This is a great question.

As health and wellness business owners, we’re already juggling many moving parts. And then there’s the real business of taking care of our clients.

We all know marketing takes time and energy- whether you outsource tasks or still do it yourself.

Crafting blog articles (as I like to call them) is more time-consuming than creating a quick reel or a few social media posts.

But after exploring whether it’s worth the investment, I’ve come away with a firm yes. It is worth it. Keep reading to learn why.

Blogging statistics: Numbers don’t lie

According to Tech Business News, here are just a few global blogging stats for 2023:

  • There are 600 million blogs on 1.9 billion websites worldwide
  • These blogs produce 7.5 million blog posts daily
  • Businesses with blogs have 55% more website visitors and 67% more leads
  • Blogs increase the chance of ranking on Google by over 400%
  • Nearly 8 in 10 internet users regularly read blogs

Wowsers! While these numbers are mind-blowing, I wonder how relevant blogs are for the wellness industry.

Benefits of business blogging

The benefits of blogging are similar for all industries, but for health and wellness businesses, I believe the top three are credibility, showcasing expertise and serving their community. But I’d love to hear your thoughts! 😊

• Benefit #1: sharing information
How often have you turned to Google to find specific info or a solution to a problem? Your blog can be a powerful way to educate people about various wellness topics and introduce them to new ideas.

• Benefit #2: building your credibility
A well-written, in-depth blog post is content gold that positions you as an expert. Your audience will grow to trust you, and you’ll become known as the go-to source for credible information.

• Benefit #3: serving your community
Blog articles go into depth about topics that are important to your community. They start conversations, and when you interact with readers, they get to know you and your business. Relevant content is more likely to get shared, and people start following you, so they don’t miss a thing.

• Benefit #4: good for SEO
Search engines love regular blogs with fresh, relevant content that organically attracts your ideal readers. Over time, as the right people find your blog, it moves to the top of their search results, and they’re more likely to find (and share) your content.

• Benefit #5: opportunities for income
That’s right! You can include targeted, relevant ads, affiliate marketing with like-minded businesses, sell your physical products, and digital products like eBooks or courses, or promote your workshops, webinars, or other events.

How effective is blogging?

The short answer is- it depends on your goals and how you measure success.

According to US-based Obit Media’s 10th Edition Annual Blogger Survey:

25% of bloggers reported ‘strong results’ when reporting on the success of their blog, and this figure hasn’t changed much over the years.

But what does ‘strong results’ mean?

Some typical measurements include:

  • Number of website visitors
  • New leads generated
  • Brand awareness
  • Email list growth

Before you can gauge the success of a new or existing blog, you have to be clear about what you’re trying to achieve- both with your blog and your business.

For example, if you want people to enrol in your course, you could measure clicks from your blog to your website sales page.

If your blog exists to demonstrate your expertise, then you could measure how many people follow your blog or sign up to your email list for updates.

I love this perspective about blogging from digital marketing professional Ann Handley, from Marketing Profs:

“Our focus should be on creating must-read blogs, rather than worrying about visitors. I focus on creating the best content I possibly can- content that could ONLY come from me.

And when we obsess more over the content and less over the visitor, the more successful we’ll be.”

I love that she focuses on creating authentic, valuable content that serves the reader rather than just numbers and dollars. And by doing that, success and ‘strong results’ will follow.

Using AI

No blog discussion is complete without talking about AI (artificial intelligence), chatbots that use humanlike conversational dialogue to answer search queries and create content.

We’ve only had access to AI tools like Chat GPT for over a year, but according to Tech Business News, in 2023, 43% of bloggers use AI to generate ideas. However, there are no statistics (yet) on how many people are using AI to create whole articles.

Words about AI from industry experts:

Kathryn Strachan from CopyHouse says:

“It takes longer to create high-quality content. ChatGPT can generate content in seconds, but this content lacks substance, is factually incorrect and doesn’t resonate with audiences- all things that take time.”

John Doherty from editor Ninja says:

“AI has ushered in a world where anyone can create a lot of OK content very quickly, but the content that will rise to the top is content that has had humans taking a lot of time to massage it.”

So far, I’ve only used AI as a search and brainstorming tool, similar to how I use Google. The big issue is- you don’t know where the information has come from or how reliable it is. Also, the words are a bit ‘wooden’ and don’t speak in my voice or to my audience. I’m going to keep testing, so watch this space.

Content repurposing blogs: the gift that keeps on giving

Once you’ve made the effort to create a valuable blog article, it can be reused or repurposed in many different ways and used across multiple marketing channels.

So even though it takes time, effort, and even expense, you get a HUGE amount of value from just one blog.

Ways to repurpose your wellness blog:

Podcasts: Use your blog for a podcast episode- read it out, cover the main topics in a conversational voice, have a guest and talk about the subject in more detail. Or you could go on someone else’s podcast as a guest, with the bonus of reaching a different audience.

Webinars: Use the content from your blog post as the focus for a webinar or live presentation. Dive deeper into the topic, answer attendees’ or audience questions, and provide extra information, insights, and examples.

eBooks: Take the main topic and sub-topics and turn them into an eBook. You can use it as a lead magnet, downloadable resource, or course content. Combine topics from several blog posts and create a comprehensive resource with extra information, case studies, quotes, or examples.

Email list: Summarise your blog post or extract key points to create content for your email newsletter or mailing list. You can also drive traffic to your website by creating a short teaser with a link to the full post on your website.

Online course or workshop: Deliver your content through an online course or face-to-face or digital workshop based on the main topic of your blog post. Break it down into lessons or sections, with supporting exercises, worksheets, or assessments for your students.

Social media: Break down your blog post into topics and create smaller pieces of content for your social media channels. Use eye-catching graphics or images to make it engaging by including breakout quotes, statistics, or hot tips.

Visual content: Use key points from your blog to create exciting visuals on social media platforms or in your newsletter. Use visually appealing content such as infographics, slideshows, videos, or reels and tweak their use to match the channel.

Interactive content: Depending on the topic of your blog post, you can create more interactive content like quizzes or polls. Doing this engages your audience and, as a bonus, gives you valuable insight into their preferences and interests.

Guest Posts: Reuse your blog post as a featured guest post on the website or blog of similar businesses in your industry. This is great for SEO backlinks, a way to reach a new audience, and you’ll become known as an authority on the topic.

Republish: Over time, review your most successful blog posts, update the information, or add new information, then republish them. This keeps the content fresh and relevant, and republishing them helps reach new readers.

By repurposing your blog posts in these different formats and publishing them on different platforms, you’ll:

  • extend their lifespan
  • engage people in different ways
  • reach a wider audience
  • drive more traffic to your website

And repurposing is a lot of creative fun.

Conclusion

In this blog, we’ve looked at:

  • current blogging stats
  • benefits of blogging
  • measuring effectiveness
  • views from industry experts
  • the use of AI
  • repurposing blog content

I hope this blog article has given you a starting point to consider if and how you blog for your health and wellness business.

In full transparency, as an SEO copywriter for the health and wellness industry, I wanted to explore current business blogging trends because I was deciding whether I should be writing regular blog articles or offering blog writing to my clients.

And as a Qigong teacher, I wondered if I should bother creating blog articles for my students or my Qigong business.

What I’ve come away with is a firm yes. Blogging still has a place in the fast-moving world of digital marketing and social media content.

Blogs, particularly longer ones, have a lot of value for readers and even more value for a business owner. And there’s only one way to find out if it’s right for you 😊

If you’d like me to write for your blog, explore my blog article writing services here

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