How to Use Blogging to Grow Your Dental Practice

Online marketing has begun to dominate the way consumers and patients seek information about prospective services and products. Dental practices need to provide online content that attracts new patients and retains current patients. An excellent way of presenting valuable information to patients is through a blog. Whereas Facebook and Twitter may be good platforms for promoting special services or deals, a dedicated blog is the ideal space for sharing more detailed content. Whether you wish to showcase specific treatment options or just provide updates on trends within the industry, a blog is a great way to increase your dental practice’s online profile.

The key to blogging is supplying visitors with valuable content. If the content is informative and practical, patients will begin to think of your practice as an authority on dentistry, and return frequently to check for updates.

Consider these tips for maximizing the effectiveness of a blog:

• Post frequently. Post content to your blog on a regular basis so that visitors come back to find new content. If possible, post to your blog once a week but a minimum of once a month
• Substantial Content. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, blogging gives you a chance to communicate more substance. An ideal blog length should be between 300 and 600 words. Be sure to include relevant images that supplement your post.
• Compelling format. Avoid posting a mass of abstract data. Instead, you should try to convey your message through a narrative or story that grabs the reader’s attention.
• Purposeful. Use the blog as a way of responding to your patients’ questions. If you receive comments from Facebook, publish a response on your blog. If one patient in your dental practice has a question, other patients are likely to have the same or similar questions.
• Proper Balance. The tone of a practice blog can be casual and fun, but it should also represent the brand of your dental practice. Offering humor, personal reflections, and behind the scenes insight about the staff and practice can be appropriate, but should not be offensive or unprofessional.

Ensure your blog is accessible from your practice’s website. You can also publicize a new blog post through Facebook, which gives all your Facebook friends additional reasons to “like” your page and share with their friends. If you do start a blog for your practice, have a plan and schedule in place before launching it to ensure success.