As you may know, I work with a lot of breeders on their marketing and web design. A conversation I’m constantly having with them is how to write a blog and where to put it. I often hear them note: “I know I need to be blogging,” but that’s about it; there’s rarely a plan behind the blog, just a note they need one.
In today’s episode I’d like to discuss a blog and where it fits into your overall marketing plan, what its purpose is, what should be on your blog, and a few things that shouldn’t be on your blog.
The Purpose Behind a Blog
First off, let’s discuss the purpose for having a blog? Why have a blog?
Recently I put together the Website Copy MasterClass and inside we discuss all the pages you need on your website; and the first one on the list to not worry about is the blog. Simply put, you don’t need it. It should be behind all the other pages as far as priorities go.
It falls under the “Best” category within the Good-Better-Best model. Yet, a lot of breeders feel they should have one or that it should be incorporated into their marketing model. So what is the purpose behind a blog?
The ultimate purpose for a blog—and your website—is to sell puppies. It’s funny how often we seem to forget this point. When it comes to a blog, how can we use it to help us sell puppies?
It Improves SEO
First off, having a blog can improve your SEO. That is … Google loves it when you add new content to your website. That means the website is constantly updated, which implies that the content is current and fresh. Google will rank websites that are regularly and recently updated as better websites, all other things being equal.
I remember I was working with a breeder who is fairly astute at following her analytics, and she made the point that she noticed a considerable uptick in people on her website when she made updates and changes to her website. It was like Google was rewarding her in search results for having updated information.
That’s the first purpose of a blog: giving you a way to add content to your website when the rest of your site is operating pretty well.
A Reason to Send an Email Newsletter
Recently I’ve been talking a lot about email newsletters, collecting email addresses from prospective buyers, and using your email newsletter as the main avenue to sell pups. It’s a lot faster and quicker than using social media, and a fraction of the work. BUT, the first question people have is: “What do I write? I can’t just tell people I have available puppies all the time!?” That’s very true! It’ll get very boring for your readers if you only notify them about available puppies for sale; so by adding value in your emails—beyond simply the knowledge that puppies are available—you’ll have a better open rate. This is going to be a little different for everyone, but sending a note that you’ve added an article on your website is a great reason to email everyone.
Sell Your Authority
It also serves as a way to sell your authority as a breeder. With the internet and the flight nannies, people can shop for a dog nearly anywhere, so there is a fair amount of competition. One way to stand out is to show your authority and experience, how you’re different and why you’re better through your website. Are you particularly passionate about something, and that’s changed how you breed your dogs? Is there a special reason you love your breed? Is there a technique you developed and love? These are all things that will work to help you stand out, sell your program, and, essentially, sell yourself as a dog breeder.
You can do all of this with blog posts on your website.
It Saves You Time
It’s a small, but important point, but having a blog can save you time. If you get asked a question from a potential buyer and you have a blog article on that, you can simply say, “Oh yes! I wrote a whole blog article about that question, let me send you the link!” Then instead of explaining it for 15 minutes or texting a giant text, you can use the link to the blog! Just send it, and the conversation is over, your website just got more traffic, and then you’re good!
Sell Your Dogs
Next, your goal is to sell dogs. I mentioned it a little earlier, but I want to stress this again: the purpose of your website and blog is to sell puppies. Everything you write on your blog should have that in mind, at least the back of your mind, if not on the forefront.
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What Content Should You Have?
Now that we know the purpose of the blog … what content should you put on it? What topics would make good blog posts? What should be on website pages, and what should not be on your blog, nor website? All good questions.
Ideally, you want your blog posts to enhance the user’s understanding of the breed, your dogs, and your breeding program, but in such a way that it is not necessary for them in their purchase. For example, talking about how you select puppies is very useful. The process—as it relates to buyers—should be on your website in the main pages, BUT if you have a great story about how you changed what you were doing with your selection process, what you learned and why you made that change, well that would make a wonderful blog article.
In this example, it is not necessary for the buyer to have read it prior to purchasing a dog. But if someone were to have read it beforehand, then they would have a deeper appreciation for you and your breeding program, and the dog they’ll get from you. Just the same, previous buyers, who are invested in your journey, will love to hear the story of how you grew, knowing they’re a part of it.
Let’s discuss some common ideas for content of what to put on your blog posts.
Breed Information
Breed information is probably the simplest thing that comes to mind. This is teaching people about the breed. Buyers come to us in many ways and with many levels of education—or lack thereof—when it comes to our breeds, so if we can educate them, then we’re building rapport and trust with them. They’ll appreciate the effort and they’ll be more likely to want to get a dog from you.
