One of the easiest ways to generate inbound traffic for your healthcare practice’s website is by keeping an online blog. We recommend that you update your blog on a consistent basis – once a week can be a reasonable goal for a beginning blogger – but oftentimes it can be difficult to think up new and different topics each week. Some weeks you may find yourself brimming with ideas. Other weeks you may find yourself striving for something— anything to say. Here are three useful tips and tricks to help start your blogging engine.
Understand the Purpose of Your Blog
Chances are you’re starting a blog because you feel it is necessary in order to bring more business to your practice. But as we have discussed in previous blogs, you cannot maintain a successful healthcare blog unless you understand your purpose for the blog. Think about the sorts of new or different perspectives you might bring to your healthcare field. What can you do differently? One of the beautiful things about blogging is that there are no rules! Your blog can be as unique as you are! It’s a place where you and your patient can have fun and learn at the same time!
Have you thought about the format of your blog? Will you be doing interviews from time to time? Will you be shooting video Q&A sessions? Will your blog be image heavy or text heavy? And what sort of information can you give to potential patients that they cannot get elsewhere? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you understand your intent.
Make a List of Questions Frequently Asked By Your Patients
Since your blog will be a key source for inbound traffic generation, you will often be writing about topics which patients find most interesting. When putting yourself in a patient’s shoes, it helps to think about the questions he or she asks you most often. During your daily downtime (whenever that may be), take a moment to jot down the topics of the day that stuck with you the most. What are your patients concerns? This does not necessarily mean that every blog post will be an FAQ, and it does not mean that you will have to write about specific patient experiences! Remember that even in the social media realm, you are still bound by HIPAA guidelines.
Get Your Practice’s Input
Remember that your blog is a representation of your whole practice, not just you as a physician. If you’re at a loss for content, never hesitate to ask others in your office for ideas. Not only will it help to have a fresh perspective on a topic of your choosing, you will also find that your coworkers have their own unique ideas. Writing a piece about telephone etiquette may not seem important to you, but your reception staff will probably have many great opinions to share on the topic!
Blogging can be a fun way to involve your practice with the community, but it takes time and serious effort. Physicians who decide to pursue blogging as part of a social media marketing strategy need to be committed to the process. If you are unsure or feel you need someone to help you shoulder the responsibility of your practice’s social media campaign, feel free to talk to us here and MindStream Creative. As experienced bloggers who understand the twists and turns that come with social media, we are here to make the medical marketing experience as smooth and as enjoyable as possible!