healthcare content

4 Ways to Tell that Your Healthcare Content Needs an Update

If you have been looking over your website recently, you might think that your website’s overall appearance is outdated. While you may see design issues that look worn out, do you give your healthcare content the same focus? While a website redesign does not automatically mean that you need to rewrite everything, it can be a great time to bolster your existing content. At the same time, your website might look fantastic, and you’ll still need to add some fresh content. 

Of course, if you aren’t sure that you need to emphasize your content, here are a few ways that you can see through the fog. 

Low or Decreasing Organic Traffic

While your content should be informative and engaging for your audience, it needs to do double duty. One of the purposes of having content on your website is to help search engines find the most relevant websites based on search terms. 

Google and other search engines are continually tweaking and refining the algorithms to identify the best sites to meet the user’s needs. If your website has never had significant organic traffic, or you’ve seen a decline in website visitors, it may be time for a rewrite. While you can attempt to tackle this work independently, you may be better suited to work with a professional that understands the current trends. 

Your Competitors Have More Healthcare Content

Go online and type in search terms that you think are relevant to your industry. Take a look at the first few websites that populate in your search. Compare the length of their medical content (blogs, landing pages, white papers, press releases). See how frequently they post blogs. How full is their content library? These are all clues to how you can improve your approach. It is likely that competitors that rank higher than you have full websites, post regularly, and have been doing it for a while. 

Many professionals suggest that content can take between 6 and 18 months to begin working, much less to dominate your field. 

Shifting Tone

Building a library of healthcare content is hard work. It doesn’t just take time, but dedication and an ability to understand and relay complex healthcare information to general audiences. Unfortunately, that is frequently completed by many different people. While a team approach can often be helpful to accomplish such big tasks, it can also affect the flow of your overall message. 

People tend to use different writing approaches, and having several voices appearing on your website can leave your readers feeling confused and frantic. In contrast, a consistent and flowing message can help to build trust and rapport with your audience. 

You Only Write Something to Solve a Past Problem

When we conduct an initial review of our client’s websites, we often see that their posts are reactive. Your patients want you to understand what they need before they do. Creating regular content on topics that are pertinent to your community is critical. If you’ve just completed a new training or acquired a cutting-edge piece of equipment, make sure that your patients know! In this way, they’ll see that you can take care of all of their existing problems and even prevent issues. 

Repairing Your Healthcare Content

Being able to produce content that fits all of these requirements can feel daunting. Fortunately, Medical Content Solutions offers a full staff of professional writers that can help you. If you’ve been considering revamping your current medical content, call, email, or text today! We’d love to help you get your content working, so you can focus on what matters – your patients

How to Structure Your Medical Content for 2021

As we begin to put 2020 in the rearview mirror, healthcare professionals may be feeling apprehensive about transitioning their medical content for 2021. While the past year may leave us feeling a bit traumatized and in need of a (well-earned!) vacation, you may also be looking at how to adapt to the upcoming year. 

2020 changed the healthcare landscape and how people look to get information from and about their personalized care. One of the most important lessons that we take from the COVID-19 pandemic is messaging issues.  We’d like to help you regain the authoritative voice that your patients need. 

Themes for Medical Content 2021

Healthcare Spending and the Economy

One of the dominant issues that we’ll face going into 2021 is the economic landscape. While the 2008 recession was caused by housing and investment issues, the healthcare industry experienced effects, too. Looking behind the 2008 recession, the National Health Expenditure Accounts, or NHEA, showed that accounts dropped from 6.5% to 3.9% or a 2.6% drop. However, that reduction was also influenced by a 1.6% reduction in inflation. The realized percentage drop was closer to 1%. While that can affect a family’s ability to seek the same medical attention, it’s a less stark outlook than many had expected; welcome news when you view other economy sectors during the recession. Structures experienced around a 10% reduction. 

Additionally, while there was a slight reduction in healthcare spending, many offices continued to remain understaffed. This puts stress on hiring and training appropriate medical professionals. 

The 2008 recession wasn’t caused or related to health issues, and there wasn’t much of a dip in the healthcare market. Coming out of the Coronavirus pandemic, the healthcare industry is poised to have an upswing, regardless of the economic situation. Patients who have postponed regular appointments or elective procedures will be seeking to have their needs met. 

Elective Procedures

When you look at the upcoming year, there is certainly room to be optimistic. During the global pandemic, many institutions stopped offering elective procedures. However, this didn’t eliminate the need for those procedures but just postponed them. Healthcare professionals should expect an increase in the number of procedures and visits from their patients. 

Electronic Resources

COVID-19 expanded the patient’s use of telehealth services, and many healthcare practitioners found themselves having to purchase specialized equipment and software to handle this new need. Of course, following the pandemic, maintaining telehealth options has benefits for your patients. People recognize the benefits of telehealth for the following reasons:

  • Reducing travel
  • Limiting exposure to illness
  • Easing time restraints on their busy schedules. 

A study before the pandemic shows that many family physicians spend only 27% of their time with patients, and almost half (49%) of their time is spent on administrative duties! 

