The word everyone hates but what every site should have – Blog
Before you start explaining why you don’t need blogs and how you don’t have time to sit down and write content, let me stop you. We get it – we really do, but we’re encouraging you to read this.
How to Make Blogging Less Scary
We normally have to take cover when talking with a client about starting a blog section on their website. We never know if they’ll throw knives at our heads or come out swinging or if they’ll break down and cry right in front of us – it’s that serious. When you think about the word “blog,” do images of 1,000-page books or 32-page magazines come to mind? If so, take a breath and instead envision a few paragraphs of text related to your industry totaling about 500 words.
“But people won’t read 500 words.”
They may or may not, depending on how interesting the information is – BUT (here’s the kicker) Google will read the words and they’re one of the entities we need to please. We joke internally that “Google owns the internet,” but this joke does hold some weight to it. More than 70 percent of people who use the internet use Google to do online searches. Google’s influence can be seen around the web and even in technology as a whole.
Where do I start to create a blog?
When starting a blog, remember keywords are so important to Google. When people call your office to ask for a product or service, what are they trying to achieve and how are they asking for it? These keywords are what’s important to Google – and are what you need to keep in mind when starting a blog. For example, someone may call a doctor’s office and say “Hi, I’m having issues. After I eat cheese or spicy foods, I have really bad heartburn. What can be done to help with that?” The nurse or doctor would then tell them how acid reflux works and how staying away from cheese, spicy foods or any other foods like these would help.
Take notes when your clients call in. You may find you get a lot of calls about a specific topic, such as heartburn. This will give you a starting point for blog topics. In this case, it may be a good idea for this doctor to write a blog post about heartburn if they receive numerous phone calls about it. The best part is that you’re an expert when it comes to the topic that the client is calling about, so your answers will likely help more than one person.
In this example, let’s say that you own a chiropractor’s office. (Side note: I’ve spent a lot of time in one because my joints don’t know how to function properly.) There are several reasons why a prospective patient may choose your practice. Maybe their doctor referred them, maybe another patient who had a good experience referred them, or maybe they did an online search for “chiropractor specializing in joint therapy.” So let’s say this prospective patient is looking for different ways to heal joint pain. If she Googles “chiropractor joint pain Lafayette, LA,” she will get a list of physical therapy offices nearby. HOWEVER, if your website has a blog post titled, “How chiropractors can help to ease joint pain and stiffness,” (hey, it happens more often than you think…) she would be more likely to click on that link, right? In this way, you’re pleasing not only Google but providing useful information to an actual person and creating the start of a great user experience.
Google has been really pushing toward a “searcher goal help” ranking factor over the last few years. Basically, if someone is searching for something they need an answer to, then your content will be pushed higher if it relates to helping them solve their problem. Let’s use an example of someone wanting to learn to tie their shoes. If your blog has the steps to shoe tying step-by-step, you’re more likely to rank higher because you can actually help someone get a task done.
Let’s Get Started!
Yes, we’re going to start your blog right now. (I promise it’s not as bad as you think.) Here are some questions to get you thinking and help you out.
- What’s the most requested product or service that we offer?
- What types of problems could my products or services resolve?
- What are the top questions people have about my products or services?
Oh and in case you were wondering, this is what a 500-word blog post looks like. (Okay, I’m an overachiever, it’s really 624 words – but still! Not too bad, right?)