Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only transformed business around the world, it has also created a growing number of challenges and opportunities for businesses in the health industry.

Online Challenges For The Health Profession

Today, more than ever, medical and health services professionals must find smarter ways to stand out from the crowd and obtain new clientele. Not only do you have to become more involved in the community you serve, you must also develop an active presence online. This includes having an effective website and learning how to better market your medical or health services services online.

As well as investing dollars advertising offline on newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and tv, etc., businesses in the health or medical-related industry are now also finding that increasingly larger amounts of their budget will need to be directed towards developing and managing a website that can drive new prospective clients, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and help to create a wider amount of reach online.

This means that your website 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 the website will change in time and sections may need to be frequently updated. This requires implementing well-planned web and content management strategy.

One other challenge that health or medical-related organizations face online (as other professions do for that matter), is that your site has only around thirty seconds to give visitors what they are looking for or they will go away.

“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 Services Providers In The Online Economy

As well as facing many new challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available for health-related businesses that are willing to evolve to meet the demands of the online economy and think progressively about marketing their services better online.

This article will help you uncover a number of ways to increase web traffic and improve your online results.

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

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

• Learn How A Poorly Constructed Website Can Cost You Business
• Mastering WordPress – A Business Owner’s Guide

Practical Tips For Improving Your Health And Medical Center Website

In this section we will show you how to improve your health website and get better results. We will look at what pages your site needs, what content works best for health sites, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need additional information about website planning, visit this page: How To Plan Your Small Business Website: A Cost-Saving Guide For Business Owners

Basic Website Pages

Professional websites need a number of basic pages. Let’s go over the pages your  should have and how to structure your health or medical website for best results.

Your Services And Products

You need to include a page that explains your services and products. Depending on which area of health you specialize in, your page can list services such as:

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. acute pain management, nephrology endocrinology, cosmetic surgery, geriatric medicine, respiratory, infection control, optometry palliative care, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. general dentistry, holistic dentistry, gum disease, restorations, implants, emergency dental, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient rehabilitation, coronary care
• Prenatal/Postnatal – e.g. birthing, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health services – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic – mammography, lung screening, hearing, women’s health, magnetic resonance imaging, allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – laboratory testing and analysis, emergency pathology testing, food and water testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling services – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, domestic abuse, diet and nutrition counselling, social work services
• Alternative therapies – Chinese medicine, aromatherapy, reiki, shiatsu, chiropractic services, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – weight management, sports medicine, reproductive services, stomal therapy, neurosciences, prosthetics, hearing aids, home care, sexual health, medical transport, etc.

Make sure to list all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about the benefits of using these services and why they should book an appointment with you.

Who We Are

The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, community participation, etc.

Remember to include any awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, publications, associations, etc., that you can use to promote your services and set yourself above the competition.

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

Team Profile Page

Are you looking for ideas to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know your business better.

You want prospects to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff or team members. It should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors will not tend to be familiar with health or medical-related terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialized areas do. It can include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow individual team members on their social networks.

On this page, make sure to outline each staff member’s qualifications, why they are an asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a staff page. Screenshot image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

If you need help how to create and add a simple team members directory to WordPress using a free WordPress plugin, go here: WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To Your Site

We’re Hiring

This is a listing of career opportunities available within the organization. This page should include training offered, benefits, professional development, social aspects of working for your business, etc. You can also include case studies of trainees who have established a solid career path thanks to your organization and information such as the job outlook and new career opportunities in the medical or health-related industry.

Maintain a positions available section in your page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, join your newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Case Studies And Testimonials

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

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

We have written a detailed article on using client case studies and user reviews get better results online. If you would like to know more here: Learn How To Improve Your Conversions Using Sales Boosting Testimonials

Contact Page

A contact page is absolutely vital.

It should include:

• Business Name
• Your physical location
• Telephone number
• Facsimile
• Contact email address
• Google Map and directions
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Request for information – who to contact
• Social media links
• Chat/Skype

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

Consider also including links pointing to commonly-asked questions page, main pages, booking request, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool. Many blogging platforms are built around a content management system that allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content such as news and events, updates, useful articles and tutorials, opinions and discussions, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established website, then consider adding a WordPress blog to create more exposure for your company.

