Anytime you’re involved with content creation, you’re doing new business development.

No matter where or when it happens, content creation that’s original and educational, is part of an SEO strategy to help you drive prospects to your website. Blogging IS new business development.

That’s because the more you update your website, the more Google re-indexes it, keeping it relevant in their search results. And the better you show up in search results, the easier it is for people to find you.

If you don’t look at content creation as new business development, you’re missing the reason for doing it, because that’s exactly what it is. However, there are some important rules to follow to make your blogging pay off. Here are our top four.

Rule #1: Don’t talk about yourself.

Until people get to know you and your company, they don’t care about you (or us). What they DO care about is what you can do for them: how you can help them get more clients, make their lives easier, or make them a better person. (Or in the case of plastic surgeons, feel better about themselves). That’s because everyone really wants to know what’s in it for them.

The key to getting people to look at you as an industry expert is to share your knowledge. And if you’ve been successful at what you do, you should have a lot of expertise to share. By educating your audience, prospects will look to you to help them.

Rule #2: Do your keyword research.

Never guess at what keywords your audience is using to find you, because if you guess wrong all your content creation will be for nothing. That’s where a professional SEO person comes in. They have the tools to research the right keywords.

As an example, the word “home builder,” as 2 words, has 60,500 monthly searches around the US, while “homebuilder,” as 1 word, has 1,000 monthly searches. Of course, you’d need to have an SEO professional extrapolate how that relates for your state or city, but you see the difference.

Using the right keywords will ensure you’re getting the most from your content creation.

Rule #3: Answer questions.

With voice search, people ask questions more so than just keying in 2-3 keywords. Any SEO professional (but not every web designer) can research the questions your prospects are asking about your products and services.

When your blog posts answer the exact questions people are asking, the chances of those blogs turning up well in search results go way up. Just make sure the question being asked IS the exact headline in your blog.

As an example, we know our prospects ask the question: “What is the process of working with a web designer in Columbus?” So we wrote a blog with that exact headline. Now, when you Google that question, our blog about working with a web designer in Columbus comes up at the top of Google’s search results.

Rule #4: On-page SEO is critical

Writing blogs correctly is the first step. Then, to really play by Google’s rules, there’s behind-the-scenes on-page SEO that brings it up to the next level. There’s a bunch of moving parts which you can see by watching this video we created that walks you through the on-page SEO process. (Or just click on the image below.)

How long should your blog be?

Read why in-depth “feature articles” of up to 2,000 words rank better in Google.

Can’t do 2,000 word articles on a regular basis? Then start with 500 word articles and work up from there. This blog post is about 1,100 words.

Use an A.I. service to help with your blogging.

You can also use to any number of A.I. services. Each has a free option and a subscription option. Check out Chat GPT here, or  Google’s Bard here.

But don’t rely too heavily on A.I. written content. For what we need, it’s not as good – at least not yet – as a human writing content. Nor can it customize the content incorporating your expertise. Sure, A.I. can write a 500-word blog in a minute, but from there you should personalize it by interjecting your own experiences.

How often should you post?

As you would imagine, more is better. And blogging more than your competitors blog is good, too. We post blogs every two weeks. (We have a lot to share!) We also have folks from around the country (actually, the world) contacting us to post guest blogs on our website. When that happens, we have everyone follow the rules we post about guest bloggers.

Use images to break up your text.

There’s nothing that will bore people more than having too wade through too much copy, so use images to break up your content.

People like infographics that compile complex information into a simple interpretive graphic. This is definitely a time to use a designer, so be sure to get a visual person involved with developing your infographics. And should you have one done, make the most of it by posting it on as many blogs – and social media posts – as you can.

Get backlinks.

A huge SEO factor is getting back links from local or industry specific directories. The more backlinks you can get to your website the better. That’s because, from Google’s earliest algorithms, backlinks have always be an indicator of how valuable a website is. The theory is, the more websites that link back to your site, the more valuable information you have.

An SEO professional can set up a legitimate program to help you get quality backlinks to your website. Having fewer quality backlinks is better than having lots of mediocre backlinks.

And finally, no cheating!

If you cheat or cut corners, especially with your on-page SEO, Google’s algorithms know. (They know everything, because it’s their world… we’re just living in it.)

All of Google’s updates are merely intended to weed out the cheaters (by not ranking them high) and reward the companies that are doing it right. So take the time to write good content regularly, using the right keywords, and practicing good on-page SEO.

If you spend time putting together information that your audience can benefit from, eventually it will register – with them and with Google. Hopefully, your prospects might even come back for more information. Or, they might “Like” it on social media, and share it with others in their universe.

Look at your content strategy and creation as “new business development” because that’s exactly what it is.

There’s really no secret to SEO. Lots of really smart people who work in this industry are willingly share their insights to those of us who soak it in, and use it to both our, and our client’s, advantage. Here’s a great article on How to Build a Kickass Content Strategy Plan.

And if you think it’s hard to come up with new blog ideas, check out this article.

When you do it right, you can spend more time with friends and family.

When your prospects find you, instead of you finding them, it gives you more time to spend with friends, with family, playing Pickelball (if that’s your thing), or whatever else that “toasts your strudel.”

As a Columbus Ohio web design company, we can help with many aspects of marketing your website, including helping with your blogs. So if you’re looking for marketing help, let’s talk.