Blogging. A word once synonymous with angry teenagers venting sophomoric strife has grown into a billion (yes, billion) dollar industry—$412.88 billion, to be exact.1
The value of this medium means blogging is being used for a lot more than sharing anecdotes and venting feelings. There are more than 500 million blogs in the world2 accessed by 409 million users every month. If there’s a theme or a topic you can think of, odds are that there’s not just one blog out there dedicated to it, but dozens, if not thousands.
Companies have recognized the power of blogs to help promote their goods and services in approachable, easily digestible formats. In fact, 84% of businesses include blogs3 in their annual marketing plan.
This form of content marketing has gained traction because of the low up-front costs and high returns. And it’s true. The digital marketing ROI of the companies that regularly publish content is 13 times higher than businesses that don’t.4 If you’re not seeing similar results from your dental blog, it’s time to take a closer look at your content marketing strategy. In today’s article we share some tips on optimizing your blogs and increasing your content marketing ROI.
How Can I Improve My Dental Blog?
Whether you’re just starting your dental practice’s blog or looking to sharpen your writing skills, we’ve got four tips to make your dental blog the best it can be.
1. Use a Proven Format
Don’t reinvent the wheel. We’ve already mentioned that there are hundreds of millions of blogs on the internet. And guess what? Those bloggers have learned a few things over the years about what works and what doesn’t work.
“How-to” articles are among the most prevalent kinds of articles. In the context of a dental practice, a how-to article can be as simple as “How to brush your teeth” or as complicated as “How to decide if you’re ready for a dental implant.”
Listicles (articles in the form of lists) are also common. Examples include topics like, ”The top 5 kinds of toothpaste for sensitive teeth” or “10 things to do before taking your child to the dentist for the first time.”
Don’t forget to include images in your articles. Photos increase your SEO potential and are far more attractive to readers than a wall of plain text. Also, consider using video content in your blogs. About a third of bloggers say video content5 improves article performance.
2. Be Wary of Length
This tip is tricky, because there’s conflicting data on just how long articles should be. The longer the content, the greater the chance your article will rank in search engine results. That’s because in a longer article, there’s more text for Google to crawl. Typically, long-form articles (greater than 3,000 words) earn eight times the amount of pageviews6 as short-form content.
But crawlers aren’t your audience. Real people only spend an average of 15 seconds reading an article,7 and 75% of users admit to preferring articles8 that are less than 1,000 words. Search engines have created an inherent conflict between findable articles and readable articles. On one hand, rankings increase with longer material. On the other hand, ordinary people like shorter content that gives them actionable information.
The best course of action is to base your strategy on your analytics. Keep a close watch on your digital metrics for your blog to determine the length your target audience prefers and balance that with your overall SEO strategy goals.
3. Use Your Influence
Words are powerful, and blogging gives you a platform unlike any other. Your blog makes you human, vulnerable, and influential. You’re able to affect your patients in ways other forms of marketing simply can’t. Your blog needs to make your dental practice feel like a trusted friend rather than a business. That’s what clients want!
Nearly half of people take recommendations from bloggers9 seriously. From your perspective, this means the message of preventive action, proper care techniques, and daily habits10 might be better received and acted upon when they come in the article format.
4. Produce High-Quality Content
Quality always matters, and blogging is no exception. Simple copy loaded with keywords and links may have garnered you some success in the past, but those days are over. Google’s ranking algorithm is more intelligent than that, and your patients are, too.
Most bloggers agree that quality content is the most crucial factor affecting their blog. About a third of people11 make unplanned purchases in response to reading high-quality content. And nearly a quarter of readers doubt the credibility of blogs with low-quality content.
A Good Website Makes a Great First Impression
Interested in learning more about how you can improve your dental practice’s blog? Dreamscape Marketing can help. Contact us at 888.307.7304 to schedule a strategy session with our dental marketing experts to discuss ways to improve the quality of your content and increase new patient opportunities.
For a list of references, please contact us.
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