Guest Post by:
Holly Mortimer: The Socialvert
Social Media Strategies For Small Business
Okay, so, I’m a writer and as a writer, I find, well, writing, easy. But I recognize not everyone shares my feelings on this. I meet with hundreds of clients a year and as I’m advising them on their digital growth strategy, inevitably, one of my first questions is, are you able to add a blog to your website? Blogs are the quickest and best way to grow your SEO and move up the Google algorithm rankings.
My answer is always, 100%, yes! Anyone can write a blog, and I’ve compiled some steps you can take to get started!
Start with an easy one. An About Me post. This type of post will serve a few different purposes. First off, it will start you on the relationship building side of things. It’s kind of a like a first date intro. You’re essentially dating the client, or well, the client’s dating you. Doesn’t matter, what matters is, just take five hundred words and introduce yourself. You can introduce your business, but people do business with people they know, like and trust, so, open up your personal side and see where that takes you.
Secondly, an About Me post will get you writing without having to recreate the wheel.
For your next post, think about the most asked question you get and expand upon your answer. Start with writing five hundred to one thousand words and see where it goes.For example, you’re in the plumbing and heating business (I have a client who’s implemented this strategy with this biz ) and you’re specialty is outdoor fireplaces and the question most people ask you is what type of stone is best to use when building this project. You can answer back inside of a blog post, and expand upon why its best and what other options are out there, supplemented with pictures of jobs you’ve done and insert stops along the blog to sign up for a free design consult. Done and done. Second blog post complete and you’ve offered a CTA.
My favourite method of uncovering what to blog about is to use Pinterest. Start to think of Pinterest as a search engine with beautiful images, NOT a social media platform and use it to type in common keywords your clients would be using to find a service or store such as the one you have. I’ve inserted a few pics to demonstrate how to use this tool.
The first example is what happens when I go back the outdoor fireplace project and simply type that into the search engine. The results offer up the next most popular keywords used. So you can see, ideas, diy and patio are the next most used keywords. Then it shows you other Pinterest accounts and boards that have the same interest.
The next example shows the results board and how many next click options there are. DIY, Backyards and Covered Decks are the next most popular searches.
Now you’ll be able to clearly see that yes, outdoor fireplaces are frequently searched on, and that creating a Pinterest account is a clear winning idea, but blogging about all of these subjects is also a great idea. You can create a blog post on samples of backyards with outdoor fireplaces, a blog post on how to mount a tv above the fireplace, possibly different design features. Pinterest has already done all the work for you regarding the most popular needs for your potential clients.
My final tip to finding content to write about requires a little bit of work. You’ll need to set up a Pinterest business account and grow the account a little before you can access insights into popular posts, but once you’ve gotten that done, you’re off to the races!
Anywho, once you’ve mastered the Pinterest business feed, your analytics will show you the most popular posts that you’re pinning that aren’t yours. Then you can take that area of interest and write your own blog post on the subject, knowing that it’s something that a lot of pinners are looking for. If you’d rather skip the mini-intro webinar and head right into the full course on using Pinterest in just 10 minutes a day to grow your business, (It’s only 8 modules long) click the button below.
Okay, so those are my favourite ways to come up with content to blog about. My best advice is to just start. It’s so good for your SEO, for establishing yourself as an expert and for understanding the keywords that motivate your clients to buy. I’d love to check your blogs out once you start posting! Leave a link in the comments below!
About The Author:
Holly Mortimer: The Socialvert
Social Media Strategies For Small Business
With a background in sales and marketing, Holly has been advising businesses, both large and small for the past twenty-three years. She has been the Business Advisor In Residence for the Stratford Perth Centre for Business, offering start-ups and existing businesses guidance and training, specializing in the area of digital marketing. Holly has written and published six novels, and currently operates two businesses, The Socialvert and Mortimer’s Travels alongside her government post. She is an accomplished public speaker and enjoys furthering her passion for teaching teen and tween girls how to build a business and be the CEO of their own entrepreneurship dreams.
Nice article! Thanks for sharing this informative post. Keep posting!
One of the most important bits of information, in my opinion, is this. I enjoyed reading your essay, too. I liked how you explained.
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