What you get from a blog that you don’t get from a traditional dental website

Whoa, meta.

 

Whoa, meta.

Authenticity.

Your office website can say what everyone else’s website says. It can have the same photos and same “blog” posts as everyone else using your web guy has.

Or it can tell a story about why someone might want to be your patient. Your blog could give a glimpse at what it’s like to be a patient in your office.

I’ve met thousands of dentists over the years, and none of them were even close to the same. But you wouldn’t know it from their websites.

The “rules” of blogging

been there

been there

If you want to know the rules of blogging for dentists, you could do a lot worse than reading Dr. Jason Lipscomb’s post.

Probably the most important part of the entire article: “If you know you aren’t going to do anything with it, leave it out of your social media plan.”

“But my social media consultant tells me I have to have a blog!”

Here’s the simplest rule about whether you should have a blog. If you aren’t going to write it (or most of it), then don’t have one. Generic blog articles copied and pasted by your web guy just plain suck. Even if you’ve got great search engine results, if you have lame content on the blog a savvy potential customer is going to be able to tell that it’s canned copy. And you need to assume that everyone that gets to your site is a savvy potential customer.

Note: web comic taken from www.toothpastefordinner.com

 

why Google loves blogs

Google loves blogs. There’s no two ways about it.

Actually, Google loves websites that change a lot. And since blogs are websites that add new posts all the time…they change a lot. Therefore, Google loves blogs.

I’m a wet fingered dentist. I don’t pretend to know how Google selects what’s important. I can barely spell algorithm (?), much less understand how a search engine really works. I’m actually pretty skeptical of anyone who thinks they’ve got Google figured out. (can anyone say Demandforce?)

It turns out that the more you update your site, the more often Google has a chance to “crawl” the new material. My office website/blog routinely ranks pretty high in Google organic results. I have no special training in search engine optimization, although I do use a WordPress plug in called All in One SEO pack. But my (relatively) consistent posting over a few years has gotten me on the first page of Google listings in my area for quite a few search terms. I haven’t paid a consultant and I don’t have recurring costs to do it. What I do have to do is write blog posts.

Most dental websites are considered “static.” They may have great information and may be beautiful, but they don’t change much over time. Google can tell when a site isn’t changed often. These sites often suffer in organic search rankings because of their very “static-ness.”. A static dental site of the cookie cutter variety (my pet peeve…I’ll save the details for another post) has to resort to other tactics for Google ranking.

So, one good way to keep a good organic Google ranking or improve one that’s not so good is to have a blog. Blogs are a lot of work, but they’re totally worth it.

So what do you think? Could a blog help your website? Do you think I’m full of it? I’d love to hear your comments or feel free to email me at alan@thebloggingdentist.com.

 

A dental blog about blogging? For dentists?

No, seriously. That’s what this is.

If you happen to be reading this you’re actually reading the very first post of a new blog. So I’ll keep it short and sweet.

Blogs are one of the very easiest and best ways to spread ideas. Whether your idea is which candidate to elect, what dish soap to use or why  your dental office is the one to choose, a blog is one of the simplest and most cost effective ways to get your message out.

So, you’re asking, what makes me the expert? Well, I’ve maintained a blog as my only dental practice website for more than three years. I’ve learned a few things since I started…mostly the hard way. My real expertise comes from being an avid blog reader for the better part of a decade. I was reading blogs before I knew what blogs were.

So, what’s a blog? The word blog is short for “web log” is described on Wikipedia as “a personal journal published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete entries (“posts”) typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. Blogs are usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often are themed on a single subject. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.” It’s just a bunch of posts or articles with the latest entry first. That’s it.

So why am I so excited about blogs? You’ll have to stay tuned for that. More to come!