Getting Started with Your Practice Blog

If you have a website then you’ve already taken the most critical step towards marketing your practice in an increasingly Internet-savvy age. Today’s patients not only rely on the Internet for personal health information, but they are also expecting a level of interaction and communication from their podiatrist on the Web. That’s because popular social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter are growing rapidly and enabling patients to use a variety of social media resources for support, education and treatment decisions.

Podiatrists are just beginning to embrace social media as an important component of their Internet marketing strategy. If you haven’t already, start blogging, as this is the best way to embrace and engage a successful social media plan. In many cases, a blog may already be integrated with your professionally designed website. To get started, you need to begin contributing content to the blog.

I’m a podiatrist. Do I really need to blog?

To put it simply, yes. While a blog certainly won’t deliver an instant return on investment, it can with time, build awareness for your practice and help promote your services to existing and potential patients. Blogs are driven by content, and a practice blog gives you the freedom to write and publish content that is unique to you and your practice. Written effectively, blogs present the perfect opportunity to interact with your patients while promoting your services.

More importantly, blogs offer the ability to dually publish content on other social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, acting as a basecamp for your social media operations. Routine posts to your blog can be synced with your Facebook and Twitter for seamless social network management. And for podiatrists with little time to write engaging content, a professional website company can manage the entire social network for the practice, including content creation and weekly postings.

Follow these guidelines to create a quality blog post for your readers and the search engines.

Get your point across

Lengthy blog posts can lose reader interest while pages with clean, white space are easier to scan and more likely to keep patients on the page. Include sub-headings and bullet points every few paragraphs so readers can quickly browse your post for the information they want. Offer advice and tips for improved health and inform patients about new technology and treatments that are specific to your practice. For example, if you’re offering new technology or an innovative procedure, then a blog on this topic with a testimonial from one of your treated patients will be very effective in generating awareness for new services.

Post consistently

Post regularly to your blog with new and updated content, and once you develop an audience, keep them coming back by adhering to a schedule. We suggest that you consider blogging at a minimum of once a week. Blogs are highly effective at boosting a website’s search ranking as a continuous stream of new, relevant content is rewarded by the search engines.

Get personal

Your blog is a reflection of you and your practice so include information that is unique to your services, staff and practice goals. Blogs are meant to be more informal than your website, so write posts in your own distinct voice to showcase the humanistic side of your practice. Making use of words like “I,” “we” and “you” will make it appear conversational between you and your readers and will encourage them to write back. Readers will feel valued if you involve them in meaningful two-way conversation.

Seek professional blogging services

For busy podiatrists, many medical website marketing providers offer blog services— an automated process that allows you to be as hands-on or hands-off as you’d like. This service generally includes the professional copywriting of blog content about topics pertaining to your service offering.

Podiatrists shouldn’t rely solely on blogging to increase new patient revenue. Instead, blogs should be used in combination with your website and other marketing initiatives to increase referrals and educate patients about your services. Like any marketing tactic, blogs require diligent maintenance to achieve measurable results. With the right approach, your practice blog can be a great educational tool and valuable addition to your website.