Gone are the days when just word of mouth brought new patients to your clinic or a wonderful window display. Podiatrists now need to throw the net further afield. Building an internet presence is a great way to do this, but having a shiny new website won’t register with the outside world unless it is nurtured. It needs to be regularly tweaked to get it higher up the Google rankings. One of the great ways to do this is to blog; “a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style”.
When I first started blogging I didn’t know where to start. What to write about, in what style and how long should it be? Being no academic or technical geek; did I process the right tools required to blog? Yes, I did! I was connected to the internet and had Microsoft Word, spellcheck with Google to get me started. Primarily the main asset I had was my professional experience and knowledge. An experienced podiatrist should know a thing or two!
Do I need a special blog app?
Blogs are created and published on platforms which are online websites. Mine is already built into the management system of my main business website and is Word Press which is considered to be one of the most user-friendly platforms for blogging. Ask your website designer to build you one in to your existing website or build an independent site. Consider how often you are likely to blog to make a savvy choice. Here is a great link: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-choose-the-best-blogging-platform/
What should a blog be?
The first thing to do is look at other people’s blogs. Spend a little bit of time doing your research to understand what constitutes a blog. Blogs generally should be about 300-500 words. This isn’t a lot of text. My blogs constantly need trimming with much ending up on the cutting room floor, but there is a fine line between being too short or long. Content does matter and how they flow.
So, what should you write about? How do you come up with interesting relevant material? Who are you trying to engage with; your patients, your peers or both? An easy way to start is to talk about what clinical treatments you offer to promote your services. Blogging is good cheap marketing.
Break down your treatments into bite size subjects e.g. verrucae or fungal nails. You do not need to get too technical, but keep it succinct and accurate. Here are a few suggestions for blogs:
- Interesting clinical cases
- Discussing an item seen or read
- Podiatric conditions e.g. heel pain
- Clinical updates/news
- New products or innovations
- Questions you feel need answering
Keep your antennae tuned in and subject matter can always be found to bounce a blog off. Don’t feel it has to be a work of academic brilliance, worrying about peer reviews. If you get overly concerned about negative comments, then you will never press ‘publish’. Don’t become your worst critic. Don’t be bothered if someone else has blogged first on your topic? Their blog has probably already dropped off the face of the Earth. Your blog will be current and relevant. Remember it is your words which will help to promote your website ranking and you.
Ready to go! Do your homework first
Research your chosen subject. Ensure main points and facts are right. You will often be very surprised to find very few or if none are written on your chosen subject. I recently blogged about dermatophytomas and fungal biofilms. I found my ‘bounce-off material in Podiatry Today, October 2017. Nothing found in UK blogs. This highlights by blogging you could be helping to enlighten not just your patients, but other podiatrists. It is great CPD. Blogging is a great way to inform and be informed.
Visuals
Interesting blog should include visuals to grab attention and engagement. There are plenty of free images to download and use, but your own images do have more value. Have your mobile phone always on stand-by to snap interesting images or record videos. Ask permission to share patient images.
Links and references
Links and references are a good way to expand your blog. Remember you are not writing an essay. If people want to learn more, you can direct them on. Adding links helps to raise your Google ranking. Often when composing a blog, I copy text from other sites as part of my initial research into a subject. I paste copied material to the bottom of my page, including links and references. I can then if required cut and paste bit and pieces into my writing. Be mindful of plagiarism. Having a good thesaurus to hand really helps. Google needs to see it is your own composition.
Sharing
Once you have proudly written and published your blog, exploit it. Get it out there onto as many social media platforms as possible e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+. A link is better than directly copying your own blog somewhere else. Careful not to plagiarise yourself. Google is looking for new material. If you re-blog it anywhere else, change the content around a little, refresh it, add a new picture.
Who is your target audience?
It is important to consider your target audience. Who you want your blog to be seen by; the public or professionals? Do you share it on a social media platform or a professional one e.g. Linkedin? A blog which is highly technical, full of medical terms could switch ‘Joe Blogs’ off.
Final checks
Finally, once you have composed your blog, you must critique it. Delete unnecessary words. Shorten sentences to be more succinct. Divide your blog up into short paragraphs. Shorten sections into bullet points or divide content by subheadings. Use word counter to help with your editing process. Currently at this point my blog is 991 words! I have just checked, but this is an important blog to get you blogging, so a lot to be conveyed.
Keep motivated, don’t lose heart
When writing a blog it is too easy to become demotivated and disheartened when you feel nobody will want to read it or has read it! I have often felt this way, but keep ‘plugging’ on. It then gets easier to write and find a style which suits. Time used becomes less. The experts say it should take no more than 30 – 60 minutes to write a blog. This surely depends on subject written. I can take a lot longer.
Try and blog a couple of times per month time permitted. Soon you will find people are picking up on you and following. Word Press will alert me to when people leave a comment. You can choose to accept, spam, delete and comment. I always get a buzz when people leave a positive comment, it is even better when out of the blue you get emailed to say you have been awarded no: 1 position in Feedspot’s Top 10 UK Podiatry Blogs.
I am nothing special, but just a podiatrist who wants to explore, discuss on various podiatry related topics and inform. If I can do it, you can too. Don’t feel you just need to stick to all things feet. I recently wrote a blog on vitamin D and gut dysbiosis which I felt was an important and a relative subject. Good gut health equals less aches and pains for all concerned.
What extra value can you get from blogging?
I use my blogs as educational material for my patients either on my website or printed off as clinical handouts. Patients are impressed you go the extra mile to write and it demonstrates you know your ‘stuff’. I get so many new patient enquiries because of my blogs. Blogging gives you the chance to push the boundaries of podiatry to demonstrate we do a lot more than just feet and are very knowledgeable on many related subjects.
Footnote
The final wordcount for this blog is 1,344. Artistic license of a mere1,000 words! Hope you all did make it to this point? Now get blogging…….
https://blog.feedspot.com/podiatry_blogs/
