Why You Need a Blog

---

In a 2012 study of women and their online reading and purchasing habits, BlogHer found that out of 2,000 female readers, 98% trusted the information they read on blogs. Another 87% indicated they’d made a purchase based on a recommendation from an online blogger. The closest rival for recommendation purchases was Facebook at only 54%. Add to this Think Creative’s statistics that show that companies that blog generate 126% more new leads than companies that do not and you can see why your business can and should have an active blog.

More Reasons to Blog
Blogs help attract site visitors because they provide valuable information (or should) that the reader wants. A well written blog drives traffic to your site, gets visitors sharing your links and can help generate leads for your business. Good blogs also help increase your search engine rankings and mark you as an authority in your field.

When it comes to your blog, you want to set yourself apart as an authority on HVAC in your area. You also want to offer tips for your customers and others that will show them that you do care about their homes and their lives. For example, you might offer some tips on where to set the thermostat to save money during the cold and hot months of the year or give some ideas for keeping unused rooms closed off to save on heating and cooling costs.

Converting Traffic into Customers
Simply driving traffic to your site isn’t enough. What you want to focus on is taking those potential customers that visit your site and turning them into leads for your business. There are several ways you can do this:

• Offer a free guide if visitors sign up for your newsletter. This could be anything from a spring cleaning checklist to a book on saving money on heating costs in winter.
• Use Call to Action (CTA) buttons to funnel the reader to where you want him to go. CTA buttons have action words, such as “sign up now”, “get more information” or “contact us”. These action words have a goal of driving the reader to take action.
• Offer an easy way for customers to get more information. A live chat box, easy to spot phone number, or ability to email for more information all works well to convert site visitors into customers. However, you also need to make sure you get back to these leads quickly as people online are used to immediate responses.
• Offer a limited time discount. Example, “Call us within the next 48 hours and use this one-time code for 20% off a new heating/cooling unit.” You can make the discount or offer anything you’d like. That is just one example.

Successful Blogs You Can Learn From
When it comes to learning how to blog successfully, don’t just limit yourself to looking at competitor blogs. You can learn a lot from the most successful business blogs out there and what to do with your own blog. Below are a few examples.

Godfrey – Hoffman & Hodge, LLC
GHH is a survey and civil engineering firm located in North Haven, Connecticut. Since they are another service business, their blog is a good one to study for examples of what to do right in a blog. GHH utilizes keywords based around the local area to drive local Google traffic to the blog and attract customers in their service area.

However, they don’t just offer articles about local floodplain development plans. They also put up regular posts about land surveys for business and homes and other information home owners and businesses would find helpful.

By adding information about local news and more general topics, they throw out a wide net that will bring visitors to their blog who might turn into customers. They then offer a call to action to get their free guide on five reasons to hire a civil engineer.

Energy Vanguard
This is a blog that is dedicated to heating and cooling topics, but falls on the side of teaching better energy efficiency and putting homeowners in touch with local contractors. Energy Vanguard offers a good example of an excellent blog because it offers high quality content, regular posts and social media engagement.

New posts go up about once a week and aim to educate both the consumer and the HVAC professional. Note how each post has social media buttons across the top for quick and easy sharing. By adding social media buttons and keeping content fresh and current, you can attract customers to your blog as well.

Incorporating some of these elements into your own blog will equal more leads and more new customers for your HVAC business. If you don’t already have a blog on your website, setting one up is as easy as installing WordPress software on your own domain or utilizing a free blog platform like Blogger or WordPress.org and either writing articles or hiring someone to write them for you. Happy blogging!

---

Posted In: Sales & Marketing