How to Start a Doctor Blog

Doctors are in the business of helping people. Blogs are in the business of helping people. Doctor Blogs are clearly a needed union. With help being the common bond, Rule #1 should be to provide your audience with relevant and useful information. Beyond that simple maxim here are some questions to ponder before you launch your Doctor Blog:

·         Workload. How much time do you have to dedicate to your doctor blog? Do you have time to write it yourself or will you need to pay a professional copywriter?

·         Tone. Do you want to have a clinical information first approach? Or do you want to let your personality show? The answer to this question may be heavily influenced by the answer to question one.

·         Specialization. If you are a specialist how deeply to you want to get into specifics? You want to be able to provide relevant information, but you don’t want to alienate potential readers either. Set your boundaries carefully!

·         Fringe Topics. Medicine-adjacent topics such as nutrition and health & fitness are big traffic drivers, but will they enhance your blog or water down its core focus?

·         Sensitive Subjects. Internet users are not shy about posting their opinions. If you discuss issues in the healthcare system you will likely generate a lot of response, but is that the kind of interaction you want with your audience?

·         Getting Personal. Patients often love seeing a softer, personal side of their M.D. But, the internet isn’t the office so you will have to decide if it’s better to reveal information about the man behind the posts or to stay anonymous. 

·         Traditional or Cutting-Edge? Do you want to give tested and trusted advice or do you want to use the blog to venture into speculative territory you wouldn’t consider well-vetted enough for the office?

Consistency and social media is very import when building a loyal repeat audience. Give the questions and suggestions above careful consideration. And good luck!