1.
Blogging for Healthcare Providers:
The Ultimate How-to Guide

2.
Why Should I
Be Blogging?
● Businesses with blogs get 55% more
traffic on average
● Businesses that blog are 4x more likely
to be found on the web
● Businesses who prioritize blogging
experience a 13X increase in ROI
* Metrics courtesy of Hubspot
Blogging with fresh content can increase SEO,
attract new patients, and engage your existing
ones for more recare visits.

3.
Increase Your
Search Ranking
Google and other search engines love
blogging because it can provide:
● Fresh, relevant content.
● Keyword targeting.
● Increased pages and a larger site.
● Increased backlinks.

4.
Attract New
Potential Patients
● 71% of consumers start their search for
healthcare information online.1
● Patients might not be ready to find a
healthcare provider, but chances are
they’ve looked for information about a
health issue.
● When they do, they could come across
your blog and when they’re ready,
you’re top of mind.
1. Rock Health: Digital Health Consumer Adoption Survey 2015.
https://rockhealth.com/reports/digital-health-consumer-adoption-2015/

5.
Engage Patients Along Their Journey
• Educate and increase awareness about
symptoms
• Help patients understand the solutions
• Give them a way to solve the problem
Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Action

6.
Communicate
the Right Services
● What services do you want to be
known for?
● Generate qualified search traffic by
writing about services you offer,
rather than less qualified leads
responding to generalized content.

7.
Look for Keyword Opportunities
Find out where there might be low competition, but a likely conversion.
[eyes]
[eye pain]
[cornea transplant doctor]
Number of Keywords
Searchvolume|cost
More ——————Competition——————Less

8.
Respond to Local Demand
What are people in your location looking for? For
instance, people in Alaska are having different
health issues and needs than, say, Florida.
Possible examples (we’re surmising here…)
● SculpSure is popular in Los Angeles, with
multiple billboards advertising the service.
● Podiatry is popular in New York City, where
people spend much of their time walking.
● Athletic areas like Austin, TX are more
popular among orthopaedic surgeons.

9.
Now...How to Blog!
● Be committed. Post regularly and consistently.
● Create an editorial calendar. After you brainstorm topics, fill in an editorial calendar
with article formats and titles. Editorial calendars can be as simple as a calendar with
post-its, an Excel spreadsheet, or a calendar software.

10.
Pick a Targeted Topic
● Your response to relevant medical
issues in the news.
● What questions am I frequently asked?
● What are some products I can review?
● Roundup of FAQs
● Roundup of articles that your patients
would find interesting.

11.
Suggested Formats
● Listicle
● FAQ
● How-to
● Personal essay
● Explaining health care issues in the news
Repurpose topics by using different formats.
For instance, a list post about ‘When You Should Consider Gastric Bypass Surgery’ could
become:
● FAQs: ‘What People Want to Know About Gastric Bypass Surgery’
● A how-to article: ‘How to Choose the Gastric Bypass Surgeon for You’
● Personal essay or op-ed: ‘Why I Love Seeing My Clients Get Their Lives Back After
Gastric Bypass Surgery’
○

12.
Find Your Blog Voice: Speak to the Masses
• Strive for readability for the average
consumer.
• Make it easy to scan and digestible.
• Be yourself!
Newspapers 11th grade level
WebMD/Mayo Clinic 10th grade level
PP Content 9th grade level
Best selling authors 7-8th grade level
NIH recommendation for health
content
6th grade level
Ernest Hemingway 4th grade level

13.
Avoid Clickbait Titles
● Clear
● Factual
● Intuitive

14.
Structure to Perform
● Formatting basics
○ Title tags
○ Meta descriptions
● Content
○ Header tags
○ Answer questions

15.
Structure to Perform
● Word count
○ Ask if you’ve covered:
■ Description
■ Context/history
■ Common questions
■ Pitfalls to avoid
■ Actionable tips
● Keyword density
○ Debate over ideal %
○ Ensure content sounds relatively
natural and avoid stuffing

16.
Update to Optimize
● Expand on high-performing topics.
● Narrow the focus
● Balance topics. Aim for 80% of content focused
on patients, 20% about the business.
● Lead with visuals.
● Be consistent. Add new content with blogs that
are:
○ Topical
○ Timely (Seasonal, news driven)
○ Local (Link to relevant
events/resources/businesses in the area)
○ Personal (Provider expertise)
○ Stand out

17.
Case Study:
Bluepoint Medical Associates
Since adding an active blog (with
PatientPop’s Grow Package) they’ve seen:
● 207% Increase in total appointments
● 186% Increase in new patients
● 21% Increase in SEO visitors
● 39% Increase in key phrases ranking in
top 5 positions on Google