Out With The Old, In With The Reused: Repurposing Evergreen Content For Your Therapist Blog
Are you wondering if you should blog?
(You should)
Feeling overwhelmed by what’s needed? Wondering if there is a faster, easier way to produce content?
(There is)
Constantly producing high-quality pieces is an essential step to growing your therapy practice through the power of the digital space.
See, the search engines seek premium, original posts and will rank you for it: Google, Yahoo, Bing, other browsers included. There is little point having a web presence if you’re listed in the back blocks of the internet where no-one looks. So it’s strategic to cultivate the affections of the search engines; the platforms that get you found.
But even if your website is currently languishing in cyberspace Never Land, there’s good news. There’s an excellent chance that if your competition is blogging at all, they aren’t blogging well. This provides you with the perfect “leg up,” allowing you to leapfrog into the rankings and jump onto the radar.
But before we dive into the “how,” it’s important to know that blogging is about more than Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.
Blog posts are also key to connecting with current and potential clients, building the trust that drives bookings, and marking you out as a thought leader and expert in your field. Yes, the professional that others refer to, who is asked to speak at local events, and the therapist who your enamored readers are more likely to consult with.
For these reasons and more, blogging needs to be a practice priority. Because when you blog well, your life can change. Website traffic and conversions will increase, in turn increasing your impact and profits.
Need help keeping your blog updated with fresh content?
Sign up for a free 14-day trial of our social media & blogging automation tool, Social Genie!
How do you blog well?
You must blog regularly. Commit to a consistent schedule. Weekly posts are great. Remember, always share your posts on your social media platforms, too.
Write about topics that you know your ideal clients struggle with. Offer insights, stories, and valuable advice.
Be original. If you use certain turns of phrase in practice, include them in your writing. If you have meaningful insights to share that few others articulate, speak. Be yourself, be transparent, be emotive.
Use images that support your narrative. UnSplash and PixaBay offer royalty-free pics at no cost. Make sure you have a plugin that shrinks the image file size or run your images through a site like TinyPNG.
With that said, let’s jump back to regular blogging. Because to gain SEO benefits, traction, and convert visitors into clients, one thing stands out: you must remain consistent!
The key to successful blogging: Consistency
The search engines prioritize one factor: providing their audience — searchers — with the most relevant results possible. If they were to fail at this, people would simply jump onto another browser. Their business would crumble.
So, you need to give this beast what it needs: Relevant, high-quality, in-depth, on-the-money content that its searchers, and your readers, want.
But, it’s hard work…
Or at least, it can seem that way at first glance.
Writing takes time. Good writing takes more time. Great articles can be painstaking.
But there are potent shortcuts; ways to get the most from your efforts without allocating endless hours to the creation of virgin content. In short, steps that build your blogging persona, get the search engines to take notice — for the right reasons, and make life easier and less stressful for you.
How?
Drum roll, please…
It’s time to plan and repurpose evergreen content.
How to plan and repurpose evergreen content
Being topical is wonderful. Being clever and considered is better. This makes particular sense in the health field where there is no need to adopt a news cycle that keeps up with the trends. There are many evergreen problems; constant challenges where a therapist — like yourself — can make a massive difference. Unless you are an avid, dedicated writer and poster, this is where your power lies.
Why?
Writing about evergreen issues — like stress, mental illness, addiction, relationship issues, lack of self-worth — will always have a place. These problems do not wither. Online searches for keywords like depression, anxiety, sadness, self-esteem, divorce, for example, constantly rank. People are always seeking advice, a way forward, and solace.
By choosing evergreen content, you — and your efforts — stay relevant. Plus, an evergreen approach allows you to take shortcuts that fleeting topics don’t. Shortcuts that lead to better content, higher rankings, and less time spent in the process of creation.
With that said, here are the top six reasons we recommend a focus on evergreen content and how to make it work.
Four ways that evergreen content can supercharge your web presence (and save your sanity and time)
1. SEO-optimized high-quality content has legs
Search engines love a relevant article with age. So, creating awesome SEO-optimized content that stands the test of time is a great way to stay relevant — and ranking — for months, even years, to come.
This type of blog post needs to be written with three points in mind: staying fresh, engaging, and useful. Write it well, once, for ongoing benefits.
Then, you can use this piece to inspire and write other content…
For example, if you have an article that discusses stress reduction — an approach that is needed for many conditions — you can pull out the relevant parts, reword them, and use this in a new piece about a different condition. Reusing content can save an incredible amount of time.
Tip: Not sure what SEO is all about?
These two articles are must-reads:
The Ultimate SEO Checklist for Therapists
50 SEO Terms Explained – Brighter Vision’s SEO Glossary for Therapists
Want to increase your ranking on Google?
Sign up for our free email course to learn how to give your therapist website’s SEO a boost.
2. An evergreen approach makes identifying topics easier and quicker
What conditions do your clients present with?
