Mental Health Blogs: Why They’re Worth the Effort

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It seems like more people are talking about mental health and wellness than ever before, and that’s certainly not a bad thing. With more than 20% of adults experiencing mental illness, and only about half of them receiving treatment, we clearly need to focus more on this issue. But launching a mental health blog might not seem like the best way to get people’s attention. After all, there are thousands of these blogs already. How will you break through the clutter?

This post will explain why mental health blogs are worth the effort and what a blog can do for your treatment center.

Facts About Blogging

Before we dig in, let’s talk about some facts about blogging. Today’s blogs aren’t online journals. They’re also not a bunch of moms writing to get free stuff. Although both of those things probably still exist, today’s blogs are a strategic way to drive traffic to your business’s website.

Blogging stats you should know:

Blogging is the third most popular marketing strategy for businesses, according to Demand Sage.
The most commonly cited statistic is that about 77% of people read blogs.
Websites with blogs get about 55% more visitors than those without, according to Hubspot.
70% of people prefer to learn about a company through a blog, according to Demand Sage.
More than 65% of people do online research before purchasing.
Producing content is cheaper than traditional marketing by 62%, according to Demand Sage.
55% of brands gain new clients due to blogging, according to Demand Sage.
Writing a blog gets 94% more links to your website, according to Demand Sage.
Companies with blogs get about 67% more leads each month than those without, according to Demand Metric.

To summarize these stats, blogs are highly-read and result in more traffic to your website. People like to learn about companies and purchase products they learn about through blogs, which means companies with blogs get more leads. Further, blog content writing services are cheaper than traditional marketing, giving them a greater investment return.

What a Blog Does for Your Website

After looking at some of the statistics above, some of the things a blog does for your website may be obvious. Most importantly, a blog helps drive organic traffic to your site. That means when people search for information about a subject related to your blog’s content, you use SEO best practices to help search engines serve up your content. More traffic on your site means greater opportunities for sales.

Other things a blog does for your website:

Creates Search and Ranking Opportunities. A stagnant website offering information about your products or services doesn’t have nearly as many opportunities to rank in search as a website with a blog serving regular content. More opportunities to rank means more significant potential for traffic.
Establishes Authority and Trust. Regularly creating and publishing fresh content in your niche helps establish yourself, your team, and your business as authorities in the industry. People automatically look to authorities when they need answers to their questions or other help. Authority builds trust, and people do business with organizations they trust.
Differentiates and Builds Your Brand. A blog lets you display your brand’s voice, values, and personality. It builds your brand while differentiating it from your competitors. It also makes fans of people who identify with your brand’s voice.
Builds Customer Relationships. A blog creates a way for you to regularly connect with your audience. It gives you a place to share helpful information with them. You can also engage with them on the blog or through social media when you promote your blog’s content. This engagement helps build relationships and creates loyalty. Brand loyalty is directly tied to future sales.
Generates Leads. Effective blog posts address an audience’s concerns and tell them what to do next with a clear call to action. That means blog posts can help you with all types of leads. Whether you want readers to buy a product or service or sign up for your newsletter for ongoing connection, a blog can make that happen.
Supports Customers. A blog can give customers valuable resources about your products or services and how to get the most from them. This information can come in tutorials, how-to guides, or posts that address common questions or concerns. Providing this type of educational information helps your customers and reduces the amount of real-time support they need.

silver MacBook Pro — Photo by Mikayla Mallek on Unsplash

The Unique Benefits of Mental Health Blogs

A mental health blog provides all of the benefits described above to your treatment center’s website. A mental health blog also affirms the importance of mental health marketing in reaching potentially vulnerable populations who need your help and reducing the stigma around seeking treatment.

Unique benefits of a mental health blog include:

Promoting Awareness. A mental health blog gives you a platform to raise awareness of mental health issues and how common they really are. Creating awareness and helping normalize help-seeking reduces stigma and encourages people to get treatment.
Spreading Truth. You know there’s a lot of nonsense online, especially when it comes to health and wellness topics. A blog is a perfect opportunity for your team to spread truth about mental health.
Offering Support. It’s good to know you’re not alone. Mental health blogs allow you to share with others how common some concerns are and that healing is possible. These blogs help people with empathy and connection.
Encouraging Self-Care and Promoting Wellness. A mental health blog helps readers think about the decisions they’re making and the habits they have. This self-reflection can result in change if you provide resources and tips for adopting healthier habits.
Reducing Stigma. There is so much stigma surrounding mental illness and seeking help for mental health disorders. A blog can help people understand that seeking help is a sign of strength and how professional support can improve their lives.

You know all those things that frustrate you about the mental health information out there and falsehoods or stereotypes that keep people from seeking the help you need? You can unravel those on a mental health blog, setting the record straight.

Outsourcing Your Mental Health Blog

It’s easy to see why blogging in general, and mental health blogging specifically, is worth the effort. Now it’s time for the twist. You may not want to do this on your own.

A blog will only work to do the above-mentioned things if you post on it consistently. At Content Journey, we recommend posting at least twice a week to get the traction you want. That’s after performing SEO research to understand what keywords will get you the desired traffic.

Posting twice a week means four to 10 hours a week that you’ll need to spend just writing content. That’s where things get challenging. Even with the best intentions and excellent writing abilities, you may find it difficult to carve out that much time for blogging.

Outsourcing content writing is a great solution to this problem. With the right partner, you’ll get the SEO and content creation expertise you need without adding to-dos to your schedule. And you don’t have to sacrifice quality information if you have a partner like Content Journey that also has mental health expertise and follows guiding principles for mental health marketing.

Let Content Journey Handle Your Mental Health Blog

Whether you’re launching a mental health blog for the first time or are ready to refocus efforts on an existing blog, Content Journey can help. We’ll learn about your organization and its positioning, perform keyword research to ensure you are headed down the right path, then focus on blog content creation. Because of our mental health backgrounds, you never have to worry about the type of content we create for your audience. Your treatment center can reap the benefits of blogging without it landing on your schedule. Book a call to learn more about partnering.

Citations:

Bump, P. (2022, May 6). 31 business blogging stats you need to know in 2021. HubSpot Blog. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/business-blogging-in-2015.

Burnes, R. (2022, May 6). Study shows business blogging leads to 55% more website visitors. HubSpot Blog. https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5014/Study-Shows-Business-Blogging-Leads-to-55-More-Website-Visitors.aspx?irclickid=WsQV3FyFbxyNRDy2XmQrP1SUUkF2Xt3dM0kXXk0&irgwc=1&mpid=2010094&utm_id=am2010094&utm_medium=am&utm_source=am2010094&utm_campaign=amcid_WsQV3FyFbxyNRDy2XmQrP1SUUkF2Xt3dM0kXXk0_irpid_2010094.

Content marketing infographic. Content Marketing Infographic | Demand Metric. (n.d.). https://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic.

Schaffer, B., Muki, E., & Schaffer, N. (2023, March 29). The top 31 business blogging statistics for 2023. Social Media & Influencer Marketing Speaker, Consultant & Author. https://nealschaffer.com/business-blogging-statistics/.