Medical Marketing Enterprises, L.L.C.

Website Optimization, SEO, Reputation Management for Medical Practices

WordPress Revisited | Is Your Website Build on the Best Platform?

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Wordpress is best platform for building websitesThis post mirrors this weeks podcast on Russ and Randy where we discuss the advantages of WordPress.

For many reasons, WordPress.org is absolutely the best platform to use to build your website.

WordPress.org is the world’s most popular CMS sytem.  CMS stands for Content Management System and can be best thought of as “blogging software.”  There are other popular CMS systems such Joomla or Drupal, but WordPress is the best.

Not WordPress.com

There are two similar products names WordPress:  WordPress.org and WordPress.com.  They even share the same logo.  For the purposes of this post, I am not referring to the “.com” version and when using the term “WordPress,” I’m referring to WordPress.org.

WordPress.com is a completely free blogging system.  Suffice it to say that it has too many restrictions, can not add functionality nor can it be optimized compared to the WordPress.org version.  You also do not have control over you files (they reside on a server of which you have no control or access).

I do not recommend WordPress.com for any business.

13 Reasons to Use WordPress.org

  1. Best for SEO – this is the best platform which allows you to optimize your site and your content (articles, posts, pages, etc.).  It is also coded to be easily and efficiently crawled by the search engines.  Google loves WordPress (so I read).
  2. User Friendly – if you can use Microsoft Word, you can use and operate a WordPress.org website.  You do NOT need IT experience or even need to know how to code.  Keep in mind that this is my preferred platform – that means I have even learned how to use it!
  3. Open Source – this allows multitudes of 3rd party developers to enhance the basic product.  WordPress enjoys the largest selection of 3rd party themes, add-ons and plugins.  As it is the largest and most popular in the world, the WordPress community is always updating and improving.
  4. Most Popular Platform – as the largest and most popular system, it has millions of users.  This translates to unlimited forums and “resources” available to help you when you run into a problem.  Chances are high that many have faced the same problem as yours.
  5. Turn-key Design – WordPress themes can be installed or switched out with click.  No need for website designers.  This flexibility in design, the way your website looks, can save you literally thousands of dollars.
  6. Mobile Responsive – similar to #5, most current WordPress themes are mobile responsive – no need to waste time and money building a mobile responsive site.
  7. Server Based means that you can work on your site from any Internet connection, even your phone.
  8. “Self-Hosted” means that you need to purchase a hosting account (GoDaddy, Bluehost, Hostgator), but it also means you have complete control and ownership of your files.
  9. Free installation – any legitimate hosting company will offer installation for…free.
  10. Versatile – WordPress.org offers the most plugins which means that WordPress is more functional and versatile than any other system.  You can even do eCommerce easily!
  11. Best Blogging Software – this was built for blogging, for our purposes, this allows to easily add content.
  12. Sophistication – regardless of the what your needs are, this platform grows with you as your expertise improves.  For instance, maybe you are not ready to open up comments or blog.  You can easily do it later.
  13. Search Engine Friendly – It is also coded to be easily and efficiently crawled by the search engines.  This gives you an SEO edge.

If you have any reasons (for or against) you’d like to add, please comment below.

All the best!

Randy

Use Analytics to Increase Rankings and Website Traffic

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Use Website Analytics to Increase Your TrafficEvery website needs to have an analytics package installed.  It is an SEO requirement of all the search engines and the data gives you information to improve your content and maximize the growth of your website.

What is Analytics

The gold standard is Google Analytics.  While it is free, you must start a Google account.  The easiest way is to simply start a GMail account.

With the same login information, you then create an analytics account.  Google gives some code to insert within your website to allow tracking to begin.

If you are lost at this point, you should best talk to your IT person or web developer for help.  Don’t worry, you only have to do this once.

Analytics tracks data on all kinds of topics;

  • Website traffic – # of visitors
  • Specific browser used
  • Devices used (i.e. laptop, smart phone, desktop)
  • Internet company
  • IP address
  • Geographic location of visitor
  • Time spent on website
  • Popular topics
  • Etc.

