2019 means many exciting business goals are waiting to be achieved throughout the year! One of the most common goals we get approached with by new clients is creating an effective content plan. Almost certainly, this plan will involve consistent pieces of content, like blogs and articles. This is all great for those that hire us to write them, but for those of you that are happy to do it yourself, we thought we'd share the best way to get started if you're at ground zero. We've done so in TEN simple steps that'll have you nailing your first business blog in less than 30 minutes.
1. Understand the PURPOSE of your content
Before you put your fingers to the keyboard, know this: You are creating a piece of content that will give good information that readers will value. You will be helping them to understand. You will not be giving any personalised advice of course, but you will be providing practical information that they will learn from. You won't be using complicated terms that you may in a referral letter to a GP. You're keeping it simple. A tibia is a "shin bone (tibia)". A degenerative tendinopathy is "a tendon, which connects muscle to bone, that has become damaged, painful and has weakened over time". When you take the time to explain something a patient needs help with, you show you care. You build trust. You build authority.
2. Understand that you're not writing a sales letter
The primary aim of the content that you're starting with is NOT to sell. You are not a pushy sales person. Don't write like it. You're an expert in your field. You are respected and trusted by so many patients. Write like it. You will start by just writing genuine valuable information on a topic that we'll get to soon.
ALSO. You are not targeting everyone. And that's exactly how it should be. Your goal is not to get 5000 views or 1000 likes. A view or a like is NOT a patient in your clinic. You are going to target a specific topic and so will only appeal to specific people. This is GOOD. It is much better to reach 500 people and get 5 in your clinic than to reach 10,000 people and get 0 in your clinic. It's not all about the numbers. It IS about the conversions.
3. Selecting the first topic
This is going to be simple. Think about a common question you get asked in your clinic. What do people want to know that they don't already? What are their concerns? Is it about their children's in-toeing? Is it the reason their teeth are turning yellow? Whatever it is, you can be assured that if you're often getting asked it at your clinic, then it's often being searched for online with people wanting clear, quality information from a trusted source. Pick ONE of these questions. This is going to be your topic. Then write your heading that speaks to the question. Don't overthink it, you can always change it after you're done.
e.g. - Constantly getting shin pain when running? or Why you're constantly getting shin pain while running
- 5 foods that are turning your teeth yellow
- In-toeing in kids can cause trips, falls and pain. We explain why it happens and what you should do.
Note: These titles are super basic. In reality there is a lot more to writing an effective headline but this will be worked on as you get more comfortable and better with your writing and as you build up a bank of knowledge for your patients and visitors.
4. Pick key words
Without diving too deep into SEO, understand this: Google will read your page and take your most used terms and help people Googling those terms to find you. Whether that be 'in-toeing' 'podiatrist' or 'yellow teeth' 'dentist' or if those terms have locations like 'Sydney' or 'Auckland'. Know what you want these to be, write them down, and use them consistently but naturally throughout the page. Again, you are not a sales person. Don't over do it. If you think it doesn't sound natural, it's not.
5. Plan what you're going to answer
Write a few points down into a quick plan. Are you going to talk about the signs, symptoms, cause and general solution options? Are you going to list 5 ways to overcome the problem? Are you going to give 7 steps like I have in this blog? Make a plan. Again, don't overthink it. You can always change it.
6. Get writing!
Following your plan, get writing. Answer those questions. Address the fears and concerns of your patients. Relate it back to their quality of life and what can be enabled. For example, having healthy white teeth gives confidence and happiness. Not tripping from in-toeing gives kids the freedom to walk and learn and play. Alleviating shin pain when running gives the freedom to reach fitness goals and feel great. This aside, provide good, genuine information and facts. Don't be too fluffy. Keep it clear and concise.
7. Add a call to action (CTA)
A CTA invites your reader to come to your for help. You can avoid coffee, but teeth whitening will get you the smile you want, and Smile Dental is open 7 days to do so. Shin pain is often caused by biomechanical abnormalities, which your podiatrist can assess and treat, so you can feel great on your feet again and keep running for years to come. You get it. Be clear. Add your phone number. Add a hyperlink to your online booking system.
8. Proof-read
Please, don't skip this step. It's the difference between readers thinking it's valuable and trusting you (and booking in), or thinking you must not be confident in what you're saying because you waffled on and were vague in some areas and didn't fully answer the question.
Note: If you want our team to do the proof-reading for you, send us an email at hello@wordprescription.com
We offer full proof-reading and editing services with a 24 hour turnaround.
9. Publish and share
Get some good images. Note: GOOD. Also, legal. Don't source your images illegally. Use free photo sites like Pexel. Upload it to your website. Optimise the tags and SEO components. Change your image names for SEO. Share it on social. Facebook. LinkedIn. Encourage sharing. Get it out there.
10. Feel good
You've done a great job and have taken a great step toward your marketing plan. Now, make sure you have an effective marketing plan set up!
For marketing plans and all content writing services, reach out to us at hello@wordprescription.com
We have blog and article packages available which mean the blog topics you choose (or we recommend) are written, optimised, uploaded and shared while you focus on treating patients!