10 practical blog article ideas
With Google’s latest update to it’s search algorithm it’s getting clearer that becoming an expert in your industry is what it takes to rank your website higher in search engine results.
We recently touched on this issue with our guide to SEO and Content Marketing and thought we would elaborate further by providing 10 practical blog article ideas to get you thinking in the right direction as a lot of my clients are not sure where to start when it comes to writing blog articles.
If you are passionate about your product or service it should not be too difficult to find things to write about, and if you do start to take control of your blog or news section you will begin to understand and control the SEO of your website.
Naturally, if you are blogging about your business you will be building fresh content that will add keyword rich text to your posts becoming indexed by Search Engines.
Here are my 10 practical blog article ideas to get you started.
1. a project update
Working on a new project? Want your clients to see what a great job you are doing while expanding your SEO? Why not blog about it. It is probably one of the simplest articles you could write as the project is fresh in your mind so not a lot of extra time and thought will need to go into the article. If your website is on WordPress you can even use the Mobile App to write the article and add images directly to your camera on the go.
You may be a florist working on a new flower bouquet design, a new blog article is a perfect way to add some new photos of your work to your site, show off some new techniques you’ve learnt and add a few extra key words that will help your website get viewed by more potential clients. It wouldn’t need to be long, it wouldn’t need to go into too much detail and it could have the potential to help your site and clientele grow.
Don’t forget to forward the article on to the client who’s project it is to make them see their job is important to you and build those personal relations, and who knows, they may even share it!
2. announcing a new client
Great, another fantastic client has come to you and wants to use your expertise. Why not blog about their decision to choose you to do their work, again expanding on your site and portraying your skills.
You may be a builder and a client has chosen your business to build their new dream home or renovate their existing home. This new client may live at the top of a hill with a view overlooking the hills or ocean, why not publish an article about them? They may have just bought a 100 year old house in a quiet street, why not blog about it? They may be using a unique design you’ve never seen before, lets blog about it! Take some snap shots of your work or plans (client permission needed) and get it online to show your talent and craftsmanship while adding keywords and increasing the SEO of your site.
If it’s a new home in a new estate add a link to the sales office and perhaps a link to the architect who designed the home who you have built a good relationship with and who always recommends your handy work. This will not only optimise your key word search but may also get you some new clients. You could also ask those involved to link back to your site or article.
3. an interesting industry innovation
As a professional in your field you try and keep up to date with the latest trends. If something grabs your attention that is new and exciting to you, why not post an article about it?
Perhaps you own a café and you learn of a new kind of coffee technique on offer. Why no blog about it and show how you are bringing the new coffee to your beautiful cafe. You are so excited as you know your customers will LOVE it and cant wait to share this with them!
Don’t forget to share the post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so your customers have the chance to get in and receive the first weeks ‘10% off’!
4. a relatable video you found on YouTube
While you were searching about a topic related to your business you found an interesting YouTube Video that you’d like to share with your readers? Why not write a blog about it?
Say you own a Yoga studio and while searching YouTube you came across a stressed single mother who has decided to video and upload her 30 day Yoga challenge. She has done a 3 minute video on how this 30 day challenge has transformed her body and mind, at the start she is stressed and tired, by the end she is happy and energised. You have chosen to write a blog about stress and the benefits of Yoga and as part of the blog and you share this woman’s transformation as you know clients may be able to relate to her circumstances.
Obviously you’ll want to share it, so it might reach the right person and don’t forget to use some fantastic key words, someone looking for methods to relieve stress may come across your article and be using your studio the following week!
5. something interesting about a staff member
Your business would not be what it is today without your devoted staff! Posting about a staff member is not only a great way of letting clients know how great your staff are, but also a great way of letting your staff know you appreciate them and the experiences they bring to your business.
Imagine you are a real estate agent who buys and sells homes and also looks after rentals. One of your rental managers has just been on their honeymoon and was very excited to tell you and the other staff about their experiences. Why not blog about their time away and how they have come home refreshed, excited, happy and in love and whatever else! Add some photos they have shared and a few snap shots of the wedding day too.
Does this relate to your business? I believe it does. I think that the clients this property manager look after would like to know she is back at work and had a good time away, so don’t forget to email them a link to the blog! It also helps build client relationships, shows what a close team you are and might be something that reaches an audience who isn’t interested in some of the other articles you posted. Clients that have read the article may then recommend your services to other potential clients “they are so nice and friendly and always happy to help… you should use them to sell your home…” All the while expanding your SEO.
