Should you start a business blog?
Have you been toying with the idea of starting a blog for your practice?
As a therapist and a business owner, you may be on the lookout for ways to grow your business, reach more clients and create non-clinical income streams. One way to do this is through blogging. Blogging has become an invaluable method for professionals to connect with a wider audience and drive traffic to their website.
If you’ve been wondering about whether blogging is a viable and beneficial addition to your marketing plan, consider how it can help you grow your practice.
Establish your authority
When you regularly write about topics related to your area of expertise, you establish yourself as an expert in that field. This gives your audience confidence in your knowledge, skills and experience, which can lead to increased trust in accessing your services or other offers. By sharing your knowledge and insights, you can position yourself as the go-to person for others in your field.
Increase traffic to your website
Every time you publish a new blog post on your website, it’s another opportunity to attract people to your website. Blogging helps to improve your search engine optimisation (SEO) which means people who are searching for topics you write about (and help people with) are more likely to find you. This means you appear higher in the search results on a search engine, driving more people to your website. To boost your website SEO, it’s best to provide regular updates of original, relevant and valuable content for your audience.
Create a community
Blogging allows you to connect with your audience and potential clients in a more personal way. By encouraging feedback and sharing of your posts, you can create a community around your business as a “brand.” This helps you spread awareness of important topics. Not only does it help you connect with your audience but it will also allow you to connect with other industry and thought leaders and their content.
Generate leads
Business blogging offers an opportunity to capture leads by offering valuable, regular content in exchange for their email address. I know ‘leads’ is a common marketing term and may seem like we’re tricking people into giving their contact information but when we’re providing valuable information that people want more of, then they tend to be okay with getting regular updates with more of your valuable content and learning about the services or offers you have. When you have a growing email list, it means you have people ready and waiting to hear about what you have coming up whether that’s more appointment availability, a workshop or an online course.
It shows your personality
Business blogging showcases your “brand” personality, it shows who the person is behind your business. By writing in a conversational tone and sharing stories and experiences related to your practice, you can build a connection with your audience. This connection can lead to increased leads and repeat business. While most therapists and health professionals are governed by strict social media guidelines, there is no rule against being visible and allowing people to learn more about you. While sharing some personal information is okay, steer away from sharing private information. For example, you might mention a general parenting issue related to your children but avoid sharing your children’s details and place of school etc.
Business blogging can be a powerful tool to grow your business by establishing your expertise, increasing traffic to your website, creating a community, generating leads, and showcasing your personality. If you decide to start a business blog, aim to commit to a regular schedule and stick with it for a minimum of 6 months to review the impact it has on your business. In particular, the SEO benefits of blogging offer long-term gain for short-term effort.
Still thinking it over?
Read more about starting a blog in these articles:
Want to join a writing group, participate in group writing critiques, deepen your craft and connect with like-minded writers? Join the Therapist’s Writing Circle.
If you’d like support with content creation and establishing yourself as an expert in the field, explore my range of coaching and mentoring packages.