It’s 2021. Why blog?

If you’re asking yourself: “Why blog?”, you’re not the only one.

There are several concrete benefits to having a blog for your health practice. Firstly, your blog is your owned “real estate” on the internet that you can fully control. Your blog is also your 24/7 marketing and sales machine to share some of your expertise and get found by new potential ideal clients and patients. Blogging is also part of your online digital presence to grow your email list and sell your products, programs, and services.

What *exactly* is a blog?

Your blog is the part of your website that’s updated regularly and provides excellent valuable content to market your business or practice. It’s more dynamic than your about, landing, or sales pages.

Your blog is the place where you attract people by showing your expertise, providing education, and giving your audience a free glimpse into how you can help them reach their health goals. It’s the place you regularly publish your recipes, lifestyle tips, stretches, etc. (Your unique process of helping people fully reach their goals are found in your paid products, programs, and services. Your free blog content gives them an introduction to you and your expertise and makes them want to share your content and sign up for your email newsletter.)

It’s also important to know that your blog doesn’t have to be written content. You can publish your videos (vlog), podcast episodes, infographics, etc. It doesn’t matter what format you provide your content in. Your blog is simply your regularly published free content that helps your audience find you and get to start liking and trusting you. The primary goal of your blog is to market your practice, which usually means enticing people to opt-into your email list.

There are lots of proven benefits of blogging, and I have my own personal reasons why I blog.

Let’s dive deeper into the question: “Why blog?”

Why blog? To have flexibility and control of your content

This is a side benefit to owning your url, website, and blog: you can control it!

Have you heard the saying not to build your house on rented land? That’s what it’s like if you create your online presence on social media, landing page software, or a marketing funnel program. You are not fully in control of what those software giants can (and often) do to your content. Sometimes by accident. With your URL, your blog is not going to be “shadowbanned” or lost in the algorithm update of your followers’ feeds. Your owned URL and website are yours to control.

Here are some examples of the full control you have with your owned blog content. If you want to:

• Blog more or less often, go ahead!
• Update an old post instead of creating something new from scratch, go ahead!
• Repurpose other content into a new blog post into a brand new one, go ahead!
• Mix up your formats and create a rant or review, go ahead!
• Add a promotion for your latest product, go ahead!
• Include affiliate links to products and services you love and recommend, go ahead!

You get the picture. When your content is on others’ websites you don’t have that flexibility. At all.

When your content is on others' websites you don't have much flexibility! At all! #Blogging #Guest #Blog Click To Tweet

Why blog? To show the world your expertise

The main reason why I highly recommend blogging is to show the world your expertise all in one location on the internet. I consider it like a curated collection of your personal intellectual property. Like an online business card. You don’t need a piece of paper with your picture and phone number, just your URL. With quality content on the internet, you can show people that you know what you’re talking about. Doing this helps people get to know you, like you, and trust you enough to sign up for your email list and even consider buying from you.

Here’s a bonus benefit. Having a blog is a great way to quickly answer questions that come your way. If you create blog posts to answer common questions you get from your audience, you can easily refer people to your blog post link so they can see your answer for themselves. Create this content asset once and share it many times.

In fact, your blog posts can become the foundation of your entire digital content strategy by using them to pull email and social media content out of.

And, while your audience is really your number one concern when it comes to your blog, think about your potential mentors, partners, and other opportunities. By having consistent high-quality content, you prove you’re an expert and are reliable and might be a great business partner!

I highly recommend blogging is to show the world your expertise all in one location on the internet. #WhyBlog #Blog #Expertise Click To Tweet

Why blog? To get found on search engines (e.g., Google)

You can have a website complete with a home page, about page, work with me page, sales pages, and a contact page; but, want to know how Google ranks your website? With regularly updated content.

According to Neil Patel:

“Google is much more concerned about a site’s internal pages than its homepage – because the information that’ll be useful to search users – blog posts, for example – is often not found on the homepage.”

If you think about that for a second, it makes total sense. Search engines are there to find information that users are searching for. Likely they’re searching for answers to their burning questions and solutions to their painful problems. Your blog is the perfect way to deliver that content to them . . . which isn’t likely to be on your home page.

Full disclosure: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a long-term game. It’s a commitment to developing your online presence, expertise, and audience. It’s putting in the effort now to reap long-term rewards (like getting free warm traffic with search engines that you can invite to join your email list of potential clients and patients, and even sell great products and services).

Two reasons I personally think Google kicks social media’s ass

1 – Free traffic. Once you’ve keyword-optimized your post, it will eventually bring in a steady free flow of traffic to that post. (Yes, free – no charge!). Once you put in the upfront investment to create kickass content, and it eventually ranks in search engines, it’s free from ongoing cost and time.

I don’t know about you but I LOVE maintenance-free stuff!

My fav reason is actually #2.

2 – The traffic that comes to you is already warm! The people who find your content are literally searching the web for answers to questions in your area of expertise. With social media I feel like I’m always trying to get in people’s faces, looking for their attention and interest in order to get traffic. Not so when it comes to search engines. This is what’s called inbound marketing (attracting potential clients to you).

I can’t tell you how much easier it is to book a discovery call or sell an inexpensive item to someone who found you because they were literally looking for your products, programs, and services. Potential clients email you out of the blue. You get invited to participate in events and contribute to publications. Without cold-calling or paying for ads. Why? Because your great blog content was findable.

Here are two reasons why I think SEO and Google kick social media's ass. #SEO #Google #Traffic Click To Tweet

Why blog? To invite your audience to take the next step

You have a health practice and you want to build it with ideal clients and patients. Using the power of content marketing by providing free, valuable, research-based health content to help people is a strategic business decision. Use your blog as your 24/7 marketing machine by ensuring that every single blog or vlog  post, or podcast episode invites your audience to take the next step. You must call them to take action using your CTA (call-to-action)

When someone is reading, watching, or listening to your valuable free content you have their attention. But when they leave, how will they know to come back? Or, what if they don’t want to leave, but instead want to try out your recommendations or even invest in one of your products, programs, and services?

This is why it’s so important to include a CTA in every blog post. The most common one is to invite your audience to access additional free content via email. In other words, to provide you with their email address so you can email them another valuable free piece of content.

It’s not that hard to maintain a good blog!

If you have to choose between quality and quantity, I highly recommend quality content – hand’s down! Publishing short “been there, done that” boring topics that appeal to general audiences that aren’t researched nor go into depth on a topic is so 1990s!

Publishing short boring topics that appeal to general audiences that aren't researched, nor go into depth on a topic is so 1990s! #Blog #Expert #Research Click To Tweet

Think about what would impress you when you find someone or look them up online. Dozens of posts on random topics, none of which give you any good information, nor show you what the heck this person is an expert in.

OR,

At least a few really good, well-researched, niche-specific posts that educate, entertain, and convince you that this person freaking rocks.

I know what I’d choose.

If you need a bit of inspo on what health & wellness topics to blog about, click here. And if you have ideas, but aren’t sure which one to choose first, click here.

Need content? Here are four places bloggers can get content.

 

Conclusion

Blogging is a GREAT way to show your expertise, help people to get to know you, like you, and trust you. And, control your content.

Are you hopping on the blogging bandwagon, or not?

P.S. Want help with your health blog? I’m your expert. 😉

 

Signing off and toasting: Here’s how blogging grows your health practice.

 

Over to you

What do you think? Are you ready to use your blog to show your expertise, get found in search engines, and have control of your content?

I’d love to know (in the comments below)!

 

Originally published November 2018; updated with even more awesomeness June 2021.