Now that you finally have what a cosmetic dental website must have for great visibility online, it's time to dive deeper into creating the best cosmetic dentist content. Regularly scheduled blogging will improve your cosmetic dental SEO exponentially.

It is exciting to create a blog — you finally have the opportunity to dive deep into your favorite topics. You can highlight your expertise and build a community of readers. It can attract new patients and increase your online reputation and dental SEO rankings.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

To start, a good blog post should be interesting and educational. Blogs should answer questions, provide actionable steps to help your patients resolve a challenge they're experiencing — and all of this needs to be high-quality, engaging, and enjoyable.

That being said, composing a blog post takes practice. In this guide, you'll learn to choose suitable blog topics, pick the proper format for your articles, and select images that generate interest and engagement. By the end, you should have a clear idea of how to create strong content that shares your thoughts and stands out from other cosmetic dentistry practices.

We’ve also included a set of 5 Cosmetic Blog Templates to help you get started. 

First Step: Add A Blog To Your Website

If you don’t have a blog on your website you’ll want to add one. If your website is built on wordpress, adding a blog is super simple. 

If your website is managed by a dental website company, they should be able to add a blog for you. It only takes a few minutes, and voila! You’ll be ready to start blogging. 

Find your blog's first topic.

When writing a blog post, cover topics that bring value to your patients and fall in line with cosmetic dentistry and the mission of your practice. Rather than searching for the perfect topic right away, start by brainstorming different ideas.

There are several places online that can spark new topic ideas:

• Download the Five Cosmetic Dental Blog Post Templates. 
• Use Google Trends to find out which topics are being searched and trending.
• Look for recent news stories related to cosmetic dentistry.
• Check out what other cosmetic dental offices are writing about.

After finding a few ideas, think about unique approaches to those topics. Play around with other topic ideas to develop something relevant and original.

Let's say you want to write about veneers. There are a few different ways you might want to consider taking. For example, your first post can be about a patient's story of how veneers helped boost their confidence professionally, or maybe a simple FAQ's about the basics of porcelain veneers. Here are four veneer blog post titles to consider:

• A List: Five Reasons Veneers Improve Your Life
• Curated Collection: The Different Types of Veneers to Consider Today
• SlideShare Presentation: Before and After Veneers (with pictures)
• News Piece: New Study Shows X% Veneers Have a High Success Rate

Research keywords 

A significant part of writing a blog post involves keyword research. Keyword research is absolutely crucial to help you rank higher for cosmetic dental search phrases. 

Ranking higher in search results ultimately means more people will read your content. And how do we do that? By keyword research to find the most search queries for your topic.

You can find keywords to add to your articles using keyword research tools. There are a few free options like Answer the Public or Answer Socrates. 

Keep in mind that when conducting keyword research, the more specific the phrase, "how does teeth whitening work," the more closely it will match your audience's intent. On the other hand, broader keywords like, "teeth whitening," tend to have much higher search results - meaning more people are searching the term each month. When choosing the keywords, you want to balance high search volume and high intent.

Once you've got your keywords, you can use them to structure your content. Google those phrases to find other articles that have used those exact keywords, and spend a bit of time browsing their content. This will give you inspiration for your writing regarding what to include and especially how to structure it.

Find your audience

It would help if you found out who you're writing for, now that you know what you'll be writing about. Knowing ahead the kinds of people who will be reading your posts will help you create engaging and shareable content.

So, how do you figure out who your audience is in the first place? By looking at the other cosmetic dental websites in your field. Who are they writing for, and what are they assuming their readers' interests or lifestyles are? For example, do most blogs address a particular gender or age group?

You should also identify geo-specific areas around your city that you are wanting to attract patients from. Is there an area where the population is more likely to want cosmetic dental work? If that is the case then you’ll want to include those areas in your post. 

Another obvious audience is your current patient database. Your current patients already trust you and are the most likely to schedule and accept cases. They are also likely to refer friends. Reaching your current patients is easily done by converting your blog post into an email newsletter. If you have not been acquiring emails from your current patients, you should start doing that ASAP.

Create an outline

Like any writing, the key to learning how to write a blog is thorough research and planning. After deciding the topic and format, you'll need to create an outline.  

Start by creating subheaders to help you break down your article into bite-sized sections. Subheaders make it easier for you to stay organized and write more digestible blogs.

If it's a step-by-step guide or a list of tips, build your outline by clearly listing all the main points. Readers value the list format because it breaks down complex ideas into easily readable pieces. Add bulleted notes within your introduction and under each subheader to help formulate your main points. 

Engaging content

Most types of writing include three main elements: an introduction, the body text, and a conclusion.

