Remember the famous scene from the movie “When Harry Met Sally” where Meg Ryan fakes an orgasm in a restaurant to prove a point to Billy Crystal about women sometimes faking an orgasm? You might be asking what the hell does this have to do in any way, shape or form about social media. Or you might be asking how old am I that I easily remember a movie from 1989.
I was recently honored to conduct the second part of a two-part webinar for the Optical Women’s Association (thank you ladies!) on SEO and SEM (Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing). As I was researching my presentation on Search Engine Marketing I wanted to talk about blogging and how important that can be for any website.
I found a number of great statistics on the subject and an even better quote which I put into the following slide.
While the quote is fun and even provocative, it’s very true. I have worked with a number of ECP’s who on the surface understand they should blog, but don’t know why, how, how often, etc. Let’s spend a few minutes answering some of those questions.
According to Hubspot, companies who blog:
- Average over 50% more visitors than companies who do not. It makes perfect sense. How often would you watch the same TV show? I do mean the same show…the episode is the same. The same characters, the same plot, the same ending? I would imagine after the 2nd or 3rd time, you would never return, no matter how well you liked the first episode. By the same token, if your website never changes, why would anyone ever want to return? Those you blog, are adding new and different content to their website, giving a reason for people to come back and for the search engines to come back as well.
- Those who blog more than 20 times a month see five times the traffic those who blog less than 4 times a month. That is a huge difference in traffic. Who among us couldn’t use 5 times more exposure, or better yet, 5 times more customers?
Blogging is all about engaging your customers and prospective customers. Having a blog and not using it is sort of like the teenage boy who carries around an old condom in his wallet. He is prepared, but to what end? You should have a blog and you should use your blog. What do you say? That is of course up to you. If you are a manufacturer, how about blogging about your line of eyewear? Pick a different style every post and talk about it. If you are a retailer or practice how about announcing a new line? Or perhaps that the new models of an existing line have just arrived. You will be telling your readers you carry X and letting the search engines know as well.
So, the lesson of all this? Enjoy the experience and have fun with your blog and pull that old writing condom from the back of your mind and start engaging with your patients and customers.
Daniel Feldman, is a co-founder to the Visionaries Group visionariesgroup.com (on Facebook) and CEO of dba Communications dbadesigns.com, (on Facebook) a web design and social media firm specializing in helping eye care practices achieve success.
When Harry Met Sally image courtesy of Castle Rock Entertainment
