Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Health professionals today face significant challenges created by the digital economy.

Challenges Health Services Professionals Face Online

Now, more than ever, businesses in the medical industry must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do you have to be fully involved in the community your business serves, you must also develop and maintain a strong presence online. This includes having a dynamic website and learning smarter ways to market your practice online.

In addition to investing money in offline marketing activities, you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to remain competitive, you will need to allocate a greater share of your budget to developing and maintaining a website that can drive clients, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and help to give you a wider degree of marketing reach online.

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

Another problem that medical-related organizations face with their websites (as do other professions for that matter), is that your site has only about thirty seconds to give users the information they are searching 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 Businesses

As well as facing a number of business and technology changes, there are also loads of online opportunities available to medical or health-related businesses that are willing to evolve to meet the challenges of the digital economy and think outside the box in terms of improving their online business marketing skills.

In this detailed guide, you will learn about new ways and opportunities to attract new visitors and improve your business presence online.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) to power your health or medical business website or blog.

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

• Learn Why A Poorly Constructed Website Can Cost You Money
• Using A WordPress Blog To Grow A Successful Small Business Online

Useful Tips For Improving Your Website

This section explains ways to improve your website and get better results. We show you what pages your website needs, what type of content works best for health or medical sites, navigation structure, etc.

If you need help with website planning, see this detailed step-by-step guide we have written: A Comprehensive Guide To Website Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Ways To Improve Your Website Pages

All websites require a number of basic pages. Let’s go over the pages your  should have and how to structure your website for best results.

Description Of Services

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

• Medicine & Surgery – e.g. ear, nose and throat, pulmonology diabetes, plastic surgery, stroke, respiratory, bariatric surgery, ophtalmology surgical outpatients, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. cosmetic dentistry, holistic dentistry, oral hygiene, teeth whitening, dentofacial orthopedics, emergency dentistry services, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient rehabilitation, chronic heart conditions
• Prenatal & Postnatal – e.g. birth suites, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health services – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic – breast screening, skin cancer, radiology and imaging, gynaecology, psychosis, 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 services, marriage counselling, wellness, social work services
• Alternative therapies – Chinese medicine, homeopathy, functional medicine, tai chi, chiropractic services, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – weight management, chiropody, reproductive endocrinology, stomal therapy, inherited diseases, prosthetics, mobility, home care, sexual health, medical equipment, etc.

Make sure to list all of the services you provide. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about the benefits of using your services and why they should book an appointment.

About Us Page

This page should give a description of your business and what it stands for, its unique approach, supported community services, etc.

It should mention any awards, recognitions, accreditations, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your medical services and to position yourself above your competitors.

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

Team Profile Page

If you are looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site, then help your prospects get to know you and your business better.

You want people to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team. This page should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors will not tend to be that well-versed in health or medical-related terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialized areas do. This page should also include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow selected team members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight each person’s expertise and qualifications, how their skills add value or contribute to the success of your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

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

To learn more about how to easily add a directory of staff members in a WordPress site without touching code, see this step-by-step tutorial: How To Easily Add A Simple Employee List On Your WordPress Site

Job Opportunities

This is a listing of job or career opportunities within your clinic. This page could include training offered, benefits, professional development, social aspects of working for your organization, etc. You can include information such as the job outlook and career opportunities in the medical-related industry.

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

Case Studies

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to attract potential clients and showcase your services. Adding a web page with testimonials from past clients and case studies also establishes social proof.

(Add a page to your site with case studies and testimonials. Image source: arrowsmiledental.com)

We have created a comprehensive article about using case studies, testimonials and user reviews get better results online here: How To Achieve Better Results Online With Sales Boosting User Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a functional contact page is absolutely necessary.

It should include:

• Name
• Your address
• Phone
• Facsimile number
• Contact email
• Map
• Web address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media URLs
• Interactive chat feature

If you have several areas you will want to make this clear when displaying the address and contact info.

You can also include links to an FAQ section, main pages, online booking request, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Medical Or Health-Related Blog

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

If you already have an established medical or health website, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your medical clinic.

