Your blog can be an effective way to attract and engage patients — if you do it well. If you’re not sure how to proceed, you could just end up burning cash without having much to show for it. What’s the key to success? Typically, it’s content marketing know-how. Just like your staff has specialized knowledge, content marketers can craft blog posts based on your specific goals.
In this article, we’ll share some content marketing strategies and tactics to help you launch or revamp your blog and bring your content in line with your medical practice’s objectives. Read on to discover new strategies and get answers to frequently asked questions about blogs for medical practices.
Blog goal #1: I want to convince potential patients to choose my practice
Attract patients with blog content that showcases your medical practice and its expertise. This strategy uses search engine optimization (SEO) to bring visitors to your website and then encourages them to reach out to your practice based on the quality of your content.
How do I do this?
- Choose your keywords, using free or paid keyword research tools (more on this later).
- Create pillar content that addresses broad subjects and high-volume keywords. Posts might focus on phrases like “skin cancer prevention” or “allergy shot types.”
- Plan clusters of supporting articles that delve into specific aspects or questions related to the pillar topic. These articles could, which target longer keyword phrases with lower search volumes and low competition. You might include topics like “sunscreen for different skin types” or “what are rush allergy shots?”
- Craft unique blog posts that keep people reading. Metrics like time on page or scroll depth can indicate engagement and help you consider how useful your content is.
- Include ways for people to get in touch with you, including links to self-schedule appointments.
How does SEO come into play?
On the surface, SEO is simple. You select keywords that potential patients may search and write blog posts that include those keywords and other supporting language.
If you create valuable content, search engines show it to potential patients when they search your targeted keywords. If they like your content, they may consider you the next time they need care.
In reality, there can be high competition for medical keywords, and a single article isn’t the only factor determining whether your content appears when people search. Domain or website authority matters, too. This refers to how valuable search engines determine all of your content is.
The formulas for authority aren’t public knowledge. They may vary by search engine and over time, but most marketers rely on a combination of high-quality content, frequent publishing and backlinks from other sites that have high authority.
Blog goal #2: I want to build community and engage my current patients
Improve patient retention and support positive healthcare outcomes by providing useful information that builds trust. This can also create a sense of rapport or community, especially if you make space for comments and other feedback.
How do I do this?
- Choose a mix of evergreen and timely topics. Evergreen content remains relevant over time, while timely topics address current health concerns and seasonal issues.
- Substantiate facts and claims with citations from reputable medical sources. This reinforces your expertise and provides additional value to your readers.
- Enable comments to encourage discussion on individual posts. You can also drop links to posts in your bio or the comments of social media posts, where people may be more likely to comment on topics.
- Amplify your content to reach more of your patients. Include relevant blog content in patient communications like newsletters or follow-up texts and emails. Consider partnering with local health organizations, patient advocacy groups or other outlets to distribute your content.
Can my blog posts improve patient outcomes?
Blogs aren’t medical advice, and your posts can’t replace your medical decision-making for patients, but it’s possible that your blog could help people better understand their health or get the care or services they need.
Some topics could prompt earlier detection of health issues, encouraging patients to seek care they might not have considered otherwise. Additionally, educational content can reduce anxiety about conditions and procedures, potentially leading to higher patient satisfaction.
Blog goal #3: I want to improve my reputation as a high-quality provider
Frequent, relevant blog posts can position you as a thought leader, strengthening trust with patients and your community. This can lead to easier and less costly patient acquisition over time. It could also increase the likelihood of patient compliance with your orders.
How do I do this?
- Post consistently and frequently. Once or twice a week could show audiences and search engines that you have valuable expertise and insight to share.
- Position your cluster content for breadth and depth. Expand some of your main topics to demonstrate your broader relevance, taking cues from thought leaders in other industries who reflect the sentiments of their audiences even when it’s not strictly on topic. Similarly, drill down into certain topics to highlight your expertise, sharing information readers may not find easily elsewhere.
- Produce content with partners to expand your reach. Work with other providers you admire to cross-post or guest-post on each other’s blogs. Invest in advertiser or sponsored content placement and continue amplifying your top blogs in patient communications.
- Plan and execute a backlink strategy, where other websites link to your blogs. This can benefit your SEO greatly, while also showing new audiences your posts.
How does my blog lower my patient acquisition costs?
There are no guarantees that a blog can lower patient acquisition costs, but it’s possible. One way includes the quality and frequency of your blog posts increasing your website’s search engine rankings so that more potential patients find you organically. If you could increase the share of new patients that find you organically versus more costly marketing, you could lower overall or per-patient average acquisition costs.
Are there any downsides to building my reputation?
If your practice focuses on high-quality patient care, building your reputation should be mostly positive, but it could also result in greater scrutiny and negative feedback from regulatory bodies, patients and people who aren’t patients. This may be more pronounced if you pair your blog strategy with social media efforts.
How long does it take for a blog to increase my reputation?
Realistically, it could take more than a year. If you combine your blog with other content marketing tactics, like social media, advertising and online review strategies, you may have faster results, but it can take time to build authority. Algorithms might favor sites that have been around awhile compared to those that are brand-new.
Blog goal #4: I want to launch or reintroduce my blog
Blogging can serve multiple goals for your medical practice, including demonstrating your expertise to help attract new patients, fostering engagement and building community and reputation.
When you’re ready to start publishing consistently, you may want to consider outsourcing your blog content to a trusted partner. That’s because producing high-quality content that can compete for search engine rankings can take time and specialized expertise.
Partnerships can pay off. By publishing content that speaks to your audience’s needs, you may be able to grow your practice while still focusing on patient care.
