"We" or "I" for a small local healthcare enterprise?

[UkPod]

Hi all,

SEO newb here (or possibly rookie!). I'm a health professional and run a small, new specialised healthcare business targeting a local area (15 miles max). My product as such is the service I provide. There is a grand total of one employee, that of course being me! My SEO goal is phonecalls made and subsequent bookings as opposed to sales.

Prior to joining here, I just looked at websites that provide a similar service and blindly assumed that a "We" approach to writing content was the accepted norm for presumed professional appearance. On reflection however, not only are most of these employing a team, most are in areas much more metropolitan than I operate in  (I operate in a medium sized town where almost everyone knows everyone else by about 1 degree).

In addition, I have run into a few difficulties with this however when writing content/incorporating keywords. Now I am about to re-write my "About Me" section I'm having a real challenge using the aforementioned context while sounding personable and like-able.

Does anyone have any advice or experience re the correct context to use, in regards to the difference in CTR's and bounce rates etc in a small one-man enterprise that offers specialised services to the local area?

Many thanks!

[MiriamEllis]

What a great topic! There are likely going to be too many variables for someone in our community to exactly match your scenario and say, "Third person language vs. first person = X stats for a specialized medical practitioner."  In order to get answers for your particular business in your particular local community, you'd need to run A/B testing to track whether you see a difference in conversions from one form of language or the other. I think it would be very interesting to run such a test, and could be informative.

In lieu of having ready-made stats on this for you, my thoughts are these:

1. Focus on the voices of your patients, more than on "I" or "We" language in the majority of your content. Particularly with the evolution of voice search, it is how your patients talk, and how Google is able to understand the semantics of your patients' language as having a particular search intent, that are going to matter the most. The language on your website will typically convert best if it is built to solve customers' problems using customers' language. Example: instead of a dental practice saying, "Services: We offer dental crowns using our CEREC technology", you'd be saying, "Get out of the dental chair with a perfect crown in less than 2 hours, thanks to CEREC technology." By swinging the language in the direction of the benefits the customer receives, local businesses are operating in the world of the consumer instead of the world of the company.

2. Be authentic. If your practice is small and your service is highly-specialized, your website can properly set correct patient expectations of what they'll encounter at your office, potentially reducing patient churn. If I were consulting with you to help market your practice, I'd be asking you some questions like these to discover the ideal tone:

• Is the service you offer related to an upsetting health condition (like cancer) necessitating the need for a more formal or empathetic tone?

• Or, is the service you offer more of an elective service (like botox for wrinkles), prompting a more upbeat presentation?

• Who will be your typical patient (age, region, income, education, etc.)?

Ask yourself these and other questions about who will be reading your content, so that you can match its tone. There's a wide latitude between a specialist treating prostate cancer for men in their 50s in Boston vs. a integrative medicine doctor teaching the Forks Over Knives diet to women suffering from lupus in a laid-back town like Santa Cruz, CA. While empathy will be part of both scenarios, how formal/personable the doctor is in presenting herself/himself to patients may differ widely. So, know your audience, and present yourself and your office experience authentically, offering to solve patients' problems in language that will make them most confident and comfortable.

Hope these tips help!

[UkPod]

Wow, many sincere thanks for such an informed, well-written reply!

Certainly a lot to digest and apply, particularly re the "consumer voice" and the patient journey. By nature I am actually pretty informal and "people personey" but after reading other websites I kind of got sucked in to an overtly professional, formal wording despite my patient base being elective and largely interested in aesthetic resolutions as much as pain ones (at least this time of year, I'm a Podiatrist).

When I read my content however, I feel it doesn't really convey "me" or really what the personalised treatments I provide are sufficiently. And this is before I even start implementing keywords lol!

In my first blog posts, I have adopted a much more informal tone and again this seems at odds with the rest of the website. I must add here that I am really not comfortable about going the whole nine-yards and doing vlogs, at least not yet lol!

On the other hand, I have seen examples of peers with very personalised content down to "likes and dislikes" and it seemed a little bit too informal for what is essentially a consultative health role. Tough balance I guess but one that rests solely on what potential patients are likely to find engaging and ultimately respond to....

Again many thanks!

[MiriamEllis]

It's my pleasure! It sounds like you are asking some really good questions of yourself, and being observant! That's definitely a great start. I'd say a podiatrist has some pretty excellent leeway in presentation, particularly if you are serving a great many athletes who want to meet health goals. I'd suggest coming up with some personae for your main customer "types" to get a sense of where that might take your content. And good for you for blogging!

If it turns out that most of your colleagues are being somewhat stuffy in their presentation of foot health management, you, with your pleasant personality, might have a chance to set your brand apart by presenting your practice as one where you are personally ready to help patients meet their physical fitness goals, with happy feet instead of tired dogs.