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

Something few people know about, is that an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic machine that can help begin delivering an ongoing stream of targeted visitors to your business, simply by publishing regular content to your site.

(WordPress can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more about this:

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

Legal Information

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is vital. This is not only important for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no local, regional or federal laws and regulations are being contravened in whichever area you provide services.

Depending on the products and services you provide, adding some or all of the following legal pages to your health-related site will help you stay out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential sources of threats and legal inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions
• 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

If you want to learn more about adding legal pages to your website, see this article: Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Ways To Improve The Content On Your Website

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

Providing great content with tips, advice or information will get your readers sharing it with others and coming back for more. Content marketing is the most effective way to inform and teach site visitors and prospective clients about using your services and products.

For example, if your business provides weight management services, then some of the areas you could cover in your content include:

• Potential health issues caused by being overweight
• How to set realistic, but challenging weight loss goals
• Is hypnosis and effective weight loss treatment?
• How to curb the late night urges for a snack (e.g. drink water with lemon)
• Etc.

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your readers understand your services, by explaining benefits, procedures, terminology, etc.

Include the keywords and terms in your content that your readers would search to find you online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with actionable information and practical tips that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content for your site visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Ways Of Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Using RSS Feeds

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

If you provide useful information, other sites may want to syndicate your content.

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

• All of your updates are in one place
• Content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared online
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• A feed provides a way for links to point back to your content
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• There are multiple ways readers can receive your content (e.g. users can read your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

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

You can find many useful RSS feeds for your website by visiting sites of relevant government departments or respected industry bodies.

For example, here are some examples of useful RSS feeds you could add to a health website:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog posts RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SelectedHhsBlogPosts, etc. You can also choose individual feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Emergency preparedness, Environmental health, Illnesses and disabilities, Menopause, Smoking and how to quit, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a directory of RSS feeds from well-known medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. BioMed Central, Neuroanatomy, Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery, BMJ Tobacco Control, Cambridge Journals Online, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health - Get many health-related feeds here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) – Find FDA-related feeds (e.g. consumer health information updates, health fraud, pet health, cosmetics, etc.) and podcasts here: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/StayInformed/RSSFeeds
• Department of Health UK (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. NSW – http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pages/rss.aspx
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention - Find many feeds on health-related news and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News: You can search medical news feeds in places like the NYTimes feeds section (e.g. Research: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Research.xml)
• MedicineNet – MedTerms Medical Word of the Day: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/dailyword.xml. You can also choose individual RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Medications, Cancer, Cold & Flu, Diet & Weight Management, Sexual Health, High Blood Pressure, etc.)
• MedicalNewsToday.com – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• Medical News Today – You can also select specific feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Bipolar, Pain/Anesthetics, Lymphology/Lymphedema, Hearing/Deafness, Medical Devices/Diagnostics, Tropical Diseases, Statins, etc.)

You can also search online for general RSS feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific areas, e.g. “pharma industry rss feeds”, “preventive medicine rss feeds”, “crohn’s rss feeds”, etc.

(Adding RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your medical-related site’s user experience.)

Checklists & Charts

Adding checklists and explanatory charts to your site is a great way to increase user engagement, add value to your readers and provide something unique. Checklists and medical forms can provide step-by-step information and resources to complete a necessary task. They are also great educational tools.

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

• Checklists and forms for booking appointments
• Checklists for post-surgery recovery
• Health checklists and charts for specific medical conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, active maintenance program, cosmetic dentistry, etc.
• Weight loss and exercise program checklists
• General charts & infographics (e.g. sugar content in different foods, the importance of sleep at different ages, etc.)

Add Other Tools

Providing unique tools and applications on your website can help increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to your potential clients. Calculators, for example are useful tools you can add to your website. Others could include things like nutritional tools, and even recipes.

In the next section of this guide, we look at a number of online tools you can use in your site using WordPress plugins and themes that can improve seo, improve user engagement and generate more web traffic to your business.

***

This is the end of section 1 of this step-by-step guide on ways to build your health-related business web presence.

To view Part 2, click here:

• How To Build And Grow A Medical Center Online – Part 2

***

***