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

You are probably not aware of this, but WordPress can turn your web presence into an automated traffic system that can instantly begin driving a stream of targeted visitors to your web site, simply by publishing content to your website on a regular basis.

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

If you are interested in learning more about this here:

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

Legal Information Pages

It’s extremely important for professional businesses to ensure they have a compliant website. This is not only important for establishing credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that you are not breaching any laws and regulations in whichever region you provide services.

Adding the legal pages below to your website will help you stay out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, 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 and Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your site here: How To Add Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Improving The Content On Your Site

In today’s globally competitive economy, engaging in the practice of content marketing has become one of the key success factors for businesses that sell similar products or provide similar services.

You want to provide great content with information, tips or advice that will get your visitors to share your information and come back for more content. Content marketing is the most effective way to educate site visitors and prospects about using your products and services.

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

• Nutrients your body needs on a daily basis (protein, carbs, minerals, vitamins, fats)
• Weight loss surgery – benefits vs risks (who should get it, risks, rates of success)
• How to incorporate exercise into your weight loss program
• How to modify recipes for healthier results (e.g. substituting sugars, fats, etc.)
• And many other content topics

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

Remember to use specific keywords and terms in your content that prospective clients will search for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with actionable information that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating high-quality content for 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!

Improving Visitor Experience

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

Content Syndication – RSS Feeds

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

If you provide content 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 content updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared
• RSS feeds allow users to subscribe
• An RSS feed provides links to your content
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• RSS provides a number of ways for readers to receive your content (e.g. users can read your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also benefits when it comes to adding syndicated content to your site 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 searching online for relevant government departments and respected industry bodies.

Here are some examples of RSS feeds containing useful information that you could add to your site:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Latest news feed: http://www.hhs.gov/rss/news/hhsnews.xml, etc. You can search by departments and choose specific feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breastfeeding, Healthy aging, 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 feeds from leading medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. PhysiologicalReviews, Nutrition Journal, Journal of Cell Biology, Toxicological Sciences, BMJ British Journal of Ophthalmology, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health - Find many health-related news feeds here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Find RSS feeds on fda-related news and topics like enforcement reports, MedWatch safety alerts (human medical products), tainted products marked as dietary supplements, vaccines, blood and biologics, etc. and podcasts here: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/ContactFDA/StayInformed/RSSFeeds
• UK Department Of Health (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. Victoria – http://www.health.vic.gov.au/rss/newsfeed.xml
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (www.cdc.gov) - Get various feeds on health-related news and topics and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News: You can search medical news feeds by going to publications 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 choose specific feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Lung Conditions, Menopause, Neurology, Pediatrics / Healthy Kids, Senior Health, HIV, etc.)
• MedicalNewsToday.com – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• Medical News Today – You can also choose specific RSS feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Abortion, Lupus, Lymphology/Lymphedema, Pancreatic Cancer, Rehabilitation/Physical Therapy, Biology/Biochemistry, Genetics, etc.)

You can also search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific areas, e.g. “medicaid rss feeds”, “respiratory rss feeds”, “hepatitis rss feeds”, etc.

(RSS feeds can help to improve your website’s user experience.)

Add Downloadable Checklists

Checklists and educational charts are a fantastic way to increase visitor engagement, add value to your readers and set yourself apart from the competition. Checklists and medical forms can provide users with useful information and resources to get necessary tasks completed. They are great educational tools.

Forms, charts and checklists can address areas such as:

• Checklists and forms for booking appointments
• Checklists for pre or post surgery
• Health checklists for specific medical conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, caries prevention program, cosmetic dentistry, etc.
• Fitness and exercise program checklists
• General charts & infographics (e.g. acidity level of different foods, sleep requirements at different ages, etc.)

Adding Unique Tools

Providing useful tools, gadgets and applications on your site can help increase visitor engagement and add significant value to potential clients. Health-related calculators, for example, are useful tools to add to your website. Others would include things like nutritional tools, and even recipes.

In part 2, we will be discussing a number of WordPress-based tools you can use in your website that can also help improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of part one.

Click here to continue reading:

• The Complete Step-By-Step Guide On How To Successfully Grow Your Medical Services And Health-Related Website – Part Two

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