What is a blog?
Blogs are informal articles written with the purpose of showing thought leadership and expertise on a topic. They are a great way to generate fresh content on a website and can be great to share on social media channels.
Why write a blog?
The ultimate goal in creating blogs is to drive as much traffic to your website as possible through SEO (search engine optimization). An optimized blog post will contain “keywords” or phrases that are frequently searched for on Google. In orthodontics, a “keyword” or commonly searched question might be “can adults get braces?” or “what is the best age to begin orthodontic treatment?”
Blogging helps boost SEO quality by positioning your website as a relevant answer to these commonly asked questions. Fundamentally, when you create a blog post, this creates one more “indexed” page on your website, meaning it’s one more opportunity for you to show up on a Google SERP (search engine results’ page) and drive traffic to your website. Creating content regularly informs Google, that your website is actively updated and therefore should be checked frequently to see what new content has surfaced.
Once a blog has been posted on the website, we can promote it by sharing it on social media strengthening our reach and driving even more new website visitors to the OSI website.
How to write a blog
- Choose a topic; a commonly asked question that we get from the public.
- Choose your format- There are many popular blog formats but, here are four of the most common:
- The “How-To” Post
- The List-Based Post
- The “What Is” Post
- The Infographic Post
- Add permalinks where possible (eg. the phrase click here with back link to the OSI homepage/specialist register etc).
- Use the keyword in your title.5
- Ideal word-count- 700-1000 words
Examples of blog topics (please feel free to use some of these but remember, we can only post one version of each topic):
- The importance of choosing a registered specialist orthodontist
- What is an orthodontist?
- The difference between a registered specialist orthodontist and a dentist
- How much do braces cost?
- What is the best age to have orthodontic treatment?
- What if my child doesn’t qualify for HSE orthodontic treatment?
- The importance of retainers in orthodontic treatment.
Our colleagues in Australia are a prime example of a society who are doing it right.
In fact, a large portion of their website content is made up of blogs. See here
They regularly post new content and promote it via Facebook See here
Oftentimes, whilst working in practice, you may hear the same question from patients/parents over and over. This is a good indication that there is an information gap and it may be a good opportunity to create a blog based on said question.
How to submit a blog to us:
- Send an email to theresa@orthodontics.ie and let us know which blog topic you would like to work with. I will acknowledge your email and let you know if this topic is available.
- Type up your article following the above guidelines.
- Do not worry about too much about SEO or permalinks. We can take care of these. We just need factual content from you the Specialists.
- Email your article to theresa@orthodontics.ie
- Use subject: blog submission
- Include your name, practice name, and social media handles (if any).