Why Health Professionals Should Have a Blog, and How to Get Started With Yours

Every website seems to have a blog these days. REI, Harvard Medical School, and even the home appliance company Whirlpool have a blog. As a health professional, you’ve probably come across them in your industry, too.

Maybe you’ve seen enough to ask:

“Why do I need a blog?”

There are a few strong reasons to have a blog, even if you’re a one-person business. I’ll get into them below:

1. It showcases your personality

Having a blog shows that you’re a real person with your own thoughts and feelings. It gives your business a persona. People choose to work with people they like. If they enjoy your blog content, they’re more likely to hire you. If you want some ideas on what to blog about to show your personality, here’s how:

• Talk about a place you traveled to recently, and how it applies to your profession. As a health coach, you can talk about how you maintained some good habits while still allowing yourself to indulge a little.

• Share your opinion on a trend or concept in your profession. For me, that might be the keto diet or fitness influencers.

• Open up about struggles you’ve had that relate to the work you do. I have ADHD, so it’s hard for me to focus on my habits. I have lots of blog posts on how I manage my symptoms.

• Show what you love about your job. Your clients will appreciate knowing what you’re passionate about.

2. It provides more resources for your clients

People appreciate it when they can get extra help. Maybe you have helpful tips and tricks on how to stick with habits or some easy recipes for busy weeknights. These are excellent topics for your blog! Your clients will be grateful to have these tools outside of your coaching sessions.

3. It creates a community

You can meet other professionals through your blog! You can also create a space through comment sections where your clients can interact with each other. Having social support while making life changes is such an important factor for success.

A blog gives your clients space to connect with each other.

4. It builds credibility and trust

Your writing is a good way to show that you know what you’re doing. You can prove that you’re up to date with industry standards, news, and information by creating relevant blog posts. I like to review the information I learn through my continuing education courses in my blog posts. I feel it also makes the information I learn through my certifications accessible to the general public. One of my values is creating accessible health information. I do my best to make this visible through my blog.

5. It helps people find you

This is the big one: Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Have you ever searched for a recipe and had to scroll all the way through a blogger’s life story to learn how to make potato salad? Search Engine Optimization is why. SEO is what allows blogs to show up in Google searches. To make sure your website ranks well in the search results, you’ll need to

• Include certain keywords

• Have a high word count (at least 1000 words!)

• Craft a meaningful title to pull in readers

I’ll write a blog post on this at some point!

6. It brings in more clients and more revenue

The reason why SEO is important is that with more people finding your website through your blog, you’ll find more clients. The more people visit your blog, the more likely they are to work with you. Include a call to action in your blog post to help encourage your visitors to work with you. A call to action might be:

• A link to connect with you on social media

• A place to sign up for your email newsletter

• Asking readers to share their thoughts in a comment

• Encouraging them to book a coaching session with you

(You’ll see one at the end of this blog post.)

What does it take to start a blog?

It’s important to discuss the realities of running a blog, though. There are some things to keep in mind:

1. It takes some skill

Especially if writing isn’t your favorite thing to do, writing blog posts can be tough. And, if you want to get your blog posts to rank well on Google, you’ll need to learn SEO. Blending writing quality and an approachable writing style is not easy. I still have to work on it every time I write a blog post.

2. You’ll need patience

Successful blogs can take months or even years to gain traction. If you want to create money through your blog posts, that can take even longer.

3. Consistency is key

You’ll need to set aside regular time to create blog post ideas, write the post, and then publish it on your website. However, it’s important to forgive yourself if you miss some post deadlines here and there. In order to help yourself out, try to have a few backlogged posts that you can schedule to post ahead of time.

Blog writing is a skill. Like any other skill, it requires practice and consistency.

Now that we’ve covered the whys and the whats,

Here’s how you can get started:

1. Choose a website

There are some free platforms available, but I highly recommend having your own website with its unique URL. I use SquareSpace, but do some digging to find a service that suits you. Having your own website means you have a place for:

• Your blog, of course!

• Who you are and what you do

• Your contact information

• The services you offer

• Testimonials

• Anything else you’d want your clients to know about you

2. Gather some ideas

What do you want to write about? What information would be helpful for your clients? What are other people in your industry talking about, and what’s trending right now? Create a brainstorming sheet and save these ideas for future posts.

3. Start small

When you’re first starting your blog, it may be tempting to jump right in and publish several posts in one week. Instead, figure out how much time it takes you to write one post, and then figure out how much time you have to dedicate to writing. Set small goals, and increase your posts over time.

Resist the urge to upload several posts at once! Set small goals for your blog based on how much time you have to write.

4. Create a schedule

You’ll want to plan your posts ahead of time. I have my next month’s blog post written at least a month before its due date. This ensures that I’m never behind, and I always have a post ready to go. If you have some extra time or motivation, you can write some extra posts to create a backlog for periods when you’re busy.

5. Dedicate time every week to writing

As I mentioned above, writing is a skill you’ll need to grow. Building the habit of writing at least every week will help you sharpen it. This will also help you stay on top of your writing schedule, making sure you post your blogs on time.

Blog writing can be overwhelming if you’ve never done it, and it does take a while to learn how to do it well. However, if you’d like the benefits of having a blog but don’t want to write the blog posts yourself, that’s what I’m here for. Feel free to get in touch and we’ll work together to get your blog off the ground!