More than 60% of the surveyed family physicians felt that the increase in administrative duties was the biggest issue facing their practice. One of the big factors in running any medical practice is updating and maintaining your online presence. These efforts continue to chip away at already tight schedules and further reduce your ability to focus on your patient’s care. 

Strategizing for 2021

Just getting through 2020 is a major accomplishment, but you need to prepare to enter a busy year for the health industry. You should continue to utilize and promote your digital services, maintain an online presence, and invest in continued training, education, and hiring for your practice. 

If one of the main issues your healthcare practice is facing is reducing the administrative workload, consider bringing Medical Content Solutions to your team. With a fully-vetted and functioning content team, we can help create the content that your practice needs. Our skills include newsletters, email campaigns, press releases, and ebooks. Additionally, we provide content for your website, including landing pages, articles, blogs, and staff biographies. 

Our approach allows you to have a single point of contact while gaining a full staff of writers, editors, and project managers to ensure that your 2021 is the best year yet! 

How to Improve Your Healthcare Website Content

In today’s global market, the first look potential patients might get, is through your website. It’s important to understand the role that your content plays in giving off the right first impression. Many patients depend on medical professionals to keep abreast of the latest trends in medical technology, but if you’re using outdated healthcare website content, that has become old and stale, people might think twice about scheduling an appointment. Whether it’s fair or not, it is important to look at your competition and see how they are managing their websites. 

While the overall website appearance is important, you must ensure that your website is sending the right message. While having old content on your website isn’t necessarily a strike against you, not having fresh content suggests that you’re not able to focus on the little details. 

Additionally, having content that does not connect with your audience will leave people thinking twice about how well you understand their needs. 

Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do to improve your content today! 

The Tone of Your Healthcare Website Content

The medical profession has struggled talking to their patients in an authoritative and educated manner, while connecting with patients to ensure they understand the message. We suggest that medical practices maintain professional language and style throughout their content. However, incorporating verbose language should come with simple descriptions to ensure your audience understands your message. 

Keep the Healthcare Website Content Relevant (Most of the time)

For many health and wellness professionals, we suggest listening to their patients. If you are hearing the same questions, consider creating content on that topic. This shows that you understand what’s happening in your community in real time. 

While most of your content should be pertinent to your practice, it’s also okay to stray away from strictly medical topics. People searching for medical services are often looking to find somebody they feel like they can connect with and trust. 

Innovative bios allow people to get to know you and your staff. Incorporating personal and family photos can also allow your patients to build a relationship with you before they ever step into the office. 

Diversity

It’s important to mix up the different ways that you’re connecting with your patients. Some people are drawn to blogs, while other patients want newsletters and emails. Many potential patients can first come to your site because they are looking for specific articles that cover health topics. Adding multiple forms of written content can help keep you connecting with the widest audience in your community. This approach can help keep your practice growing and thriving in any season.

Wrapping Up

Of course, you’re busy running and maintaining your practice. If you’re finding it difficult to post regularly and keep your content fresh, consider hiring an agency that can write creative and engaging medical content for your website. At Medical Content Solutions, we focus on creating the best medical content that captures your voice to connect you to your community. Message or call us today and see how we can help you transform your online image.

content meeting

The 2020 Healthcare Outlook

It’s crucial to stay on the latest trends within your field, especially when working in the healthcare industry. Healthcare professionals are responsible for understanding the newest technologies and staying abreast of modern research. 

Medical Content Services is committed to adjusting your content strategies to meet your patient needs. 

The Covid-19 Era

While 2019 closed out with hints of the major pandemic, the continued strain on everyday life has only furthered the need for medical assistance. Additionally, Coronavirus has altered how people are visiting the doctor. 

Many patients that recognize they are in higher-risk categories are scaling back on elective procedures and routine doctor visits. However, if you can offer telehealth services for your patients, you may be in higher demand than ever. 

The uncertainty of living with a  pandemic and changing local and federal guidelines has pushed many patients to research medical help online. The increased stresses have also increased the need for mental health professionals. 

Managing Healthcare Consumerism

There is a rise in private practices opening for specialized and general practitioners across the board. This increase means that every practice is in a battle to attract patients. Some of the issues that ranked the highest for patient satisfaction were: 

Patient Satisfaction – The overall experience for patients is a big issue. It is important to streamline every [part of your practice to ensure that scheduling, appointment arrivals, wait times, and bedside manner is flawless from a patient perspective. 

Review Your Service Options – It may be time for you to send out questionnaires for your patients to get valuable feedback. Are your current offerings capturing everything that your patients want? It is also essential to evaluate if bringing on new equipment is necessary. In some instances, it may only take up precious capital and space in your office. 

Make it Better – Patients are always concerned about the costs of services, so if you can lower your expenses to gain a competitive edge, that can be a great strategy. If you cannot reduce costs, you can look for ways to improve your patients’ experience or ease of service. Can you offer telemedicine for appointments? If so, you can tout the time and financial savings by eliminating the commute. 

Manage Your Marketing

Many large healthcare organizations have recognized the value of utilizing digital marketing strategies. They update their websites, optimize the content to ensure that patients find what they are looking for, and increase their rankings on search engines. Large organizations will look to maintain a competitive advantage by outsourcing significant portions of their work to content agencies. 