What questions do they commonly ask?
What underlying processes, dysfunctions, or ails have remained constant throughout your time in practice?
What topics have hit the news that might highlight a real, ongoing challenge?
Make a list. Note down points that are relevant to each topic. You now have a range of blog post ideas! Keep this list handy. Add to it when inspiration strikes. Again, the aim is to reuse where possible, not reinvent. Having the bones of an article ready is oftentimes half the battle.
If you’re not quite sure if a topic is evergreen, this cheat will help…
Head over to Google Trends. Type in your query, then hit enter. Make sure to choose the country you practice in. Then choose your date range. The “Interest over time” line will let you know whether the topic has a long, stable search history.
3. Evergreen content fills content gaps
Down the road, if and when you have content gaps in your blog or social publishing schedule, you can edit, update, modify, or share a post that you’ve previously published.
You can tweak an “old” article as new research surfaces to keep the content relevant. Yes, updates matter.
Remember, the point of evergreen content is that it never goes out of fashion. A great piece is always share-worthy.
For example…
— It could form a chapter in a book (which could be used as an opt-in gift to build your email list, sold on your site to increase perceived expertise, or act as a reason to reach out to, and garner, local media coverage)
— Be cut into smaller written chunks and shared on sites like Facebook
— You could use the information to produce images for visual social platforms like Instagram or Pinterest
— You could record yourself reading the piece to create a video for your YouTube channel
Note: Never duplicate content on your website. Use it as a source of inspiration, certainly. Take comments left by readers and expand in a new blog post, absolutely. But don’t copy.
4. Evergreen inspires content creation, particularly when you’ve got the right structure
There’s a reason for the term “writer’s block.” Starting an article from scratch can be daunting. If this is a barrier to your blogging, there is hope. A structure will relieve the stress and fan the flames of your writing mojo.
Using point 2, come up with topic ideas. Then, brainstorm points you could speak — or write — about in some detail. Then, consider how best to present this information. Some great structures to whet your writing appetite include:
— How-to guides (e.g., How to calm your anxiety in times of stress)
— Lists (e.g., 10 ways to find joy when you’re feeling low)
— Origin stories (e.g., Why I started my therapy practice to help people with depression)
— Best practice guides (e.g., Cutting edge science recommends these 3 steps to heal your relationship with yourself)
— The simple three step approach: introduction, body, and conclusion
— The mix (e.g., The 10-part step-by-step guide to finding happiness where you are now)
If you choose a list, for example, write down your top points. 3, 7, 12… The number doesn’t matter as much as the quality and value you can deliver. This will form the structure of your piece. Once this is written down, the process is easier. Then you simply fill in the blanks. You are, in effect, making it easier to reuse what’s already in your head.
Once the piece has been completed and is live on your blog, don’t forget it exists. Update it, as needed. Initially, when there are lulls in your social media schedule, or when this topic again becomes topical, post a comment and share the link. Include it in your practice newsletter.
There is no reason why online can’t meet offline, too. Keep a PDF version on your office computer so you can print it out for clients, when helpful.
Even better, keep a version that is designed with your branding. When a client inevitably asks a question about a family member or friend, give them a branded, printed copy to pass along. This is wonderful for rapport, shows you care, provides helpful information, and will aid your practice growth.
The flip side of evergreen: Unlatch the anchors
On the other side of the coin, if you have old blog posts that are out-of-date, irrelevant, or of poor, irredeemable quality, they should be deleted.
If they get found and read, they’ll hurt your reputation. Maybe even worse than that, visitors will bounce quickly. They’ll land on your site and flee. The search engines will notice.
This type of content can act as a weighty anchor for your website; keeping it stuck. It’s time to cut the cord. Out with the old, as they say.
The evergreen-reusable takeaway
Creating quality content requires planning and purpose. When you do it right, your time and effort will repay you in spades.
You don’t need to start from scratch. You can — and should — repurpose, repost, re-share, reuse. Use the advice above to begin. Bookmark this article so you can return to stay on-track.
If we leave you with nothing else…
The thing that will truly move the needle and help you gain traction onsite and with your social presence is consistency. Unfalteringly stick to your schedule. This builds expectation and trust, prerequisites for the step to seek care. While this may sound disconcerting, remember that schedule voids can be filled by recycling evergreen content. Take advantage of this fact.
And speaking of consistency and reusing great content, there’s a powerful cheat we think you’ll love…
Our incredible, easy social media tool, Social Genie. With thousands of blog articles and social media posts that you can edit, customize, make your own, and schedule, it’ll save your time and yes, dare we say it, your sanity.
As Sadie Bingham said, “I am pretty obsessed with this app! It feels like a game-changer for me.”
Find out more about Social Genie here now.
Ready to ramp up your Social Media Marketing?
Find out how Social Genie can help you!