1. CoCONTENT
1
AuAUDIENCE
2
PhPUBLIC HEALTH
3
PePUBLIC
EDUCATION
4
ReRESOURCE
5
AyAUTHORITY
6
ViVISITORS
7
SmSOCIAL MEDIA
8
CvCONVERSATION
9
KmKNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
10
CoCONTENT
1
PROVIDE REGULAR, CURRENT, NEW CONTENT TO YOUR AGENCY WEBSITE.
Though static, “evergreen” site content serves an important purpose, sites become stale without the regular infusion of
new content. Interest and site engagement drop off. Blogs are a portal for regularly updated new content that helps
to maintain interest in your agency’s work.
Data from January 2014 through June 2015.
Data source: Google Analytics
TAILOR CONTENT TO
SPECIFIC AUDIENCES OR
SUB-AUDIENCES.
Blogs enable you to develop content for
one or more audiences, or you can even
reach out to new audiences or test new
communications strategies with
existing audiences.
AuAUDIENCE
2
PePUBLIC
EDUCATION
4
PROVIDE AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC
EDUCATION TOOL FOR COMMON
ISSUES AND HEALTH QUESTIONS.
Whether it’s about drug abuse, smoking,
diseases, or wellness and prevention, blogs can
deliver the latest information and education
tools to your constituency and the public.
ReRESOURCE
5
DELIVER A VALUABLE
PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE FOR
STUDENTS, EDUCATORS, AND
OTHERS WITH STRONG HEALTH-
RELATED INTERESTS.
Professionally oriented public health blogs can
serve as an education and training vehicle for
supporting research and academic interests.
AyAUTHORITY
6
BUILD AUTHORITY ON THE
INTERNET, ENABLING MORE
PEOPLE TO FIND YOU VIA SEARCH.
The more you blog and provide supporting links
in your content, you become seen as an
authority on public health topics, which can
accelerate traffic to your site.
CvCONVERSATION
9
INCREASE YOUR ABILITY TO
CONVERSE WITH YOUR
CONSTITUENCIES, AND GAIN A
BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF
THEIR NEEDS.
Blogs provide an alternative means of interaction with
your constituencies. As you hear from them, you
can better respond to their questions and concerns.
KmKNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
10
USE A BLOG AS A KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT TOOL TO VET
NEW CONTENT.
The agency blog becomes a strategic asset to
introduce new methodologies, new disease-
related content, research results, and new
wellness initiatives. Once you have received
comments and response from your audiences
and constituencies, you can integrate the
blog content into the rest of your site.Blog
Full Site
Pages per Visit
2.62
2.12
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.80.6
Blog
Full Site
Visit Time (sec)
170
144
0 20 40 80 100 120 140 160 18060
18-MONTH ENGAGEMENT ON DRUGS & HEALTH BLOG COMPARED TO FULL NIDA FOR TEENS SITE
Feb 13 Feb 14 May 14 Aug 14 Nov 14 Feb 15 May 15May 13 Aug 13 Nov 13Feb 12
0
100
200
400
500
300
May 12 Aug 12 Nov 12
BlogPostVisits
NIDA DRUGS & HEALTH BLOG:
TOTAL POST VISITS RELATED TO WHITNEY HOUSTON
Data source: Google Analytics
Cumulative results from two blog posts where Whitney Houston’s drug issues were the primary topic.
PostVisits
7 8 9 16 27 28 29 30 3122 23 24 25 2617 18 19 20 2110 11 12 13 1461 2 3 4 5 15
50
40
30
20
10
0
NIAMS SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH, JUNE 2014 POST:
INVESTIGATING THE CAUSES OF CHRONIC ITCH: NEW ADVANCES
COULD BRING RELIEF, JULY 2015 TRAFFIC
Data Source: Google Analytics
NIDAforTeenswebsitetrafficisactivelygrowing,andtheDrugs&Healthblogformsacriticalcomponentofthat
growth.DuringtheperiodofSeptember2013throughAugust2014,blogpostfrequencywasreducedbyhalf,
resultinginadropinblogtrafficaswellasslowedgrowthontheNIDAforTeenssiteingeneral.Restoredfrequency
acceleratedgrowth.
NIAMS employs multiple blogs to reach various researchers, administrators, and others with specific
health interests. Spotlight on Research is a research/science-heavy resource that provides an outlet
for updates on current NIAMS research. The NIAMS Update is a blog more generally geared towards
providing information on NIAMS programs, funding, meetings, and research directions.
