Are You Losing Sales With A Weak Blog?
Give me content or give me death? This is the mantra of search engines and consumers alike. To feed the content beast, most sites start a blog and faithfully update it every few days or weeks with…useless, boring blog posts.
Do Your Blog Posts Suck?
It is a simple, blunt question with a dash of rudeness mixed in. You may want to say “no,” but we both know the answer is probably “yes.” Don’t be insulted. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to overcoming it.
The truth is most blogs are terrible. Do site owners set out to post thin content and update their blogs once every three months or so? Of course not.
The problem is time.
There isn’t enough of it.
Well, here’s a secret most successful blogs hold close to the vest. The blog posts are not written by the bloggers listed as the authors. Instead, the work is actually farmed out to companies like ours that know how to write compelling pieces on a tight schedule. Put more succinctly, you can “buy time” by using us.
So, just what do we do for you? Let’s take a look at our approach to writing blog posts.
Posts That Don’t Suck
Successful blogs build credibility and generate loyalty with the target audience. Unfortunately, successful blogs are few and far between. The reason is that most posts are nothing but marketing pieces trying to separate the reader from their hard-earned money.
Successful blogs don’t focus on asking for things from the readers. Instead, post after post gives readers something useful, whether it’s general information or helpful tips. This creates a positive impression with readers, an important step to ultimately winning their business.
Let’s consider a plumber’s site as an example. Plumbing is not the most exciting of topics, right? What kind of posts can we create that will not only be interesting to visitors, but will generate a strong brand impression with them? Actually, there are many different topics we can cover in posts that do just this.
Here is typical blog post language on the website of a plumber:
“We at Bob’s Plumbers have been providing professional services to the greater Los Angeles area for 18 years. We know our stuff. Whether you have a leak or clog, we can get the water flowing again…”
This is advertising copy. While it might be great for postcard mailings, it is not appropriate for a blog post.
This is what we might write:
“If you are suffering from clogged drains, the first thing you will discover is there seems to be an endless number of drain cleaners available to supposedly fix the problem. Before you buy and pour, it is important to ask two questions.
1. Will the product actually work?
2. Is the product safe for my pipes?”
The post would then discuss the various products available and how certain chemicals found in typical drain cleaners actually corrode metal pipes. An additional section would focus on how to deal with specific clogged drain situations such as food and hair clogs, as well as products appropriate for septic systems.
Go back and compare the two written post snippets. Which one would you react better to if you were sitting in your house with a smelly sink barely draining at 9 p.m. on Saturday night? The sales pitch, or the version identifying safe products that can cure the problem now?
Loyalty = Revenues
Happy readers are wonderful, but how does this put money in your pocket? The answer is simple in the case of our plumber. At the end of the post, we would include a section discussing completely clogged drains. It would be noted that such clogs need to be cleared with a plumbing snake and the reader would be directed to contact the plumber for help.
What have we done with this post? Have we given away free, useful information? Absolutely. Have we cut into the revenues or potential business of our plumbing client? Unlikely. Plumbers typically are not called out for slow drains, so we haven’t given away much and we’ve gained huge credibility with readers. If their drains get to the point where they will not drain at all, guess who the reader is calling?
Don’t think this approach works? It does – I’m a reader of just such a blog. I live in the mountains and am on a septic system. I was suffering from a clogged drain and found a blog post on a plumber’s site showing me in detail how to deal with the clog. It worked and the plumber had a customer for life without even knowing it. When it came time to order a routine $600 septic system draining which must be done every three to five years, who do you think I called?
You guessed right.
When the next routine cleaning is needed in another three to five years, who do you think I will call then?
You got it – and now you see the power of quality blog posts.
Our Blogging Service
Our goal at Prestige Writing is to turn your blog from a burden to a boon that brings in actual traffic and business. With our posting service, we:
- Conduct a free site review to unocover potential blogging opportunities
- Conduct a free consultation with you to discuss our views on the blogging opportunities for your site
- Discuss an appropriate posting frequency for your industry
- Discuss optimal word length
- Evaluate the potential for using topical news alerts to pick up traffic off the search engines with quick-hitting posts
- Discuss any other unique issues that arise during the consultation.
Get started now by scheduling a free consultation with us to learn how we can turn your blog from a turkey into a goose laying golden eggs.