Denver Web Design & Denver SEO - The Katz Web Design Blog

I’ve been working with the WordPress platform for a little while now, and I’ve been a regular blogger since January (though I had been promoting blogging for years earlier, and had my first blog in 2000 [yes, I'm a bit insecure about my blogging creds]).  I’ve created many sites with blogging capabilities, some of them based on Blogger.com integration, and others WordPress.

I’ve explained the benefits of blogging many times to my clients, made nagging phone calls reminding them to blog — all to little avail.  I even wrote an article about the importance of blogging to help explain myself. But still, the blogs remain silent.

What I tell my clients about the benefits of blogging

If my clients already know what a blog is, then I can dive into why it’s so important (other than people KNOW that it’s important).  I tell them the following:

Blogging is a great way to reach people who may not be searching for what you want them to be searching for. Let’s say you have a service for “healing touch,” but it’s not “therapeutic touch.”  With a normal website, you would not be able to rank well for the other key phrase. If you write an article on the differences between therapeutic touch and healing touch, you then will be able to rank for both phrases, even if your business only focuses on one service.

The more you write about what you know, the larger your online sphere of influence grows. By writing consistenly about topics important to you, you’re able to rank better in Google and other search engines, build a community of people who follow what you write, and become an authority on your topic.

There’s no other marketing medium like blogging where all you need to invest is your time, and you’ll get direct benefits. Fliers, radio, tv, newspaper, business chambers — they all take money.  Blogging is free to set up, and free to use.  You will get out of it what you put into it.

That’s the jist of what I tell people about blogging.  They generally get very excited, get a blog, and post a few times. One month later, cobwebs form on their admin login form.

Maybe try a professional blogging service?

One thing I’ve considered is writing the articles myself.  I’m no copywriting expert (I’m a Denver web designer), but I do know my clients’ business well.  If they don’t have the time or commitment to write their own articles, they should find someone to do it for them. There are many professional blog writing services out there, maybe I should start recommending them?

Does anyone have any experience using a professional blog writing service?

Today, a business associate asked me “I know about blogging, and it seems like a waste of time. Why is blogging worth the time?” I was able to reply with some very convincing arguments — and in a way, I reminded myself about the value of blogging.

1. Blogging establishes you as an expert in your field
2. Search engine traffic dramatically increases
3. Blogging is basically free marketing for your business: the only cost is your time.
4. Blogging forces you to write about your life and your business

Oh, you’re amazing? I had no idea.

If you don’t have a blog, and all you have is a website, then you may or may not know what you’re talking about. Your website could have good content, great images, convincing arguments for action, and simple navigation. Your website may be amazing, but in the end, without a blog, who knows if you are amazing?

If you don’t share your experience, it’s as if you have none. Blogging about a broad array of topics gives you authority on a subject; it shows that you know what you’re talking about. You can even write about not knowing something and be an authority!

Search engine traffic, anyone?

It’s called SEO, and if you don’t have a blog, you’re not doing too much of it! The reason why blogs are great for search optimization because they are written a natural way on a broad variety of subjects. The more you write in a blog, the broader your website’s relevance. By writing helpful content — and writing often — your website becomes a much larger presence in searches, across a wide spectrum of keywords. Blogging = traffic, it’s that simple.

Hello, my name is Mr. Free Exposure. I’m a friend of Blogging.

Yeah, blogging is free. The F word. And, if you look above, it brings in traffic. Traffic means potential leads/users/clients/sales. So, if you’re following the logic, you get free business.

The person I was speaking with looked skeptical. Time isn’t free, right? Well, I know that I don’t work every second of the 8 9 hour day. I do some browsing here, some slacking there. It’s only natural! While you’re not working, you might as well be blogging about working. You get to take a break from work, AND you build your business at the same time.

Explain yourself.

It’s often helpful to write about your business. Writing allows you to elaborate on various aspects of your life and business. It’s contemplative. When you share with others, you learn about yourself and your own process. The more you write about who you are and what you do, the better you know yourself.

Some topics you can blog about that make you think:

• What do you do?
  • Are there ways to do it better?
  • Who else is exploring how to improve your industry?
  • What do you like about your job?
  • What is the most challenging aspect of your business?
  • Do you have any funny stories about your job?
• Who are you?
  • How do you spend your free time?
  • How do your hobbies reflect on your life?
  • Have you read any good books recently?
  • Any books about your industry?
  • What’s your favorite local restaurant?
  • What do you want to achieve this year?
  • Have you traveled recently?

Set up a blogging schedule that aligns to your slacking habits 

If you find yourself not posting to your blog and letting your website stagnate, set up a schedule that fits your cycle of procrastination. We all know how hard it can be to do anything consistently, but we manage when the results are immediate. 

• Take out the garbage
• Shaving/showering/washing dishes
• Cleaning
• Waking up!

When are you least productive? 

In order to find your blogging sweet spot, a great way is to do a little investigating. One way to tell when you are least productive is by answering this question: what time during the day do you read the most blogs? If you use Google for any services (Gmail, iGoogle, Finance, etc.) you have a Google Account.  With that account, you can enable a service called Google Reader. Google Reader lets you compile all of your favorite websites’ articles into one easy to use format. 

Least productive Fridays

By looking at my Web History chart, it’s easy to see that:

• I waste the most time from 10-11am, and 2pm.
• I waste the most time on Tuesdays (by far!)

So, based on these statistics, I know that I should schedule a time for me to post on Tuesday around 11am each week.  Also, I should pencil in a daily posting time at 2pm to remind myself to post. Note: I started writing this post at 2:30 pm.  

 What about you?

How do you allocate time in your day to blog, and how effective is it?