One of the biggest challenges to creating a successful blog is coming up with regular blog post ideas. Here are 7 strategies to keep your content fresh and interesting.
1. Read magazines – magazines are great for spinning information in a million different ways. Reading industry magazines will help you tap into the general public’s awareness and will help you come up with unique and fresh ways to look at ideas. 2. Read other blogs – other blogs in your industry or complimentary industries will help you generate fresh ideas for your own blog. You may decide to elaborate on a post written by someone else or take an opposing position.
3. Read industry publications – online publications like newsletters, whitepapers, case studies and the like are a great way to stay informed. You can write content about the data and information presented in these documents which helps establish your credibility and authority, it provides value and it helps generate a continuous stream of useful content.
4. Have a brainstorming/planning session – sometimes just letting go of all the outside distractions and allowing yourself to think out of the box can generate hundreds of new and unique blog post ideas. Set time aside to brainstorm.
5. Pay attention to forums and chat rooms – discussions on industry forums and chat rooms often generate some controversy but they also present new ideas, questions and room for elaboration on points you find to be valid or interesting. Use these sites to help you generate fresh content.
6. FAQs – what questions do you commonly hear from others? These make for great blog posts.
7. Ask your readers what they want to know – If you don’t know what to write about, ask your readers what they want to know.
Content is essential for a profitable blog. And with a little preparation and observation, you can come up with plenty of content ideas!
Thanks Jeanette! This is exactly what I’ve been thinking about lately. You have a keyword list that will only give you so many days to blog. I especially like number five because you can listen to people actually voice what they want to know.