5 Productive Ways to Use the Summer Slump to Strengthen Your Blog
It’s back again… the service provider summer slump.
You know the one – when inquiries are down, things feel quiet, and momentum starts to feel a little melty. After 3 years in business, I’ve noticed this to be a common theme for many service providers and it rarely catches me off guard anymore.
I know to expect it and I don’t take it personally.
When I first experienced the summer slump as a service provider, I sort of treated it like a productivity pause – an excuse to actually scale back in my work and just let the slow season be what it is… slow.
And while I’m all for taking breaks when needed, later I realized that the summer slump is actually the PERFECT time to focus on intentional tasks for my own business that I don’t necessarily always have time for in busier seasons.
It’s truly changed the game for the way I view summer (or slow seasons in general) as a service provider and I know it can do the same for you.
While the rest of the world is taking their foot off the gas, this could be your chance to make behind-the-scenes magic that sets you up so well for the rest of the year.
The intentional task in question? Your blog!
And I’m not just talking about creating new blog content. While that can be great too, if you have an existing blog, the summer slump can be the perfect time to make your current blog stronger, more strategic, and easier to repurpose when things pick back up.
So, grab your favorite summer treat and keep reading to learn the five practical and productive ways you can use the summer slowdown to level up your blog.
5 Ways To Optimize Your Existing Blog Content
Conduct a Blog Audit
Listen, I’m all about creating new and fresh blog content, but if you have an existing blog and you’ve been posting fresh content consistently for a few weeks, months, or even years, then before you write ANYTHING new, take a look at what you already have.
Conducting a blog audit can give you clarity on what’s working, what’s outdated, and what’s missing entirely.
To do this in a way that’s actually effective, I suggest creating a simple spreadsheet or Notion dashboard that can serve as your blog content hub – it doesn’t have to be anything fancy! Just a few columns for your blog title, date, category, CTA, and notes.
(P.S. If you don’t want to create this yourself, I have a Blog Content Calendar Notion template that you can purchase for $27 that can help you with your existing blog audit, but also help you plan for future blog content!)
Once you have your spreadsheet or Notion dashboard ready to go, scroll through EVERY blog post you’ve ever published (yes, it sounds like a lot, but I promise it’s worth it!) and ask yourself:
Is this post still aligned with my offers and voice?
If yes: yay! Does the actual content need to be updated in any way?
If no: consider archiving the blog post so it no longer populates on your website
Could this blog post be linked to newer content or resources?
In an ideal world, your blog content should be interconnected in some way. As a business owner, your blog isn’t just a place to publish random posts – it should serve as the go-to hub of information, inspiration, and education for your audience.
For example, the very first blog post I published touched on how business owners can use national days in their content plan. A few months later, I followed it up with a full post dedicated to national days. That’s a great example of how one blog can naturally lead to another and how older content can point your readers to newer, more in-depth resources.
Now, it’s important to know that it can take months of publishing fresh blog content for this interconnection of your posts to happen, which is why strategically planning your blog content each quarter is SO key!
If you feel like this interconnection is lacking on your blog and you aren’t sure how to make it happen, that’s what my custom blog strategy service, The Manuscript is for!
With The Manuscript, you get:
✔️ Kickoff call to discuss your blog goals, ideal audience, & desired publishing schedule for the long term
✔️ Custom blog strategy creation WITH defined blog content pillars, a quarter’s worth (up to 12) blog topics tailored to your goals and audience, PLUS ideas for how to repurpose your blogs on other platforms
✔️ Strategy delivered via Loom
✔️ 30 days of Slack support so you feel confident putting your strategy into action WITH the option to submit one piece of writing for review per week
Is the call-to-action still relevant?
Lastly, when auditing your existing blog content, you want to ensure that the call-to-actions that you include in your blog posts are still relevant, otherwise you could be pointing people to offers that you no longer actually… offer.
Update & Refresh Old Posts
Now that you’ve audited your existing blog content and determined if the posts should stay or go, it’s time to actually update and refresh your older posts.
As a general rule of thumb, I encourage you to give any post that’s 6 months to 1 year old a proper glow up!
This could mean:
Updating stats or outdated info
Rewriting intros to better hook readers
Adding internal links to newer posts or offers (like mentioned above!)
Swapping in a fresh CTA that leads to your current freebie or service
Refreshing the title to provide more clarity and reflect fresh keywords (if you struggle with how to title your blog posts, this freebie is for you!)
What’s important to understand is that Google loves fresh content, but that doesn’t always mean NEW content. By improving what’s already there, you’re telling search engines, “hey, I just updated this post!”, which can boost your SEO and get more mileage out of posts you already worked hard on (without starting from scratch).
Create Evergreen Content That Works Year-Round
Though you don’t technically have to create brand new blog content all the time, it can be fun to do so especially when you have a few topics on your list that can stay relevant year round.
During the summer slump as a service provider, you can focus on writing evergreen blog content like:
FAQ style blog posts that answer questions about your offers (like I did here for my Writer’s Room membership!)
Case study blogs that show how real people have experienced transformations from working with you
Deep dives into your unique process or philosophy
Step-by-step guides or “start here” style resources for your industry (like my 4 step blog content planning process!)
This is the type of content you can link to over and over again in newsletters and on social media, essentially making it a core part of your brand foundation.
