Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Medical professionals face many new challenges in today’s digital economy, especially in terms of growing a business online.

Online Challenges For The Medical & Health Profession

Now, more than ever, businesses in the health and medical sector must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do you have to become more involved in the community you serve, you must also maintain an active digital presence. This includes having a website and learning how to better market your services online.

As well as spending money marketing offline, businesses in the medical-related industry are now also finding that they need to delegate a larger amount of their marketing budget to developing and managing a website that brings in prospects, engages visitors, outperforms the competition in search engines and social media, and helps create a wider marketing exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your pages have to be fast-loading, and be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that your site’s needs may change in time and sections will need to be updated frequently. This requires having a sound website and content management strategy.

Another problem that health-related organizations face with their websites (as do other businesses for that matter), is that your site has an average of thirty seconds or less to help visitors find what they are looking for or they will go 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 The Health Profession In The Digital Economy

As well as facing many new business and technology changes, there are also loads of online opportunities available for health-related practices that can evolve to meet online demands and who can think outside the box in terms of improving their online marketing skills.

In this article, you will learn about new ways and opportunities to drive more traffic and build more online credibility for your medical business.

As well as providing tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your web presence, we also emphasize the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System to power your medical-related business website or blog.

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

• Learn Why A Poorly Built Web Site Can Cost You Business And What To Do About It
• The Business Owner’s Guide To WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Website

This section explains how to improve your website and get better results. We show you what pages you need, what content you need, suggestions for improving your site’s layout and navigation, etc.

If you need help with website planning, read this article: Planning A Web Site: A Practical Guide For Non-Technical Business Owners

Improving Your Web Pages

All websites need some essential web pages. Let’s take a look at these.

Services Page

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

• Medicine & Surgery – e.g. anaesthetics, pulmonology blood disorders, cancer, aged care, rheumatology, endoscopy, ophtalmology surgical outpatients, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. general dentistry, holistic dentistry, oral health, restorations, dental braces, emergency dentistry, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient education, coronary care
• Prenatal/Postnatal – e.g. birth suites, midwifery, etc.
• Child Health services – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic services – breast screens, skin cancer, oral health, pap smears, MRI scanning, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology – lab testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, fine-needle aspiration biopsy, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, domestic abuse, diet and nutrition counselling, social work services
• Alternative therapies – acupuncture, reflexology, natural therapy, tai chi, chiropractic, hypnosis, etc.
• Other medical services – weight management, sports medicine, lymphedema therapy, speech language therapy, medical genetics, artificial limbs, mobility, home care, clinical information, medical supplies, 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.

About Us Page

The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

It should also mention any medical or health-related awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your medical, dental, chiropractic, surgery services, etc. and set yourself above other competitors.

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

Staff

Are you searching for simple ideas to sell more products online or get prospective clients to stay longer on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust 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 employees. It should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors won’t be very well-versed in medical or health-related terms your descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialized areas mean. This page can also include social buttons so your visitors can follow individual 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 outline each person’s expertise and qualifications, how their skills 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. Screenshot image source: southperthchiro.com.au)

We have written a detailed tutorial about how to add an easy-to-update simple employee directory in your site here: Adding A Staff List Directory In WordPress: Step-By-Step Tutorial

Work For Us

This is a listing of job or career opportunities within your company. This page would include type of training provided, employee benefits, professional development, social activities promoted or encouraged by your business, etc. You can also include stories of recruits 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 or health-related industry.

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

Case Studies And Testimonials

Case studies and testimonials from previous clients are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase your services. Adding a web page with case studies and client reviews also provides social proof online.

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

We have written extensively on using testimonials, case studies and reviews improve your business online. Go here to learn more about this: Create Better Results Online With Awesome Testimonials

Contact Us

A contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should provide visitors with the following:

• Business Name
• Physical address
• Telephone number
• Facsimile
• Contact email
• Google Map and directions
• Website address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media URLs
• Chat (optional)

If you operate out of multiple locations you want to make this clear when showing your address and contact information.

You could also include a few links point to commonly-asked questions page, frequently-visited pages, online booking form, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Health Or Medical-Related-Related Blog

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that allows you to promote your business using timely content like the latest announcements, updates, training articles and tutorials, informative posts, promotional videos, webinars, etc.

