Top 3 times to write a blog post for your pet business website
Today I have a long wait at the airport due to circumstances beyond my control. So I thought, what should I do with all this waiting time? I’m talking about filling 4 hours here, while I eagerly wait to arrive at the 2013 BlogPaws Conference. (I hope to see you there!)
It didn’t take me long to realize that I could use this time to write a blog post about online marketing success for pet businesses and veterinary practices.
I came up with these suggested top 3 times to write a blog post for your pet business website.
OK, here goes.
First, why not use “down time” to write a quick, meaningful post?
I understand that you may be laughing at me right now. What down time? Us busy pet-business owners or veterinary practice managers rarely have down time.
Well, you may find yourself with some down time you didn’t expect. Like I did at the Dallas Airport today.
For instance, you may be waiting to give your child a ride home after a class, and you arrived a little too early. Or you’re at home in the evening, waiting for your favorite singing competition show to come on, but you’ve got another half hour before it starts. (Writing a blog post often takes just 15-30 minutes).
Whenever you’re sitting around waiting for something, think about possible blog topics your customers would appreciate… and then write about them!
That brings me to my second best time to write a blog post:
Use your blog to respond to a customer question you just received.
Questions are great resources for blog posts, and usually other customers will have the same question. Let’s say some someone asks you, “What’s your philosophy on… (something relevant to your business)?”… or perhaps, “Are ALL your products eco-friendly?”… or maybe even, “Do you offer pet food guidance?”
Your web content may already provide answers to these questions, but it doesn’t hurt to expand on the information with a conversational blog post that dives deeper into the subject. Or you could provide a season-specific reference (such as how your products keep dogs cool in the summer or during summer vacation travels).
The third best time to write a blog post for your pet business is on a regular schedule.
Take out your weekly calendar and schedule 30 minutes each week to write a blog post. Adding a new blog post every week will keep that content momentum going so there’s something fresh and new for your fans and prospects to discover about your business.
Once you’ve added a 30-minute blog-writing appointment to your schedule, make sure you DO it! There’s nothing worse than a blog that hasn’t been touched for months. Keep that appointment sacred and collect topic ideas throughout the week so you’ll be ready to write when you sit down to add a new post. There’s inspiration everywhere – from your team, your customers, the pets you serve, other local pet-friendly businesses, trade magazines, and so on.
By having a schedule that’s written in stone and respected by yourself and your team, you can build up quite a series of posts that are attractive to your customers AND the search engines. Just be sure to include keywords in those blog posts for your pet website’s best search/SEO results.
If you have questions about blogging for your pet business or veterinary practice, contact me for assistance.
In the meantime, here’s to a successful pet website!
Pam Foster,
PetCopywriter.com