Writing unique content

Unique Content: What it Means for You and Your Patients

Unique content for digital
What makes a compelling hearing healthcare website? Well, there’s a lot! You need eye-catching and accessible graphics, a functional user interface, a responsive design, and so much more. One of the most important components of your digital strategy, however, is unique content. Your content builds an image of your practice in patients’ minds and can determine whether or not they schedule an appointment.

What exactly is unique content and what does it mean for you and your patients? Let’s find out.

Effective Content Tells Patients Who You Are

The most effective content always requires a “what” and “why.” Your digital content should inform your patients about what you do, who you are, your services, and the products you offer. It should also communicate the benefits of choosing your practice and tell potential patients why you’re right for them.

Keywords are a critical component of your digital content as well because they are what will lead patients to your practice in the first place. When the keywords on your website match what patients are searching for, your practice will get pulled into their search results. After a patient finds you, the personalization and tone of your content, or your “essence,” will portray who you are and what you do.

Unique Content Finds More of the Right Patients

First and foremost, unique content improves your organic trafficking to your site. Your organic ranking increases, which in turn gets you more clicks, which means more people are going to be able to find you. Being at the top of the search results mean you are maximizing the number of potential patients seeing your website, which can lead to more appointments and ultimately more sales of hearing aids.

Having unique content on your site lets you stand out among the crowd. If a patient is visiting multiple websites and they all look the same and say the same thing, how are they going to decide who to go to? Unique content differentiates you. It allows patients to feel a connection to you before they even come into the office. They feel like they know you. Unique content also improves shareability. People are more likely to share your website with someone that they know is struggling with hearing loss because your information stood out as valuable.

Content Needs to be Consistent Across All Digital Touchpoints

Consistent messaging helps you with search engine optimization (SEO). You want to make sure that your content across all your digital touchpoints is lining up because it helps you to improve your Google ranking and it makes you look like you have a more professional brand. Consistent messaging creates trust with the patient because they know that if they’re looking at your Facebook page and your office hours are the same as your Google Business Profile, that wherever they find you will have the correct information.

Consistent messaging also ensures that the patient has the same experience no matter where they are in their journey. Whether it’s their first time looking for an audiologist or hearing aid specialist, they’re currently wearing hearing aids, or they’re currently a patient of yours, they should have the same great experience with you online.

Content Should be Updated Regularly

Technology is constantly evolving, especially hearing aid technology, so you want to be sure that you’re showcasing the latest available products. Patients want to know that you are modern and staying current within the industry. You also want to keep the services you’re offering up to date so you look like the expert you are. This too creates trust with a patient before they ever walk in the door.

The types of things that should be updated regularly include blogs, articles, and anything that includes information about the hearing healthcare industry. Regularly added, valuable information shows patients that you stay informed and educated. If someone sees a topic trending on Facebook or on the news, they might go to search for it online. Because you have the keywords for it on your website, the search will take them to your site, and they’ll know that you are someone who knows what they are talking about.

It’s good to make sure that important information like office hours, phone numbers, and addresses are all up to date on your website. While you might not necessarily look at this as “unique” content, it’s something that patients need to know are accurate. Any time those things change, even if it seems insignificant, you should have it on your website and ensure everything is accurate across your digital footprint.

Iris+ by CQ Digital Takes a Personal Approach to Content

For all new Iris+ members who are signing up for a website, we always do a personal content interview with them. During that interview, an expert copywriter will sit with the member alongside a graphic designer and a web developer. The purpose of the interview is to get a better understanding of who you are as a practice, and how you want to represent your business. We ask very specific questions about how long you have been in business, if you have a mission statement, the types of patients you see, what kind of services you offer and more. Then, we will write copy that represents your practice and captures the essence of who you are and what you want to portray to patients. It’s something really rare that no one else in the industry does.

When developing website content, we put a strong emphasis on the home page. The home page will always answer the “what” and the “why.” You want it to tell the patient why they should choose you, explain who you are, and let them know what to expect. In our experience, we’ve found it the most helpful to give patients information on the home page, because a lot of them are not going to click onto other pages. They’re going to decide whether to make an appointment or not based on the information right in front of them. That’s one reason why our content interview is so valuable. It collects the key information that will make you stand out immediately. The more we can learn about a practice, the more we can help them personalize their home page and make it seem more relatable for patients.

Unique content is a critical component of your digital strategy because of the roles it plays in both SEO and the patient experience. It helps you increase your organic ranking so you can be at the top of the search results, which in turn will bring in more patients. When patients do find your website, they’ll know everything they need to know about you and feel encouraged to make an appointment. The more of the right people who visit your website, the more appointments you’ll make, and at the end of the day you’ll be able to help more people hear better.

 

About the Author

Elizabeth Rutkowski

Elizabeth Rutkowski joined CQ Partners in 2019 as a Copywriter. Elizabeth earned her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Professional Writing from SUNY Cortland and continued on to earn her master’s degree in English Literature from there as well. She has always had a passion for writing and enjoys being able to use her skills to educate people about the importance of hearing health. When she is not writing for our members, Elizabeth enjoys reading, hiking with her dog, Reagan, and golfing in the summer time.