Writing quality blog posts is an essential piece of the dental marketing puzzle because it builds your online footprint and also increases website traffic. Regularly publishing to a blog adds pages to your dental website, which increases your opportunity to rank for terms relating to your specialty and practice. According to Hubspot, companies that blog experience 55 percent more traffic on their website than companies that don’t.
Additionally, blogging can educate new and current patients about treatments and services at your dental practice, which could persuade them to seek care. Blogging can even be a stepping stone to becoming a thought leader in your specialty.
Despite these benefits, many dentists do not blog. According to one PatientPop survey, about 35 percent of healthcare providers say this is because they do not have enough ideas for fresh, regular posts.
A lack of ideas should never be the obstacle that prevents you from blogging. Keep reading for ideas for future blog posts, courtesy of dental practices like yours.
You might like: 6 reasons every healthcare provider should be blogging
What should dentists blog about?
1. Frequently asked dental questions
You likely get the same questions from patients again and again. Common questions are a great source of inspiration for blog posts because it’s likely prospective patients have the same questions and are looking for answers online.
Answering common questions is also helpful for current patients. Use your blog as a resource that patients can access on their own time or even share with others.
Take this example from Volterra Dental. Their blog post “Why Dental Cleanings Are So Important” answers a commonly asked question and reminds patients why they should be visiting their dentists every six months.
2. Dental treatments and services
You already have your services listed on your dental website, so you might be wondering why you need blog posts on the same topic. Adding more content on your services is good dental marketing because it increases the chances that patients looking for that particular service will land on your website. Plus, in a blog post, you can offer a different perspective on why someone might use the service in a more conversational and relatable tone.
In the blog post “Feel Confident In Your Smile This Year By Trying The KOR Whitening System,” Madison Square Dentistry explains their approach to teeth whitening. The KOR Whitening System is one not many people may be familiar with, so this blog post breaks down why someone might use it and why this practice believes it’s a better approach to teeth whitening.
Regularly publishing blog posts like this helps this dental website rank in search results for the term [KOR Whitening System], thereby increasing the chances that local patients who are looking for this service will find the practice.
3. Post-treatment instructions
Blogging is a great dental marketing tool for attracting new patients, but it’s also a valuable tool for patient satisfaction and retention. The blog post “How to Care for Your Teeth After a Root Canal” by Modern Age Dentistry, for example, provides critical information on what to do following a procedure.
You might be wondering why this is necessary, particularly if you provide verbal or printed post-visit instructions. Well, also publishing a blog post on your dental website creates a digital resource that patients can refer to again and again once they leave the practice.
Blog posts written with your current patients in mind can also be included in a patient e-newsletter if you send one. Newsletters help you engage with your patients between visits. They also help stay you top-of-mind so patients won’t hesitate to schedule with your practice again.
Check out: What to do after publishing a blog post to your website
4. Timely information
Writing blog posts about timely events such as holidays is a great way to increase traffic to your dental website. This is because timing your blog posts to publish around timely events increases their chances of being read and shared with others.
For example, Dentistry for Children, a pediatric dentistry practice, published a blog about children eating candy on Halloween. This is a helpful approach for parents who worry about cavities, especially as their children go trick-or-treating. Their blog post titled “Goblins, Ghosts, and Gobstoppers: How to Protect Your Children’s Teeth This Halloween” is something parents may be inclined to share among other parents.
Are you interested in blogging but don’t have the time? PatientPop offers its customers a blog service. Visit this webpage to learn more.