The introduction - The first few sentences of your article is to grab your readers' attention. Begin with a quote or statistic, tell a story, or share a fact. Set the tone for the article by sharing a summary of what you will talk about in the body text. 

The body text - These are the bullet points beneath each subheader in your outline. The body text is the meat of your post, so it should be compelling. Avoid fluff and repetition, and instead offer value by sharing your knowledge, research, and insights.

The conclusion - This section can be helpful in the case of storytelling or when wrapping up a very long article. You can tie your main points together or share some closing thoughts in a few engaging sentences.

Craft an irresistible headline

You don't only need strong content when writing a blog post; you also want a powerful headline that entices readers to click on your article. Clarity, specificity, and offering an answer or solution are points to keep in mind.

First and foremost, put yourself in your audience's shoes. Think about what prospective patients want. The title should promise your readers that your post will provide beneficial information, teach them something new, or help them solve a problem. 

Consider using an online title generator. There are several free options available on the web. I like SEOPressor. Here are some examples of interesting headlines about teeth whitening: 

• The History of Teeth Whitening
• Everything You Need To Know About Teeth Whitening
• 4 Ways to Keep Your Teeth Pearly White
• Three Foods to Avoid When Whitening Your Teeth
• Teeth Whitening and Sensitivity, What's the Deal?
• Are You Ready for Professional Teeth Whitening?

Stylize your blog post

Writing your blog post may be your priority, but image is everything. Having an article with a solid visual appearance is crucial for striking the proper interest of your readers. If you're writing a blog about your dental spa, using a natural color palette on your site will give off a zen-type feeling on the topics you write. Be consistent with your overall image across all platforms.

Pick images

Great images can help illustrate your main points and add value to the subject. Please pay attention to your featured image. It is the leading photo below your blog's title and what readers will first see when browsing your blog's homepage.

Call-to-action

The purpose of a blog is to inform people about specific topics and motivate readers to take particular actions. It is known as CTA or a call-to-action. The CTA is a link or button that states your objective alluringly. 

Some of the most common call-to-action examples for cosmetic dentistry blogs include "Book Now!", "Improve Your Smile Today!" or "Limited Offer. Enquire Today!"

It is not only the words that are important but also the way the CTA is presented. If the CTA is going to be a clickable button, make sure that the design of the button stands out from the website.

Using nicely presented CTAs can help you transform your website traffic into engagement and, eventually, increase your practice's revenue. 

Optimize for SEO

When it comes to SEO, you need to optimize your content both while writing the post and while posting it. Use the keyword research in step 3, and also use those helper keywords sprinkled throughout your final draft.

Perhaps you've chosen to target the keyword "smile makeover in (city)"? In a naturally fitting way, use the exact phrase in the headline, throughout the body text, and 1-2 subheaders. Next, include this keyword in the metadata. The metadata is the preview text you'll see for every article on Google. Add the keyword to the URL of your writing and the alt text of your blog post's images. Using all these SEO tips will give your blog an overall performance boost. 

If you have a wordpress blog then you can leverage the Yoast Plugin, which will guide your optimization and make sure you do all that is required for correct SEO. 

If you’re paying a dental marketing company for SEO, their team should be able to optimize your post for you. 

Proofread and publish 

Proofread, proofread, proofread. Checking your article for grammatical errors, repetition, and unprofessional content is vital. Grammarly is a fantastic tool for catching those tiny mistakes and giving suggestions on how to re-write your content. 

Beyond that, make sure your ideas flow coherently throughout each section so that it gives a clear and purposeful message to your reader.
 
Ask a friend to give your blog article a read-through before it goes live. We suggest you take a break from your writing and come back with fresh eyes and minds later. Remember to emphasize quality over quantity to keep your readers interested. Then, once you're happy with your written work, it's time to hit publish.

Promote

Once you've written and published the blog post, sit back and congratulate yourself. Publishing is vulnerable and a huge step for some people. The next step is to make sure it gets read. Two effective ways to promote your blog post are an email marketing plan and social media.

Email is very reliable, as it allows you to communicate directly between you and your audience. This strategy involves sending out customized emails in a newsletter to loyal patients and prospective patients.

Sharing your article on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn can go a long way, as they have some of the largest and most diverse user bases. Whichever you choose, please actively engage with followers on a day-to-day basis. Responding to questions and queries ensures readers that you care and are committed to their oral health care.

One Important Tip To Get Started

It’s okay to get a little help. Make sure to download these Five Cosmetic Dental Blog Post Templates, which include a header image and an outline for the article. 

About the Author: Danielle Caplain is a professional copywriter at My Social Practice. If you have questions about My Social Practice and how they can help with your blogging needs, please contact them here.