The Point of Business Blogging and Why Architects Need a Blog Today

Answer the questions your prospects ask is the best place to begin.

In today’s competitive marketplace you need to establish your brand identity to have a competitive edge. Online content marketing is the perfect method. Content works to build credibility, authority, and expertise in your field and connect with prospective clients in a real and personal way.

In short, business blogging should be a fundamental element of your overall marketing strategy. As an architectural firm, business blogging allows you to showcase your expertise establish your brand identity and directly address needs of customers and prospective clients.

Why You Need To Start an Architectural Blog Today!

As an architect, authority in your field is a huge selling point that can translate into bigger, high-profile projects. Creating informative content that addresses the needs and pain points of prospective clients is a way to build authority and thought leadership in your field. Content allows you to showcase your business, build trust with customers and express your passion, knowledge and expertise.

Blogging is also a tremendous way to engage directly with readers to better understand their needs and pain points. You can then create more focused content to increase engagement. Along with the obvious benefits for clients and potential customers, business blogging can help increase your website’s visibility and turn it into a lead-generating machine. Here are some additional benefits:

Improve SERP (Search Engine Results Page) Results

By researching and using keywords and phrases relevant to architecture and creating content around those keywords, you are giving the search engines new relevant material to index. Blog articles will improve your organic search results and increase traffic. The proper long tail keywords will result in clients you want.

Humanize and Personalize Your Brand and Convey Your Aesthetic

As more consumers turn away from the hard sell of faceless corporations, towards smaller more personalized firms, business blogging gives you the opportunity to humanize your business. Relating to readers on a personal, intimate level through your blog gives consumers a chance to get to know you, your brand, your aesthetic, and your company while engaging one-on-one on a fundamental level.

“Companies that publish at least 15 blogs per month get five times more traffic than those that don’t blog. Small businesses with 1-10 employees see the largest gains by posting more often.”

— Hubspot - 2013 State of Inbound Report

Blogging Enhances Other Online Efforts

Your blog is another way to engage with readers on other social media sites like Facebook and Houzz. You can use social channels to drive traffic to your website, and use your website based blog to increase your fan base on the social channels. If you include call-to-actions, landing pages and forms, you can collect contact information from your readers and email them regularly to so that your firm remains top of mind when they are ready to embark on a new addition, renovation or home.

Build Authority and Convey Your Expertise

By far one of the biggest benefits to business blogging is the ability to raise awareness and build authority for your talents. Sharing relevant, timely information and unique insight will build trust and familiarity. This can keep you top-of-mind as a reliable source when prospects are ready to buy.

Steal From Your Favorite Magazine

Successful blogging starts and ends with content. Just having a blog isn’t enough. Attracting people to your site will result in better clients. Engage your readers and keep them coming back. When we developed our blogging and website content strategy, a conscious effort was made to look at magazines our audience reads  as well as a few of our favorites. This was done to better understand the types of articles people are willing to pay money to read. We chose to model our content strategy on The New Yorker, The Atlantic and Hanley Wood publications - as well as others. Our goal is to provide articles filled with useful information based on marketing data and combine them with lighter articles that concentrate on sense of place. 

Make sure when developing your strategy to:

• Have A Clear Objective – What are your goals? Target your ideal customers and learn everything you can about their particular needs, goals and pain points, then create content to meet those needs.

• Research Keywords – Keyword rich content is how you get found online. Brainstorm keywords relevant to architecture and make sure to use them in your content. Know what words are relevant industry search terms that customers are likely to use.

• Develop a Content Strategy – Know your audience, develop relevant topics, create the content and regularly publish to meet their needs!

Business blogging will generate leads for your residential architecture firm at a fraction of the cost of advertising in Boston Home, The Boston Design Guide, Design New England or any other home magazine. And unlike advertising, once a blog is written, it remains online forever continuing to drive new leads back to your website. Take a long-term approach and be patient. It requires time (6 months or more) and effort to build an audience and get search results from a blog, but in the end, the benefits can astound you!

---

About Michael Conway

I'm the owner and strategist at Means-of-Production. My firm builds Squarespace websites, Houzz profiles, and content marketing and advertising solutions for architects, interior designers, design-build contractors and landscape design firms. Our all-in-one marketing tactics attract the right clients with exceptional architectural photography and brand messaging that sets you apart from the competition.