Corporates, chains and competition.
With the background of sales pressures, there is a great need for eye care professionals who can listen well, make patients feel at ease, perform a thorough eye examination and explain their results in an easy-to-understand manner.
Some people already know you and trust you. Others haven’t met you yet. Wouldn’t it be great to drive these people to your business?
A blog is a great way to reach out to your community. It creates a home-base which you control and own.
Why should you start a blog?
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To raise your practices’ visibility
- Searches Online– Many people prefer to Google for local optometrists, rather than open the Yellow Pages. They unlock their smartphone or tablet and search for “optometrist melbourne”. Studies show that over 90% of people don’t click a link past the first page. If you’re on page two or beyond, then you’re invisible.
- Content is King– You can show Google your expertise as an optometrist by regularly posting to your optometry blog. As you create valuable, readable articles, Google starts to lift your position in the search rankings.
- Home Advantage– As an independent, you have an advantage over corporate stores. There are hundreds of store locations to try to rank with Google. If you can show Google that you provide more useful (and unique) information, then you are more likely to rank ahead of corporates, and have more patients find you first. [On a side note, I’ve seen the usefulness of blog articles to boost rankings on Google. Just by writing blogs, one of the sites that I’ve helped has grown to having 5 keywords in the top 10 search rankings. And no paid Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)- just good content!]
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To build trust with prospective customers.
- First Impressions Count– New patients typically form an impression of you within seconds of meeting you, shaking your hand and entering the consult room. Your appearance, manner and facial expressions give them cues as to the sort of person that you are. Trust begins to build as they feel listened to and made to feel comfortable. Take the same new patient who has found a useful article on your website. They meet you for the first time, but have already formed trust in you.
- Posting regular, helpful updates is a great way to help grow trust with your patients, both before a consultation and the start of the next appointment.
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To improve your communication skills.
- Clear explanations– As Optometrists, we depend on communicating well with our patients. Through researching article ideas and beginning to write, we learn to listen better and explain concepts better, with fewer words.
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To create a repository for your best thinking.
- Write it down– Great ideas often pop into your mind and you you make a mental note to remember them. If you’re serious about a good idea, you might scribble it on your notepad next to your office phone. At the end of the day, you’ve returned each of the missed calls from patients and reps, so you throw the note away just like other bits of paper that you get handed throughout the day.
- Instead, imagine having a library of ideas online. All backed up and synced to your devices. Programs like Evernote make this easy. When you have time to write, you can develop these ideas. Writing a blog allows you to have an online repository of cohesive ideas.
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To share your Practices’ Mission
- Inspire your patients– All of us thrive on hope for a better tomorrow. Optometry has an important role in providing this hope to patients. With Ocular Therapeutics, Optometrists can relieve pain and photophobia. This allows patients to get back to normal life, work and sport. Referring a patient for Cataract Surgery can improve patient’s quality of life and reduce the risk of depression. These important life changes need to be told to people in your community. The best way is through blogging.
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To gather feedback from your patients
- Sharing on social media– Blog articles are helpful as a starting place for discussion and sharing. It is easy to post valuable content to your blog and then have it automatically post to Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google Plus. You can even make a simple graphic and post it to Instagram or Snapchat. Having read your article, patients can offer feedback on topics that resonate with them.
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To provide thought leadership to the optical industry
- More than local influence– writing a blog shows your authority on a topic. Perhaps it may be about Keratoconus and your skill in Advanced RGP contact lens fitting. Maybe Acquired Brain Injuries and the benefit of Vision Therapy. Or the role of Lipiflow and Dry Eye. Blog articles show other optometrists that you are at the cutting edge of new technologies. This builds confidence that they can ask questions to you or refer patients for your management.
Summary
Blogging helps grow you, your practice and your authority in the wider community. It is also a great way to grow your visibility online. This helps your community and increases your revenue. Patients are more likely to trust your recommendations. And perhaps more likely to thank you for helping them thrive.
Question
What are the best blogs or articles that you’ve seen online so far?
