Grow Your Medical Or Healthcare Business Online With WordPress

Medical professionals today face growing challenges.

Challenges Professional Medical Services Providers 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 maintain a strong presence in the community your business serves, you must also develop a strong presence online. This includes having a website and searching for better ways to market your health or medical services 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 remain competitive, you will need to invest a bigger portion of your marketing budget to develop and maintain a website that brings in clients, engages visitors, outperforms the competition in search engines and social media, and helps increase your presence online.

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

Another challenge that health businesses (and most other professions) face online, is that your site has only around 30 seconds to help visitors find what they are looking for 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 Practitioners In The Online Economy

As well as facing many new business and technology changes, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for medical-related businesses that can evolve to meet online demands and who can think strategically in terms of improving their online business marketing skills.

In this detailed guide, you will discover new ways to generate more business and establish stronger online credibility for your health-related business.

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

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system, see these articles:

• Discover How A Poorly Built Website Can Lose You Customers And What To Do About It
• Learn How To Grow Your Small Business Using A WordPress Site

Useful Tips To Improve Your Website

In this section we’ll start with the basics and show you how to improve your website and get better results online. We show you what pages a health site needs, what content works best, navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your website, go here: The Website Planning Process Explained - A Comprehensive Guide For Non-Technical Business Owners

How To Improve Your Web Pages

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

Services

You need a page that describes your services and products. Depending on which area of health or medical services you specialize in, your page could list services like:

• Medical And Surgical – e.g. anaesthetics, neurosurgery haematology, reconstructive surgery, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, renal, colon/rectal surgery, ophtalmology palliative care, etc.
• Dentistry – e.g. cosmetic dentistry, children’s dentistry, bad breath treatment, teeth whitening, dentofacial orthopedics, emergency dental, 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, radiology and imaging, pap smears, psychosis, allergy testing, etc.
• Pathology services – laboratory testing and analysis, routine pathology testing, clinical trials, speech pathology, etc
• Counselling – mental health services, alcohol, tobacco & other drug services, domestic abuse, wellbeing, social work services
• Alternative treatments – acupuncture, aromatherapy, colloidal silver therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic, hypnotherapy, etc.
• Other medical services/therapies – weight management, podiatry, fertility services, speech language therapy, medical genetics, artificial limbs, sleep therapy, home care, community health, medical equipment, 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 what your services do and why they should book an appointment with you.

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, community projects, etc.

It should also mention any health or medical-related awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, publications, associations, etc., that can be used to promote your medical services and to position yourself above similar service providers.

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

Staff Page

If you are searching for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products or services online, then make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

Your business needs to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your people. It should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in medical or health terms your descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialized areas do. It can also include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow your team members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline your team member’s expertise, why they are an asset to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your staff or team members to prospective new clients. Image source: southperthchiro.com.au)

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to easily add a simple team members directory in your web site using free WordPress plugins, go here: Adding An Employee List Directory

Work With Us

This is a listing of job opportunities within the organization. It can include training provided, benefits, professional development, etc. It should include stories of recruits who have worked their way up in your business and information about new career opportunities in the health or 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 this page, join your updates list, follow you on social media, etc.

Case Studies

Case studies and testimonials are a great way to attract potential clients and showcase what kind of services you offer. By adding a page with case studies and testimonials from previous clients, you will also help to establish social proof online for your business.

(Add a page with testimonials from previous clients and case studies. Image sourced from: arrowsmiledental.com)

We have created a comprehensive article on using testimonials and reviews get better results online. For more details, go here: How To Improve Your Visitor-To-Sales Conversions With Profit-Boosting Customer Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a contact page is essential.

It should provide some or all of the following information:

• Name
• Address
• Phone
• Facsimile
• Contact email address
• Map and directions
• Web address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media links
• Online chat (optional feature)

If your business services several locations you want to make that clear when showing your address and contact information.

Consider also including links pointing to the most commonly asked questions page, useful pages, booking request, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs typically include a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business using timely content such as announcements, new releases, useful articles and tutorials, discussions on current topics, educational videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an existing site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to market your company.

If you don’t have a website yet, or if your existing medical or health website is hard to add new content to or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can become both your website and business blog.

Something few people know about, is that an expertly configured WordPress site can turn into an automated traffic system that can instantly begin to deliver new targeted traffic to your web site, simply by adding content to your website on a consistent basis.