Analytics Improves SEO

Having an analytics package installed on your website improves your overall SEO.  An analytics package is expected by the search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo all expect you to have an analytics code contained on your site).  Those having one rank better than those lacking a package.

Value to Your Practice

To keep your website fresh and interesting, you’ll want to publish articles that are interesting to your readers.

For instance, when I first started my clinical website, www.retinaeyedoctor.com, I assumed that writing about the 3 most popular retinal diseases would automatically attract lots of readers.

Analytics showed I was wrong.  For instance, analytics showed me that when I wrote articles on retinal detachments, my traffic soared.

Analytics data will keep your website topics fresh, interesting and relevant to your readers needs.

Just as important, with analytics, you can determine which browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome) is the most favorite of your readers.  You can also figure out which type of device is used most often to visit your site.

If most of your readers are using Chrome on a smart phone, you will want to ensure that your website is mobile responsive and performs, as you expect, on the Chrome browser.

Not every website looks and behaves the same across all the browsers.

The more traffic you build, the better your practice can grow.

Where to find Content | Content Marketing for Healthcare and Medicine

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Content Marketing | Medical Marketing Enterprises | Healthcare and Medical Internet MarketingYour content is the most important part of your digital marketing campaign.  It is not only vital for any one interested in healthcare and medical Internet marketing, but for everyone who uses a website as a marketing tool.

Your content is the key to getting high rankings with the search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.  Your content is also the key to converting readers into followers and then patients.

Every healthcare and medical website needs content.

SEO Rankings and Engagement

The content (articles, post, pages on your website) will get indexed and if properly optimized will get ranked by Google.  The better, and more relevant, the higher your rankings.  The best ranking webpages are those which have been written well and have been optimized.

The same content has another purpose.  Your articles will be answering questions.  Better yet, your content should be educating and informing your readers.

This brings value to your readers.  From value, develops trust.

Value and trust are the first steps to engaging your readers to convert them to become a patient.

So website content has a dual purpose:  to achieve and maintain high Google (i.e. search engine) rankings and patient engagement.

Sources of Content

Fortunately, we, as health providers, have an endless source of content.  The answers and explanations we give routinely in response to commonly asked questions are great sources of content…they are well rehearsed and “written” exactly for our patients.

Use your explanations to serve as patient education articles, posts and pages.

Many of us also have patient education pamphlets adorning our clinic walls.  Paraphrase the articles found in the pamphlets – avoid directly copying the content.  Google frowns upon duplicate content.

You may also provide links to authoritative websites.  While this is not great for your SEO, it still does provide value to your patients.

Curate medical journals.  Analyze the articles you read in your medical journals and explain the relevance and significance to your readers.   Your opinion and analysis can provide your readers with tremendous value.

Write to Engage Your Reader

Here are a few suggestions to make your writing more engaging.

  • Write in the first person point of view (I, we, me, my)
  • Limit each article to just 1 or 2 subjects – avoid the temptation to “show-off” your vast knowledge
  • Length of articles should be 300-500 words.  Too short may not get indexed and too long will bore your reader
  • Avoid clinical jargon and fancy language, write at the level of an 8th grader
  • Write as though your perfect patient were seated directly in front of you, do not write as though you were speaking to a packed auditorium

 

Podcast on Healthcare and Medical Internet Marketing

Russ Faust, M.D and I just launched a podcast on Healthcare and Medical Internet Marketing. I’d love if you tried us out and gave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for reading, following…and listening.

If you have a comment, question or concern….just leave below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

To Your Success,

iTunes Cover Art“Randy”
Randall Wong, M.D.
Healthcare and Medical Internet Marketing
Healthcare’s Rx for Web and Social
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SEO for Healthcare & Medicine | Content, Keywords and Tags

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Keywords, tags and content | Healthcare and Medical Internet MarketingWhile SEO means search engine optimization, there’s some confusion as to exactly what gets SEO’d or “optimized.”

