Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress
Health services providers today face an ever increasing number challenges brought about by the digital economy.
Online Challenges For Health And Medical Services Practitioners
Now, more than ever, medical and health services professionals must work harder to remain competitive and source new clients. Not only do you have to be fully involved in the community you serve, you must also maintain an active presence online. This includes having a website and learning smarter ways to market your services online.
In addition to investing dollars in offline marketing activities such as advertising on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television spots, etc., you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to compete, you will need to allocate a larger amount of your budget towards developing and managing a website that brings in prospects, engages visitors, outranks the competition in search engines and helps you gain wider marketing 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, the needs of your website will change over time and sections will need to be updated frequently. This requires a sound website and content management strategy.
Another problem that health or medical-related organizations face online (and all other professions for that matter), is that your site has only about thirty seconds to help users find the information they need or they will leave and 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 Health And Medical Services Practitioners In The Online Economy
As well as facing many challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available to health or medical practices that are willing to evolve to meet online economy demands and think outside the box when it comes to improving their online marketing skills.
This comprehensive article will help you uncover opportunities to source more clients and improve your online results.
As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System to power your health website or blog.
To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS), see these articles:
- Discover Why A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Cost You Customers
- How To Grow Your Business Using A WordPress Blog
How To Improve Your Website
Let’s start by covering the basic stuff. In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your website and get better results. We will look at what pages a medical-related site needs, what type of content works best for medical or health websites, layout and navigation structure, etc.
If you need help with website planning, visit this page: A Comprehensive Guide To Web Site Planning For Business Owners
Improving Your Web Pages
All websites need a number of basic web pages. Let’s take a look at these.
Your Services
You need a page that explains your products and services. Depending on which area you specialize in, this page could list services such as:
- Medicine & Surgery – e.g. anaesthetics, orthopedics haematology, reconstructive surgery, neurology, rheumatology, infection control, ophtalmology palliative care, etc.
- Dentistry – e.g. cosmetic dentistry, holistic dentistry, bad breath treatment, teeth whitening, dentofacial orthopedics, emergency dental services, etc.
- Cardiology – e.g. heart surgery, coronary care
- Prenatal & Neonatal – e.g. birth suites, midwifery, etc.
- Child Health services – paediatrics, child development, children services, etc.
- Diagnostic – mammography, skin cancer, audiology, women’s health, psychosis, allergy testing, etc.
- Pathology – lab testing and analysis, emergency pathology testing, clinical trials, speech pathology, etc
- Counselling services – mental health, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, domestic abuse, wellness coaching, social work services
- Alternative therapies – acupuncture, homeopathy, functional medicine, shiatsu, chiropractic services, hypnotherapy, etc.
- Other medical services – weight management, sports medicine, reproductive endocrinology, stomal therapy, inherited diseases, prosthetics, mobility, home and community care, sexual health, medical supplies, etc.
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
The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, causes supported, etc.
It’s important to include any business awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote your services and to set yourself above the competition.
(List all of your awards accreditations, certifications, recognitions, publications, associations, etc. in the About Us page. Screenshot image source: squaremedical.com.au)
Our Team
If you are looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online, then help your prospects get to know you, your team and your organization better.
Your business needs to be relatable. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff or team members. This page should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors won’t be familiar with medical or health terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what they specialize in. It should also explain what those specialized areas do. This page should also include social buttons that will allow your visitors to follow some of your team members on their social pages.
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 experience, 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 staff page. Screenshot image sourced from: southperthchiro.com.au)
We have created a detailed tutorial on how to create and add an easy-to-update list directory of staff or team members in your website without coding skills here: How To Add A Staff List Directory: Tutorial
Recruitment Page
This is a listing of job opportunities within your clinic. It could include type of training provided, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, social aspects of working for your organization, etc. You can include information such as the job outlook and new career opportunities in the health industry.
Also include 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 newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.
Case Studies
Testimonials from previous clients and case studies are a great way to attract prospective clients and showcase the services you offer. Adding a web page with reviews from clients and case studies also provides social proof.
(Add a web page with testimonials from previous clients and case studies. Screenshot image sourced from: arrowsmiledental.com)
We have written extensively about using testimonials, case studies and user reviews to improve your business results online. To learn more about this go here: How To Convert More Visitors Into Qualified Leads Using More Effective Testimonials
Contact Us Page
A functional contact page is essential.
Your contact page should provide some or all of the following information about your consulting practice:
- Business Name
- Address of business
- Telephone
- Fax
- Contact email address
- Google Map and directions
- Website address
- Contact form
- Contact name
- Links to social media profiles
- Online chat feature
If you have different areas you want to make this clear when showing your address and contact information.
Consider also including links to an FAQ page, frequently-visited pages, booking request, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.
Blog
A blog can be a powerful business marketing tool. Many blogging platforms typically comprise of a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business using content like the latest announcements, updates, training articles and tutorials, discussions on current topics, videos, media presentations, etc.