Overall, it’s the type of blog content that keeps working lonngggg after you hit publish. 👏🏼
Optimize for Conversions
If there’s one thing that I want business owners to understand, it’s that your blog content doesn’t just have to be for informational or educational purposes.
One of the biggest mistakes that I see business owners making with their blog content is treating it as a space to simply educate.
And while that’s for sure a huge purpose of your blog, just like your emails and social media content, your blog content can help you CONVERT your audience too – whether that conversion comes in the form of subscribing to your newsletter, booking a call, or actually purchasing from you.
If you’re experiencing a slow season in your business, like the summer slump, use it as a time to zoom in on your blog strategy and ask yourself:
Is each blog post leading people somewhere purposeful?
Every blog post should have one clear job – whether it’s warming someone up for your offer, encouraging them to join your email list, or guiding them to dive deeper into a related topic.
If your blog post ends in a dead-end, you’re missing a huge opportunity!
Think of each post like a stepping stone that helps your reader move closer to working with you, buying from you, or simply understanding your approach.
When optimizing your blog content, ask yourself: Where do I want someone to go next after reading this? THEN, make sure you’re sending them there!
Are my CTAs clear, compelling, and aligned with my goals?
Can I just be real with you? “Let me know what you think in the comments” isn’t the best move for your blog post call-to-action in today’s age.
This might work for lifestyle bloggers and influencers, but as a business owner, your blog post CTAs should actually support your business goals. That might mean linking to a freebie, promoting a paid offer, or simply encouraging someone to read another post.
The key? Be specific and direct! Don’t bury your CTA at the bottom of the post and hope for the best. Place it where it makes sense and make it obvious why your reader should click.
(P.S. Struggle with creating proper call-to-actions for your blog posts? This free Blog and Email CTA Master List is for you!)
Is it easy for readers to navigate between related posts?
As mentioned earlier, in an ideal world, your blog content should be interconnected when it makes sense! If someone finishes a post and loves it, your job is to keep them reading.
That means using internal links to connect related content and making navigation a breeze.
Whether it’s a “related posts” section at the bottom, hyperlinks in the body of the blog, or a clear content structure (like categories or tags), the goal is to create a rabbit hole effect.
When your content is connected, one post naturally leads to another, giving your reader more value and keeping them on your site longer.
Sometimes, a small tweak, like adding a call-to-action button, embedding a lead magnet, or making links more obvious, can make a big difference in how your blog performs overall!
Repurpose Blog Content Into Other Formats
Lastly, once you feel like you’ve audited your existing blog content and you’ve optimized what’s already there, it’s time to squeeze every drop of value out of it!
Because remember: your blogs are the thing that help you work smarter, NOT harder in your marketing as a whole.
They should serve as the starting point for what you create everywhereeeee else – I call it the Blogs First Content Marketing Approach!
Every blog post you write can be considered a mini content machine – you just need to flip the switch and let that content work for YOU by repurposing it accordingly.
Generally speaking, one blog post has the opportunity to become:
3–5 social captions
A handful of graphics or carousels for social media
Talking points for a video or podcast
A section in your newsletter
A Reel script or voiceover
I talk more about how to repurpose your blog content here!
(And if you REALLY want to put this repurposing plan into action, The Writer’s Room is THE place to be! In June, our members-only quarterly challenge is all about repurposing your blog content.
In this challenge, the core focus is to make your content creation on other platforms easier by using your blog as the foundation for everything else.
Over the course of the challenge, you’ll get step-by-step guidance on repurposing your blog posts into social content, emails, and more so you can show up on other platforms that you WANT to show up on, WITHOUT starting from scratch.
Need that in your life? Join The Writer’s Room before the challenge kicks off on Monday, June 9th!)
The moral of the story is this: if you do the work NOW while things are slower, you’ll thank yourself come September when your to-do list triples!
Ultimately, your blog becomes the anchor, and your other platforms just follow its lead. ⚓️
Ready to use the summer slump to strengthen your blog?
Overall, the summer slump as a service provider doesn’t have to feel like a drag. It can truly be your secret weapon when you use it wisely!
When you use this time to strategically work on your blog – whether that’s creating fresh content or simply optimizing your existing content – future you will be high-fiving past you come launch season, holiday season, or whenever things get wild again.
So if you’ve been feeling like you “should” be doing something for your business this summer, but don’t know what, here’s your sign to let your blog be IT!
It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Just one task at a time, and before you know it, your blog will be refreshed, refined, and ready to do what it does best – work for you.
Want some support along the way? That’s what I’m here for! Here’s how:
How It Will Help: You can finally ditch the content chaos and fall in love with creating content for your business again by implementing the blogs-first, socials-second approach WITH a community of other creative business owners and service providers doing the same thing right alongside you. You’ll get the support, accountability, and feedback you need every single week!
⭐️ Book Your Custom Blog Strategy
How It Will Help: You’ll have a clear blog content plan, complete with topic ideas tailored to your audience WITH 30 days of Slack support, so you can stop second-guessing and start blogging with confidence and consistency.
How It Will Help: In just five days, you'll get six strategy-driven blog posts so you can hit the ground running and finally start putting blogs first, socials second!
New to my world? Nice to virtually meet ya. 👋 I’m Natalie, but everyone calls me Natty (you can too) – blog and email writer for creative business owners and service providers.
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