You know blog posts are important for your birth business… BUT actually writing those posts feels like such a monumental task! SEO… ugh where to even start, I hear you and I have some tips!
Below I’ve created some practical tips and put together a simple, helpful outline to help guide you as you start to create blog content that can help you show up on Google and ultimately attracts clients!
Ok, I know your time is precious, so let’s get to it!
Step 1: Search on Google a keyword or term you want to show up for.
Try to put yourself in the shoes of your potential client, your ideal client. For example: “Doulas near (insert your location)” or “looking for a birth doula near me” or “doulas for high-risk pregnancy”. Whatever applies best to you and the type of client you want to attract.
Think of how YOU search things, do you type in 1 word like “doula” or do you use a string of words like “doula near Fort Worth” or “birth doula that does x, y, z”. Think of what would your potential client be looking for? What problems are they looking to find a solution for? A solution YOU provide.
Step 2: See what pops up in search results based on the keywords you typed in!
Take note of the number 1, 2, 3 spots. See what headline they use, what the meta description says. A meta description is that small snippet of text underneath the main link that shows up in search results. From these results, you can start to get inspiration.
**NEVER copy someone’s blog post or page, that’s unethical and not good for your reputation in the long run. Know that it is ok to be inspired to create better or similar content. It’s important to create something that your audience would find valuable and useful. Using your unique voice can answer the question that your ideal client has in a new, engaging, and unique way. No one is you and that is your superpower.
Step 3: Write your blog!
Here’s a simple blog outline structure you can use when writing your blog posts. People like to read things that they can relate to, something that’s helping them solve THEIR problems. So try not to make the whole thing about you! Don’t make them read a whole post on I did this, I did that, me, me, me… think of how YOU feel when reading articles like that 😉
Here’s a basic outline to help get you started, feel free to adjust as needed!
- Blog title (that’s SEO friendly – use keywords that you want to pop up for, set as H1 if you have that option)
- Use an engaging image or graphic (unsplash.com is a great FREE image resource)
- Paragraph 1: A quick, what you’re going to cover and why it matters to your audience.
- Paragraph 2: Point 1
- Paragraph 3: Point 2
- Paragraph 4: Point 3
- Conclusion: A brief summary of what you covered.
- CTA (Call to Action): What do you want your potential client to do next? Sign up for your class, schedule a free consult, download your free guide by entering their name and email, follow you on social media, something else?
Helpful tips:
- Make sure to use words in your blog post that include keywords/phrases you want to show for in Google. If those words are used in a headline and labeled H1 or H2 those tags tell Google this is something important to this article. If the term “H1” is confusing to you, then just disregard. Don’t let that small detail stop you from moving forward 😉
- Spell check (Grammarly is an AWESOME browser plugin to help with this)
- Format the text so it’s easy to read. Don’t have it be 1 big block of text, break it up with short paragraphs and headlines that are larger than the main text.
- Add images that help get your point across! Unsplash.com is an awesome resource for free commercial images. Make sure you save the smallest size needed for quick page load times. Giant (non-optimized) images can make your webpage load slower and ding your google rankings.
- Make sure to create an engaging hero graphic* or use a beautiful (but relevant) image that relates to the content you’re writing about. This will help catch someone’s eye to pull them into reading further. *A hero image is a main, eye-catching photo or graphic at the top of a web page. I also can create a hero image for you if you are looking for something custom.
- Always write for the human reading it, not just for the Google algorithm.
- Don’t forget to submit the URL to Google! This kindly asks Google to crawl your page so it knows it exists. You can do that here. Near the bottom of that page there are video tutorials on how to do this! Basically, after you sign-in and get setup you go to URL Inspection tool, type in your blog URL (www.yourblog.com/newpost) and ask it to index your page.
Step 4: Make sure to share the article!
The whole point of writing a blog post is to bring value to your audience as well as bring brand awareness to help you attract new clients. Writing on specific topics relevant to your target market will frame you as an expert on the subject and helps build your credibility. Make sure to share it with yourself or a trusted friend or partner first to make sure the headline and image that shows up are what you want! Clicks and traffic also help with search engine rankings, so share, share, share!
Make sure to share your blog post on Pinterest! Think of where your audience lives, share it there. You can create a quick graphic in Canva or hire a designer (like me) to make a cover image. It’s important to know that Pinterest is also a search engine and a FREE tool so use it!
Make sure to share on Facebook, Instagram, and anywhere else where your potential client spends their time.
Cheers! Know You’ve Got This.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, what matters is just to start, post it! Do it! Breathe. Smile. Repeat 🙂
Know you won’t hit #1 rankings in Google overnight 😉 There are a lot of other factors at play. BUT these basic tips coupled with other ongoing SEO & marketing efforts will help so your blog post will be an awesome first step on your future client’s journey to you!
I hope this article helps a bit! Let me know if it did and if you’d like to see other how to’s. I’d love if you’d share this article with anyone you know who might find this helpful. I’m here to help support all you incredible birth workers so you can reach more families!
Do you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook yet? I also have a free online design & marketing support group here! Love to see you there 🙂
As a bonus, you can grab your FREE digital marketing guide here!
And finally, if haven’t yet seen the birth worker Canva templates I’ve created be sure to do that now! No more stress or spending countless hours trying to make your own graphics, they are already done!
Have an awesome rest of your day!
Kristen
