useful RSS feeds just search online for health or medical-related government departments or respected industry bodies.

For example, here are a few 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 choose individual feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breastfeeding, Environmental health, HIV/AIDS, Minority women’s health, Violence against women, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a directory of feeds from well-known medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. Dermatology Times, ADA ClinicalDiabetes, BMJ Emergency Medicine Journal, Occupational Medicine, BMJ Evidence-Based Mental Health, 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
• FDA – Find FDA-related feeds (e.g. consumer health information, MedWatch safety alerts (human medical products), product recalls, animal and veterinary news, 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. Victoria – http://www.health.vic.gov.au/rss/newsfeed.xml
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention - Get various health-related feeds and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News Feeds: You can search medical news RSS feeds in major news publications like the NYTimes RSS feeds section (e.g. Medical research: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Research.xml)
• MedicineNet.com – Daily Health and Medical News: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/dailyhealth.xml. You can also choose specific RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Lung Conditions, Cancer, Neurology, Pregnancy, Prevention & Wellness, Thyroid, etc.)
• Medical News Today – MNT Featured Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• Medical News Today – You can also select individual RSS feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Ovarian Cancer, Seniors/Aging, Infectious Diseases/Bacteria/Viruses, Sleep/Sleep Disorders/Insomnia, Food Intolerance, Cosmetic Medicine/Plastic Surgery, Erectile Dysfunction/Premature Ejaculation, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific subjects, e.g. “cystic fibrosis rss feeds”, “parkinson’s disease rss feeds”, “ear, nose and throat rss feeds”, etc.

(Using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your site’s UX.)

Provide Downloadable Checklists & Forms

Checklists and educational charts are a great way to help increase user engagement, add value to your audience and provide something unique. They can provide users with useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete tasks. Charts and checklists are great client instructional tools.

Checklists, charts and medical forms can include subjects such as:

• Booking appointments
• Checklists for post-surgery recovery
• Health checklists and charts for specific systems
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, oral hygiene program, cosmetic dentistry, etc.
• Fitness 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 unique online tools and applications on your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to potential clients. Health-related calculators, for example, are great tools you can add to your website. Other tools could include things like diagnostic tools, and even recipes.

In the next section, we will be discussing a several online tools you can use in your website using WordPress plugins and themes that can help to improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section one.

To view Part 2, click this link:

• Your Medical Center Services Website – WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Increasing User Engagement And Traffic Generation

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