Adding a blog to your website can boost your search engine ranking and attract visitors. Guest blogging and social posts can get you even more traffic, but you still need great topics to keep pulling in readers. How can you keep coming up with great blog post ideas? Here are six ways to go:
Brainstorm once a month. Give yourself an hour every month when you turn off your phone, don’t check emails or social media, and don’t let anyone invade your space. Write down questions clients and prospects have asked. Think about topics you’ve seen in the news or on social media that relate to your business. Don’t make judgments. Jot down all the ideas you can think of. You’ll be surprised at how many are usable.
Dig down. Go deeper than your customers’ obvious wants and needs. Share your thoughts on how to get more done in less time; how to keep your spirits up despite daily pressures; how you overcame a big challenge. These are the posts that really build your connections with customers.
Think timely. Many businesses have seasonal opportunities. What happens in your customers’ lives—and your business—when the seasons change? Don’t forget personal and professional milestones and local and personal events.
Do some research. You simply can’t create great blog content without doing a little research. Search websites, social posts, and other blogs that cover the problems you solve. Email a survey to present and former clients asking what they’d like to learn. Call up a few and find out the up-front information they need to know.
Put your ideas into categories. Create groups of ideas with similar themes. Establishing categories gives you great focal points for coming up with new ideas. Online, you can organize posts under these themes for easier visitor access.
Come up with a series. Sometimes a category can turn into a series of posts that drill down into a topic. Or you might create a sequence across categories—a “how to” series is a good example.
Put all these ideas on a calendar, so you keep to a regular schedule of posts. Here’s to your success coming up with your best blog ideas ever, as you put together your best year ever… Enjoy a great month!