Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Medical services professionals today face significant and difficult challenges thanks to the web economy.

Online Challenges For Medical And Health Practitioners

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

As well as spending dollars in offline marketing, businesses in the health or medical-related industry are also finding that they need to assign a more significant portion of their budget towards the development and maintenance of a website that will attract new prospects, engage visitors, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and help increase their presence online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, load fast, and be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of your website will change over time and some areas will need to be updated frequently. This requires having a well-planned website and content management strategy in place.

Another challenge that medical-related organizations face online, as all other professions do for that matter, is that your site has only around thirty seconds to provide visitors with 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 Businesses

As well as facing a number of significant challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available for medical businesses that can adapt to meet online economy demands and who can think outside the box in terms of marketing their business better online.

In this comprehensive guide, you will discover new ways and opportunities to generate more web traffic and improve your online results.

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

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress platform, see the articles below:

• Discover Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Money
• WordPress For Small Business – A Beginner’s Guide To Building Your Successful Small Business Using A WordPress Site

Useful Tips For Improving Your Website

This section will show you how to improve your website and get better results. We will look at what pages you need, what type of content you need, tips for improving navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your website, go here: How To Plan Your Website - A Basic Blueprint For Business Owners

Improve Your Web Pages

Professional websites require some essential web pages. Let’s go over these.

Services And Products Page

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

• Medicine & Surgery – e.g. ear, nose and throat, neurosurgery diabetes, plastic surgery, incontinence, respiratory, colon/rectal surgery, ophtalmology operating theaters, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. general dentistry, holistic dentistry, oral hygiene, veneers, crowns and bridges, dentofacial orthopedics, emergency dental, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient education, coronary care
• Prenatal & Postnatal – e.g. birth suites, maternity services, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screens, skin cancer, hearing, pap smears, MRI scanning, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology – laboratory testing and analysis, emergency pathology testing, fine-needle aspiration cytology, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, trauma counselling, wellness coaching, social work services
• Alternative therapies – Chinese medicine, homeopathy, natural therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic services, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – weight management, chiropody, lymphedema therapy, physiotherapy, inherited diseases, prosthetics, assisted living, home and community care, clinical information, medical transport, etc.

List all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using these services and why they should book an appointment.

About Us Page

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

This page should also include any awards, certifications, accreditations, recognitions, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote your medical services and to set yourself above similar service providers.

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

Meet Your Staff

If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ways to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

You want your business to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff members. It should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors are probably not familiar with medical or health terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialized areas mean. It can also include social buttons so your visitors can follow your staff members on their social networks.

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

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your team members to prospective new clients. Image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

For a detailed tutorial on how to easily create and add a list directory of staff members in a WordPress site with no coding skills required, go here: How To Add A Simple Staff List On Your WordPress Site Without Editing Code

Recruitment Page

List any job opportunities within the organization. This page could include training offered, employee benefits, advancement opportunities, etc. You should also include information about additional career opportunities in the health or medical-related industry.

Include also a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, subscribe to your newsletter, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies & Testimonials

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. By adding a page with testimonials and case studies, you are also helping to will also be providing visitors social proof for your business.

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

To learn more about using testimonials, case studies and client reviews, refer to this article: Improve Your Conversions Using Standout Testimonials

Contact Us

Having a contact page is essential.

It should provide some or all of the following information:

• Name
• Physical address
• Telephone
• Facsimile
• Contact email
• Map and directions
• Website address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Links to social media pages
• Online Chat/Skype (optional)

If you have several locations you will want to make that clear when displaying your address and contact information.

Consider also including links to an FAQ section, main pages, online booking request, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Medical Blog

A blog can be a powerful business marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that is easy to use and allows you to promote your business using timely content like news and announcements, updates, educational information, discussions on current topics, how-to videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your business.

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

Something not many businesses know about, is that an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic system that will help attract new targeted traffic to your site, simply by adding regular content to your website.

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

Go here to learn more about this:

• Web Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Increasing Your Website Traffic Automatically With WordPress

Legal Information Pages

Having a compliant website is really important. This is not only important for building trust with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaching any laws and regulations in whichever location you service.

Depending on what services you provide, adding the legal pages below to your website will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy
• 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
• etc.

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your website here: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Improve The Content On Your Website

In today’s fiercely competitive online business economy, the sooner you begin engaging in the practice of content marketing, the faster you will begin to differentiate yourself from other competing businesses.

By committing to providing great content with information, advice and tips, you will get your visitors sharing it with others and coming back for more. Content marketing is the most effective way to inform and teach site visitors and prospects about your services.

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

• Common medical conditions that can cause weight gain
• How to identify the bad habits you need to correct to ensure lifetime weight loss
• Characteristics of different diets, e.g. HCG diet, South Beach diet, Volumetrics diet (what these are, how they work, are they effective)
• What salad dressings can ruin your weight loss goals (and healthier choices)
• Etc.

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

Include keywords in your articles that readers would search for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with actionable information and practical tips that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating useful content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your website using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Ways Of Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Use RSS Feeds

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

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

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
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared
• Feeds allow users to subscribe
• An RSS feed provides links back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• RSS provides various ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. users can view your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits to adding syndicated content to your website 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 useful content for your website by visiting sites of relevant government departments or well-known industry bodies.

Here are a few useful RSS feeds you could add to a health or medical 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 choose individual RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Emergency preparedness, Healthy aging, HIV/AIDS, Menopause, Smoking and how to quit, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a list of RSS feeds from well-known medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. BMJ Evidence-Based Nursing, ADA (American Diabetes Association), RadioGraphics, jobs.ac.uk health and medical jobs, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Find various RSS feeds on health-related topics here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) – Get FDA-related news feeds (e.g. FDA drug safety, MedWatch safety alerts (human medical products), 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. Western Australia – http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/feed/?types=news
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention - Get various RSS feeds on health-related news and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News Feeds: You can search medical news feeds by going to publications like the NYTimes RSS feeds section (e.g. Fitness and nutrition: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Nutrition.xml)
• MedicineNet.com – 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, Cholesterol, Depression, Prevention & Wellness, Travel Health, etc.)
• Medical News Today – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• Medical News Today – You can also choose individual RSS feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Public Health, Medicare/Medicaid/SCHIP, Asbestos/Mesothelioma, Veterinary, Parkinson’s Disease, Respiratory/Asthma, Alzheimer’s/Dementia, etc.)

You can also search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific areas, e.g. “depression rss feeds”, “allergy rss feeds”, “fitness rss feeds”, etc.

(Using RSS feeds can help to improve your health-related site’s UX.)

Checklists & Forms

Checklists and medical forms are a fantastic way to help increase user engagement, add value to your audience and provide something unique. Charts and checklists can provide useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete tasks. They are also great educational tools.

Forms, charts and checklists could cover topics such as:

• Booking appointments
• Checklists for pre or post surgery
• Health checklists and charts for specific systems
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, oral hygiene program, general dentistry, etc.
• Fitness and nutrition program checklists
• General charts & infographics (e.g. caloric level of different foods, the importance of sleep at different ages, etc.)

Add Other Tools

Providing unique online tools, gadgets and applications on your site can help increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to your visitors. Calculators, for example are popular tools for your website. Other tools can include things like nutritional tools, and even recipes.

In the next section of this detailed article, we will be discussing a several WordPress-based tools you can add to your medical or health website that can help improve seo, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section 1.

To continue, click here:

• Tips For Medical And Health Services Practitioners – WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Better User Engagement And Web Traffic Generation

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