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Why You Should Have a Blog

What can you blog about? More importantly, what should you blog about?

I often get asked, “What would I write about if I had a blog?” followed by “Can you write it for me?” You’re a business owner. I get it. I know you have ten thousand other things to do before you have time to sit down and write a blog post. The idea of writing just ONE blog post seems impossible, much less weekly or monthly. In addition, a lot of business owners simply don’t think that they have much to write about.

Why Should You Have a Blog?

If you have a web site, maintaining a blog is an easy way to make sure Google sees your site as relevant and up-to-date. The more relevant and up-to-date Google thinks your site is, the more it will reward you by showing your site in search results for topics related to your business. How does Google know which topics are related to your business? It reads your site map, looks at the links within your site, determines if other sites are linking to your site, measures how long people who visit your site stay before they navigate elsewhere, and by the topics that you post on your blog.

Here’s an example of how a blog topic that you choose can influence Google. Let’s say that you own a restaurant and you specialize in hamburgers. The name of your restaurant is Bob’s Restaurant. Based on your name Google doesn’t specifically know that your hamburgers are world-class. (However, there are plenty of ways you can share that information with Google – that’s a topic for another day.) If someone is searching for a hamburger restaurant, your restaurant may not show up in the search listings. Or your listing may show up but it won’t be on the first page, especially if there are a lot of other restaurants in your area.

Certainly one of the biggest advantages to having a blog is that the content you write can attract people to your site. For instance, let’s say that you write a blog post about the difference between Senepol beef and US beef. Someone visiting St. Croix may not know the difference, so then may do a Google search for “St. Croix local beef.” Your article may show up in the search listings! Bam – you’ve gotten that person to your web site. Make sure your post includes a description of your hamburgers, other dishes, pictures, and invites the reader to check out your restaurant!

Getting Creative with Your Blog Posts

No matter what your business does, you can get creative with your blog posts. In other words, any business can benefit from having a blog. Here are a few ideas:

  • Answer the most frequently asked questions you receive.
  • Discuss the pros and cons of the most expensive product or service you provide, and the right person for that product.
  • New products or services you’ve recently introduced.
  • Introduce a new employee or spotlight a long-time employee.
  • Reasons someone should hire you instead of doing it themselves. Quantify time and/or money saved if you can.
  • If you’re not much of a writer, you can even blog using video. Use your phone to take the video, and add the video to your blog page with a short description.

Let’s continue by breaking these ideas down further with island-specific blog topic examples:

Ideas for a watersport business blog:

  • Best places to paddleboard on St. Croix
  • Best times of the month to see the BioBay
  • Your favorite fishing holes
  • Top snorkeling locations
  • Underwater SCUBA diving discoveries

Blog ideas for a landscaping business:

  • Local edible plants and plants to avoid
  • Trees that provide privacy and shade
  • Growing your own vegetables
  • Drought-tolerant plants for your landscape
  • How to collect rainwater besides your cistern

Home repair business blog ideas:

  • Composite vs. wood decking
  • Protecting your appliances from the salt air
  • Ideas to add more storage to your home
  • What to expect from your bathroom remodel
  • How to properly care for your cistern

Have you noticed? I’m following my own advice right now. I’m blogging about blogging. Why? Because the second question I mentioned at the beginning of this post is that I often get asked “Can you write my blog for me?” and the answer is “Yes!” It’s sort of like the bus bench that grabbed your attention that reads “See? Bus bench advertising works!”

In conclusion, if you’re ready to do more with your web site, adding a blog is easy. Start sending Google those signals that your business is important by keeping your web site up-to-date and blogging. Google will reward you by prioritizing your page in search engine results.

Have more questions? Need ideas? Let’s talk!

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