WHAT TOPICS SHOULD MY BUSINESS BLOG ABOUT?

The simple advice is to publish blog topics that answer every question that your customers have.

So, if the advice is that simple, the question that then begs is… “what are these questions that are likely to drive traffic, leads and sales?”

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Based on key word reviews and accompanied brainstorm, we have broken the topics down the following:

• Cost or price
• Problems and or challenges
• Comparing alternatives
• Best lists, rankings…
• Customer and 3^rd party reviews

To expand on these topics, let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a customer now. Let’s say we are shopping for a new car or in a B2B context you might be looking for a new website provider for your business.

The first thing your mind will go to is… what can I afford?

In other words, cost and price.

For most people, they purchase a car once every 4 to 5 years and for many businesses there might be a similar time frame for selecting a new website provider. Therefore, unless you are an expert industry specialist you will only have vague ideas on costs and pricing. Therefore, you’ll go to the search engines to research what your affordability looks like, right?

And what happens when you struggle to get an answer on what the cost will be? Disappointment? Frustration?

Many businesses don’t like publishing pricing because that think it might scare people away, they think that their competitors will use it to advantage and they believe the customisation of their product and or service presents potential inaccurate pricing.

It’s easy to hide behind the fear of scaring prospects away. However, not having pricing available can drive customers to competitors. The good news is that you end up working with prospects who can afford your product or service. And let’s face it, your competitors already know your pricing and if you publish content that educates prospects around the elements of customisation that affect price then they can walk away with greater insight around the range of pricing.

The second topic to blog about is are customer problems and challenges.

Even the lowest involvement product is a solution to a problem or challenge. The consideration progresses most customers focus on the symptoms of their problems and this is the opportunity to educate them about solutions available.

For example, a web developer can answer questions like… “Why doesn’t my website convert traffic into sales?” or “How do I best integrate my ERP system into my website?”

You can even use problems to help poor fit prospects weed themselves out. For example, you could write a blog like this… “5 ways you can build your own website in 2 weeks”. In effect you are saying that you’re not a good fit for anyone searching up this type of content.

We live in an age of comparison and your business is not exempt

Everyone is comparing all the time. What’s best for their circumstances? And what key factors are important for decision making between the alternatives?

This is your opportunity to provide the pros and cons of your products and services. A good tip is to be as transparent as is possible. Explore the different usage scenarios and the applicability of products.

For example, comparing your car brand to your competitors’ brand is going to be written about by others regardless of whether you write any content or not. So, it’s best to be part of the conversation than not.

As customers we all use the search keywords… “best of/in”

Best is one of the most common ways customers search. Best SUV, Best phone… the list goes on.

The psychology behind best is the mitigation of risk. In an ideal world, we all want to assess our options from bad to best and we generally start at the very best and step back until we find what's best for us.

Here are a few "best of" article topics to consider writing about:

Imagine if your business helps other businesses solve their website development needs and you provide managed website services for your clients.

Your prospects already understand that they need help website and when the need arises they are clearly going to be interested in a list of the best providers.