No matter your understanding of how websites attract visits, there are loads of reasons why you and your business should be blogging.

Set the scene

Let’s imagine there are two competing businesses, each with similar websites, Website A has a blog and Website B hasn't.

Website B may be a decent website, but not a lot has happened to it since the day it was launched. In the eyes of a search engine there isn’t much activity and subsequently this will be detrimental to search results and rankings.

It’s a different scenario for Website A. As a blog adds additional pages, your website is essentially being updated with each new article. This increases your exposure and adds value for your guests. These posts can be about anything, yet will give the appearance of a busy site and boost your online presence.

SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It is the collective term used to describe the methods of being found on the internet. Blogging is one of the many techniques and is definitely one worth considering as it requires no technical knowledge and in most forms is free.

It won’t be news to hear that the self catering holiday industry is really competitive, which is why utilising every tool available to you is so important. Especially considering that only 1% of the internet's website’s actively create new content. So making sure you don’t fall into that statistic is crucial if you want new business to find you.

Landing Pages

Ideally a website should have lots of routes to accessing it - not just by typing in the property or websites name. It’s important that you have relevant pages that can be found, which are associated to different searches. Creating blogs increase the amount of ways a visitor can find or ‘land’ on your website.

Once a blog has been posted it will become a page on the internet in its own right. If clicked from a search this turns into a visit to your own website, with potential for further browsing and if you’re lucky a booking.

Topics

If you’re struggling to think of what to write, just remember that this is your blog. The subject matter can essentially be whatever you like. The more relevant to your guests the better, but this may be focused around the business or even yourself as an individual.  

• Recommendations & things to do
• Local events
• Where to eat & drink
• Experiences you offer
• Recipes
• Your walk or recent travel
• Your garden
• Renovations
• Photography
• Cycling routes
• Eco tourism
• A competition
• A recent review/testimonial
• FAQ’s

How often?

Unfortunately you can’t just write once, expect the world to read it and then have paying customers come flocking to your door. The idea is to make your website active and open more doors, whilst offering that something extra to your visitors that will peak interest.

For a blog to be an effective form of SEO you should write often. A target of once a week is a good start and if you feel you have lots to write about you can of course do more. Just factor in that although you may (or may not) have lots of ideas, they might run out…

Which is why using a calendar of some sort to plan is a great idea. This way you can pencil in specific topics and vary the type of content you post. A blog article doesn’t have to be posted as soon as it's written. So if you have a productive spell, that work can be saved and submitted as and when you feel appropriate.

It starts a conversation

It’s also worth noting that a blog enables two way communication with the reader. Whether you have published your opinion on a particular subject or documented an activity, your thoughts may encourage an interaction of some sort. This may be from a previously stayed guest of yours, a new potential customer or even an industry peer. Just remember to reply if someone takes the time to comment!

Blogging with SCRUMPY

At SCRUMPY we provide an all in one service for holiday property owners, managers and agencies. No matter the size of your business, our websites with software offer all of the tools necessary for promotion and blogging is no exception. Take a look at our help article on how to add blog articles to a SCRUMPY website.

Our simple and easy to use features allow you to quickly produce professional articles on your website.

You can also choose to post to any social media accounts that are synced with SCRUMPY. Enabling this check box will save you lots of time copying and pasting your work and instead updates multiple pages instantaneously from one place.

Even better still, a SCRUMPY blog article can also be sent out to previously stayed guests via our Broadcast system! At the click of a button, turn that hard work into a professional email, and send to your subscribers.

Feel inspired? Ready to start writing? Well what are you waiting for!

Find out how to get your own SCRUMPY website or feel free to leave blog idea suggestions below.