Every day, more healthcare professionals discuss medical issues online. Many simply share their views on platforms they use normally, like Facebook. Others might join discussion forums for professionals in their specialties. Others want to share their thoughts in a longer format and turn to writing and maintaining blogs.

Before you create your blog and start writing posts, it is important to decide how often you want to – or need to – write.

There are several factors that influence how often you should write. While there is likely some diminishing return if you write a lot of bad content, generally the more frequently you post, the greater the traffic your site will get.

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A minimum frequency?

Posts take time to write, though. Is there a minimum frequency that doctors, physical therapists and others need to post articles or videos?

Some social media experts debate the optimal frequency for traffic (such as a post every three days?), but most agree that you have to post at least once a week. Otherwise people might not consider you a reliable blogger and won’t look for your content.

What is your goal?

It is also important to consider your goals. Do you want to become a source for breaking medical news in your field? You might need to write shorter posts more often – even daily. Are you aiming to become a thought leader for other healthcare professionals or patients in your specialty? You might write longer editorial articles less often.

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What is sustainable?

Last, consider your work schedule and determine what is sustainable. It will be better for you to write one post a week rather than write a flurry of posts for a few weeks and then quit. Once the novelty of posting articles on your site wears off and the long hours spent in clinic add up, it can become very easy to burn out.

One suggestion

One tip might help you sustain a regular posting schedule despite all of the demands of your practice. Get 5 to 10 posts written and stored for use when you really don’t have time to write. Try to create content that is not time-specific so you could use it weeks or months later.

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In summary, determine your goals and create a writing schedule you can maintain for a long time. Then get started!