If you already have an medical website, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to promote your practice.
If you don’t have a website yet, or if your existing medical or health-related site is very hard to keep updated or not giving you the results you want, then WordPress can be used both as your business website and business blog.
Very few businesses know that an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic-generation machine that can begin delivering a stream of targeted visitors to your site, simply by adding regular content to your site.
(WordPress can generate traffic automatically to your website)
For more details:
Legal Information Pages
As a professional business, ensuring that you have a website that complies will all legal requirements online is vitally important. This is not only important for building trust with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not contravening local, regional and federal laws and regulations wherever you do business.
Adding the following legal pages to your medical or health-related site will help keep you out of trouble 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 Of Use
- Website Disclaimer
- Affiliate Agreement
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Compensation Disclosure
- DMCA Notice
- Earnings Disclaimer
- External Links Policy
- Health/Financial Disclaimers
- Refund Policy
- Video/Audio Terms
- etc.
We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your website. For more details: Adding Legal Pages To Your Site
Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Website
In today’s fiercely competitive online business economy, the sooner you begin publishing content on your site, the sooner you will begin to differentiate yourself from other competing businesses.
Providing useful content with information, tips or advice will get your readers sharing your web pages and coming back for more content. Using content is a great way to inform and teach your visitors and prospective clients about using your products and services.
For example, if you provide weight management services, then some of the topics you can write about include the following:
- Potential health issues caused by being overweight
- Advice on ways to develop portion control habits (smaller plate, don’t put food on the table, more vegetables)
- Recovering after weight loss surgery – useful tips and recommendations
- How to incorporate a little fast food into a healthy diet plan
- And many other content topics
You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your readers understand your health or medical services, by explaining benefits, procedures, terminology, etc.
Include keywords 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 easy-to-digest information that will show you 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 business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!
Ways Of Improving User Experience
Improving your site’s user experience (known as UX) helps you keep visitors coming back and engaging with your site. This section will show you different ways to improve your visitor engagement and UX.
Syndicating Content Using RSS Feeds
An RSS feed provides lots of benefits for your business.
If you provide content that adds value to others, other businesses may want to syndicate your content to their visitors.
Some of the benefits of syndicating your content to other sites using RSS feeds, include:
- All of your updates are in one place
- Content distribution doesn’t rely on email
- Your feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
- Allows for subscribing
- It provides links to your content
- Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
- RSS provides multiple ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. view your content on their mobile device using different applications)
- 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.
To find RSS feeds with useful content just search online for relevant government departments and well-known industry bodies.
Here are a few feeds you could add to your site:
- US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog posts feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SelectedHhsBlogPosts, etc. You can also choose specific RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breastfeeding, Environmental health, Heart health and stroke, Mental health, Screening tests and vaccines, etc.) here: http://womenshealth.gov/news/rss/rss-feeds.html
- US National Libraries Of Medicine – For a directory of feeds from various medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. BMJ Evidence-Based Nursing, BMJ, Obesity, Medscape, 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 - Get many RSS feeds on health-related news and topics here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
- FDA – Get FDA-related news feeds (e.g. consumer health information, health fraud, recalls, tobacco news, 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. Victoria – http://www.health.vic.gov.au/rss/newsfeed.xml
- Centers For Disease Control And Prevention - Get many 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 RSS feeds section (e.g. Fitness and 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 RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Allergies, Arthritis, Cold & Flu, Diabetes, Exercise & Fitness, Sleep, etc.)
- Medical News Today – Featured Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
- Medical News Today – You can also choose individual RSS feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Pharma Industry/Biotech Industry, Pharmacy/Pharmacist, Depression, Conferences, Men’s Health, Breast Cancer, Statins, 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. “fibromyalgia rss feeds”, “diagnostics rss feeds”, “fitness rss feeds”, etc.
(Use RSS feeds to improve your medical or health-related website’s user experience.)
Checklists & Charts
Adding checklists and charts to your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement, add value to your readers and provide something unique. Checklists and medical forms can provide useful step-by-step instructions and resources to perform a necessary task. Charts and checklists are great instructional tools.
Forms, charts and checklists can include areas such as:
- Checklists and forms for booking appointments
- Checklists for pre or post treatment
- Health checklists and charts for specific medical conditions
- Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, maintenance program, general dentistry, etc.
- Weight loss and nutrition program checklists and charts
- General charts & infographics (e.g. sugar content in different foods, the importance of sleep at different ages, etc.)
Provide Online Tools
Providing useful tools and applications on your site can help increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your users. Health-related calculators are useful tools for your website. Other tools could include things like diagnostic tools, and even recipes.
In part two, we will be discussing a several WordPress-based tools you can add to your health-related website that can also help improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and generate more web traffic to your business.
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This is the end of section one.
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