When you hear the word “blog”, many things might come to mind. Who invented that word anyway? Blogging is the act of writing short articles on your website that are about you, your thoughts, and the things you do. And no, blogs are not personal diaries.

A Blog is a public diary and a key element for attracting new people to your website, gaining more traffic, and ultimately finding clients in places you would never even imagine. How does blogging do all that? Well, the answer is simple.

The Basics of Blogging

When you write a blog article about the “Pink Sunflower Wallpaper” that you just installed in a client’s home, Google and other search engines pick up those unique keywords and phrases. And guess what? When someone eventually searches for “Pink Sunflower Wallpaper” on Google, guess whose website is going to show up as one of the results? YOURS!

Now imagine if you wrote a new blog everyday about the stores you frequent, your thoughts about current trends, and things that inspire you. There’s no doubt that you would start showing up in Google for many different words and phrases that people are searching for right this second.

Your thoughts and personal experiences are very unique, and there are people out there who are searching for individuals like you who know about those things. Blogging is on outlet where you can share your talent and thoughts with the world, and, in turn, the world responds right back. A lot of designers offer ‘Space Planning’ services, but how many also mention that they offer ‘Space Planning for New York Penthouses’. Image if you blogged about that topic! Chances are that if someone then Google’s: “New York Space Planner”, your blog article might show up and that’s another lead in your pocket.

It would be great if your website popped up as the #1 result when someone Google’d ‘Interior Designer’. But in reality, it would take many years and a lot of investment to achieve such Guru results. Instead, blogging empowers individuals with the ability to attract unique visitors that are already interested in niche topics. And that is what blogging is really about; creating a niche, sharing stories, and posting each one on your website to attract people who are interested in those topics.

How to Write an Effective Blog

To get technical, there are 4 main elements that search engines like Google look for when it comes to your website. You may need to contact your web-master to help you optimize your website and blog to make sure you’re giving search engines the bait they need to give your website the rankings you want.

The Page Title

Before you start writing a blog, decide on a main topic or keyword that you’d like to focus on as the focal point of your article. For example, let’s assume that you want to write about the pros and cons of using polka dot wallpaper in the bathroom. You should choose a title that fits this theme. How about, “The Pros and Cons of Using Polka Dot Wallpaper in the Bathroom”. This may seem a bit obvious, but it now serves a purpose. It tells your reader and search engines exactly what this blog is about. It is specific and jam-packed with juicy keywords that Google will eat up.

The URL Address of the Blog

Every article you write should have its own unique web page. When there is more than one article on a web page, search engines get confused about the main topic. Your keywords are diluted and lose their strength. Besides, make your visitors click around to read all your intriguing articles. So now that we have established that every blog needs to have its own web page on your site, it’s important to create a URL address that also includes your keywords in it.

Given our last example of “The Pros and Cons of Using Polka Dot Wallpaper in the Bathroom”, a good search engine-friendly URL address should look something like this: http://www.yourwebsite.com/polka-dot-wallpaper-bathroom-pros-cons/. Now, this may look a little odd, but look what we have done in this example. In the URL address we see again, those juicy keywords that will attract search engines and reinforce what your blog is about.

So, if someone now happens to search for polka dot wallpaper, the chances are pretty good that your website might show up. There’s a chance that the person who finds your site might just leave right away, or, on a more positive note, they may begin to click around your site and realize that you are the perfect designer for them. And all of this is the result of sharing your thoughts about things you already know and care about.

The Bottom Line

The benefit to all of this is the competitive advantage and free advertising you receive from search engines when they put your website ahead of others. The hardest part about blogging is consistency. Keep it fun, personal, and don’t over complicate it. With an effective blog, you can begin to attract THOUSANDS (not hundreds) of new people to your website. A percentage of that traffic will convert to leads, and that’s exactly what you want. With an abundance of leads, you can pick and choose the clients you want to work with to maximize your value as an interior designer.

I’ll be writing more articles about how interior designers can increase their online exposure and use the internet to their advantage. In the meantime, list your company in our FREE Interior Designer Directory that works to promote you and your business. My next article will discuss the last 2 components that are very important to include in your blog article. Join our ASID Subgroup, Interior Designers on the Internet, to learn where and how to focus your energy for maximum results.

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