The Anatomy of a Stellar Blog Post for Your Practice

If you are not a well experienced blogger you might have many questions about what goes into making a great blog post. And that’s okay. Everyone has their specialty. However, we can all spot good writing from the superfluous, fluff pieces that inundate the internet.  In earnest, many blogs end up being like Rick Moranis in the 86’ rendition of Little Shop of Horrors. We have to feed the blog beast like the giant man-eating, talking plant demands to be fed, and the myriad demands on our time can often force us to cut content quality.

Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!

Feed me, Seymour

Feed me all night long

That's right, boy

You can do it

Feed me, Seymour

Feed me all night long

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

By the way, if your relationship to your practice Blog becomes a silly rendition of Little Shop of Horrors, it’s time to re-evaluate.  The truth is that doctors and practice teams often lack time to craft excellent posts for their blog. Whether your blog posts are being written in house or out, it’s crucial that they be written in an effective manner. Otherwise, please don’t have a blog for the sake of having a blog.  It is a commitment.  We have seen blogs pay off time and time again, even for simply linking articles through social media. 

Your practice having a blog can be a highly effective marketing tool if it’s done right.

Here are some basic elements that a blog post for your practice should have, including:

A focus.

Your blog post should not be written for just anyone. You first need to target your market, so the post can be written to appeal to those specific people.

SEO.

Not keeping search engine optimization (SEO) in mind when writing the blog post means that your post will not be found by many people, or won’t be found by your target market. Once you know your desired audience, you can keep the SEO in mind when writing the article.

Useful information.

Many people want to blog only to promote their practice. That’s a huge mistake and will turn people away from your posts. The goal is to provide people with useful information. Give them something they can use and they will not only read it, but they will also likely share it with others. Blog topics should be timely and the reader should feel as though they got something from reading it.

Readability.

Most people do not like to take a long time to read a blog post. There are particular reading patterns that they follow, so that they can get the gist of the information without having to read it all. Writing the posts in this manner, such as using bullet points and simple sentences, will help increase readership.

A call to action.

Not all blog posts need to have a call to action. Some may be there to provide information and connect with your current patients. But if there is something you want the reader to do, then it’s important to include a call to action, where you are letting them know what you want them to do.

If you are going to have a blog for your practice and you want to get the most out of it, then you have to ensure that your posts are comprised of the right elements. Without doing that, your blog will fall short, and soon you will give up on it, assuming that blogs don’t work to help your practice. With the right elements in your blog posts and by having them expertly written, they have the power to bring you new patients, help keep the ones you have, and establish an unmatched presence in your community.