As dental blog writers, we often get asked by our clients how many posts they need per week to remain competitive.
In blogging circles, it’s been said that more is definitely more. In fact, many pros will tell you that you need to blog every day! So is that really the case?
The issue is that if you do follow the advice and look to blog every single day…
(A) It’s so frickin hard to maintain and….
(B) If you’re outsourcing to dental blog writers like me, the amount of posts needed means that it probably won’t come cheap.
As a result, many dental practices simply hit the panic button and do neither!
Now I’m going to tell you that you DON’T need to blog every day. In fact, you don’t even need to post every other day. On the whole, posting once or twice a week works better.
It works better because, if you’re doing the writing yourself, you have more time to devote to writing quality, meaningful posts – A dentist with time on their hands…whatever next!
More importantly, if you are outsourcing – and I strongly recommend that you should…it won’t end up costing you the equivalent of a small mortgage every single month.
However, before you dismiss daily blogging completely, it does have its advantages…
Routine
Some people need routine, In fact, some crave it. Yep, even dental blog writers!
So if you start off with all good intentions of posting, say twice a week, it can quickly end up as once a week and then once a month. So by posting every day, you not only get into a routine, but you also develop a strong writing habit.
SEO benefits
There is also a truckload of SEO benefits that come with building up a lot of pages on your practice website. The more pages you have, the more opportunities there are for a reader to find you in the search engines. Well, that’s the theory anyway
Of course…it isn’t always that simple, but you get the drift, right?
So if you do want to post every day – here are some key pointers to make things easier…
Keep your posts short and sweet. It’s far easier to write shorter posts of, say, 300 words on a daily basis than it is to write 2000 words.
Trust me, even experienced dental blog writers can’t sustain that sort of schedule. That’s just brutal!
Look to plan ahead so that you’re not producing sub-standard content when you’re in a rush. Have a running notepad full of ideas; don’t forget to write them down when inspiration strikes. I’ve been known to have ideas in the shower.
Come to think of it, that’s why I always get moaned at for spending too much time in the bathroom 🙂
Anway, I digress…
Look to make it easier by adding videos or links to other articles or relevant news stories you’ve seen. This shortens the process and lessens the burden.
Why Three, Two, Or One Post Per Week May Be Better For Dental Blog Writers
Over the past couple of years in the blogging world, there’s been a seismic shift from blogging every day to blogging just once or several times a week.
Why?
Because even 3 years ago, there weren’t so many blogs around. As a result, people couldn’t get enough of the content. Nowadays, with a wealth of dental blogs available, readers quickly experience overload.
Once this happens, then the only thing they’re going to do is to hit the unsubscribe button – Fast!
Instead, it may be better to post between one and three times a week. However, there’s a caveat…
It means that now you need to give the reader something of real value. After all, they’ve waited a week, so it wouldn’t be fair to simply throw up some quick text and a few links.
That’s like telling them you’re going to buy them a massive birthday present and just giving them the box!
Mean right?
Instead, blog posts of this nature need to address a specific problem, answer a question, or give a deep explanation of a particular procedure or treatment. As dental blog writers, this is something we’re highly experienced in.
Also, you may want to experiment with longer posts… Neil Patel is a prominent blogger in the digital marketing and social media space, and his posts are frequently 2000-3000 words in length, but boy, they pack a punch!
I’m not suggesting that your posts need to be this lengthy, but 1000 words or so is a good benchmark for a quality dental post.
Finally, focus on evergreen content so that each post written stays prominent for years to come.
Hint – As dental blog writers, we often find that the posts written for dentists explaining procedures and treatments in patient-friendly terms are the ones that get the most traffic.
Finding Your Perfect Dental Blogging Routine
The good news is that there really is no ‘one size fits all‘ approach to dental blogging. Believe it or not, one lengthy, high-quality post can be as influential – if not more so than 5 or six smaller posts – fact!
Therefore it might be better to write one of these per week than smaller daily posts. What’s more, if you’re outsourcing to a team of dental blog writers, you’ll save yourself some cash too.
Perhaps what’s more important than the frequency of blogging is to find a sweet spot that you or your budget will be able to stick to over time. What you don’t want to do is to start and then quit . Well… not anytime soon, anyway!
The reason?
Blogging is a long-term strategy. It isn’t a short-term, quick-fix solution. While you might not see the benefits of it now if you wait, say, six months or a year down the line, trust me, you will!
In fact, here’s a post I wrote a few months back on how long before you see real dental blogging results.
Don’t worry that your readers will get upset that you’ve changed your blogging frequency, or you only post on Monday and Friday when you used to post on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays!
The truth is that if the content is good enough, they won’t complain. In fact, they’ll positively embrace the changes.
Top dental blogging tip – If you’re still unsure, it might be an idea to give your readers a survey and find out whether they’d like fewer or more posts.
The bottom line is that blogging should never be a chore. If it isn’t working for you, then chances are it isn’t working for your readers either. Why not take a look at your blogging routine and see whether you need to make any changes?
Of course, if you really can’t face blogging or simply don’t have the time, then why not contact Dental Writers? We’re experienced dental blog writers who know how to write great copy, blogs and service pages for dental practices.
Want to talk?
Give me a shout on +34 605 45 73 42, or visit our website at www.dentalwriters.com to find out more.