Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Health or medical professionals today face increasing challenges thanks to the online economy.

Challenges Health And Medical Services Practitioners Face Online

Today, more than ever, medical or health-related practices must work hard and find smarter ways to stand out from the crowd and source new clients. Not only do you have to actively participate in the community your business serves, you must also develop and maintain a strong web presence. This includes having a website and learning how to better promote your health services online.

In addition to spending dollars advertising offline, you will probably find that in order to compete with other medical businesses, you will need to invest a larger share of your marketing budget to develop and maintain a website that attracts clients, engages users, outperforms the competition in search engines and helps give you wider marketing reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look professional, load fast, and your website has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of your website may change in time and sections will need to be updated often. This requires the implementation of a well-developed web and content management strategy.

Another challenge that health services professionals face online, as other professions do for that matter, is that you have only around 30 seconds or less to give visitors what they need 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 Health Services Professionals In The Web Economy

As well as facing a number of significant business and technology changes, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for businesses in the health or medical industry that are willing to adapt to meet the demands of the digital economy and think strategically in terms of marketing themselves better online.

In this detailed guide, you will learn about new opportunities to attract more visitors and establish stronger online credibility for your business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on ways to improve your website, we also recommend that you consider using WordPress to power your health or medical website.

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

• How A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Customers And What To Do About It
• An Online Guide To Building A Successful Business With A WordPress Site

Practical Tips To Improve Your Website

In this section we will show you how to improve your website and get better results. We will look at what pages a medical-related website needs, what type of content you need, layout and navigation, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, check out the detailed guide we have written here: A Money-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Essential Website Pages

Professional websites require some basic web pages. Let’s review the pages your  should have and how to set up your medical or health website for best results.

Your Services And Products

It’s essential to include a page that explains your products and services. Depending on which area you specialize in, this page could list services like:

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. pain management, nephrology haematology, plastic surgery, geriatric medicine, respiratory, weight loss surgery, optometry operating theaters, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. preventive dentistry, children’s dentistry, gum disease, teeth whitening, dentofacial orthopedics, emergency dental services, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient education, coronary care
• Prenatal/Postnatal – e.g. birth suites, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screens, lung screening, oral health, gynaecology, MRI scanning, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology – laboratory testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, fine-needle aspiration, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling services – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, domestic abuse, diet and nutrition counselling, social work services
• Alternative treatments – Chinese medicine, aromatherapy, reiki, tai chi, chiropractic services, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – diet and nutrition, chiropody, fertility services, rehabilitation, medical genetics, prosthetics, sleep therapy, home care, community health, medical supplies, etc.

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 your services and direct them to your appointment booking page.

About Us

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

This page should also mention any awards, accreditations, certifications, recognitions, publications, associations, etc., that could be used to promote your medical, dental, chiropractic, surgery services, etc. and position yourself above similar service providers.

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

Your Staff

If you are looking for ideas to sell more products online, then one of the things you can do, is help your prospective clients get to know you and your business better.

Prospective clients need to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team members. It should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in medical or health-related terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what they specialize in. You may also want to explain what those specialized areas do. It should include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow your team members on their social networks.

In 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 can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add an employee description page. Screenshot image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)

If you need help how to easily add a directory of staff or team members in your website using a free plugin, refer to this tutorial: How To Easily Create A Simple Employee Directory For Your WordPress Site

Recruitment

This is a listing of career opportunities available within the practice. This page can include training provided, employee benefits, professional development, etc. It should include information about career opportunities in the health-related industry.

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

Case Studies

Customer reviews and case studies are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. By adding a page with case studies and client reviews, you will also help to provide social proof online.

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

We have created a comprehensive article on using testimonials, case studies and reviews to improve your business results online. Go here to learn more: How To Improve Your Sales Using More Effective Testimonials

Contact Page

Having a contact page is essential.

Your contact page should include some or all of the following information:

• Company Name
• Your physical location
• Phone
• Facsimile
• Email address
• Map
• Website address
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media pages
• Chat feature (optional feature)

If your business services different areas you should make this clear when displaying the address and contact info.

