Your new or updated clinic website is finally done and you are excited! You are ready to get lots of traffic and great new clients. But the response so far has been disappointing. What gives?
There is a big difference between a boring static website and a dynamic site that engages clients, pulls in new leads and helps build sales revenue. One of the key features of successful physiotherapy clinic websites is a professional blog.
Wait, aren't blogs just for people that want to tell the world about their cat? Those are personal blogs—we are talking about a professional clinic blog that helps clients answer questions they have.
On a regular schedule, you publish blog posts that deal with client topics and questions. Those blog posts will get picked up by Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. When clients and prospects log on to the Internet to search for information about physical therapy, they will see your posts and click to read the content.
There are many benefits to establishing a clinic blog:
Authority. It establishes you as an authority in your town and market niche. In fact, a Marketing Query report said that 63 percent of readers feel blogs are more influential than magazines.
Visibility. The majority of consumers use search engines to find local goods and services. A recent Brandpoint report showed 93 percent of online research begins with accessing a search engine like Google or Bing. Regular blog posts keep you visible where your customers are.
Long Term Investment. Your investment in good, useful content builds as you continue to publish, and each post works for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In fact, a recent Content Marketing Institute survey showed 72 percent of business to consumer marketers now use blogging in their marketing mix.
Here are some suggestions and "best practices" for beginning and growing your clinic blog:
Answer their questions. The best blogs take questions clients have and write one blog post for each. For example, your clients may have questions like “Does physical therapy hurt?” or “How many months will I need to see a physical therapist?”
These questions are gold, because that is exactly what they are entering into the search box on Google! All you have to do is create blog posts that answer each question, and you will attract web traffic to your site.
Invite feedback. A blog is not just a one-way conversation. You want to encourage your clients and prospects to add their own thoughts and experiences in the comments section.
Be consistent. Set a publishing schedule and stick to it. You may have heard other clinics say "you have to post every day." Nothing could be further from the truth. In today's Internet world, the focus is on quality, not quantity. Try to publish weekly or bi-weekly.
Be passionate. Tap into the personal passion that made you excited to get into physical therapy in the first place. Share your views on new ideas, techniques and equipment in the field.
Be conversational. Your writing "voice," or the tone and style of your blog posts should be as close as possible to your natural speaking style. The more personable and conversational you can make your writing, the more people will enjoy reading your opinions and advice.
Socialize. A great way to get new eyeballs on your blog is to link to it from your social media accounts. For every new blog post, share the link on Facebook and Twitter. Add even more social media site like Google+ or Instagram if you have time.
Each blog post you make is a like a deposit in the bank. Every month the account grows. And just like a bank account, blogging takes patience. It takes time for the traffic to find you, but once it does, you will have a powerful prospecting machine that pulls in new clients day after day. Our website templates designed specifically for physical therapy clinics make blogging smooth and simple.