Welcome to the next chapter in our SEO for architects series. This blog is all about blogging, and it’s a topic that many architects have heard of, but either are intimidated by, or don’t fully understand..
They'll ask us questions like, "do I need to blog?", "What's the benefit of blogging?", "Why is blogging important for SEO?", "What should I blog about?", and so on. If you're an architect wondering the same things, then you're in the right place.
In this blog, you'll learn why blogging is essential for your online strategy, how to start blogging successfully, and how to get started on the right foot with your architecture firm's blog.
How can blogging help my architecture firm?
According to a recent study by Semrush, companies who blog produce 67% more leads per month than those who don't. Architect firm websites typically get a lower volume of traffic per month, compared to other high traffic businesses, but if you can increase the percentage of leads from your traffic, it’s easy to see how blogging can be essential business growth.
Here are some other benefits of blogging for architects:
Expands your reach
By basing your blogs on search phrases, like questions your clients might ask, you're maximizing your chances of appearing in their online searches. Also, if your articles are helpful and well written, you can benefit from other websites sharing your links to your blogs on their websites or social media platforms - widening your reach and audience.
Establishes you as an authority
In the architecture sector, trust is everything. Your prospects want to work with the best architect for their project. If your articles help them to see you as a valued resource, they'll be more likely to trust you. Blogging is one of the best ways to be seen as a valued resource!
Promotes your unique selling points
With so much competition from other architecture firms, blogging is a great way to differentiate, and go into more detail about the value you can provide to your prospective clients. You can also share your unique process, aesthetic, or approach to architecture. Blogging about the things that set your firm apart from others helps prospects understand why they should choose you.
Captures leads for future nurturing
Have you ever reached the end of a blog, and it has a downloadable PDF or free webinar you can attend? This is called a lead magnet, it’s a piece of content your prospects are willing to exchange their contact details in order to access. By offering something of value in exchange for contact information, you now have a lead to send additional content to. This keeps your firm top of mind as they consider their options, and hopefully leads them back to you when they are ready to start their project.
Builds relationships with your prospects
Hiring an architect isn't a quick decision for most people. It can take weeks, months, or even years before they are ready to choose an architect to work with. By regularly delivering helpful, engaging content to your audience, you're ensuring that they are thinking about your firm throughout their research process and even after they've finished a project with you.
Improves your Google rankings
With higher rankings on Google's search results page, your prospects will find you quicker and perceive you as higher quality. Blogging is essential for increasing your position on Google for 3 main reasons:
- Google likes websites with high engagement (i.e., people staying on your pages for a long time.)
- You're showing Google that you're relevant for particular search terms because they're not just on your website pages but in your blogs too.
- Google rewards websites for uploading new content because it tells the search engine your website has updated information and isn't dormant.
How do I blog successfully?
Blogging can seem a little daunting at first, and it takes time, so doing it correctly, with specific goals in mind, is important..
To help you get started with your architecture firm's blog, here are our top 5 tips:
1. Do keyword research
Using a keyword planner tool, like Moz (you can get a 30-day free trial to test it out!), take some time to figure out what your audience is searching for on Google. Pay special attention to medium and long-tail keywords because these will have less competition, making them easier to rank for.
For example: "Residential architect" is a short-tail keyword, "Best Residential architects" is a medium-tail keyword, and "Dos and don'ts for hiring a residential architect" is a long-tail keyword. As a goal, pick one or two keywords per blog that you want to rank well for in search results.
2. Write for your prospects, not other architects
A common mistake architects make when it comes to writing blogs is speaking from the perspective of an architect rather than the person who will read your blog. You might be tempted to fill your blogs with fancy architectural jargon to impress your peers, but that's not going to engage your prospects. Research your prospect's pain points for a particular topic and address them in your blog, leaving the fancy words for your office meetings.
3. Make it at least 500 words long
It can be challenging to find the time for blogging, so if you need to keep it short and sweet, that's fine, just nothing under 500 words. Ideally, aim to write blogs between 1,000 - 2,000 words. Remember, the longer your content, the more opportunities you have to add in those all-important keywords. Furthermore, you're engaging your visitors for longer on your website, therefore helping your SEO.
4. Format it for readability
Make your blogs easier to read by adding in image and video content where possible to break up your text, including relevant headings and bullet points, and adding in an enticing intro and conclusion. With people's ever-dwindling attention spans, making your blog 'scannable' with short and concise paragraphs is essential.
5. Promote it on other channels
If you are going to put in the effort to write your article, you’ll want to get maximum exposure for it as well. The best way to do this is to promote it through social posts, email marketing, and linking to it in your other blogs on your website. You can also reach out to other bloggers who cover similar topics and ask them to link to your articles.
What should an architect blog about?
The possibilities are endless when it comes to blog topics for architecture firms. In our experience, these 3 main categories work best for SEO for architects: