Do you have a blog on your website? You do? Great! Wait, what was that? You have one but no one is maintaining it? No big deal, right?

Well … no. Let me clarify. We talk about Google a lot here at ProDental Multimedia. Maybe you’ve heard us say, “Google likes this”, or “Google doesn’t like that”. You’ve probably even someone say: “it’s Google’s sandbox, and we’re all just playing in it.” We spend a lot of time discussing and monitoring how Google works because it far outranks any other search tool. Chances are, your patients and prospects are searching for their medical needs using this behemoth of a search engine so we’ve learned a lot, and there’s one thing we know for sure: Google loves a blog. If you aren’t using a blog, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity not only to personify your practice, but to boost your rankings and online visibility.

Here are five reasons why a blog is yet another weapon in your practice’s arsenal ready to boost rankings and push past that pesky competitor:

Reason #1: Your Content Just Might need Some Polish

Is your website just how you want it? Have you outlined the ins-and-outs of each procedure, perfected your dentist’s bios and the verbiage of your technology page is just wonderful? Well, as good as it feels to have your web content just right, if you have stopped updating your pages, Google may see this as you neglecting your site.

We know that’s not the case so you have to show them otherwise. That is where a blog comes in. Google loves to see fresh content on websites, and blogs are an easy way to show Google that you are making updates. By posting the occasional blog to your site (we recommend about two per month), search engines see that you are maintaining your website and keeping it current. Even just one blog page goes a long way! Content is king to search engines and blogging could be the small factor that your competitors aren’t paying mind to.

Reason #2: A Keyword That Just Isn’t Ranking Well

Rankings change all the time. Did a term you care about just drop a few spots? Search engine algorithm changes, what your competitors are doing, and what you are doing are just some examples of what can make a ranking change. If your competitor starts pushing to rank for Invisalign, that term may go up for them… and when someone goes up, someone else has to go down. This is where blogs can help. If you want to push your ranking back up, blogs are a great resource to write keyword rich content that can begin to increase (or further solidify) your website’s ranking position. A few articles about the benefits of Invisalign, Invisalign features, or testimonials from patients whose lives (or teeth) have changed thanks to Invisalign treatment, and you just may see blogs making a difference in your website’s visibility. As simple as it sounds: Blogs are the keyword tool you’ve been hoping for.

Reason #3: Social Media is Trending.

Another thing Google loves? Algorithms. But pertinent to this Blog: Social media. The more social signals coming to your website from sites like Facebook or Twitter, the better your ranking potential. With ProDental’s social media packages, you can automatically feed your blog articles to Facebook or Twitter. This vastly increases the visibility of your posts, catching more readers, and bringing increased traffic to your website (and of course, traffic to your website is great for rankings). If you have a well-designed website, a funny thing happens once people are directed to your site: they start looking around. Someone may see an interesting blog article on Facebook, and next thing they know, they’re reading about your services and maybe even thinking about booking an appointment! The capacity to feed your blogs to social media vastly increases your chances of getting prospective patients right where you want them: on your website.

Reason #4: You’ve Got Personality, and Patients Like That.

I bet your practice is quirky, your employees are friendly, and what’s more, outside the office, you have lives. You aren’t just members of the community, you are Active Members of the Community. It was you that held that huge charity, wasn’t it? I heard people loved that. So why wouldn’t you share that!? Let the world know what you and your co-workers are up to beyond your dental prowess. Blogs are a method of communication that give you control over how you are perceived. If you are able to keep readers engaged, you are keeping readers on your site. This helps your rankings by increasing the amount of time that people spend on your website. Page view duration is yet another factor that search engines take very seriously.
Everyone loves a business with personality, a story, a likable staff and community involvement. A blog is a perfect way to brand your practice and show the community that it’s not just “business as usual” at your location. Post pictures of a baby shower, share your involvement with charity, celebrate your victories in the community! And where better to showcase this?

I’m hoping you said: by posting a blog.

Reason #5: We Can Do the Work for You.

Did you know that ProDental is the leader in internet marketing and web design? You’re at #5 in this blog article so I hope we haven’t been too subtle regarding this point. This is what we do. Our coders will make your blog custom, coding and designing it to match and fit with the look and feel of your website. Our blog system even provides you tools to ensure that you’re tagging the correct terms you want the article to help rank for. Once the blog module is live on your site, we give you options. It’s your property, so of course we can show you how to use the system and post your own blog articles at your discretion.  That said, we also understand that at a lot of dental practices, it’s far too busy to even think about your blog, let alone write a full-fletched blog article. Thankfully, we have Social Media experts that can do the work for you. Our social media plans allow you to decide; we can do scheduled postings twice a month (or more) in some packages, or we can post “per diem” articles at your discretion.

In Conclusion: Just like getting folks to floss regularly, it takes persistence. There is no one thing that works for solidifying your practice at the top of ranking results, but we’ve found that getting there takes a multi-pronged approach. While blogs can’t do everything, in our experience at ProDental Multimedia we’ve found them to be an approachable tool to help with SEO and a great method of boosting engagement. Have questions? Call us. It’s time to talk about blogging.