As a general contractor, you’ve got a lot of brainpower and industry knowledge on your team. You’re expert coordinators, highly-skilled project managers. You’re specialized in big-picture thinking but also understand the small details enough to make informed decisions.
But in order to win new business, you have to be able to show your expertise and distinguish yourself from other general contractors competing for bids. One of the best ways to do this is to establish yourself as a subject matter expert by including a blog on your website that you regularly update.
Construction blog ideas and trends
For your blog, you’ll want to make sure you stay on topic. It doesn’t have to be impersonal or dry, but a professional blog will obviously be different than a personal one. It’s also a good idea to update frequently—create a consistent schedule that works with your resources and stick to it.
You can use your blog to publish updates about your company and even do some self promotion, although you’ll want a good balance to make sure readers don’t just see it as a sales gimmick.
Here are a few additional topic ideas:
1. Emerging trends
When you write about how construction is changing and take note of emerging trends, you illustrate that you have your finger on the pulse of industry news. This sets you apart as a thought leader or even a reliable source of construction news that people can go back to for meaningful insights.
For example, what economic forces are affecting the construction industry? How are issues like sustainability, AI, and international trade impacting new projects? A few topics we’ve explored on our blog include mental health in construction and the use of drones in construction. By exploring these topics and seeking out other reliable reporting on the issues, you can establish your reputation for cutting-edge content.
2. Construction law
Each industry has its own unique legal framework. The challenges you face as a general contractor can be confusing, especially given how many different aspects of a project you oversee.
Issues like licensure, liability, and documentation can often be difficult to comprehend, so a well-researched article on topics related to these issues could go a long way with your audience.
3. Safety
Safety is an evergreen topic in construction. There’s no shortage of hazards on the jobsite, to the point it can be hard to keep track of them.
There are a lot of different avenues to pursue when writing about jobsite safety. A few we’ve explored on our own blog include why employees may not take safety seriously, preparing for OSHA inspections, and seasonal topics like how to prevent heat stress and winter safety.
Still feel like you’re struggling to find things to write about? Consider past incidents you or your subcontractors have had to deal with and explore strategies for how to prevent those.
4. Technology
Technology is becoming increasingly important in construction, especially as a way to save time on things like daily reports, safety, and payroll.
As a tech company ourselves, we write on this topic pretty extensively—from the importance of digital tools to emerging technologies in the sector. It’s important for us to demonstrate that we’re thought leaders in our industry. With a blog, you can demonstrate the same for yours.
5. Training resources
There are a lot of training resources available in the construction industry, and many are online. You can put together different blog posts that share how to find these courses so workers can easily improve their skills online.
You could write a blog post about how a worker can easily get OSHA certified online, or how to get forklift certified or obtain a CDL. Think of what certifications are regularly used in your projects and then write an instructional guide on how workers can obtain those certifications.
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