One of the first questions I get asked when I mention blogging for businesses is this: What do you write about? On the surface, it can seem as if you’ll never be able to think about anything to blog about week after week, but if you take a little time to think, then you’ll hopefully realise there’s a lot more material out there than perhaps first meets the eye.
I work and live on the north coast, which is a key tourism area in Northern Ireland and is populated with lots of amazing B&Bs, guest houses, restaurants and the like. So, if you’re one of these businesses, then here are a few key tips on how you can use blogging to support your online marketing. (This is all digital marketing/inbound marketing/content marketing by the way – call it what you will, it all comes under the same umbrella…)
How to blog for B&Bs
The first thing to remember, which applies to all business when blogging – don’t just write about your business when you blog. Instead, think about what will interest your customers and your potential B&B guests. They want to find out about you, yes, but that’s where the content on the rest of your website comes in (which is why that’s so important by the way). Your blog should be less about you, and more about your industry and interesting things related to your industry.
You want to show people you can add extra value by providing useful information about the local area – enticing them to come and visit and to stay over. If you hook their interest enough, then they’ll want to come and when they do… well, they’ll need somewhere to stay and where better than in your lovely B&B, with knowledgeable hosts who can recommend things to do and see in the vicinity?
B&Bs, guest houses, hotels and other accommodation providers can subsequently blog about:
– Events coming up in the area. On the north coast, think the NW200 in May, the Air Waves Portrush: NI International Air Show and much more. There are also lots of seasonal events, cultural events, sporting events…
– Recommend somewhere great to eat in the area. The north coast is stuffed full of fantastic local eateries and coffee shops. Why not blog about all the places to ‘do coffee’ near your B&B, or advise your readers about where’s best to go for local seafood, or for the best fish and chips?
– Write about the scenic coastal walks visitors can enjoy nearby and places they can easily drive to for more secluded strolls.
These are just some examples, but of course, as well as being useful, your posts must also be well written and properly laid out, to entice people to read them. Also, if you’ve mentioned a good chippy, have you linked to their website or Facebook page? Have you checked to see that the café you’ve recommended is still trading, as some may close out of season or may have shut for good, without you realising. There’s more to crafting a blog post than at first meets the eye but, done well, it will then become something which others will share on social media, promoting your B&B even more widely.
A few other things to remember:
– Focus on one key topic per post – don’t overload people with lots of different things
– Include keywords in headings and sub-headings to help with SEO
– Share your post on social media
If you apply these blogging tips to your B&B, then you’ll be off to a great start. Let me know how you get on…
For help with writing B&B blogs, contact Claire at: claire@cseditorial.co.uk