7 Simple Tips for Creating Epic Content For Your Dental Blog

Building custom content is going to be one of the most difficult and time-consuming parts of your job. Sure, you may have a few great ideas that are going to kick off your blog with, but finding consistently engaging topics and writing about them in an interesting way, even if you are having a bad writing day (like a bad hair day—they just happen and there’s not a lot you can do about them), is the tough part.

But it’s also one of the most important things you can do for your business. Not only does it drive traffic, it makes your website an authority, the first stop when someone has a question about your industry. It may be difficult, but it is worth it. That’s why we are sharing seven tips for creating consistently epic content, no matter what your industry is, how frequently you update it, or the format of your dental blog.

1. Understand that your dental blog should both educate and motivate.

While that may just sound like a snappy sound bite, it is the truth. The ultimate goal of your blog should not just be “driving traffic.” It should do that, of course as seo for dentists is still vital, but it should also offer content that is helpful and meaningful to your persona (who is closely related, of course, to your target customer). Keeping this in mind as you craft the rest of your content, is vitally important.

2. Mix up the format.

Even if the format you’ve been using has been working for you so far, changing things up can only be good. If you usually write a blog, why not try a podcast instead? If you want to present a load of data, why not try an infographic? Organizing a lot of information in a clean and concise, visual manner is not only eye-catching, it makes your blog look professional—and that’s a big part of turning yourself into an industry authority.

Companies like OkCupid and MailChimp have seen serious success when they incorporated visuals into their blog post. We’re not saying that you should try to become BuzzFeed (which exists simply by adding amusing captions to GIFs), but an appropriate picture, chart, or infographic could both drive traffic and engage readers. 

3. Think about formatting.

Break up your content. You’ve probably already read somewhere that the rising generation, the millennials, have the shortest attention span in the history of consumers. This stems from being raised on computers. In order to hold these users’ attention, you want to break up your blog post into short, digestible paragraphs. A block of text is intimidating, and for someone with a short attention span, not worth wading through. Use white space to make the post more inviting.

4. Sum up your post in a single sentence (two sentences max).

If you can’t do this (and stick it at the top of your post or fit it in somewhere appropriate as a nifty pull-quote/sound bite), your post is likely not focused enough. The real function of this quote is, however, is to provide a quote from the post that you can use to market the post on social media. Highlight the quote in the formatting, and you’ll find that not only will it draw readers, it will also be easy for readers to share on their own social media pages.

Click to tweet: Your blog should both educate and motivate!

5. Keep it gate-free.

While your aim is to collect email addresses for your newsletter or marketing emails (and ultimately, to convert page views into customers or clients), most people find that free content does far better for converting page views into customers and clients than does gated content. How, then, do you collect those email addresses that you need? By integrating subscription widgets right into the post. The idea is this: if someone finds your blog useful or interesting, they will be more than willing to provide their email address, so that they can stay on top of your updates.

6. Make it interactive.

An interactive blog post is going to not only encourage more readers to share the webpage, but also offer something unique into the blogosphere, instead of just yet another post. Create something new and different, something useful—a real resource. For example, if your blog is related to the dental industry, you could create an interactive timeline or a orthodontist directory.

If you want to create a timeline, when the visitor clicks on their age (or some other factor), an info box opens that tells them how to best care for their teeth at that age or what kind of dental issues they are most likely to encounter. Chances are, the page visitor will click through all of the options and share the neat widget with their friends via social media.

7. Read a lot of blogs—not just inside your industry.

While it is vitally important that you stay on top of what is being talked about in your own industry, a blog outside of your industry is just as likely to spark a useful idea as one inside the industry. Find blogs that do things a little differently, that build their own infographics, that have great conversions, that do not just put out content.

Seeing what works for others is a great way to figure out what is going to work for you. While it’s always important to never copy what another blog is doing, inspiration can be drawn from all over the blogosphere. When you are running dry on ideas or having a bad-writing day, take some time to go through recent posts on your favorite blogs, both within and without your industry, see what is being talked about, but also how it is being talked about.

 


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