In recent weeks, we’ve written about what you can do to help the search engine optimisation (SEO) of your business. One of the factors we’ve touched on is how important it is to write good quality content for your website and to keep that content updated.
One of the ways you can boost your website content and keep it updated, is to write a regular blog entry. Your company website may well have a blog feature, but if it does, how do you go about writing an entry? Well, here are a few tips to help you get started.
Plan ahead
Firstly, plan ahead. Work out a rough plan of topics you’re going to write about. It’s amazing how just a few points written on a scrap of paper can develop into something more. Take a writer’s tip and carry around a notebook and pencil, so you can scribble down your ideas as they come to you. Having just a few pointers written down will help you get over that oppressive feeling of having to fill a blank screen or page.
Help your customers
Secondly, think about your customers and how you can help them. Are there questions that your customers regularly ask you? Are there issues that your customers regularly encounter? Then address these questions and problems in your blog entries and present a solution. Addressing your customers’ questions will help them, but it will also help your company’s SEO too, because the questions your customers ask you are likely to be the ones they’re using in internet searches too. So, for instance, if you run a garage, you might want to write a blog entry on ‘how to check your car’s oil level’ or ‘how to check tyre pressure’. Think too of offering seasonal advice like ‘How to get your car ready for winter’ or ‘Checks to make before you head off on your summer holiday’. As The Guardian notes, the key is to write content that is valuable for your customers.
Make it local
Writing regular blog entries also gives you the opportunity to make references to your local geographic area and show your engagement with the local community. It might be that your company has been involved in a significant local project for instance. Neighbourhood and local geographic references will help strengthen your local SEO and increase your visibility to your key customers, but make sure they are natural sounding and not forced.
Keep it chatty
What’s more, when it comes to style, you should aim to keep it chatty and informal. When you’re writing a blog, imagine you’re sitting in a room having a chat with one of your customers and write like you talk.
Think about frequency
Another key consideration is the frequency of your blog entries. You need to balance writing good quality content with updating your website regularly. Many companies add one blog entry a week, but if this is too great a burden, try once a month. A word of warning: be sure not to duplicate old content or existing pages – it could adversely affect your SEO and your website could be penalised by Google. Writing new and unique content for your website is important. If you’re having difficulty finding the time, consider outsourcing the writing of your blog entries to a company that specialises in producing online content.
Adapt to events
However, in addition to planning your regular entries, it’s also important to be flexible and, on occasion, to respond quickly to events. So if you’ve suffered a heavy snow fall in your area, you could write a blog entry on ‘How to keep your car going in the snow’ or ‘How to drive safely in snow’ for instance. Keep an eye on the news, too, as this may give you ideas for timely blog entries, so you could give your customers advice on the new guidelines relating to the use of mobile phones in cars. Adding blog entries that are particularly timely and appear at different times to your regular blog entries can have great value.
We hope this blog entry has given you ideas for your own blog entries and that you’re now ready to discover the writer in you. If you need help with any aspects of your website, from design to content then do get in touch with our friendly team.
