Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only revolutionized businesses globally, it has also created a number of challenges and great opportunities for businesses in the medical or health-related industry.

Challenges Health Businesses Face Online

Today, more than ever, health services practitioners must find smarter ways to remain competitive and generate new clients. Not only do you have to participate in the community your business serves, you must also develop and maintain a strong presence online. This includes having an effective web presence and searching for better ways to promote your practice online.

As well as investing dollars marketing offline, businesses in the medical or health industry are now finding that they will need to delegate a greater portion of their marketing budget to develop and maintain a website that can drive prospective clients, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and increase their marketing exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, load fast, and be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of the website may change over time and many aspects will need to be frequently updated. This requires the implementation of a sound web and content management strategy.

One other problem that health businesses (and other businesses) face, is that your site has only about 30 seconds to help visitors find what they need or they will find what they are looking for 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 Medical Profession In The Web Economy

As well as facing significant challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for businesses in the health-related sector that can adapt to meet digital demands and who can think progressively in terms of marketing their business services better online.

In this article, you will learn ways to increase traffic and establish online credibility for your health or medical business.

As well as providing tips and information on ways to improve your website, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform to power your medical website.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress platform, go here:

• How A Poorly Built Web Site Can Lose You Money
• Everything You Need To Know To Grow Your Small Business With WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Medical Clinic Website

In this section we will show you ways to improve your health website and get better results online. We show you what pages you need, what content works best for health-related sites, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, see this guide: A Basic Guide To Web Site Planning For Business Owners

Your Web Pages

All business websites need several essential pages. Let’s discuss the pages your  need to have and how to set up your website for best results.

Products And Services Page

You need to include a page that describes your services and any products that you offer. Depending on which area you specialize in, this page could list services such as:

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. ear, nose and throat, pulmonology blood disorders, cancer, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, rheumatology, bariatric surgery, optometry palliative care, etc.
• Dental Services – e.g. cosmetic dentistry, children’s dentistry, gum disease, restorations, dentofacial orthopedics, emergency dental services, etc.
• Cardiology – e.g. cardiac patient education, chronic heart conditions
• Prenatal/Postnatal – e.g. obstetrics, maternity services, etc.
• Child Health services – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
• Diagnostic – breast screening, lung screening, hearing, pap smears, MRI scanning, food allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – lab testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, food and water testing, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health services, alcohol, tobacco & other drug counselling, marriage counselling, diet and nutrition counselling, social development services
• Alternative therapies – Chinese medicine, reflexology, natural therapy, meditation, chiropractic, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – weight management, podiatry, reproductive endocrinology, rehabilitation, inherited diseases, artificial limbs, mobility, home and community care, sexual health, medical transport, 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 why they should choose you.

About Us Page

The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and what it stands for, its unique approach, causes that you support, etc.

Remember to list any industry awards, recognitions, certifications, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that can be used to promote your medical services and position yourself above your competitors.

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

Staff Page

If you are searching for quicker and simpler ideas 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, your team and your organization better.

Potential clients need 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 won’t be well-versed in medical or health terms it should tell who they are and what they specialize in. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should also include social buttons that will allow your site visitors to follow selected staff members on their social pages.

On this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline your employee’s expertise and qualifications, how their skills add value to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a team profile page. Screenshot source: southperthchiro.com.au)

To learn more about how to add an easy-to-update simple team directory in your web site, go here: Adding A Staff Directory To Your Site

Job Opportunities

This is a listing of career opportunities available within your business. It would include training provided, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, social activities sponsored by your business, etc. You should also include information about career opportunities in the medical or health 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, subscribe to your contact list, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials & Case Studies

Reviews from clients and case studies are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase what type of services you offer. Adding a page with testimonials from previous clients and case studies also establishes social proof.

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

We have created a detailed article about using testimonials and reviews improve your business online. If you are interested in learning more here: Discover How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Leads Using Profit-Boosting Testimonials

Contact Us Page

A contact page is absolutely necessary.

It should include the following information:

• Company Name
• Physical address
• Telephone
• Facsimile
• Contact email
• Google Map
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media links
• Live Chat/Skype

If you have different areas you will want to make that clear when displaying the address and contact information.

