If you’re having trouble coming up with content for your kitchen and bath business’s blog, don’t give up. Sometimes all you need is a different frame of mind, or to ask the right questions.
Think everything remodel
- Put yourself in your reader’s shoes – Try to imagine what it is that you’d like to read about if you were the customer. Perhaps you deal primarily with homeowners – what can you write about to make their lives less complicated?
- Ask the customer – Find out what your remodelers would like to learn about.
- Interview former customers – Ask them questions about their remodel, what surprised them, expectations and their overall satisfaction. These interviews are perfectly acceptable posts.
- Brain dump – Literally “empty” your brain when you have time by writing every potential topic that comes to mind. They may not all be great, but I’m sure you’ll at least have a few topic ideas when you’re done.
- Ask employees for ideas – Send a mass email to everyone at your company and ask them to submit topic ideas (especially your designers and salespeople who have daily interaction with your customers).
- Allow other employees to post – Find out if anyone in your company fancies themselves a writer, and ask them to submit a short post. Make sure to review the content before posting. Ultimately, you should be aware of every piece of content that is published, or have a strong trust in your publishers.
- Ask your followers – find out what your social media followers would like to read more about.
- Read other blogs – It’s ok to mimic other industry leaders content. Remember not to plagiarize. You may also find that you take a different stance on certain matters. Don’t be afraid to write about similar topics from a different angle.
- Utilize the Consumer’s Voice – If you’re having trouble coming up with content, wire the Consumer’s Voice into your website. This is a great way to gain free leads as well!
Make your blog successful
- Quality trumps length – Your posts don’t have to be thesis papers, in fact they shouldn’t be. If social media has taught you anything, then you should know that people enjoy posts that are short and to the point. Keep in mind that research has pointed to better SEO ranking for medium length articles (250-800 words) vs. too long or too short.
- Post frequently – the more you post, the more your readers will visit your site and consider you an expert. But remember the point above – make sure your posts are quality.
- Spread the word – Make sure anyone who makes contact with you knows about your blog. Mention it to any foot traffic, incoming callers and especially social media followers. Find some followers on twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, etc (regardless of their location…people far from you may still be interested in what you have to say). The more quality followers you have, the more you look like a trusted source. Post the link of your newest blog entries to all of your social media accounts so that people will know it is there. What’s the use in writing if no one knows to read it?
There are so many things for kitchen buyers to learn with regards to their remodel that topics are endless. Ask around and jot down any ideas you can think of, and you’ll be a content creating machine in no time.