RESPOND QUICKLY TO LOCAL,
STATE, AND NATIONAL PUBLIC
HEALTH ISSUES AND
EMERGENCIES.
State and local public health agencies,
especially, can provide notifications via a blog
for disease challenges such as flu outbreaks and
communicable diseases, or local disaster issues.
PhPUBLIC HEALTH
3
Mar 13 May 13Jan 13 Mar 14 May 14Jan 14 Sep 14 Nov 14Jul 14 Mar 15 May 15Jan 15Sep 13 Nov 13Jul 13Sep 12 Nov 12May 12
0K
2K
8K
10K
14K
16K
16K
12K
6K
4K
Jul 12
BlogPostVisits
DRUGS & HEALTH BLOG:
POST TRAFFIC TO MOLLY-RELATED STORIES
Data source: Google Analytics
Cumulative results of five blog posts about molly (a form of ecstasy)
Data source: Web Trends, Post Visits by Day, July 2015
ViVISITORS
7
INCREASE THE NUMBER OF
VISITORS COMING TO YOUR
WEBSITE, THUS INCREASING
ENGAGEMENT.
As your blog becomes better known and
visitors return to your site, you increase
exposure and engagement on your site.
Sep 11 Dec 11Jun 11 Jun 12 Sep 14 Mar 15 Jun 15Dec 14Sep 13 Mar 14 Jun 14Dec 13Sep 12Mar 12 Mar 13 Jun 13Dec 12Dec 10 Mar 11Jun 10
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
28%
30%
32%
26%
18%
20%
22%
24%
10%
12%
14%
16%
Sep 10
%VisitsAccessingBlog
PERCENTAGE OF NIDA FOR TEENS WEBSITE VISITS
THAT ACCESS AT LEAST ONE BLOG POST
SmSOCIAL MEDIA
8
ENHANCE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
EFFORTS AND MAKE THEM MORE
EFFECTIVE.
Blogs can form a symbiotic relationship with social
media, but more emphasis should be given to
blogs, because they generally feed much more
traffic to the website.
May 12 Nov 12 Jan 13 May 13Mar 13 Nov 13Sep 13 Jan 14 Jul 14May 14Mar 14 Nov 14Sep 14 Jan 15 May 15Mar 15Nov 12Sep 12Jul 12 Jan 13 Jul 13May 13
0K
5K
10K
25K
20K
15K
Mar 13
BlogPostViews
NIDA DRUGS & HEALTH BLOG:
POST TRAFFIC TO METH DEAD DON’T GET EATEN
Data source: Google Analytics
The post Meth Dead Don’t Get Eaten opened to modest traffic in May 2012, but was picked up on Reddit in March
2014, when it went viral. Social media promotion and activity can enhance the value of blog posts—even a year or
more after posting.
1.0 1.1 1.2 1.30.90.7 0.80.5 0.60.40.2 0.30.10.0
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
80
60
40
20
0
100
AverageTimeonPage(sec)
Comment Rate
NIDA DRUGS & HEALTH BLOG
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMENT RATE AND AVERAGE TIME ON PAGE
Data Source: Google Analytics
Analysis of blog posts from January through July 2015.
Scatterplot of Comment Rate (comments per day after posting) by Average Time on Page.
R squared=0.15063. p-value=0.0212312.
Dec 11 Mar 12 Jun 12Dec 11 Sep 12 Mar 15 Jun 15Dec 14Mar 14 Jun 14Dec 13 Sep 14Mar 13 Jun 12
0K
20K
18K
16K
14K
12K
10K
8K
6K
4K
2K
Dec 12 Sep 13
Pageviews
Content
Blog
Drug Facts
NIDA FOR TEENS WEBSITE:
INTRODUCTION OF BATH SALTS ABUSE BLOG CONTENT
PRIOR TO GENERAL DRUG FACTS CONTENT
Data source: Google Analytics
Pageviews to blog post content compared to Drug Facts content.
The first blog post relating to bath salts appeared in September 2011 and the first time the bath salts topic was
generally integrated into the NIDA for Teens website was in late January 2013 within the Drug Facts section.
Content was vetted in the blog before being generally integrated in the site.
www.iqsolutions.com
Scott Jones, Certified Web Analyst
sjones@iqsolutions.com
Stephanie Adams
sadams@iqsolutions.com,
Yukari Takata Schneider, Ph.D., M.P.H.
yschneider@iqsolutions.com
Your Public Health Agency Needs a Blog
10 Reasons To Start a Blog and How It Will Help You Serve Your Constituency