You should also include links to an FAQ section, frequently-visited pages, booking form, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Blog

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs typically comprise of a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to promote your business using content such as news and announcements, updates, training information, opinions on current topics, videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established health or medical site, then consider adding a WordPress-powered blog to create more exposure for your medical clinic.

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

Very few people know that WordPress can turn into an automated traffic machine that will attract web traffic to your site, simply by adding new content on a regular basis to your website.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can generate new visitors automatically to your website)

For more info, see this article:

• Web Site Traffic Blueprint – How To Grow Your Traffic For Your Business Using WordPress

Legal Information Pages

It’s important to make sure they have a website that complies will all legal requirements online. This is not only important for building trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaking laws and regulations wherever you provide services.

Depending on the services and products you provide, adding some or all of the legal pages below to your medical or health-related website will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

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

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

Tips For Improving Your Content

In today’s fiercely competitive global economy, engaging in the practice of content marketing has become one of the key differentiators for businesses.

Provide great content with tips, advice or information that will get your visitors sharing your information online with others and coming back for more. Using content is a great way to educate site visitors and prospective clients about your services.

For example, if you provide weight loss services, then some of the topics you can cover as content on your site:

• What is BMI (what it stands for, what it does, how to calculate yours)
• What are calories and how understanding them aids in weight loss
• How you eat your food is just as important as what you eat (eat at table, chew slowly)
• Could a personal chef help you lose weight (what they do, is it affordable)
• Etc.

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

Include the keywords and terms in your articles that prospective clients 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 that will teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your site 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!

Ways To Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Adding RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide many benefits for your health or medical business.

If you provide useful content, other sites may 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 kept in one place
• Content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• It provides a way for links to point back to your content
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are multiple ways readers can receive your content (e.g. users can read the content on their mobile device using different applications)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits when it comes 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 many useful RSS feeds for your website by visiting sites of medical and health-related government departments or industry bodies.

Here are examples of RSS feeds 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 search by departments and choose individual RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breastfeeding, Fitness and nutrition, HIV/AIDS, Menopause, Screening tests and vaccines, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
• US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a list of feeds from various medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. BMJ Evidence-Based Nursing, ADA (American Diabetes Association), BMJ Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, American Chemical Society, The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Get many RSS feeds on health-related topics here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• FDA – Get FDA-related news feeds (e.g. criminal investigations, food allergies, tainted products marked as dietary supplements, tobacco news, 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 - Get many health-related RSS 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 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 specific feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, Men’s health, Neurology, Oral Health, Exercise & Fitness, Travel Health, etc.)
• Medical News Today – Medical News 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. Lung Cancer, Arthritis/Rheumatology, Depression, Hearing/Deafness, Medical Devices/Diagnostics, Breast Cancer, Clinical Trials/Drug Trials, etc.)

You can also just search online for general RSS feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific topics, e.g. “ebola rss feeds”, “sleep disorders rss feeds”, “crohn’s rss feeds”, etc.

(Using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your medical or health-related site’s UX.)

Provide Downloadable Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and educational charts to your site is a fantastic way to help increase visitor engagement and add value to your visitors. Checklists and medical forms can provide users with useful instructions and resources to complete steps. They are great educational tools.

You can provide a range of online or downloadable checklists, charts and forms covering areas such as:

• Booking appointments
• Checklists for pre or post treatment
• Health checklists for specific medical conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, maintenance program, general dentistry, etc.
• Weight loss and exercise program checklists and charts
• General charts & infographics (e.g. sugar content in different foods, sleep requirements at different stages of development, etc.)

Add Other Tools

Providing useful tools and applications on your website is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your users. Health-related calculators are popular tools for your website. Other tools can include things like nutritional tools, or even recipes.

In the next section of this detailed guide, we will look at a number of online tools you can use in your health site using WordPress plugins that can also help improve seo, improve user engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.

***

This is the end of section 1.

Click here to continue:

• Tips For Health And Medical Services Professionals – Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Traffic Generation Using Plugins

***

***