You might not think writing for an orthodontic practice blog is much different than writing for anything else, but, when done right, it absolutely is. As modern-day readers, we are inherently trained to distrust companies of any kind, and breaking through that wall can be difficult for business blog writers. Our team at Ortho Marketing has come up with some crucial elements, from one blog team to another, that we will hope will make blogging for your practice a tad easier.
SELECT ORIGINAL TOPICS
This a great idea that will actually help the popularity of your practice’s blog posts. If everyone and their mother have written about the same thing, like “What is Invisalign?” and similar generic content, it’s unlikely your post will be found by the everyday searcher. If you are doing research on a potential topic and you find very little written about it, that’s the jackpot. Odds are, within orthdontia, there are people who want to know about it – and you can establish yourself as the authority. People Google specific questions about orthodontics all the time, and your blog post will be there to answer them.
CLEAR, CONCISE, CATCHY TITLE
Before we played around with it, the title of this post was “Some Number We Haven’t Decided Yet to Help People Blog Better About Orthodontic Practices…”. People lose interest in titles that drone on and on because they assume the meaty text of the post will be conducted the same way. In order to gain the short attention span of today’s searchers, you need to make it clear that your post will help them by:
- Including the searched keyword in the title – like, “Invisalign”, “Braces”, or “Orthodontist”, this is what will make Google like your post enough to suggest it to searchers
- Keeping the title short and sweet – this will ensure your message is established before searchers have time to scroll past
- If possible, making the title catchy – this is what compels the searcher to click, intrigued but what you have to say
WRITE FOR YOUR AUDIENCE
Who is your audience? For orthodontics, your key demographic is probably parents, specifically moms. Writing to the mindset and knowledge of your audience is imperative. If you can assume that most readers won’t know the technical jargon of orthodontics (which is often the case), then you need to take that into account as you write. Don’t overwhelm them with specific lingo, and if you choose to use a bit of orthodontia jargon, make sure it’s clear what you mean. This is different than dumbing it down. This is merely clarifying yourself for the sake of your readers that are less-educated on terms like malocclusions or orthognathic surgery. Your tone of voice has a lot to do with your audience, as well, but we’ll get into that in the next section.
ESTABLISH AN APPROPRIATE TONE OF VOICE
The tone of voice has a big impact on whether your readers trust your opinion on the topic at hand. Readers tend to distrust writing that is robotic, making it feel inauthentic. But they also tend to distrust writing that is too informal, sounding sloppy and uninformed. They key is to strike a balance between slightly informal, but still informative and educated. Pay attention to your desired demographic, and write to them.
BULLETS, NUMBERS, AND LISTS
When you clicked on this post, you probably scrolled a little, saw the numbered list a couple sections above, and went immediately to it. That’s because, in the effort of speeding things up, our eyes often gravitate to anything we feel can summarize the information in front of us. This is why bulleted or numbered lists are great for keeping readers on your page. They draw the reader in with a taste of the information you have for them, encouraging them to read the rest.
COMPELLING IMAGE
Images are key. The featured image (the one that pops up in blog feeds and at the top of the article) should be thought-provoking and relevant. Of course, the more the merrier, so add in other images, screenshots, data plots, gifs, videos, etc. throughout. People are drawn to and retain 65% more information when it is paired with visual content, so it goes without saying that including visual materials in your blogs is not only useful, but integral.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE THE WRITER:
If you know your orthodontic practice needs blog on your website (which it definitely should), but you don’t want to be the writer, then there are plenty of resources available to you. The first, and most important, is that Ortho Marketing has a full-service blog team. We create compelling, original content for your blog feed that draws more patients to your website. Our team knows the ins and outs of orthodontia AND content writing, which makes us the perfect people for writing your orthodontic practice blog.
Our team at Presentation Multimedia is always happy to answer questions and give tips about your orthodontic practice blog. If you have questions, or would like to discuss how we can write orthodontic practice blog content for you, don’t hesitate to contact Ortho Marketing today!
