All hail Google. No kidding. Because if you want your website on page one, there are certain rules and guidelines you need to abide by. And guess who sets, maintains, and updates them? Right.
So, beginning with the premise that your website was created to give you first-page Google placement and, with that, a competitive advantage, did you also consider how to sustain such placement once achieved? SEO, check. AdWords, check. Fresh content…wait a second, where’s the checkmark for that one? Well, with a monthly blog or two on your website, you’d have it.
Let’s say you’re a plumbing contractor and you’ve told your company story – on the site’s main pages – as thoroughly as you know how. Without, that is, putting anyone to sleep.
But here’s the thing. As interesting as tankless water heater operation (for example) might be to someone who needs a replacement unit, it’s of zero interest to someone whose basement is flooded. Instead, they’ll search Google for a plumbing contractor that specializes in water leak prevention, detection, and repair. If your site has such a page already, you’re one step ahead of the game. If not, there’s the inspiration for your first blog.
And that’s the essence of how your website and company can benefit from a well-
written and regularly updated blog. The content will be there for those seeking
information on any given topic without you needing to create a separate page for the
main website on each such topic.
How to Develop Blogs that People Will Read
If you’re ready to open a new Word Doc and write your first blog, hold on just one more
minute. Because you do it for all the right reasons and adhere to certain guidelines, it could prove to be a wasted effort.
- Develop blogs on topics relevant to your customers, even if they don’t always involve a service or products you sell
- As a plumbing company, you’re unlikely to have more than two or three pages on your website about water heaters. A blog, on the other hand, enables you to delve into some of the finer points of that service category, such as the difference between a regular or heat pump electric water heater, how to tell when it’s time to replace a water heater, and more.
- Choose short- or long-tail keywords as your headlines…you’re far more likely to appear on page one in your local market that way.
- If you really want people to read your blogs vs. simply using them as another means to gain page one traction, include photos, video, or graphics.
- Use hyperlinks in your blogs to direct traffic to pages where buying activity is more likely to occur.
- Write them – or hire someone to write them for you – as if your revenues depended on it. Because at least to some extent, they will.
- Have a dedicated section on your website to host all company blogs, and organize them by category, not the year written. Doing the latter is an open invitation to bother with anything older than a year or two.
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