6. a unique client experience
You got a new client who has shocked or surprised you with their request. You’ve never done something like this before. Why not write about it?
Pretend you are a baker who not only makes but decorates cakes. You were surprised to be asked to design a cake for a 21st birthday and they have asked you to make a cake in the shape of a Panda Bear! Turns out this 21 year old loves Pandas and the parents want to surprise her. How could you say no, this masterpiece is going to cost them a bit, take up a lot of time but the end product is unique and beautiful. You must blog about it to share the experience and some photos or a time-laps video of your latest masterpiece.
Don’t forget to Instagram some of the pictures and post a time lapse video to YouTube linking back to your new article.
7. an opinion piece on another article
Have you come across an article that you strongly agree or disagree with? Why not write about it? Things you feel passionate about are usually the easiest articles to write, as the content simply flows onto the page.
You are an accountant and come across an article titled ‘How to receive more tax back’, it looks interesting so you have a read. The article certainly has many ways to claim more money back but more than half of them are illegal. You must warn clients or future clients not to believe everything they read and explain some of these illegal methods that are out there, explaining that if they were audited they would be slapped with a hefty fine or even jail time.
Share the opinion piece to try and stop this from happening to any of your tax clients, make sure to add a link to a similar article you or another expert has written about legal ways to get the most back at tax time. It shows your expertise in the field while building fresh content indexible by search engines.
8. how your business has grown
It is always nice to look at how your business has evolved into what it is today. Why not do a blog article on how far you have come.
Say you are a Lawyer, who started out doing jobs from a home office and over the past 5 years your business has grown into a full functioning law firm. Each year more clients come to you, more staff are employed and more cases are won. Why not blog about your achievements. Include some statistics, a few photos, talk about some of the biggest cases you have won, some of the clients who you have built close bonds with, some of the big changes in legislation that you remember! Anything really. You may do it for the companies 1 year, 5 year or 10 year anniversary! It is good to remember your achievements and show clients how determined you have been to get to where you are today.
Email a link to new and past clients if you would like to share it and once again, you are building fresh content and optimising your search engine results and all this while celebrating your achievements and goals!
9. something that makes your business more efficient
You were struggling to get something to work in your business and after a long process you finally got success! Why not blog about it.
You might own a restaurant and are constantly losing business because the phone is often engaged as most of your clients call in orders. You decide something has to happen to fix this problem and you end up implementing an online order system where people can even pay for the goods online before coming in. Your productivity goes up and wait time goes down as employees no longer need to spend as much time on the phone trying to get orders.
You simply have to share this new system and it’s benefits with customers and forward the blog to everyone, you also get signs, fliers and business cards made up to get this message out. An article about this not only directly helps your business but it adds to the websites SEO because more blog articles means more fresh content and keywords have been added!
10. something that makes your clients happy!
Did you do something that helps your clients? Did you add something new to the office and want to reach out to tell your clients? Why not do this through your blog?
Imagine you own a dental surgery and you have noticed over the years how hard it is for some parents to get to the dentist child-free. When parents do come they are usually in a hurry to get back to the babysitter or when the child does tag along they are worrying about what the child is doing. You’ve always had a few toys in the reception area but know you need something different. Construction has just finished on a new dental room that is much bigger than the regular rooms and contains a ‘play area’ for children to use while they accompany clients to the dentist! What a perfect way to get out a blog article that has some pictures of the refreshed and re-furnished ‘kids room’.
This is yet another ‘MUST SHARE’ article as you know many of your clients will utilise this room and again, it will add to your SEO.
the bottom line
As you can see a blog article doesn’t always need to be a formal piece of writing. There are so many simple and quick article types that can be added to any website which still have the effect of building fresh content, adding keywords and therefore optimising your website for search engine results! When you think about it, to rank higher in search engines you are simply competing against other websites in the same keyword category than you, hence the more expert content that you create about your business compared to your competitors the more of a chance you have in out ranking them and if you’re not doing it somebody else is.
So why not get blogging? …and if you need help in setting up a blog on your current website or would like to discuss a content strategy be sure to contact us for more information.
. if it is the information icon and you click it on it will show you that the site in non secure. 
Google will eventually tell people via a highlighted warning that the site they are visiting is not secure and this has the potential to deter people from visiting webpages. At this stage it looks like this could occur for websites that collect data via forms and the like but this will also be the start of things to come. 
