If you can't persevere for at least a year, it's better not to start.
A blog pays off when each article answers a question that customers actually ask you, and when you keep it going for at least a year. A blog with four posts from 2024 works against you: it shows a company that started something and let it go. It is better not to publish anything than occasionally.
STEP BY STEP
This is how you approach it
- First collect twenty real questionsFrom your mailbox and sales conversations. If you don't have twenty, then a blog is probably not your best investment and you would be better off investing that time in your service pages.
- Choose a feasible rhythmOne article per month that you keep up beats four per month that stop after a quarter. Be honest about what fits in with your regular work.
- Answer one question per articleNot three and a half. One question answered in full, including the follow-up questions someone has afterwards.
- Write the answer at the topNo introduction to the history of the subject. The reader came up with a question.
- Link to your services where it is correctAn article that leads nowhere is a fun piece with no function. One natural reference to the page that solves the problem.
- Update old articlesUpdating an existing article often yields more than writing a new one, and it takes less time.
PITFALLS
When you better not start
When you have no real questions to answer, or you know you'll let it go after three months. An abandoned blog is visible and harms you more than its absence.
Even if your service pages are not yet finished, they deserve your attention first, because that is where the purchasing intention lies.
- Not twenty real questions — then a blog is not your best move.
- Service pages not yet finished — that's where the purchasing intention lies.
- Don't last at least a year — an abandoned blog does harm.
- Well: one question per article — fully answered.
- Well: updating over new writing — often higher returns.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
More about blogging
How often should I publish?
As often as you can maintain for a year. One article per month with a real question in it beats a series of ten that then comes to a standstill.
Can AI write my articles?
It works as a starting point and for rewriting. But AI doesn't know your customers, projects and exceptions, and it's those that make an article worthwhile. Uncontrolled publishing produces pieces that apply to everyone and no one.
How long should an article be?
As long as the question asks. A short question deserves a short answer; stretching to appear tall performs worse than compact and complete.
CONTINUE READING
Of course, continue reading about this subject.
A blog that works?
Tell us what questions your customers ask. We say whether a blog is worthwhile.