Do you have a business with a website? Whether you call the page “News,” “Updates,” or simply, “Blog,” you should keep one. 

Perhaps you think blogs are no longer de rigueur. That may be true. Google Reader went off into the sunset, and the beautiful blogs of the late aughts ditched their RSS feeds for social media. But you know what isn’t concerned with what’s fashionable? Robots. Specifically search engines. They’re crawling billions (with a b) of pages a day and adding the data to their systems. 

Blogging is Hard, Though

Assuming you do have a business website, is there an outdated blog on there? It’s ok, we’re not judging. Many small businesses, particularly those without a dedicated web writer, do not have time to spare, or an extra employee interested in writing for their website. With results that are more intangible than, say, generated leads, phone calls, or online orders, why spend hours researching, writing, and editing a blog that gets what may amount to a couple of hundred views? We hate our time being wasted, so we consider that a perfectly reasonable question. 

Why Blogging is Worth It

Think you don’t need to blog? Stop right there, mon frère. Keeping a regular, updated blog has many benefits to your site health. Here are a few reasons we’ll explore in this one: 

  • Search engines like fresh content
  • Additional traffic to your site boosts your SEO
  • You’ll have content to push on your social channels

Freshness

Search engines keep their algorithms a secret. However, Google has released some information, and the rest we’ve determined based on their patent filings. Search Engine Optimization experts (SEOs) have determined that one of the big ranking factors for websites is the freshness and content updates. What part of your website could easily be freshened, frequently? We’ll give you a hint: it starts with a B and rhymes with “IwishmyboyfriendwouldtakemetoPrague.”

Quoth Google:

“In general, the system boosts the score for a “fresh” search result if the query is “fresh seeking,” and may demote the score if the resource is not fresh. A query is generally considered fresh seeking when users tend to prefer younger resources to older resources provided in response to the query. A resource is generally considered fresh if it is young, i.e. created recently.”

Building Authority

Over time (years), a website that is regularly updated with good content builds SEO strength. Search engines are tight-lipped about how site metrics order search results. However, the results are clear to us (and other SEO experts): positive organic search results go hand in hand with regular updates. Your website is a garden that you must continue tending. You don’t have to toil in the SEO fields, but it’s sort of like any kind of regimen (exercise, skin care, taking vitamins)—consistency is key.

Social Media Content

Blogs make great social media content. It directs people from your social channels to your website, boosting your traffic and engagement. This is fairly straightforward, but it’s worth noting and putting in the “reasons why” column. 

What Topics Should You Write About?

The LinkedIn/Thought Leadership Rat Race

Do you ever get on LinkedIn, start scrolling, and stop and say to yourself, “What are these people even talking about?” Many people are offering business insight after business insight, and some (not all) of these “thought leaders” seem to be talking mostly to one another while making a lot of emphatic hand gestures and repeating platitudinal marketing jargon. 

You don’t have to be one of these people, and your blog doesn’t have to be article after article of insights only related to your specific business. Your blog can be whatever you want it to be, and the topics can be tangential to your product or service. As long as they are original, informative, and written well, they’ll do the intended job of boosting your SEO ranking. 

We can’t give away all our secrets (we are an agency offering SEO and blogging services, after all), but we’ll share a few fun ways to find topics to write about that are either related to your business or are of interest to your clients.

Google Trends

This database can show you search term data, whether it’s worldwide, nationwide, or on a local level. Let’s use an example to show you how you can drum up topics that are frequently searched in the areas a business serves.

Let’s say you are a non-profit financial counseling service based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Your clients are anyone who is struggling with debt, budgeting, credit, etc. Using Google Trends, we can see related topics and related queries for the topic of finance in Louisiana. In these, we can find a few great blog topic ideas already:

  1. Tithes

As a financial counselor, you could discuss what a tithe is, how tithing fits within a budget, and how to count your tithe on your tax returns. Louisiana is a very religious state, and tithes to a church, pledges to a temple, and donations to a mosque are regular budget items for many families.

  1. Louisiana Food Stamps

Importantly, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is still colloquially referred to as “food stamps.” So, when writing a blog post, include the terms “food stamps” and SNAP to capture more users searching for information on the topic. You can explain what SNAP is, the requirements of being a SNAP recipient, and how to apply for the program in Louisiana. 

SNAP isn’t part of your business, but people who are financially insolvent may benefit from this program. Therefore, it may be relevant to your clients. You may introduce your service to new people who visit the site, and they may contact you or read further.

  1. Tax Credits for Louisianans

This topic booms in April, but is a perennial favorite: what tax advantages are there in Louisiana for your clients? Tell the user some popular tax credits that they can take advantage of on their state and federal tax returns, such as business incentives and:

  • Child care expenses
  • Donations to child care providers
  • Earned income tax credit

Keyword Research Tools

Mad Genius uses a professional keyword research tool, but there are some free options out there. This includes Google Ads Keyword Planner. Put in one of your main keywords, and you’ll see the volume of people doing average monthly searches on that keyword and related keywords.

To return to our example business, I typed in “debt relief” and searched in results for the state of Louisiana. Several of the top results are related to getting car loans with bad credit. Consider writing an article about getting a good APR for an auto loan, where and how to buy a car when you don’t have a lot of money, and any other suggestions you have for this type of client. You’ll know what to do—you’re the theoretical credit counselor, not me.

Brainstorm Local Interest

What are some assumptions you can make about your clients, and what may interest them? You may have discussed topics with your clients in passing and know some of their interests. If they are working on saving money, these topics may interest them:

  • Affordable Louisiana family vacation ideas
  • Coupon resources for stores in Baton Rouge
  • Free educational courses near them
  • Ways to find the cheapest gas, milk, etc.

Start Blogging (Now)!

We prefer not to tell you what to do, but if you’re still reading this, you should just start blogging. If you get lost, Mad Genius helps clients of all kinds develop and post content for their websites and monitor the results. If you’d like to hear more, just contact us.