Interest in wellness and health continues to grow, contributing to a flourishing multi-billion dollar industry. Holistic wellness and health students and professionals may wonder how they can stand out in this community and contribute to the discussion. Whether you are looking to build a client base, develop rapport as a thought leader, or promote professional engagement with others in the wellness and health industry, starting your own website is an excellent way to connect with others, share information and build a brand.
Do you have a passion for wellness and health? Ever consider using that interest to help and educate people? Maybe you want to take your wellness hobby and turn it into a career. Starting a website can be a great way to do that, whether you want to build your career or just help others. If you’ve been thinking of making your own wellness website, there’s no need to be intimidated. It’s easier than you think to get started.
Begin by Defining Your Vision
Before you can do anything, you need to have a clear vision for your wellness website. Think about what you want to talk about and what you’d like to accomplish. If you’re an individual, decide on the subjects you’ll want to cover. Get as specific as possible. Take some time to really think about what you want your website to be. This will inform many decisions you make for your website down the road.
Before you create a blog, the first thing you need to do is define why you have a blog.
- What is the purpose of your blog?
- Who is your audience?
- What problems are you going to help them solve?
- What topics will you write about?
- Why is your blog unique, compared to the thousands of other wellness blogs out there?
In short, before jumping in on building your site, consider what niche you would like to write about. You may want to do some research into topics that are appealing and underrepresented in the holistic wellness and health blogosphere.
Choose a Web Host
Assuming you aren’t a web developer, you’ll want to choose a web host that provides some kind of site builder with your web hosting. You want to just sit down and type away as you define the content of your site’s home page, and as you write articles for the article area, or blog part, of your site.
One good option is to host with MadBeeTech Web Hosting. Their hosting is priced very competitively, and their hosting package includes a point-and-click site builder that requires no knowledge of HTML or coding.
One way to monetize (earn money from) from your site is to sell digital downloads. You write eBooks on any number of health-related topics, and make them available for purchase individually or bundled together in packages of multiple PDF files. Rather than manually send a file to a buyer (as an attachment to an email, for example) its best to have an automated system that auto-emails a buyer with a link to download the purchased file or files. That important point is another good reason to consider MadBeeTech for your hosting — their hosting package includes just such a fully automated system for delivering purchased digital downloads.
Start Creating Content
Make sure you’ve properly identified your audience. There’s an old saying popular among writers:
“If you write for everyone, you write for no one.”
There’s a lot of truth in that statement! Before you begin writing, ask yourself:
“Who is my ideal reader?”
Be specific. This may require doing a little research. Don’t worry about excluding people. Writing with a specific persona in mind makes your writing focused and authentic.
Begin by posting a short piece two to three times per week. Once you start posting, you’ll get an idea of what works for you and your audience. You can then develop a consistent schedule to maintain. Make sure to create content that is valuable and credible. Readers gravitate toward websites with information that is thorough yet concise — especially in the field of health. The American College of Health and Sciences (ACHS) offers free eBooks, white papers, videos, and recipes that are a great source for wellness bloggers.
Promote Your Website
You’ve put in the time and effort to create a great health-related website, but what good is it if no one knows about it? Unfortunately when it comes to website owners, many are of the “if you build it they will come” mindset. That isn’t how the Internet works. You will have to be proactive when it comes to promoting your site. This is especially true for a new website that has absolutely no initial following.
One quick, free and effective ways to let people know about your site is to make an announcement on your social media accounts. All of them. Twitter and Facebook are the best for spreading the word, but there’s no harm in posting to Pinterest and Instagram as well. Of course, remember to include a link to your site in each social media post! This entrepreneur.com article offers several good tips on using Facebook to promote a website.
Undoubtedly you’ve heard of SEO — search engine optimization. SEO is, essentially, providing Google with the things it wants in order to deem your site worthy of ranking well in the results of Google searches. The main thing Google is looking for? Backlinks — other website linking back to your site.
When another site links to your site, Google sees that as a small bit of authority your site has gained. After all, if a website puts in the effort to link to your site, then that website owner must certainly feel that’s something noteworthy about your content. Getting others to link to your site can be difficult and frustrating — but it’s worth the effort. If you aren’t having much luck getting webmasters to take an interest in your site, you might consider purchasing an SEO package from an SEO provider such as MadBeeTech SEO.
Keep People Coming Back for More
You don’t just want visitors to your site, you want satisfied visitors. A satisfied visitor is more likely to make a purchase at your site (regardless of what your selling). A satisfied visitor is more likely to bookmark your site and return, again and again. Finally, a satisfied visitor is more likely to tell others about your site — in effect becoming a free source of promotion for you.
The best way to satisfy a visitor is to develop great content. Coming up with ideas for content isn’t always easy. In fact, quite a few people soon abandon their websites because they can’t think of anything, or feel like no one is interested in what they have to say. Here are a few tips to help you tackle the issue of what to write:
- Follow the trends of the industry and your niche
- Think of seasonality – what are people searching for this time of year?
- Ask your audience! Instagram polls are a great place to start
- What are you feeling passionate about right now?