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by Beth Spencer | July 26th, 2010 |
Across the Internet, businesses and individuals are using blogs to spread their messages and reach people. Blogs can provide a low-cost, powerful tool for your medical practice as well. Simply put, a blog is a group of posts regularly updated by the same person or group of people. While you can find blogs about everything from coupons to parenting to finances, medical practices can utilize this forum to create a better Web presence and connect with more patients.
Why Blog?
A blog can help your practice in several ways, allowing you to:
One of the main goals of a successful blog is to drive traffic to your Web site. Anytime you update a blog, an RSS feed will ping search engines, which improves your ranking. Because blogs tend to include focused content on one theme, search engines can easily find this type of page. Google, Yahoo, and Bing love the fresh, new content found in blogs.
As a medical doctor, you possess a wealth of knowledge. Conveying some of that information in blog forms gives added credibility to your expertise, specifically on the Web. It also draws potential patients who like what you say to your Web site.
Writing a blog as a journal of thoughts, ideas, and observations allows patients a chance to read your perspective and further develop a positive relationship with you as their medical provider.
Patients can feel overwhelmed when they visit your office. A blog gives doctors a chance to convey details about common conditions, treatments, and other medical procedures in a non-threatening, easy-to-digest manner. Reading updates from you can help your patients stay plugged in, which adds to their comfort with you and your team.
Where to Start
When you decide to try your hand at blogging, begin with 200 to 400 hundred words per post. If the writing seems difficult, you can ask a staff member or office manager to create the posts instead. For a fee, ghostwriters can also produce blog posts. Once you begin the blog, try to post an update at least once or twice a week. To publish the blog, you will need to sign up with a blogging service or install blogging software that you can use with your Web site hosting provider.
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With over 15 years experience as a professional writer, Beth Spencer brings creativity, vision, and dedication to her professional endeavors. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and English from Indiana University at Bloomington, Beth worked for a publishing company as a production editor, preparing computer textbooks for publication. When she and her husband moved to Dallas for his job, she transitioned into multimedia development and spent eight years in that field. As a project manager and instructional designer, Beth honed her skills in writing and designing content for online media. For the last nine years, Beth has worked as a freelance writer, generating Web content, promotional teasers, marketing materials, non-profit appeals, and support collateral for her various clients. Currently living in Flower Mound, Beth and her husband have two daughters and one son. |
