How content adjacent blogging can revolutionise your SEO
This article is from one of our recent Content Corners: Content Corner is our weekly Q&A (on Instagram) to help you create great website content that attracts, engages & boosts your SEO.
Got a website, but no traffic or enquiries? Content is the key. We answer your questions on blogging, blog topics, structuring blog articles, improving existing blogs & tracking your progress…
Abbie's already been inspired into action:
"After seeing Wildings Sudio’s brilliant posts on the importance of blogging, I finally carved out some time this week to sit down and create not one, but two new blogs!"
What is ‘content adjacent’ blogging and how can it help my SEO?
Content adjacent is a little phrase we’ve coined to describe the process of attracting more of your ideal customers by developing content around a popular, seasonal search engine query.
It derives from ‘The Adjacent User Theory’ by Bangaly Kaba which suggests that the most effective way to grow your product or service is by expanding to the next closest group of potential clients. These are similar to your existing customers, but have slightly different needs or behaviours.
Rather than making drastic changes to reach a completely new audience, you instead focus on adjacent users (i.e., lookalike) who are just beyond your current audience and customer base. The beauty of it is that these customers are more likely to adopt your product or service because they already share similarities with your existing clients.
In terms of blogging and your content marketing, you can piggy back on popular, seasonal search engine queries (such as the Easter-related questions in March). By turning these into blog content you can attract a wider audience. The content itself may not necessarily be your core area, but the audience that you attract are certainly your ideal clients.
For example, if you're a circular ethos restaurant, you may not necessarily want to run an Easter egg hunt (you may not have the room, right location or perhaps the capacity). However, people looking for a local Easter egg hunt in their area on Google may find a really handy blog you’ve written on the subject; see that you're a restaurant in their neck of the woods; and then want to book a table with you for Easter Sunday lunch.
Can you suggest any blog content ideas for a florist in March?
If you're a florist and struggling to find ideas for blog content, I would highly recommend looking at two places for inspiration.
Firstly, there’s Google Trends, which is free and allows you to research what attracted attention in a particular time frame relating to certain topics or subjects. It helps sift the huge amount of data and identity what was particularly popular or relevant at certain times of the year.
Secondly, there’s Pinterest Trends, which is similar to Google Trends, but has a particular demographic and is more relevant to certain industries.
Both are free and allow you to identify and dive into seasonal trends and popular searches that you can then turn into blog content.
In terms of March-specific blog content ideas a few suggestions would include:
Easter table decorations (i.e., what flowers to use and how to go about it)
Border planting ideas (i.e., how to get your garden border ready for Spring and what flowers to plant)
Garden fence or trellis ideas
As I mentioned in the question above, if you're a florist, table decorations, fences and trellises are not your core offering, but flowers are definitely your bag. Both table decoration and garden fences are closely related to flowers, so this is why is a great ‘content adjacent’ topic.
If people who are looking for ideas or inspiration or advice in those areas see your great articles, they may well then consider you as an attractive choice as a florist for a significant upcoming event in their life or business.
How do I find time to blog?
This is a very common challenge that small business owners encounter when it comes to producing content on their website. However, it's one that you need to overcome if you want to get more visible in search engine results. Without regular, quality content on your blog, you’re going to struggle to get visible in search engine results.
There's definitely a balance to be found here because a lot of us are busy and it can be hard to find time to write quality content that's relevant to people. If you're in this situation, what I would suggest is just start small and be consistent.
Aim to write and publish one blog a month initially as you get into the practice and the rhythm of it. What I tend to do is block out one two hours per week to work on a blog. That means no calls and try to remove as many distractions as possible. I find Friday morning is quite a good time towards the end of the week when people don't tend to book calls and people are winding down for the weekend.
Alternatively, if you don't have the energy or bandwidth for creative thinking, another great thing to do is to choose an old blog which you can update or improve. This is a very effective way to work on your website content without having to expend as much energy.
Overall the key is consistency: aim for once a month and as you get into it your find you gain more momentum.
More content marketing tips for your website blog
