How To Start A Blog For Your Clinic
You may be thinking what’s the point of blogging nobody is going to read it anyway or I haven’t got time to blog, I’m not sure what to blog about. Well we have put together a blog about how to blog. If you’re new to the idea of blogging and unsure where to even start, what to write about and how to
Think of a Searchable Title
Time to do some research to see what your patients are searching for online.
What are the questions they are seeking answers for, what are the types of things that keep them engaged? This is a good starting point when it comes to thinking of blog content.
Having a searchable title that uses relevant keywords helps with SERP (Search Engine Result Page).
So when your customer Googles a question, your blog will be one of the results to best answer that query.
What are the 3 key takeaways
What do you want to achieve from your blog piece (remove as repeated below)
It might be to think differently about a subject or maybe how easy it is to resolve an issue for example “What Is Better Amalgam or Composite?” Try to make your blog a searchable title.
Don’t overload people with information, bombarding readers with too much information will only confuse them, simplify your answer as much as possible, so sticking to 3 key takeaways makes this easier.
Find Relevant Keywords
Find one or two keywords relevant to your subject matter and a longtail keyword, use these sparingly within your blog. An example of a keyword word be “Dental Implants”.
Use your keywords in your title and around several times throughout the entire blog, using your keyword too many times will be considered keyword stuffing and Google will consider your content spammy.
Keep it natural, don’t force words in when you don’t need to use them, write with your target audience in mind, keep in mind yours and your audiences tone of voice.
Short and Sweet
Stick to the point and keep it short, nothing puts readers off more than pages and pages of solid text. Answer the blog title in as few steps as required.
Don’t make your sentences or paragraphs too long; keep your blogs short and sharp between 600 and a 1000 words, or for more detailed and technical pieces stick to 1500 to 2500 words.
Start With An Intro
Now it’s time to put pen to paper; after your title, write a brief introduction to your blog. Set the scene to explain why you are answering this question, sell this blog to your reader, why should they spend their time reading your blog. Once again it’s worth highlighting your 3 key takeaways.
Create Steps
Break your paragraphs up with subheadings, this will make your blog less overwhelming because you are not presenting a huge amount of solid text, it also makes your blog scannable, giving your reader a chance to focus on areas they are interested in.
Break each paragraph into a step; each step gives you more information to answer the blog title question.
Wrap Up
Now time to wrap up your blog, use your 3 key takeaways to bring closure for your readers. Remind them what they have just learnt and how they can implement it for themselves.
Call To Action
Now that your reader has finished your blog, what would you like them to do next? It could be to sign up to a newsletter, read more blogs or direct them to a treatment or service page or form. Just make it clear and easy for them to make their next move.
Make A Start
That wasn’t so scary. Blog writing is easy once you have a good idea in mind and get in the flow. If you are stuck for ideas then look at your FAQ’s for inspiration, take a look at what your competitors are writing about or simply ask your patients what would they like to know.
Don’t make it too “salesy” – yes one of the main purposes is to drive traffic to your site and ultimately to boost sales and appointments but if you make it too sales heavy you will put people off from reading them.
A good blog post should inform, educate, entertain, be unique and more importantly be relevant for your audience, keep things simple, just like Albert Einstein said: “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.”
