Content is the current and future king of the web. More than 75% of B2C companies maintain a blog. If you opt to go without, your site is bound to be lost in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) abyss.
Blogging for your business isn’t much different than a personal blog. The biggest change is the ability to use local SEO to the benefit of both your business and your content.
Your landscaping business is no different than any other B2C company. Meaning, you need a landscaping blog. The chances of your company being the only one in your local area are close to zero.
Using a landscaping blog to provide relevant content while promoting your own products and services can be what you’re needed to next level your business. Keep reading for 5 tips to get this project off the ground.
1. Choose Your Weapons For Your Landscaping Blog
WordPress is the best platform for small businesses and their blogs. It powers more than 25% of the internet. It comes with a plethora of available plugins to do everything from making your website faster to run a web store.
There are two types of WordPress sites. The free version is limited to what you’re able to do. WordPress.com is the free version and is hosted by WordPress. This can cause your website to be much slower.
WordPress.org sites are hosted by the web host of your choosing and depending on your decision, can make a huge difference in site speed.
The next piece of the puzzle is to choose a host. You want to choose a host that has a reputation for uptime and quality speed as well as customer service.
2. Design and Implement a Strategy
Many businesses fail because they don’t have a content strategy. What’s the purpose of your blog?
Are you trying to create brand awareness? Increase online conversions?
You need to decide what your goal or goals are before you start writing. It will affect everything from your internal and external links as well as your calls to action.
Internal links are links from your content to other pieces of content or services pages. You need to learn how to optimize these internal links to bring extra attention to your overall goals.
Linking from a high traffic piece of content to a lower one can give extra eyes on it and can help to increase page authority for those pieces of content.
External links to authoritative websites will help to increase your domain authority. While you should always want to attract readers, pleasing search engines should be a close second.
To increase the quality of your local SEO efforts, you’ll want to make sure your name, address, and phone number on your website match up perfectly with your Google My Business account as well as other directories.
3. Write Content
Writing content for your landscaping blog can be fun and a great creative outlet for you and your business.
Once your website is set up, make sure you have a 5-10 post head start and make sure it’s quality. Have employees, family, and friends read it and get some honest feedback.
If you aren’t comfortable writing your own content or your best effort isn’t enough to impress your personal network, outsourcing this content is always an option.
You can find writers at sites like Upwork. If you want quality content on a regular basis, you might be better off to speak with a content creating company or a digital marketing firm.
4. Set Up Social Profiles
When you start blogging, who do you think is going to read it? It takes months for content to show up naturally in the search engines. Furthermore, you won’t rank well if you don’t promote.
Google needs to see traffic as proof that you’re an authoritative website that offers real value to your readers.
Pay special attention to the heavy hitters like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Youtube.
If you think image and video focused content won’t work for your landscaping blog, think again. Potential clients want visual proof of your skills and this is a great way for you to show off your work. Think of it as a portfolio.
5. Use Email Effectively
Email has one of the best ROIs of any digital marketing strategy. Companies report over $30 in revenue for every $1 spent.
So how do you grab email addresses?
Use your landscaping blog! Have an opt-in box in your sidebar or one that drops onto your page. You can also ask readers to subscribe to your newsletter as a call to action for your content.
The key is to not sound pushy or salesy in your emails. Use them to draw attention to your content or specials and discounts on your services.
Your emails should offer value just like your blog. Make sure the information is helpful.
As an example, you could use something like this: “Fall is upon us! Here are a few quick tips on how to take care of your lawn when the weather gets cold.”
You can insert a link to a piece of content where you give expert advice on Fall and early winter lawn care.
Your Landscaping Blog – The Takeaway
Think of your landscaping blog as an extension of your business. It is a piece of you.
What do you represent? What kind of message do you want to convey?
It takes a while to get a feel for blogging but once you get into the swing of it, it can change your business for the better and your life. Many bloggers don’t realize they have a talent for writing until they’ve been doing it for a while.
If you have any more questions, contact us today to find out what we can do to help your business and your landscaping blog.
Landscaping Business Blog Posts
- How to Use the Advanced Features of Google My Business
- How to Use Google My Business to Get More Customers
- How to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
- What Are Local SEO Citations And How Do They Benefit Your Company?
- Landscaping Business Tips: Managing Your Online Reputation
- 5 Essential Tips for Launching Your Landscaping Blog
Ready to learn more?
Bring in new leads with a website that works for you.
Schedule your free, 15 minute strategy consultation now!