10 Industrial Blogging Tips to Attract More Leads

Blogging has become a leading digital marketing tactic for attracting industrial leads. From industrial construction equipment suppliers to commercial builders and software developers, countless industrial companies use a blog to attract high-quality leads. In fact, a report published by Search Engine People found that 86% of B2B companies are blogging. If you're thinking about starting a blog to attract industrial leads, though, you should follow these 10 tips to get the best results from your blogging efforts.

#1) Target Search Keywords

When creating new blog posts on topics for industrial facilities, warehouses, distribution centers or manufacturing facilities, target specific search queries by including those queries in the content, title tag and meta description. If you're targeting the search query "bulldozer rentals," for example, include that phrase in multiple places throughout the blog post as well as the title tag and meta description. This encourages higher search rankings for the phrase "bulldozer rentals," driving targeted users to your blog.

#2) Publish New Posts at Least Once a Week

Did you know that Huffington Post -- the world's most popular blog -- publishes a new blog post about once a minute? While you don't have to publish posts as frequently on your company's blog, you should strive to publish once a week. Too much, and users will stop following your blog, too little will have the same effect as well.

#3) Add a Click-to-Call Button

Most industrial companies simply place their phone number in plain text format on their blog, believing this is the best way to attract leads. However, a better option is to place an actual click-to-call button on your blog. This allows visitors to click a button to call your company rather than entering the number manually in their phone. Check out this HubSpot article for step-by-step instructions on how to add a click-to-call button to your company's blog.

#4) Allow Visitor Comments

Why should you allow plant managers, facilities managers or operations managers to comment on your company's blog posts? First, they create additional content for your blog which search engines love and, therefore, may increase your blog's search rankings. Second, they create additional transparency by showing prospects that your company is legitimate and reputable.

#5) Include Images in Posts

Text is only one element of an effective blog post. You should also include images in your posts to make them more attractive and engaging. If you're writing a blog post about forklift rental or electrical services, include images of the work they perform in the post. Images help visitors understand the context of the post while also driving more organic traffic to your site.

#6) Go Long

Longer blog posts tend to work better for industrial lead generation than shorter posts. Rather than writing a 200- or 300- word blog post, consider writing a 500- to 1000 word post. It takes more time and work, but it allows you to connect with facilities, plants, warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities and encourage them to contact your company. You can create detailed, in-depth blog posts that convey the value of your product or service. Unfortunately, this is difficult to accomplish in just 200 or 300 words, so make your posts longer.

#7) Add CTA

Perhaps the single most important element of an effective B2B blog post is a call to action (CTA). Whether it's a hyperlinked word or phrase or a clickable button, your blog posts need a CTA. Otherwise, facilities managers, operations managers or the plant manager won't know the next step to take in order to contact your company. After adding your CTA, perform a trial run by clicking it to ensure that it works as intended. If the CTA is broken, your blog won't attract many leads.

#8) Consider Paid Advertising

If you really want to attract the most industrial leads with your blog, consider paid advertising services like Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords), Bing Ads and LinkedIn Ads. Assuming your blog offers valuable, informative posts, it will likely attract organic traffic from search engines, all of which is free. But you can turbocharge your company's industrial topics by using paid advertising services.

#9) Don't Focus Strictly on Products or Services

A common mistake that industrial companies make when blogging is focusing their posts strictly on their products or services. There's nothing wrong with creating blog posts highlighting your products or services, but this shouldn't be 100% of your blog's content. Doing so will make your blog look like an advertisement -- and that's not an effective way to attract leads.

What can you write about? How about an application? How can your customer used your product or service? What benefits did they get? How about maintenance or repairs? Can you help them solve an easy problem? These are all great topics that create value and keeps you top of mind.

#10) Include Brand Elements

Finally, include your company's brand elements throughout your blog posts. Even if the plant manager doesn't buy your product or service or otherwise take the desired action, he or she may remember your company after reading your blog if it contains your company's brand elements. Examples of brand elements to use in your blog include your company's name, slogan, logo, mascot and color scheme.

Remember, it’s important to touch your prospects in various ways. Each marketing touch: blog, email, social media or phone call reaches a new target or can overlap…reinforcing your message. By using SalesLeads’ Industrial Project Reports, you can get identified projects with insights into the project either currently planned or being implemented. Touch them with each of these marketing avenues and you will be able to move your sales cycle along faster.