5 Tips to Help You Start Your Local Business's Blog 

As a local business owner, you (hopefully) already know the importance of having a blog on your website. Among other things, blogs establish you as an authority in your field, they help with Google rankings, and they can be used to draw prospects into your sales funnel.

But many business owners are reluctant to start blogging for  a variety of reasons. The most common reasons are, “I’m not a writer, how can I publish a blog?”  and “I don’t know what to write about!” These are valid concerns, of course, but they shouldn’t stop you from starting a blog that could eventually grow your business.

Whatever your reasons may be, now is the time to reconsider starting a blog for your local business. Check out our tips for getting started.

Coming up with blog topics can be challenging, even for seasoned bloggers.  The  key is providing useful information to your readers. And don’t be afraid to get specific. Posts about specific topics will draw in more readers than a vague overview of something.

Helpful blog articles can include how-to's, news about recent innovations in your field, or local events your company is involved with. No matter what you're writing about, your reader needs to come away having learned something, whether about your industry, your community, or how to tackle a project. Readers won’t stick with a blog that’s not teaching them a new skill or enlightening them with new information.

When people think about writing, many will imagine the book reports and term papers they wrote back in their school days.  But one of the great things about blogs is that they’re not technical manuals or  white papers (or term papers.) A blog post shouldn’t read like a thesis. Instead, your blog should be conversational and easy to read and understand.

The purpose of your blog, among other things, is to make a connection with your potential customers. If your posts are full of industry jargon and hard to decipher language, your readers won’t stick around for long and they probably won’t be interested in learning more about your company.

Rather than trying to appear overly-professional and stiff, just write in your own voice. If you have a sense of humor, don’t be afraid to use it occasionally in your writing. If you have a personal anecdote that relates to the topic, include it in your post. It’s all about the human connection. If you’re writing like a robot, don’t expect much interaction from customers.

Be authentic. Really, it’s that easy. Consumers are smart and if your blog posts are thinly veiled sales pitches, they’ll pick up on it. No one is going to read an article that’s trying to sell them something. And that’s not the purpose of a blog, anyway.

Your blog should attract potential customers to your business with good information provided in a simple, approachable format. Consider it this way: If a prospective customer visited your showroom, you wouldn’t immediately launch into a high-pressure sales pitch as soon as they walked through the door. Instead, you would have a conversation. You’d would learn about their needs and offer your expertise and experience to help them. Think of your blog in the same way. Write about your customers’ needs and solving their problems.

Including images in your blog posts is important for a couple of reasons. First, when we’re reading information on a screen, we like to have large blocks of text broken up with headings and images. It gives our brains a little break while we’re reading. And second, depending on your industry, images could be just as important as your text.

If you’re in the home remodeling industry, for example, your blog is a great place to share beautiful photos of your projects. Let potential customers see your work in amazing before-and-after shots or show them how new techniques look in practical application.

Don’t confuse a call to action (CTA) with a sales pitch. They’re not the same thing. While your blog post shouldn’t be a 5-paragraph attempt to sell something, it should include a call for your readers to take action.

Your CTA could be an invitation to subscribe to your blog, a “learn more about our services” button, or a simple opt-in for your mailing list. A call to action allows the potential customer the opportunity to further engage with your company, which is one of ways your blog helps your business grow.

(psst... Want an example? Scroll down and you’ll see our CTA. )