A blog is frequently included in a website proposal. Before approving it, decide who will write, review and maintain the articles. Then eighteen months later the most recent post is from the week the site launched, which is worse than having no blog at all, because it publicly dates your site.
When it genuinely works
When your clients search for the problem before they search for you. Somebody worried about a transfer delay searches how long does a property transfer take. If your page is the one that answers that, you have reached them before your competitor did. This is the strongest case and it applies to conveyancing, medical practices and anyone whose clients research before enquiring.
When you keep answering the same question. If your reception explains the same thing fifteen times a week, that is an article. It can give staff a resource to share and address a question prospective clients may also search for.
When your expertise is your differentiator. A specialist practice demonstrating how it thinks is making its case in a way a services page cannot.
When it does not
When you are writing about your own news. Nobody outside your practice is searching for your team building day. When you are publishing to tick a box, which produces thin content that ranks for nothing. And when you will not sustain it, which is most people.
The honest test
Can you commit to one properly useful article a month for twelve months? Not four this quarter and then nothing.
If yes, compare that commitment with the other content work your website needs. If no, do not build one. There is a better option.
The better option for most practices
Build a small set of permanent resource pages instead of a dated blog. Six to ten pages answering the questions your clients actually ask, linked from your main navigation, written once and updated when something changes.
They do the same search work as blog posts. They still need review dates and maintenance where the subject can change. A small, well-maintained resource section may serve the brief better than a large collection of repetitive posts.
If you do commit
Write for one question per article. Use the words your clients use, not the words your profession uses. Make it long enough to be complete and no longer. Update older articles rather than always writing new ones. And link between them, because a reader who finds one useful page should be able to find the next.
Next step: request a free Website Check, or see Baken’s local SEO services.