Whether you are just launching a blog – because, after all, businesses that blog enjoy 55% more web traffic and a staggering 97% more inbound links – or you have had a blog for a while, sooner or later, you are going to be looking for topics to blog about in order to keep your  business blog and web site traffic moving.

It can be a challenge keeping up a business blog, especially since the more blog posts you have, the better, when it comes to generating inbound traffic.  Some business owners might find it challenging to come up with one business blog post every week, let alone every day; but if you want to build and maintain web traffic, you will want to create an editorial calendar for your blog with at least one post each week, and hopefully, you will post more often than that.

Once you have run out of the list of topics you probably made when you launched your business blog – topics which you knew would interest your customers and prospects – it can be difficult to find the inspiration to keep writing, especially if you set a goal of posting a new article several times each week, or even adding to your business blog every day.

Content Marketing: 10 topics to blog about this summer to keep your momentum going and garner more local web traffic:

1.  Blog about what is happening at your business this summer.  Write your own top 10 list of promotions, events or activities – anything special or unusual that is going on within your local business during the summer months that should interest your prospects or customers.

2. Blog about one local attraction each week.  One of the keys to getting more local web traffic is writing blog posts that feature keywords and key phrases which refer to local areas that your customers and prospective customers might be searching for.  It’s a great way to connect your customers and future customers with great destinations to visit in your community; and if you are partnered with some of these local attractions for marketing, you can also add value to your marketing partnership through these increased referrals.  Write about one local attraction – a museum, park, walking trail, movie theater, craft store, mall, theme park, golf course, restaurant – each week. Becoming a “reviewer” of local attractions, stores, parks and other destinations for which residents or tourists might be searching for within your locale can help to bring them to your blog or website.

3. Write about one favorite new book or current movie each week.  Talking about current books and movies is a great way to draw local web traffic and to engage with your prospects and customers.  By talking about your own interests, you are more likely to give them a reason to connect with you (and your business) on a more personal level.

4. Talk about summertime activities. Wax nostalgic and talk about the games you and your friends played each summer, like Kick the Can, Red Rover, Mother May I or Red Light, Green Light or you want to write a blog post about what modern kids do with their summertime leisure activities. You can even optimize your post with references to local neighborhoods, especially if you grew up in the area.

5. Share a list of your 10 ten best (most popular, most rare, least-known, most beneficial, etc.) products or services. Hone in on key words and phrases(such as the types of problems they are trying to solve or solutions they are trying to find) that prospective customers might be using when they are searching for products or services like these or for businesses that provide these types of products or services in your local area.

6. Write a post which lists nature trails, walking trails, rivers, lakes, picnic areas, campgrounds and other attractions that local nature lovers would enjoy.  Include maps to your favorite outdoor destinations and turn the post into a true directory resource for your audience.  When you add value to your blog and web site with directories and reviews of local resources, you give people more reasons to visit your web site and build a bigger role for your business in customers perceptions.

7. Write about summertime color trends in fashion and make up.  A quick google search for 2012 summer fashion trends or 2012 summer beauty trends will connect you with several articles to which you might link and will give you ideas for writing.  Color experts Pantone even publish 2012 colors for men and 2012 colors for women by the season.  Plus, people love to talk about colors!  Turn this post into a favorite color poll and watch the comments roll in, especially when you post this topic to social media.

8. Write a post about your business’s customer guarantees, customer service policies, mission and vision statements or create and share a customer’s bill of rights.  Sharing your values with prospective customers and clients gives them another reason to connect with your business and gives them reasons to feel confident about referring their friends and family members to your business.

9. Write about your team. Ask your employees to share and create mini bios for each (or for an employee of the week, an employee of the month, etc.) by way of human interest stories to share on your blog which feature where they grew up  or went to school, hobbies, sports or other personal interests. Incorporate terms that contribute to local search.  When you give people reasons to connect on an emotional level with you, your business or any of its representatives, you give them reasons to see themselves as connected with the brand of your business.  It is these types of personal connections (rather than your products or services) which are the building blocks to pride of association, a long customer loyalty and love affair and countless word of mouth referrals.

10. Write up your own summertime guide to great parties, family reunions, graduation parties, wedding receptions or other special occasions which are likely to occur during summertime’s warmer months. Talk about how to spruce up the yard for summer or decorate an area inside the house.  Turn this post into a resource for your prospects and customers by listing local stores where they can purchase party supplies or connecting them with local party planners or party planning and décor sites.

Blogging for your business is essential to building web traffic and can be especially helpful when it comes to getting your business found online when local people search for businesses like yours online.

And don’t forget that all of these posts can – and should – be re-purposed in other areas of your business where you should be constantly updating and changing displays on shelves or stations, at the point of purchase or linked via your website and email newsletter.

Related articles

• Hair Today, News Tomorrow: 20 Ways to Grow Salon Business with a Blog (thesavvystylist.wordpress.com)
• 10 Ways You Should Be Using Your Blog to Build Business (But Probably Aren’t) (business2community.com)