5 Types of Content Every Small Business Should Be Writing About

5 Types of Content Every Small Business Should Be Writing About

I work with a lot of business owners and when the subject of writing comes up most people will tell me they can create written content for their website no problem.  The reality is that the vast majority have no clue how difficult it is to write and usually quit before finishing their first blog post.

Writing is hard to do.  It's hard even if you write for a living.  Most people underestimate how difficult it can be to put your thoughts on paper….or a screen.

But writing has a lot of value, both for you and your business.  Writing helps bring clarity to your thoughts and makes you a better communicator in general.  Writing content for your website also serves an important marketing purpose and can bring in a steady stream of potential customers from Google, social media, email marketing, or wherever else you decide to share you content.

Usually the biggest push back I get from business owners when it comes to creating content is, "I have no idea what to write about".  You're not sitting down to write a Stephen King novel, you are writing shorter blog posts about things you are already intimately knowledgeable and passionate about, you just need a little direction.

The content ideas below are very easy to create and require no research, data collection or anything else, you are just writing about things you know very well.  And when you do sit down and start writing, write just like you would if you were talking to someone, no need to get formal in your writing.

Customer Success Stories & Case Studies

If your business has helped your customers solve a problem then you should be writing about it.  There is no better way to convey the value you can deliver for a potential customer than by showing them through customer success stories.  By showing real life examples how you help people, others can visualize your business helping them as well.

Case studies work pretty much the same way, though they are usually a little more technical and detailed while a customer success story is more focused on casual readers and for sharing these successes online.

The formula for creating a customer success story or case study is very simple.

Customer has a problem – Describe the challenge your customer was facing that led them to bring your business in to help them.

Your business brings a solution – Describe how your business worked with this person to identify the challenge and how you implemented a solution.

Results & happy customer – Describe how well your solution worked and how happy the customer is for your help.

This formula works for any sort of business, whether you are a service professional or a retail store selling products.  This form of content allows to you show everyone what fabulous service you offer and how you are focused on customer satisfaction.  These also work great for testimonials if you can get some quotes from you customers to add to the content.

Industry Related Questions People Search For

Q&A type of blog posts are perfect for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  When someone goes to Google to search for something, it is usually to get an answer to a question.  If you can have your website showing up on the first page of Google when people search for this content then you will be driving potential customers to your website.

Getting started is easy, just write down the top 15-20 questions customers and potential customers ask you all the time.  If people are asking these questions to you then there are a lot more people searching online for answers to the same questions.  If you can make the content more local to your area then that will help you target people closer to where you do business.

So if you are a lawn care service in Charlotte, North Carolina, you may create content such as:

"What is the best time of year to trim trees in Charlotte?"

"What kind of grass works best for lawns in Charlotte?"

"The most common types of ants in Charlotte and how to get rid of them fast."

This type of content is easy to create as you already have in depth knowledge of the subject and the content is highly focused on your industry and local area.

Industry Guides

Show everyone that you are an expert in your industry.  Create industry guides, or shorter mini guides, around topics for your industry and area.  Not only does it help position you as an expert in your industry, guides like these are also great to use as Lead Magnets to build your email list.  Guides usually take a bit longer to create but you can also reuse guides for various purposes, getting more mileage out of a single piece of content.  You can turn the guides into downloaded PDF's, add them as a content web page for SEO,  as well as for Lead Magnets to build your email list.  You can also break the guide down into smaller sections and create several blog posts out of them.

So if you were a real estate agent in Denver, Colorado, some guides you could create are:

"The ultimate guide to moving to Denver"

"Guide to the 15 best family friendly neighborhoods in Denver"

"The investors guide to real estate investing in Denver"

People tend to like guides as they will usually be more detailed and in depth than a simple blog post on the same subject.

Product or Service Information

Use your blog to educate potential customers on the various products or services you offer.  Even current customers may not know everything that you offer.  Creating a detailed blog post explaining a product or service you offer will educate people and help them better understand how it works.  It will also help you better sell these products or services.

I do this for my own business trying to explain how some of our more complex service offerings work and how people can benefit from it.

So if you were a dentist you may create content like:

"Invisalign for kids, what you need to know"

"Teeth whitening for smokers, what you need to know"

"Is cosmetic dentistry right for you?  Find out here."

This type of content is largely educational but does attract potential customers so be sure to add something promotional about your business and a clear call to action to capitalize on this high quality traffic.

How You Help Your Community

You probably do things every month or even every day to help support your community.  Your charitable work is valuable by itself but don't be afraid to use it for a little self promotion.  If you support a local non-profit, donate your time or services, or anything else, make sure you turn that into content for your website that you can share on social media as well as in your email newsletters.

Sometimes businesses get into the habit of just posting something on social media, but if you turn it into a blog post not only do you have a permanent content asset you can use over and over again, you can also drive traffic to your website instead of giving that traffic to whatever social media platform you are sharing it on.

Some things you can write about:

  • Sponsoring local events or organizations
  • Donating your time or services to help support a local cause
  • Your help in bringing awareness to a cause
  • Bringing your customers together to support a cause, like a 5k run or walk to raise money for a charity.

Whether it's big or small, get into the habit of writing about it because if you forget about all of the good things you do then it's certain your customers will as well.

Content Made Easy

So here are a few ideas to get you started on your content creation.  A good content strategy can help bring in a steady stream of potential customers and also keep your existing customers educated and up to date on everything you are doing.  Writing and creating content can be hard to do, but like everything, it gets easier with practice.  If you want to learn more about creating a killer content strategy for your business, check out my course here.

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Gary

CEO at 3Bug Media
Gary Shouldis is the founder of 3Bug Media, a web marketing company that helps businesses create 360 Marketing Strategies to dominate their market. His blog is read by over 20 thousand small business owners a month and has been featured in the N.Y. Times Small Business, Business Insider and Yahoo Small Business.