There are just 3 parts to “great SEO”;

  1.  The CONTENT of your website
  2.  COMPONENTS of your website
  3.  INBOUND LINKS to your site

This article will address how to properly “optimize” the content of your site.  It’s the most troublesome for most authors, yet the most important part to achieving the high rankings from the search engines.

“Content is STILL King!  Only your content will separate you from your competition.”

What Does “Optimization” Mean?

Optimization, or search engine optimization, is the process and tactics used to make your content most attractive and appealing to the search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) to allow them to rank your webpage as high as possible.

As a gymnast must stick a landing, because that’s what the judges will find appealing, you must adorn your content with attributes and formats expected by the search engines.

For you to rank well, your content must be relevant to your reader and optimized for the search engines.  It must be interesting to the human and presented in a fashion to be understood by a computer.

Search engines rank and compare webpages based upon content.  The understanding of how this ranking works is the definition of search engine optimization.

Where Optimization Occurs

On every website platform exists a wordprocessor for you to write your article.  There are additional fields where you can supply additional information needed by the search engines to rank you well.

This information includes the <title tag>, meta description, snippet and keywords.  These elements are not visible to your reader, but are understood by the search engine and allows them to best index and categorize your webpage (i.e. “optimize”).

If you don’t take the time to complete these fields, the search engines will determine this information for themselves – allowing for errors, omissions and less than optimal SEO.

Remember that the content gets you the rankings you want through SEO and the starts the process of engaging your next patient!

All the best!

To your success!

“Randy”
Randall Wong, M.D.
Healthcare and Medical Internet Marketing

New Podcast on Healthcare and Medical Interenet MarketingNew podcast: Just started a new podcast with Russell Faust, M.D. on Healthcare and Medical Internet Marketing.

Thanks for following!

Randy

 

 

Easy Sources of Content for Healthcare and Medicine

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notes-514998_1920The quality of your content is critical to your digital marketing plan.  Quality content will attract readers.  Well optimized (SEO) content will allow the search engines to rank your website.

Easy, right?

Great content needs to be accurate, informative and…correct.  The best author for the health content provided on your website is going to be the health provider him/herself.  It’s the natural solution.

Doctors Hate Writing

For many reason, doctors and healthcare providers hate writing.  We have scribes, dictate and electronic medical records to do this drudgery.  Also, most of us probably would not have entered into healthcare if we were naturally great writers.

Another drawback to getting a doctor to write is that we are used to creating content in peer-reviewed journals – opening us up to criticism from our colleagues.

Website is NOT Peer-Reviewed

Creating content for your website is NOT peer reviewed.  It’s intended office is your next patient…readers looking for health related information and answers.

If you are able to provide your readers with their sought after answers, your content must be relevant and credible, but most importantly, written to them (your patients) not to your peers.

It took me a long time to get over this hurdle, that is, it took me a long time to realize that my peers were not reading my content and were not criticizing what I had to say…in fact, the few who have found my websites realize the utility and applaud what I do.

Easy and Endless Sources of Content

Healthcare providers have an endless supply of content…the well rehearsed answers to questions we answer every day.  We answer them frequently – so they are well rehearsed.  They are asked by our patients – so our answers our customized to the lay person.

The content is ready made!  Just put them to paper.

Most of us also have dozens of informational pamphlets filling the racks on our offices walls.  Paraphrase these pamphlets and personalize to your office!

Remember, your content is the key to high rankings on the Internet (SEO) and the beginning to the process of engaging your readers to make them patients.

To your success!

“Randy”
Randall Wong, M.D.
Healthcare and Medical Internet Marketing

New Podcast on Healthcare and Medical Interenet MarketingNew podcast:  Just started a new podcast with Russell Faust, M.D. on Healthcare and Medical Internet Marketing.

Thanks for following!

Randy

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