On this page
Most small business blogs fail for the same reason: the posts are written because "we should have a blog", not because a customer is searching for them. A content strategy fixes that. It decides which pages and articles to create, in what order, and how they connect to the pages that make you money.
Start with your money pages
Your service and location pages are where enquiries happen. Content exists to support them. So before planning a single blog post, list:
- Your main services, one page each
- The areas you serve, one page per main city or area, with genuinely local content
- The questions customers ask before they buy
Everything else in your content plan should send authority and visitors towards those pages.
Find the questions customers search
Good sources for topics:
- Your own enquiries. What do people ask on the phone, by email or in reviews?
- Google's "People also ask" box for your main services
- Google Search Console, which shows the searches you already appear for but rank poorly on
- Your sales process. What do you have to explain before someone says yes?
Group topics by where the customer is:
- Problem: "why is my basement wet after rain"
- Options: "interior vs exterior basement waterproofing"
- Decision: "basement waterproofing cost in Ontario", "how to choose a waterproofing contractor"
Free download
Find out what's stopping local customers from finding you on Google
The Ontario Local SEO Checklist
- 32 practical checks across your Google Business Profile, reviews, listings, website, tracking and AI answers
- A simple scoring guide that shows where you stand and what to fix first
- Plain-English steps you can do yourself, most in under an hour
PDF · 5 pages · printable
Free download
When customers ask AI for a recommendation, does your business come up?
How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI
- A 10-minute self-test to see what ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews say about you
- 10 practical actions that make your business easier for AI tools to find, understand and trust
- A one-page action plan for your first week, first month and beyond
PDF · 7 pages · printable
Decision-stage content is closest to a sale. Start there.
Build topic clusters
A topic cluster is a main page plus a group of articles about the same subject, all linked together. For example:
- Main page: Basement waterproofing (service page)
- Supporting articles: what causes basement leaks, interior vs exterior waterproofing, how much waterproofing costs, signs your foundation needs repair, what to ask a waterproofing contractor
Each article links to the service page, and the service page links to the most useful articles. Google sees a business that covers the topic thoroughly, and the service page gets the benefit.
Internal linking: the free ranking boost
Internal links are links from one page on your site to another. They:
- Help Google find and understand your pages
- Pass authority from strong pages, like your homepage or popular articles, to the pages you want to rank
- Guide visitors towards an enquiry
Simple rules that work:
- Link from articles to the matching service page, using descriptive anchor text: "our basement waterproofing service", not "click here".
- Link service pages to location pages and back. "Waterproofing in Kitchener" should link to the main waterproofing page, and the other way round.
- Link new posts from older, popular ones. New content gets found faster.
- Keep important pages within a few clicks of the homepage.
- Fix broken internal links after you move or delete pages.
Update before you create
Often the fastest win isn't a new article. It's improving one that almost ranks. Look in Search Console for pages sitting on page two for useful searches. Add missing sections, answer extra questions, refresh old information and add internal links. Then check again in a few weeks.
How much content do you need?
Less than you think, if it's the right content. For most local businesses, a strong service page for each service, real location pages for your main areas and one or two genuinely useful articles a month beats a large number of thin posts.
Make content easy for AI tools too
AI answers in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews draw on clear, well-structured content. The same habits help: answer questions directly, use clear headings, keep business facts consistent everywhere, and add FAQ sections where they're genuinely useful.
Want a content plan built around your services?
Every VASP Digital SEO plan includes a content strategy and regular articles. See SEO packages or get my free SEO audit to see where your content gaps are.
Want this checked on your own site? Get my free SEO audit
Written by
VASP Digital teamVASP Digital · London, Ontario
Articles written by the VASP Digital team: the strategists, content leads and client success managers who do the work every day.