Consider also including a few links point to commonly-asked questions page, useful pages, booking request, support page, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Health Blog

A blog is a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Most blogging platforms are built around a content management system that allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content like news and announcements, product releases, educational articles and tutorials, opinions on current topics, educational videos, webinars, etc.

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

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

You probably don’t know this, but WordPress can turn into an automated traffic machine that can instantly begin attracting an ongoing stream of new visitors to your web site, simply by adding new content on a consistent basis to your website.

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

To learn more about this go here:

• Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Turn Your WordPress Site Into An Automated Web Traffic Machine

Legal Information Pages

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is vital. This is not only important for building trust with visitors, but also to ensure that no local, regional or federal laws and regulations are being broken in whichever region you do business.

Adding the legal pages below to your site will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential sources of threats and legal inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions Of Use
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your site here: What You Need To Know About Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips For Improving Your Content

In today’s globally competitive economy, having a content marketing strategy has become one of the key success differentiators for businesses selling similar products or providing similar services.

You will want to provide great content with information, advice and tips that will get your visitors to share your information and come back for more content. Content marketing is a great way to inform and teach site visitors and prospective clients about your business and services.

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

• What to do before you start any weight loss program (e.g. consult with doctor, record measurements, set goals, etc.)
• Is weight loss surgery right for you? (who should get it, risks, success rates)
• Characteristics of different diets, e.g. Low carb diet, South Beach diet, Volumetrics diet (what these are, how they work, are they effective)
• 7 tips that will help you 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 your prospective clients gain a better understanding of your services, by explaining benefits, procedures, terminology, etc.

Use the same keywords and terms in your content that your prospective clients will be searching 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 and practical tips that will show you how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your visitors and grow your website using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Improving User Experience

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

Using RSS Feeds

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed provides many benefits for your website.

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

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

• All of your content updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Allows for subscribing
• It provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides multiple ways for readers to receive your content (e.g. subscribers can read the content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

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

To find RSS feeds with loads of useful content just visit sites of health-related government departments or well-known industry bodies.

Below we have listed examples of feeds containing useful information that you could add to a medical site:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Latest news feed: http://www.hhs.gov/rss/news/hhsnews.xml, etc. You can also select individual feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breastfeeding, Healthy aging, HIV/AIDS, Menopause, Pregnancy, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a list of feeds from well-known medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. Dermatology Times, CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal, American Cancer Society, BMJ Occupational and Environmental Medicine, BMJ British Journal of Ophthalmology, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Find many RSS feeds on health-related topics here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) – Find feeds on fda-related news like enforcement reports, health fraud, tainted products, cosmetics, 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. NSW – http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pages/rss.aspx
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (www.cdc.gov) - Get many health-related news feeds and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News: You can search medical news feeds in places like the NYTimes RSS feeds section (e.g. Health news: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Health.xml)
• MedicineNet.com – Daily Health and Medical News: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/dailyhealth.xml. You can also select specific RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, Asthma, Cholesterol, Pregnancy, Exercise & Fitness, Heart, etc.)
• Medical News Today – Medical News Featured Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• MedicalNewsToday.com – You can also select specific RSS feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Schizophrenia, Pharmacy/Pharmacist, Lymphology/Lymphedema, Veterinary, Bones/Orthopedics, Mental Health, Obesity/Weight Loss/Fitness, etc.)

You can also search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific topics, e.g. “pain management rss feeds”, “insomnia rss feeds”, “erectile dysfunction rss feeds”, etc.

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

Checklists And Forms

Checklists and explanatory charts are a great way to help increase user engagement, add value to your readers and set yourself apart from the competition. Checklists and charts can provide visitors with useful information and resources to complete a necessary task. They can also be great instructional tools.

Checklists, charts and medical forms could cover subjects such as:

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

Adding Unique Tools

Providing unique online tools and applications on your website can help increase visitor engagement and add value to potential clients. Health-related calculators 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 take a look at a number of WordPress plugins and themes you can add to your health or medical-related website that can also help improve seo, increase user engagement and generate more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section one of this comprehensive guide on ways to build your medical or health-related business web presence.

Click on this link to continue reading:

• Grow Your Medical Clinic Services Website – WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Increasing User Engagement And Generating More Visitors To Your Site

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