What’s the only thing worse than no content? You got it, bad content! But what is good content?
Many physical therapists we talk to understand the importance of website content because they learn from coaches like Paul Gough that information is everything. Paul has rewritten the rule book on sales, stating that people don’t just buy from people. They buy from people who explain what they’re selling first.
New physical therapy patients are about to commit to spending $2000+. They expect you to prove your value before they put their hands in their pocket. Patients need physical therapy; they don’t want physical therapy. To win at sales – with a distressed purchase like physical therapy – there first needs to be an exchange of information.
Good content gets traction, whether it’s an educational video, blog post, or expert tips article. They all fill your marketing funnel with customers who are searching for an answer to their pain problems. So, are you gifting visitor’s valuable information on your site – or are you trying to get them to part with cash before they’ve even taken their coat off?
This blog explains the difference between good and bad content. It gives you some tips on using the videos, blogs, reports, and primary content on your site to attract and motivate your perfect patients into fee-paying clients.
What Is Good Content?
In simple terms, good content is driven by action, not vanity. Oscar Wilde famously said, “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
Hold up, Oscar. Back up a little. Is that true?
What the flamboyant artist was getting at, over a century ago, is there is no such thing as bad publicity. But that’s nonsense. There are numerous actors, public figures – and big brands, too, ostracized and plunged into obscurity and bankruptcy due to negative press. Lives changed forever.
Either from something they said in an interview in the media or on television, they plummet from the dizzy heights to forgotten, often in just 140 characters.
Back in the 1890s, Oscar Wilde was part of the aestheticism movement. Instead of associating deep meaning to his work, he and other artists of that time focussed on the beauty of art for art’s sake. Like the “vanity metrics” we get hung up on today (e.g., how many likes a post gets or how many followers you have. That has little to no impact on business profitability. Aesthetic art doesn’t intend to make you think or do anything; Merely admire it.
Social media stars with their filters, surgical enhancements, and willingness to risk death and serious injury to get the perfect Insta picture – you could argue, makes them the aesthetic artists of the digital age. However, their vanity, in this case, is to get you to buy a face cream or slim shake.
That’s a conversation for another time, of course. But you get the idea, right? Oscar Wilde was an artist. He wanted fame and notoriety. He wasn’t a physical therapist who wants more leads, direct access referrals, and new patients. Your website content needs to have a point and a purpose, not content for content’s sake. So, it pays to:
Step. Away. From. The. Keyboard.
Not indefinitely, though. Just long enough to think things through and plan out the point and like a pro.
Why Is Good Content So Important?
Perhaps even more famously than Oscar Wilde, Thumper – the rabbit in Disney’s Bambi movie – said, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”
You’ve probably also heard:
“If you’re going to do something, do it well.”
and
“If you’re not going to do it properly, you might as well not do it at all.”
They’re all variations of the same eternally relevant advice: think before you speak/act or, in this case, write. That’s why a hot-headed, Type-A approach to website content and blogging can sometimes backfire – even though the get-sh*t-done attitude is admirable.
You could invest your life savings into an aggressive PPC campaign with Facebook and Google ads. But if your shared content, landing pages, and website content fall on deaf ears – not appealing to your perfect patients – it’s wasted money that you never get back, instead of the best money you ever spent.
How To Write Good Website Content And Avoid Bad Content
Find your perfect patient. Give them free information in exchange for their contact details – then acquiring them as a client should be as simple as joining the dots. Easy, right? To collect leads to nurture into patients, you first need to catch their attention and engage them. This task is easier said than done. What makes you better or different from the other physical therapists in your town? It might be tempting to answer things like “I have more years’ experience”, “I attended the best school”, or “I have a longer list of credentials”.
Wrong.
None of these things matter to your perfect patients.
All they want to know is:
“Can you solve my problems?”
“Can you make the pain go away?”
“Can you help me get my life back?”
The best way to make sure your website content answers these questions and converts visitors into new patients and increased profit is to use our Professional Content Writing service. But if that’s not in your budget right now, here are our top 4 tips to get you writing website content like a pro:
Tip #: 1 Don’t write about what’s trending on Twitter or in the news
Politics or the latest celebrity scandal might be trending, but your perfect patients can go to TMZ, CNN, or Fox News for this. They don’t want to read it on your website.
Do – become an authority on physical therapy. The aim is to position yourself as an expert. The site that Google and your perfect patients regard as the place to go for information on physical therapy related subjects – in your chosen field/location.
Not who’s dating who.
Tip #2: Don’t write generic content
It’s easy to write generic content with nobody in particular in mind. The result: nobody particularly wants to read it. Or, they lose interest and go elsewhere.
Do – Focus on your perfect patients. What are their pain points? Their goals and aspirations? What motivates them? Are they young athletes wanting to get back on track? Pensioners with new knees and hips? Write with a picture of them in your mind and use language, cultural references, and a writing style to appeal to them.
Tip #3: Don’t write in a tone of voice that isn’t authentic to you and your brand
Do – Be authentically you. Besides anything else, your unique personality is a differentiator that makes you stand out from the competition.
People buy more keenly from businesses that provide information upfront. However, they still (and always will) buy from people – especially when they’re about to commit to spending 10+ hours with you. We gravitate to people who sound like “our people.” The patients you authentically connect with are more likely to develop into long and lucrative relationships.
Tip #4: Don’t talk about yourself too much
Don’t waste space and time talking about the letters you have after your name or your fancy clinic. These things are secondary – don’t let your ego get in the way. People want the facts – not an essay.
Do – tell them what’s in it for them. Make your readers believe you understand their pain points. You know what it’s like to live with chronic low back pain or headaches. They need to trust that you help people, just like them, overcome physical obstacles and live pain-free.
How To Take Your Website From Good To Great
In summary, if you’re a new start-up or an established business still bumping along the bottom, remember that it takes time for your website to move up the ranks. Don’t lose faith.
Every action: blog post read, online form completed, or report downloaded is a smoke signal to Google that your site is worth ranking, so there is even more reason to get it right and to get your visitors to engage with your content, especially in the early days. And if you’re an established clinic – already ranking, good content keeps your site performing well and your sales funnel full.
It is possible to write all your content yourself, from the home page, about page, and services pages to blogging on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. It all takes time, a lot of time. And you have to ask yourself whether your time is more valuable in the clinic? Your website is the profit center of your business so it makes sense to invest in getting it right.
Our professional Healthcare Copywriters have many years of writing creative copy that engages, informs, and converts visitors into new clinic bookings. Available in four different service level packages, there are options available for all different practice sizes. To find out more about how our Pro Content copywriting service helps businesses like yours revolutionize their conversion rates, drop us a line through our contact page. We’d love to hear from you!
Francesca Roll
Latest posts by Francesca Roll (see all)
- Why Bad Content Is Worse Than No Content - 4th February 2021
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