Earlier this month at the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas, I listened to several sessions addressing Web marketing and search engine optimization. Because most potential self-storage tenants look to the Internet first, having a strong Web presence has never been more important. Multiple speakers mentioned the benefit of posting regular content on websites to improve search rankings. An abundance of content, especially content containing phrases such as "self-storage" and "mini storage," as well as your geographic locations (for example, "Seattle" or "Dallas"), can attract good Web traffic. A discussion on this topic is occurring on Self-Storage Talk, the industry's largest online community. Is it worthwhile to maintain a blog on your facility or industry-related websiteand if it is, who has the time to write it and what topics would be covered?

On the thread "Anyone Have a Storage Blog?" member Storitz shares a link to the Storitz blog, asks for feedback and asks for others to share links to their blogs. Just Right Self Storage in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, jumped on the opportunity, as did Sparefoot. Member mchase didn't share a link to the blog but rather expressed frustration as to why his self-storage blog hasn't taken off. He's run out of relevant topic ideas and hasn't succeeded in building an audience. Competing theories exist as to how to solve this problem: On one hand, mchase could expand his blog to topics beyond self-storage because, after all, there's only so much you can say about self-storage, especially if you're trying to blog multiple times per week and attract a consumer audience. These topics, peripheral to self-storage, could include local news, real estate, moving and maintenance tips, and vehicles. On the other hand, member BmoreDrew suggests sticking to self-storage and using key phrases related to self-storage as much as possible. A mix of both strategies might actually be most effective. Another opinion is taking the time to maintain a blog is worthless, as self-storage consumers are simply not interested in reading a blog about self-storage.

Do you have a self-storage blog? Are you thinking about launching one? Do you have questions about how to blog effectively or ideas for others to use? Visit the blog thread and join the discussion. Feel free to post a link to your blog (SEO benefit) if it's already live. To post and participate, you must be a registered member of SST. Registration is free and takes only a few minutes.