Do you have a blog that’s just not pulling traffic? Or, are you planning to launch a blog, but you’re not sure about the content you should start writing? If you haven’t already set up your blog, then buy a domain name, and lease a hosting account. If you don’t already have much of an audience, then any cheap shared hosting account will do. On the other hand, if you’re expecting a lot of traffic, then the dedicated servers by HostWinds are a great place to start. Once you’ve got your blog set up, it’s time to create content that’s engaging and shareable. It’s hard to come up with topics that people find interesting. But, there are a few tried and true themes that can work for any subject matter. If you’re fresh out of new ideas, or if you’re just starting your blog, then try these topics to see if you can jump-start your traffic.
Make a List of Benefits
Write an article about the benefits of using your product or service. But, when you craft your content, put it in list format. If you write long paragraphs of information detailing what makes your products or services useful, it’s unlikely that people will read it. So, chunk out your content into short paragraphs, separated by headings. Most readers will just scan the headings before moving on. But, if you’ve got some good ideas, then they may actually read about some of your top points. This will also help avid readers who do read entire articles. They’ll be able to scan the headings to get a sense of what the article is about, before they dive into reading it in full. What’s good about your product or service? What makes it unique, compared to the competition? What problem can someone solve by investing in your offering? Answer these questions in a scannable, organized article and you’ll bring a lot of value to your readers.
Make a List of Things to Avoid
Are there competitors that sell products similar to yours, of a lesser quality? If so, what makes them so bad? You can point out flaws in similar products without directly trashing your competition, in order to highlight the quality of your own products. For example, if you sell t-shirts, maybe there’s a material that shrinks more often than others. Or, maybe there are telltale signs in the way that the material is stitched, which equate to a longer-lasting product. Create a list of things to avoid, and people might even refer back to it every time they make buying decisions.
Predict Future Trends
It’s fun to predict the future, and people love reading about what’s on the horizon. They’ll be able to brag to their friends about being the first to spot an upcoming trend, before it hits the mainstream. For example, if you have a tech blog where you review graphics cards, then write about what might become popular in a few years. Is there a new type of GPU that is faster than all of the others? Is there a way to combine cards that hasn’t been tried before, to create a fast gaming computer on a budget? Figure out what’s trending in your industry, and if you can predict a few things that haven’t been done before, then you’ll whet the appetites of your readers and they’ll come back for more.
Take a Survey and Report on Results
An easy way to collect fodder for a future blog post is to survey your customers. You can do this by sending an email blast to your customers. Or, you can put a survey right on your website. Or, if you’ve got a bit of a following on Twitter or Facebook, then you can easily post a survey to poll your audience. Pick a topic and start asking questions. Then, take that data and draw some conclusions. Write a blog post to summarize your results, and if you’ve got some resources, then create a few cool graphs around your data, too. People love to share infographics and other easy-to-understand visualizations.
Interview Subject Matter Experts
Reaching out to your audience with a simple poll is one thing, but interviewing subject matter experts is quite another. The best option is to find an influencer with an audience, and ask them some questions. Sometimes you can even do this by email. But, don’t expect a response if you send a questionnaire without first asking for permission. Put things in terms of their interests. Will they be able to grow their own following because of your blog? If so, why? If you’re lucky enough to get a popular person to do an interview with you, then put their name into the title of the article. But if you can’t seem to land an interview with someone famous, then go for someone from your personal network. People love to be considered for their expert opinions. If your blog is about cameras, and you’ve got a friend who’s into camera culture, then ask them if they’ll do an interview. You can list their credentials in your article to show why their information is valuable. And, if you do a good job, you can ask them to share the interview too.
Pick a Topic, and Get Started
There you have it: five great ideas for creating fresh content on your blog. Now, get to work! Pick one of the topics and commit to writing an article. Bookmark this page, and when you’re done, come back and pick the next topic for your blog. Stay consistent with your writing, and you’ll see your audience grow. Remember, the turtle wins the race!