Small agencies can also take advantage of hiring content agencies. However, they should look for companies that specialize in the medical field. These agencies can work with you to build an appropriate strategy to reach your local market and increase your visibility and patient satisfaction. 

Whether you’re a juggernaut in your medical region, or a single practitioner office, Medical Content Solutions has the right strategy and price to meet your needs. We offer a variety of services to ensure that your patients get the information they want. Contact us today to structure a free personalized quote. We’re so confident in the work that your first blog is on us! 

medical blog content

How a Physician Website Connects with Patients

Patients are always looking for ways to connect with their physicians. Long before they call your office or walk through your door, they have likely already started getting to know you. This search for information is why you must have a thorough website with as much relevant medical content as possible. Let’s discuss some of the key ways that a physician website can connect with patients.

Provider Bios on Physician Website

If you haven’t already, you should consider including a provider bio on your physician website. Not only does it offer an overview of your education, experience, and specialization, but it is also an excellent opportunity to provide some personal information that will make you more relatable to your patient. You may want to include details such as where you grew up, your favorite sports team, or the hobbies that you enjoy the most.

Updated Physician Blog

An updated physician blog says a couple of things about your practice. First, it means that you are using your website to connect with patients by providing updated and relevant medical information. It also gives the impression that you are up-to-date on current trends. People will likely Google your practice before they schedule a consultation. Make sure your blog is current and filled with patient-friendly information.

Monthly Newsletters

Monthly Newsletters are a terrific way to let patients know about any special messages you may want to share, changes in your staff, or even more about your service offerings. Consider including a monthly newsletter in your content strategy to go one step further in engaging your audience.

Informational Physician Website Content

A physician website is an excellent platform for providing information to your current and future patients. You may want to offer a FAQ section to answer questions that your patients commonly have about your services or more information about specific health concerns.

Contacted a Team of Health Writers

Are you looking for a medical or health writer? Medical Content Solutions is happy to provide our services. We assist medical professionals just like you by providing quality medical content at affordable rates. Please contact us to learn more about our services. We look forward to working with you!

3 Things to Include in Your Staff Bios

As you look through medical sites, you will find that other practices have similar content intended to drive traffic and inform patients. Often, countless hours are poured into a medical blog, newsletters, landing pages, and contact pages, but they are frequently missing a great opportunity: staff bios.

Customers that search for your website are looking for a professional that offers the services they need, but also someone that they trust. You and ALL of your competitors are probably offering roughly the same services, at least at face value. However, it’s your relatability that will play a huge role in attracting your next patient.

If you cannot get patients into your waiting room, you miss your opportunity to demonstrate what makes you different from the rest. You have to answer the question: What makes you the best choice?

Staff biographies allow you an opportunity to connect with your patients on a personal level. As your future patients look through your website, they may find a personal connection with your staff to immediately build trust and rapport.

At Medical Content Solutions, it’s our goal to help you connect with your audience. We’ve put together some of the most effective topics to cover when creating staff biographies.

Have a Quality Picture 

We all know the saying, “You only get one shot at a first impression.” The initial impression that a great photo can have on your visitors can swing them into action from the beginning.

While any picture is going to improve the appearance of a staff bio, there are some key things that you should consider.

Make sure it’s a photo that is of high quality. Blurry photos, over or underexposed photos, or pictures that are just too small can make it more difficult for your reader to identify the message you are trying to send. Consider bringing in a professional photographer to snap photos of your entire office staff.

Give the image character. While professional headshots are a safe play for many medical professionals, they often lack context. Scour the medical community, and you’ll find that many of your colleagues have an almost identical photo.

Instead, think about expressing yourself through a photo. Do you enjoy running? Can you use a picture from your last event? Consider including a photo of yourself doing something that you love.

Use Staff Bios to Tell a Story

This is an opportunity for patients to see what inspired you and your staff to start your practice. What makes you passionate about caring for other people, and how will your passion improve their patient care if they come to you?

As part of your story, you can weave in your background, where you grew up, where you went to school, if you have a family, or extracurricular activities. Personal stories generally allow patients to feel that they can look behind the curtain. Doing so may encourage them to discuss difficult issues, or select your office because you’ll have the personal insight they need.

Be Silly and Fun 

While your field often requires dedicated focus, concern, and professionalism, you can look for opportunities to lighten the mood. This is critical for professionals that work with children, but has a profound positive impact on most other fields.

Some examples of topics that you can use include topics such as:

  • Your favorite joke (clean and G-rated of course)
  • Your favorite ice cream flavor (and how many scoops!)
  • The favorite superhero
  • What superpower you would like to have
  • Your favorite song

Getting it Right

Staff bios can be difficult to write. Many staff members may feel uncomfortable writing about themselves. It can also sometimes be uncomfortable to talk to new staff members about their personal stories.

Medical Content Solutions offers staff biographies as one of the cornerstones of our content. We conduct thorough interviews with staff members to ensure that we capture the stories that will inspire them and their patients to schedule their initial appointment.

Contact us today for your free quote and let us help you connect with your patients.