Some common ideas to put on your blogs would be:
- Colors & Patterns – If your dogs come in a variety of colors or patterns, then snap pictures of your dogs and put them on your website with captions. I can’t tell you how many people don’t know the difference between ticking and roan with my dogs, so I have a page on my blog about the different colors and patterns of GSPs with pictures from my breeding program. It worked out great, as when people aren’t sure what they’re looking for I can send them to that page, and then they have the right vocabulary to describe it.
- Same goes for coat textures, especially if you have a varied set of coat textures in your dogs. You could explain how there are straight and wavy coats and what that means as far as grooming requirements and appearance.
- Grooming Needs is another topic I love to have breeders discuss on their site, especially doodle breeders. Many people get a dog with grooming needs to avoid allergies, but they aren’t sure what the grooming entails. You could put together a blog article that talks about the textures, how they arise genetically, what the differences are in an applicable way, such as: this one is easier to comb, but this one’s grooming lasts longer. Then you could write another article about the names of the cuts that you recommend for your dog. This way people don’t feel stupid asking the groomer for a specific cut. Then you could write yet another article talking about in-between-groomings maintenance and what tools you recommend.
- Enrichment and Favorite Activities your dogs love. These are fun articles to put together and help people envision life with their dog–which is part of selling the lifestyle–but it also isn’t required, so it doesn’t exactly fit into your puppy email series.
All of these help people better understand what is involved in getting one of your dogs.
Questions People Constantly Ask
Have you found there are questions people constantly ask that aren’t really necessary to getting a dog, but that are common questions you answer? These make great blog articles.
For example, you might have an article on the use of electric collars. These are quite popular with bird dog trainers, but I’ve often seen them used incorrectly, and ultimately they create a lot of anxiety for the dogs. I could write an article on my blog discussing the pros and cons of e-collars. Again, this isn’t required for purchasing a dog, and it may never come up in conversation, but it is a common-enough question that it would do well to have people go to the blog.
Again, answering these questions saves you time, but it is also more interesting than just stating “Available Puppies” when you send out an email.
Interesting Facts
Interesting facts are other great topics for your blog. These are engaging to read, and can act like those articles that catch your eye on the internet, when you can’t help but think, “I want to know more!”
For example, German Shorthairs come in liver (a chocolate brown color) and black. The black ones are not allowed to show in AKC shows. Some people know this, others are intrigued. So discussing the black dogs, the genetics that play into them, their origin and why we have them or not, is all great fodder for your blog post articles.
It would also be interesting to discuss the breeds that formed your particular breed. I don’t just mean doodles; the German Shorthair came from a variety of breeds to include the English Pointer and the Dalmatian. It’s interesting to discuss the breeds and what they contributed to the end result with German Shorthairs.
These are particularly interesting for your previous buyers, but will also be fun articles that may be found on Google search, which boosts your SEO, if nothing else. They’re also great articles for showcasing your authority with the breed.
What About Length and Frequency of these Blog Posts?
Did you hate writing papers in English class? Maybe the idea of writing a blog post sounds exhausting. If you feel like the idea of writing a blog post for your website is daunting, then I’m here to tell you it doesn’t need to be super intense nor complicated.
To give you an idea, a blog article may only need to be 500 words. … soooo … think of a 5-paragraph email. My average podcast episode is around 2500 words, so you’d only need to write something that was 1/5 of these in length, and that would be able to be read in about 3 minutes. That’s a great amount of time to address a topic.
You can certainly write a longer one, but it isn’t necessary. I tend to write until I feel I’ve explained what I meant to explain–sometimes that’s 300 words, sometimes it’s 1500 words. You can also add pictures in the text to make it easier to read and more interesting.
As far as frequency, I believe that one blog post per month is all you need. You don’t need to add a bunch of information all the time. Truth is, we aren’t in an industry where people want to be reading about it all the time, they just want to stay in the know. Having a relatively interesting blog article once a month is about all people really want to know or hear when working with a breeder.
This podcast episode is a bonus for the recent Masterclass inside the Dog Breeder Society, where I discuss website copy and all the pages you need on your website and what you should put on them! You can learn more in the show notes.
Thanks for listening to another episode of the Honest Dog Breeder Podcast, with me, your host, Julie Swan. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to spend with me! I can’t wait to see you in the next episode!
