Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

The web economy has not only transformed the way business is done worldwide, it has also created a number of challenges and opportunities for businesses offering medical or health-related services.

Online Challenges For Health And Medical Practitioners

Today, more than ever, medical and health services practitioners must work hard to remain competitive and generate new clientele. Not only do you have to become actively involved in the community you serve, you must also develop a strong digital presence. This includes having an effective website and learning how to better promote your practice online.

As well as investing dollars advertising offline, businesses in the health or medical industry are now also finding that they need to delegate a larger share of their marketing budget towards the development and maintenance of a website that will drive new prospective clients, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and create a wider degree of reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look professional, your pages have to load fast, and your website layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, your site’s needs may change over time and many areas will need to be updated often. This requires the implementation of a well-planned web and content management strategy.

Another difficult challenge that health and medical services practitioners face online (and other professions for that matter), is that your site has only around thirty seconds or less to give visitors the information 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 Health Services Practitioners

As well as facing many challenges, there are also many online opportunities available to health-related practices that can evolve to meet the demands of the online economy and who can think outside the box when it comes to marketing their business services better online.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn about new ways to generate new client bookings and improve your health business presence online.

As well as providing tips and information on ways to improve your health-related business online, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress platform to power your medical or health-related business website.

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

• How A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Lose You Prospective Customers And What To Do About It
• Mastering WordPress – The Business Owner’s Guide

Tips To Improve Your Health Center Services Site

In this section we will show you ways to improve your website and get better results online. We will look at what pages a health or medical site needs, what type of content you need, your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need help with website planning, go here: A Money-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

How To Improve Your Website Pages

Professional business websites require a number of essential pages. Let’s take a look at the pages your  need and how to set up your health or medical-related website for best results.

Services And Products Description Page

It’s essential to include a page that explains your services and any products that you offer. Depending on which area of health or medical services you specialize in, this page can list services such as:

• Medicine & Surgery – e.g. ear, nose and throat, pulmonology endocrinology, cancer, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, renal, urology, optometry operating theaters, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. preventive dentistry, holistic dentistry, oral hygiene, teeth whitening, orthodontics, emergency dental services, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. heart monitoring, coronary care
• Prenatal/Postnatal – e.g. birthing, maternity services, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screening, skin cancer, radiology and imaging, pap smears, magnetic resonance imaging, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – laboratory testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, occupational and environmental testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, couples, wellness coaching, social development services
• Alternative treatments – Chinese medicine, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, shiatsu, chiropractic services, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services – weight management, podiatry, lymphedema therapy, occupational therapy, medical genetics, prosthetics, assisted living, home and community care, sexual health, medical equipment, etc.

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

Who We Are

The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, causes that you support, etc.

Remember to include any business awards, certifications, accreditations, recognitions, publications, associations, etc., that you can use to promote your practice and set yourself above your competitors.

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

Staff

Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to sell more products or services online? Then help your prospective clients get to know you, your team and your organization better.

Your business needs to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff. It should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors are probably not that well-versed in health or medical-related terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should also include social buttons so your site visitors can follow some of your staff members on their social pages.

On this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight each staff member’s expertise and qualifications, 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 to prospective new clients. Screenshot source: southperthchiro.com.au)

We have written a detailed tutorial about how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple employee directory in your web site without editing code here: How To Add A Simple Employee Directory On Your WordPress Site

Career Opportunities

List any job opportunities available within the practice. This page could include training provided, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, etc. You can include stories of trainees who have established a solid career path thanks to your business and information such as the job outlook and upcoming career opportunities in the 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 the page, subscribe to your contact list, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies

Testimonials and case studies are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. Adding a page with testimonials from previous clients and case studies also provides visitors social proof.

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

We have written a detailed article about using testimonials and user reviews get better results online here: Create Better Results Online Using Awesome Customer Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a clean contact page is absolutely necessary.

It should include:

• Name
• Physical location
• Telephone
• Fax number
• Contact email address
• Google Map
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media web addresses
• Interactive chat (optional feature)

If your business operates in several locations you will want to make this clear when showing the address and contact info.

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

Add A Health Or Medical-Related Blog Section

A blog is a very powerful marketing tool. Blogs typically include a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business using timely content like announcements, updates, educational articles, informative posts, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

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

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

Very few businesses know that WordPress can become an automated traffic-generation system that will help begin to attract targeted traffic to your website, simply by publishing content to your website on a consistent basis.

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

Go here to learn more about this:

• Web Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Create An Automated Web Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Information

It’s vitally important to ensure 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 no laws and regulations are being breached wherever you practice.

Depending on the services you provide, adding some or all of the following legal pages to your website will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential sources of threats and legal 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
• and others

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your site. You can learn more here: Why You Need To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Ways To Improve Your Web Content

In today’s fiercely competitive global economy, the sooner you start to publish content on your site, the faster you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from your competitors.

By committing to providing great content with advice, information and tips, you will get your readers sharing your web pages online with others and coming back for more. Content marketing is the most effective way to inform and teach your visitors and prospective clients about your business and services.

For example, if your business provides services that help people manage their weight, then some of the areas you can publish content about include the following:

• Nutrients your body needs on a daily basis (protein, carbs, vitamins, minerals, fats)
• Weight loss surgery – benefits vs risks (who should get it, risks, success rates)
• Diet sodas (common ones, side effects, long term results, do they work?)
• 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 readers gain a better understanding of your medical services, by explaining benefits, procedures, costs (including payment plans, insurance coverage, etc).

Include keywords and terms in your content that readers would search for.

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 teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content for your site visitors and grow your presence online using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Improving User Experience

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

Add RSS Feeds

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

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

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

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

There are also benefits to providing great information on your website from other websites, 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 searching online for health-related government departments or industry bodies.

For example, here are a few RSS feeds you could consider adding 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. Breastfeeding, Health care for women, 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 list of RSS feeds from leading medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. Haematologica, Nutrition Journal, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, BMJ Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Pediatrics, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Find many health-related news feeds here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) – Find FDA-related RSS feeds (e.g. enforcement reports, food allergy reports, tainted products, cosmetics, 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. Western Australia – http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/feed/?types=news
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention - Find 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 feeds section (e.g. Fitness and nutrition: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Nutrition.xml)
• MedicineNet – MedTerms Medical Word of the Day: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/dailyword.xml. You can also select specific RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Lung Conditions, Mental Health, Nutrition, Food, & Recipes, Oral Health, Prevention & Wellness, Infectious Disease, etc.)
• MedicalNewsToday.com – MNT Featured 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. Cystic Fibrosis, Stroke, Fibromyalgia, Dermatology, CJD/vCJD/Mad Cow Disease, Respiratory/Asthma, Huntingtons Disease, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific topics, e.g. “medical training rss feeds”, “AIDS rss feeds”, “weight loss rss feeds”, etc.

(Add RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to provide your visitors with a better UX.)

Add Online Forms

Checklists and medical forms are a fantastic way to increase user engagement and add value to your audience. They can provide useful step-by-step information and resources to complete a necessary task. Charts and checklists are also great client educational tools.

You can provide a range of forms, charts and checklists (or links to these) covering topics such as:

• Booking appointments
• Checklists for post-surgery recovery
• Health checklists and charts for specific conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, oral hygiene 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.)

Unique Tools

Providing useful tools, gadgets and applications on your website is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your visitors. Health-related calculators, for example, are some of the most popular tools for your website. Others would include things like nutritional tools, or even recipes.

In the next section, we take a look at a several online tools you can use in your site using WordPress plugins that improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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

To continue, click here:

• Grow Your Medical Website – WordPress Plugins That Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation

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