Healthcare is typically behind the curve when it comes to marketing. So the fact that blogging has been around for over 15 years shows that it’s time for everyone in the healthcare industry to get on the blogging bandwagon. If you are still not convinced to bring out your inner journalist, here are 4 reasons to begin your blog:
- Benefits your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines love to see new and unique content. While there is a lot that goes into SEO, continuous quality content will generally lead to better organic rankings on search engines. However, make sure this is your own content, as search engines will be penalized you if there is duplicate content out there on the web, or if you have copied existent content.
- Builds your expertise in an area
Let’s say you are an orthopedic surgeon that specializes in sports medicine. You treat the full range of conditions and injuries but you want to treat more knee injuries. You can build the perception that you are “the knee guy” by concentrating your blog content on knee topics. If a patient has an injury of the knee and is looking at your site vs. your competitor’s, it is a good chance they will call you first if they see that your website is content heavy on their injury type.
- Shows your personality
Doctors can have the reputation for having the personality of a medical robot. Use your blog to show your personality and outside interests. Tie your hobbies into your writing and you may connect with a patient on another level. Are you a tennis player that suffered from tennis elbow yourself? Write about it! Is your band playing a charity show this weekend? Write about that, too! I can guarantee that injured tennis player or musician that reads your blog will connect with you and feel much more comfortable making an appointment.
- Helps build content for your website
Did you have lofty ambitions to build an encyclopedia of content on your website for every procedure you perform and condition you treat? When developing your website, start off with the most important information. You can use the blog to develop more content, but at your own pace.
Now that you are convinced to begin your blogging adventure, it’s important not to get overwhelmed with the task. It should be fun and rewarding, not painful and daunting. Also, it’s ok to hire someone to be your ghost writer. Just make sure you approve the topics and provide insight. At Points Group, our content writers will often take 20 minutes to interview a doctor on multiple blog topics to get their perspective and expertise.
See Part 2 of this blog: Creating a Content Strategy