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

For more info, see this article:

• Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Drive More Traffic For Your Business

Legal Pages

As a professional medical provider, ensuring that you have a compliant website is crucial. 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 provide services.

Depending on what services and products you provide, adding some or all of the legal pages below to your site will help you stay out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy
• 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
• and others

If you want to learn more about adding legal pages to your website, refer to this article: Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s globally competitive economy, being generous with information has become one of the key differentiators for businesses.

You will want to provide great content with useful information, tips or advice that will get your readers sharing it with others and coming back for more. Using content is the most effective way to inform and educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business and services.

For example, if you provide solutions that help people manage their weight, then some of the areas you could cover in your content include:

• Common medical conditions that can cause weight gain
• How small efforts in portion control can help you lose weight
• Tips for developing a better eating and exercise regimen
• How to modify recipes for achieving healthier results (e.g. replacing sugars, fats, etc.)
• Etc.

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your readers gain a better understanding of your services, by explaining benefits, procedures, costs (including payment plans, insurance coverage, etc).

Use the same keywords in your content that your readers 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 and practical tips that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Improving User Experience

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

Content Syndication – RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide plenty of benefits for your website.

If you provide useful content, 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 updates are kept in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Allows users to subscribe
• It provides links to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• There are several ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. users can read the content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also benefits to providing information on your site from other websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find RSS feeds with loads of useful content by searching online for relevant government departments and industry bodies.

Below we have listed some examples of useful RSS feeds you could add to a health or medical website:

• US Department Of Health And Human Services – e.g. Blog posts RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SelectedHhsBlogPosts, etc. You can also choose individual RSS feeds, like feeds on women’s health issues (e.g. Breast cancer, Fitness and nutrition, Illnesses and disabilities, Menopause, 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 well-known medical journals, publications and websites (e.g. Dermatology Times, The Psychiatrist, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, BMJ Tobacco Control, BMJ Postgraduate Medical Journal, etc.) go here: http://www.healthplusplus.com/wiki/List_of_RSS_feeds_on_health
• National Institutes Of Health (www.nih.gov) - Get many health-related RSS feeds here: http://www.nih.gov/Subscriptions.htm
• US Food And Drug Administration (FDA) – Find FDA-related RSS feeds (e.g. criminal investigations press releases, food allergies, pet health, animal and veterinary 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. Western Australia – http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/feed/?types=news
• Centers For Disease Control And Prevention - Get many RSS feeds on health-related news 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 feeds section (e.g. Fitness & 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 select specific RSS feeds here (http://www.medicinenet.com/rss/article.htm) (e.g. Medications, Men’s health, Chronic Pain, Pregnancy, Senior Health, HIV, etc.)
• MedicalNewsToday.com – Medical News Headlines: http://rss.medicalnewstoday.com/featurednews.xml
• Medical News Today – You can also select individual RSS feeds here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsfeeds-rss (e.g. Bipolar, Acid Reflux/GERD, Eczema/Psoriasis, Lymphoma/Leukemia/Myeloma, Rehabilitation/Physical Therapy, Sports Medicine/Fitness, Statins, etc.)

You can also just search online for general feeds, e.g. “medical rss feeds” or search for feeds on specific topics, e.g. “eczema rss feeds”, “medical malpractice rss feeds”, “psychology rss feeds”, etc.

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

Checklists And Charts

Adding checklists and explanatory charts to your site is a fantastic way to help increase visitor engagement, add value to your visitors and provide something unique. They can provide useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete necessary steps. Forms and checklists can also be great client educational tools.

You can provide a range of checklists and forms (or links to these) covering areas such as:

• Booking appointments
• Checklists for post-surgery recovery
• Health checklists and charts for specific medical conditions
• Dental checklists – e.g. first visit, oral hygiene program, general dentistry, etc.
• Weight loss and nutrition program checklists
• General charts & infographics (e.g. caloric level of different foods, the importance of sleep at different ages, etc.)

Other Tools

Providing unique tools and applications on your website can help increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your visitors. Health-related calculators, for example, are useful tools you can add to your website. Other tools can include things like diagnostic tools, or even recipes.

In the next section of this guide, we look at a number of WordPress plugins you can add to your website that can improve seo, increase user engagement and generate more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part one.

Click on this link to continue reading:

• The Complete Guide To Successfully Building And Growing A Health-Related Online – Part Two

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