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

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

Very few businesses know that WordPress can become an automated traffic-generation system that can instantly begin delivering targeted traffic to your web site, simply by adding new content on a regular basis to your website.

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

Go here to learn more:

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

Legal Information

It’s extremely important to make sure they have a compliant website. This is not only important for building credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that you are not contravening laws or regulations in whichever location you do business.

Depending on the services you provide, adding the following legal pages to your medical or health site will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

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

Go here if you want to learn more adding legal pages to your site: Why You Need To Add Legal Pages To Your Website

How To Improve The Content On Your Website

In today’s globally competitive economy, the sooner you start publishing content on your site, the quicker you will begin to differentiate yourself from competing businesses.

By committing to providing great content with information, tips and advice, you will get your visitors to share your web pages and come back for more. This is the most effective way to inform and teach site visitors and prospective clients about your services.

For example, if you provide weight loss services, then some of the areas you can cover in your web content include:

• Common medical conditions that can cause weight gain
• Weight loss surgery – benefits vs risks (who should get it, risks, success rates)
• How you eat your food is just as important as what you eat (eat at table, chew slowly)
• How to make smarter choices choices when eating at restaurants
• Etc.

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

Include the keywords in your articles that readers will search for.

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

Tips For Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

RSS Feeds

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

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 updates are in one place
• Content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Can be shared
• Allows for subscribing
• An RSS feed provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• RSS provides multiple ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. users can view your content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• It’s built into WordPress

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

To find useful RSS feeds just visit sites of relevant government departments or industry bodies.

Here are a few RSS feeds containing useful information that you could add to your 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 select specific RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breast cancer, Health care for women, Illnesses and disabilities, Mental health, 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. ACS Publications, The Psychiatrist, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, BMJ Journal of Clinical Pathology, Infectious Agents and Cancer, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Get various feeds on health-related news here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Find feeds on fda-related news like consumer health information, health fraud, pet health, radiological health, 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) - Find various feeds on health-related topics and podcasts here: http://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/rss.asp
• Medical News Feeds: You can search medical news feeds in major news publications like the NYTimes feeds section (e.g. Fitness & nutrition: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Nutrition.xml)
• MedicineNet – Weekly Health and Medical News Digest: http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/weeklyhealth.xml. You can also choose specific feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Allergies, Mental Health, Nutrition, Food, & Recipes, Depression, Exercise & Fitness, HIV, etc.)
• Medical News Today – 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. Bipolar, Acid Reflux/GERD, Infectious Diseases/Bacteria/Viruses, Conferences, Bones/Orthopedics, Respiratory/Asthma, Liver Disease/Hepatitis, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific areas, e.g. “vascular rss feeds”, “rehabilitation rss feeds”, “liver disease rss feeds”, etc.

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

Add Checklists And Charts

Adding checklists and explanatory charts to your site is a great way to increase user engagement, add value to your audience and provide something unique. Charts and checklists can provide useful information and resources to get necessary steps completed. Checklists and charts are also great client educational tools.

You can provide forms, charts and checklists covering a range of subjects such as:

• Booking appointments
• Checklists for pre or post treatment
• Health checklists for specific conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, active maintenance program, cosmetic dentistry, etc.
• Fitness and exercise program checklists
• General charts & infographics (e.g. sugar content in different foods, sleep requirements at different ages, etc.)

Unique Tools

Providing unique online tools and applications on your website is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to potential clients. Health-related calculators are great tools to add to your website. Other applications can include things like diagnostic tools, and even recipes.

In the next section of this detailed guide, we will be discussing a several WordPress plugins and themes you can add to your website that improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section 1.

To view Part 2, click this link:

• How To Build And Grow Your Medical Services Business Online Successfully With WordPress – Part Two

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Disclaimer: This site has no association with WordPress or any WordPress-related products mentioned or reviewed on this website. We may receive affiliate commissions from sales of any services or products advertised, mentioned or linked to our website. All images remain the copyright of their respective owners, comply with all license terms and agreements of use are used solely for training or illustrative purposes.

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