Stuck for something to write on your blog this week?
Blogging is one of the most effective marketing strategies available today but too many times I see a blog started in a blaze of glory only to peter out over the days and weeks ahead.
I get it. It can be hard to come up with fresh new ideas. So today I want to share with you a week?s worth of topic suggestions to kick-start or re-energize your blog.
But, before I do, I want you to take a moment to consider two things.
Firstly, the purpose of your blog.
Creating great content begins with having a clear purpose in mind. Without clarity of purpose, it?s difficult to make an impact with your content. You risk creating content on random topics at random times with no clear purpose in mind.
Secondly, I want you to consider your readers. Every piece of content that you create should have an intended audience.
When producing content, your number one goal should be to add value to your community. What kind of information is your audience looking for? What problems can you solve for them? Focusing more clearly on your audience will help you to create content that will draw more readers to your blog.
Ok, now let?s begin.
1. Brainstorm Ideas
If you?re really stuck for inspiration, try brainstorming using a tool like HubSpot?s Blog Topic Generator. It lets you input up to three different nouns and returns five blog topic ideas that will exercise your writing muscles again.
Here are the suggestions generated for me when I input the terms ?social media? and ?marketing? into the tool.
2. Write About A Current Trending Topic
Can you predict or comment on the latest industry trends? Readers will enjoy learning about it through your blog, particularly if you share your own unique perspective. Set up Google Alerts to keep updated on emerging trends in your industry and provide the latest information for your readers.
The following tools will also help you to find trending content relevant to your industry:
- Google Trends ? filter your search by country, topic, category, specific topic, content type, and more;
- Buzzfeed ? its trending section is perfect for searching for hot topics;
- Buzzsumo ? search for the most shared web content on a specific topic;
- Reddit ? aggregates trending content from all over the internet and shows the hottest (most upvoted) topics on the main page.
3. Mine Quora For Insights
Quora is a question and answer platform where you can either ask a question about your topic or simply do a search using your topic keyword to find what people are asking about that topic. It?s a super place for market research. Make a list of those questions which you feel you could write about.
When you have written an article or blog post on the topic, go back into Quora and answer a question related to the topic. You can include a link to your post in your answer.
4. Create A Series Of Posts
Break a topic into a series and link the posts together as you publish them. You could publish one post a day for a week. Here?s an example I created with my email marketing series of posts on Medium.
5. Recycle Old Posts
Recycling content simply means taking one asset and repurposing it somewhere else. By repurposing content you have already written, you can expand the reach of your content and attract new audiences.
Identify your most popular content through your blog analytics tool and by using Google Analytics. You should aim to repurpose any content that consistently performs well.
Recommended Reading: How To Create Six Unique Social Shares From Just One Piece of Content
6. Compile A Glossary Of Useful Terms
Put together a useful list of terms relevant to your business as I did with this glossary of social media terms.
So far, this post has gathered over 25K views, proving just how popular this kind of content is for readers. Try it yourself and see.
7. Create Recurring Blog Content
Recurring content forms hooks which keep readers interested in coming back to your blog or seeking similarly related posts. From a writer?s point of view, it can enhance your creativity ? choosing a topic in advance triggers your brain to come up with new ideas and make connections.
An example of recurring content is a weekly round-up of industry news. Once you?ve decided on your topic, decide on the elements you will use to maintain consistency in the design and format of your content. Choose the same day and time to publish so readers know to expect it at that time each week ? this helps build an audience for your content. Keep the format and design elements consistent.
While social media trends come and go, one thing is here to stay ? content marketing. To quote marketer Pam Moore ?Content is serious business.?
I hope the ideas in this post will help you get serious about your own content creation.
Happy Blogging!
You might also like to read 14 Things You Can Do Right Away To Build A Better Blog
