writing a medical blog

Doctor by day … blogger by night? You bet it’s a thing. In 2020, 90 percent of businesses out there are blogging because it’s the single biggest thing you can do to improve your visibility in the search engine. In fact, if you don’t have a blog on your site, you’re all but invisible online. However, as a medical professional, you can’t just fill your blog with all manner of random pieces of content and expect to win at content marketing. You need medical blog content from an expert medical writer who actually knows what they’re talking about. Finding good medical blog writers can be tricky, so here are a few insights on what goes into writing medical blogs and what are the best practices around writing a medical blog. By the time you’re through, you’ll know exactly what to do – and what skills to look for in a candidate when you go to hire a writer. Let’s go! [bctt tweet=”Doctor by day… blogger by night? ‍⚕️ You bet. Learn what goes into writing medical blogs, best practices, and how to find good medical blog writers via @juliaemccoy” username=”ExpWriters”] Why Medical Professionals Need to Blog If you’ve started a medical practice, a blog probably isn’t at the top of your list. Yet, it’s a powerful tool to grow your practice and reputation. Starting a medical blog helps you: Increase visibility. According to SEO Tribunal, companies and brands with a blog generate 97 percent more traffic than those without one. More eyeballs mean more potential patients. Answer common questions. Are there questions your patients seem to consistently ask? Save everyone’s time by crafting thoughtful content that answers these questions. Connect with your current (and potential) patients. Blogs offer one more way for you to connect with your community. Whether you’re discussing relevant events or talking about health issues that impact your patient base, your readers can connect with you by interacting with your blog. Become a reputable source of credible information. Way back in 2013, Pew Research found that some 77 percent of people started their search for health information online. That’s still true today, as the rush to correct pandemic misinformation in 2020 has shown. Writing a medical blog allows you to meet patients where they are – online and looking for information you can provide. Clear, Concise, Credible: The Medical Blog Writer’s Eternal Struggle Medical blog writing is a skill in its own right. Unlike other industries, you aren’t simply writing to entertain. People turn to medical blogs for information that will have a direct impact on their lives. That raises the bar quite a bit regarding the quality of what you publish. No matter what your specialty, medical blog content must be: 1. Clear: Because There’s Enough Confusion Out There Do you know what sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia is? (Try saying that five times fast, heh.) It’s characterized by the acute onset of cephalgia resulting from referred pain when the trigeminal nerve is triggered. Ouch! I’ll bet you a whole penny you’ve never heard of that condition … and another penny that you’ve experienced it. It’s called brain freeze. But that wasn’t clear at all, was it? With medical blog writing, it’s super easy to get carried away with technical jargon or complex explanations, especially when you’re a professional who already knows what these words mean. However, doing this reduces the clarity of your writing. That’s a problem because unclear content: Inspires panic. Which sounds more frightening: sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia or brain freeze? May prevent or delay someone from seeking medical attention. Good medical blog writers know when to make it clear that readers should seek prompt medical attention. Undermines your professional authority. Through your blog, you’ll demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about – so make sure you’re clear! Bad advice abounds. Medical blog writers must be a light in the dark. Source: XKCD [bctt tweet=”Medical blog writers need to take care ❤: Unclear content or technical jargon can 1️⃣ Inspire panic 2️⃣ May prevent or delay someone from seeking medical attention 3️⃣ Undermine your professional authority. Learn more:” username=”ExpWriters”] 2. Concise: Because People Want Answers, Not Science Lectures How many times have you gone searching for answers, only to spend several minutes scrolling three-quarters of the way down a page for a simple answer to a question that you still couldn’t find because it was buried in a wall of text? (If you’ve done that more than once or twice, you’re a rarity. Most people spend 15 seconds or less on a page before they bounce.) Think about how much more annoying that is when you’re looking for answers to a potentially serious medical problem. Be concise. Answer the question upfront, then go into detail further down the page. 3. Credible: Because It’s Your Money or Your Life 2020 superbly illustrated the prevalence of confusing and inaccurate information. From misinformation about how to wear masks to reports of deaths from people following bad advice, unclear or confusing advice isn’t just unhelpful … it’s dangerous. That’s why credibility matters, and why Google has special quality requirements for medical blogs, legal advice, financial articles, and similar topics that may impact a person’s health, happiness, or financial stability. In Google’s Guidelines, Section 2.3 talks about “Your Money or Your Life Pages” and the very high quality score they must achieve to rank well in the search engine. In Section 3, you can read about exactly the metrics Google’s evaluators use to rank the quality of sites. They are: High E-A-T. E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness. Those are three major metrics that Google uses to determine the overall quality of a site. Positive site reputation. Evaluators are trained to look through your – or your practice’s – reputation online. They’ll use things like Yelp reviews, industry news, and more. The amount of “MC.” MC stands for main content, and they expect it to be satisfying to the reader – I.E., comprehensive enough that questions and curiosity are answered. An … Read more