Ah, blogging—the modern method of communication. Shorter than a feature article and longer than a 140 character tweet, the blog (which hit it’s stride in 2006, when a new blog entered the blogosphere every second) is here to stay as both a business and personal marketing tool. According to Hat Trick Associates, as of 2010, there were about 450 million active English language blogs. So, if your voice isn’t one of them, it should be. After all, blogging is a great way to educate your community, give your practice personality, and promote your skills.
Why blog?
While it’s never a good idea to share individual patient data or patient-specific recommendations online, you can use your physical therapy blog to educate, inform, and market on a more general level. And you can do so by sharing best practices, providing enlightening anecdotes, highlighting your key differentiators and services, or including core-strengthening home exercise programs through images and videos. Here are just a few ways blogging can help you and your clinic:
- Add value through education. Don’t stop providing value when your patients walk out the door. Instead, supplement your regular therapy sessions with educational content through your blog (think health and prevention information as well as resources and exercises). That way, your patients can better maintain their functionality and prevent further injury.
- Solidify your expertise. Provide your patients with the information they’re searching for and you become the expert—the one they keep coming back to. Not only does this strengthen your position as their musculoskeletal expert, but it also keeps you top of mind. These days, patients have a lot of choices when it comes to their rehab therapist, so make sure you’re doing everything to keep them choosing you.
- Establish loyalty. As we touched on above, sharing your expertise through active blogging keeps your name top of mind. It also helps you establish a relationship with your patients (and prospective ones) outside of the clinic. This relationship in turn fosters loyalty, which means your prospective patients turn into patients and your patients start referring their friends.
How to get started?
Try out a blog platform, such as WordPress or Blogger. Both options are very user-friendly, fast, and cloud-based! Some folks even recommend just building your website within one of these blog platforms, making your blog your actual site. Just remember that while your website should remain pretty static, your blog can change as frequently as you want. You can add content daily, weekly, hourly; it’s all up to you—and it’s all about you. Blogs are representative of your voice; they’re casual, communicative, and welcoming. They’re also all about content—and search engines (think Google) love content. That means that hosting a blog can actually improve your search rankings and because your search rankings drive website traffic you’ll have more visitors and—if your content is good—more clients.
Gimme Some Tips
- Post regularly
- Tailor your content to your audience
- Follow other blogs (hint: WebPT’s blog, PT Think Tank, Physiospot, In Touch PT, ATI Physical Therapy, and Allan Besselink’s blog)
- Always respond to comments
- Use social media to help drive traffic
- Be creative
- Be polished (read: proof your writing)
Want even more tips? Check out blogging specialist Amy Lynn Andrew’s “15 Basic Blogging Dos and Don’ts.”
There are my recommendations. But what about you? Post in the comments below to share your experiences and best practices.
About the Author
Heidi Jannenga, PT, MPT, ATC/L
Heidi was a basketball athlete at the University of California, Davis. Following a knee injury and subsequent successful rehabilitation, Heidi developed a passion for physical therapy. She started her 16-year physical therapy career after graduating with her Masters from the Institute of Physical Therapy in St. Augustine, Florida.
In 2008, Heidi and her husband Brad launched WebPT, the leading web-based Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and comprehensive practice management service for physical therapists. As the company’s COO, Heidi is responsible for product development/management, billing services, and customer support.
She now resides in Phoenix with Brad and their daughter Ava.