Write the Question That Repeats, Not the News

There's an article on your site you haven't touched since March, and this week it brought in two new visitors without you lifting a finger. There's another one you published in December that nobody has opened since New Year's.

The difference isn't in how well they're written. It's in whether someone is still typing that same phrase into Google six months later.

The Question That Repeats, the News That Doesn't

A customer types "how long does bathroom caulk take to dry" or "how much does a filling cost" in the same words this month, next month and next year. That question doesn't expire, because the situation that produces it keeps happening to new people.

An article about "January sale at..." or "holiday hours this week" lives exactly as long as the date holding it up. It brings visitors the week you publish it and then falls to zero, sharply, and nobody types that phrase again.

Time Doesn't Treat Them the Same

A news piece gives you all its visits at once, almost always in the first week, and then drops off a cliff.

A question piece takes weeks to start showing up in search at all, which is why most people give up on them, and then doesn't stop bringing people in. A year later it's still working while you're off writing something else.

So write questions as a rule. It's the only kind that keeps working on the days you don't.

Where the Topic Comes From

You don't have to invent it: you already have it. That question has been answered by you a hundred times on the phone or over text, almost always in the same words, without you noticing it was an article.

1. Write down the question before the sale. This week, note the three questions customers ask you before they decide, word for word as they say them.

2. Take the date out. If the headline stops making sense a month from now, it isn't this kind of article. Save it for email or social.

3. Answer as if they didn't know you. Give the complete answer, without assuming they already know how you work or what you offer.

4. Put the question in the title, exactly as asked. Don't rewrite it in professional language: use the phrase the customer would use when typing it.

The Mistake That Costs You

The common mistake is writing about your business instead of about their problem: a new machine you bought, a certification you earned, an anniversary. Those are worth telling, to people who already know you, by email or on social.

Nobody searches for your anniversary. Plenty of people search for how long something takes to dry.

What You Walk Away With

Before writing, one question: will someone type this same phrase six months from now? Topics that come from what customers ask before deciding, not from your business news. Titles in the customer's words, not the professional's. And anything that depends on a date going to social or email, not the blog.