It’s a well-known fact that blog content ideas are one of the most important aspects of ranking well especially when it comes to SEO. Content marketing should be a fundamental part of your overall SEO strategy. But many small businesses don’t know what content to create.
We came up with a few engaging blog content ideas to help you reap the benefits of SEO and to consistently keep your viewers attention.
Blog content ideas
1. ‘How to…’ articles and tutorials
One of the most commonly asked questions search engines receive is ‘How to…?’ It stands to reason then that ‘How To…’ articles are going to receive a lot of traffic in accordance with comparative search terms. This is one of the best blog content ideas. However, they can also be competitive so you have to be as specific as you can.
How-to articles are also a good way of establishing yourself as an expert in your industry. Providing in-depth knowledge showcases your authority on the chosen subject and builds trust with customers.
So when creating how-to articles, keep the subject matter relevant to your core products and services.
To enhance the readability of the articles, set out each instruction in steps so the content can be quickly scanned. If possible, include images of somebody demonstrating relevant steps, or if the advice is computer-based, take shots of relevant screens.
2. Trending news stories
Current events and news stories serve several functions. They are quick and easy to write, give you easy access to content ideas, enable you to upload content to your blog more often, and most importantly attract the eye of readers to get more information.
People want fresh information and are obsessed with news stories so they are armed with details about trending subjects other people are talking about.
Furthermore, because people want to be inspirational, useful, informative or express their interest, news stories are highly shareable content that increases traffic on social media networks thus can open you up to a wider audience.
To enhance your chances of receiving click-throughs, you could even mention that the news is new and that you are breaking it for the first time. “Kenyan Government launches a new initiative to help start-ups”, “Scientists shocked by results of a new survey,” or “New evidence reveals banks create money out of thin air.”
Obviously, the news you are reporting has to be true and from a credible source. But news stories can be about anything – even branded content to inform your customers of new developments within your company or industry or what happened at the event you went to recently.
Even better, write pieces on industry news – they show you are keeping tabs on developments in your industry – which is important for building trust.
3. Share tips
Offering top tips is a content strategy that cannot fail. People are always grateful for good advice. People are always looking for great helpful advice that could help them in their day-to-day activities. Whether its tips on how to develop great online content or even how to improve on time management. There are so many areas everyone wants to improve on. Focus on the relevant niche and industry that you are in, offer useful tips that people could practise and even enjoy reading.
4. Q&A with an expert
The next best thing is a Q&A session with an expert, and every industry has an expert. You can choose to interview one person here, or base your content around a specific theme and source comments about the topic from other experts, either by contacting them directly and asking for comments or sourcing a comment they have left on Twitter or other social networks. The information you can gather from others should also give you more content ideas too.
If you can get a quote from a celebrity in your industry, then, by all means, plug them in your title to attract more clicks. Failing the prospect of landing a household name, contact an influencer in your industry. Most will be open to offer comments and attract more exposure to their website. You could also send them an introductory email asking for an opportunity for a Q&A sometime in the future incase they would like a formal intro first and what they will be asked about.
5. Interview a satisfied client
Still, on the interview theme, consider interviewing a loyal customer of yours. You talk a bit about them, ask which of your products are their favourites and how they like to use your products. Ask them any relevant questions that would lead to a better understanding of your products or service and also lead potential clients to your doorstep.
6. Present a round-up of FAQ’s
If you hit industry-specific forums, you will find a list of questions people are asking. So why not list these and answer them. You can even add in questions you’ve been asked personally by clients or employees.
7. Publish surveys and stats
Surveys and statistics make for interesting reading and other writers typically link to them – so you can even attract inbound links and boost your search engine rankings. Explaining the trends will make your article even more interesting and valuable as a blog content idea. This will also give confidence to your viewers about your knowledge base.
8. Tell your brand story
There’s nothing as good as a great story, this is one of the best blog content ideas I have come across. Consumers engage with brands they trust and know more about your history, philosophies, commitments and core promises will endear people to you. Aim for the heart. People want to feel an emotional connection with brands.
9. New product releases, pricing and reviews
If your company or business is releasing a new product or service, you want to give it as much exposure as possible and can enhance your brand reputation and product awareness by publishing various pieces of content that demonstrate various aspects of your product or service as a blog content idea. For example, you can generate interest in your products pre-launch by describing the development process and informing customers of the progress and possible challenges you had to overcome to make it even more perfect for end-users.
Customers want to read about what your product does and how it will make their life better. They don’t want to be told how great it is and how much better it is than your competitors.
An additional element would be to give an independent and honest assessment of products in your industry, especially ones you sell shows you are knowledgeable and trustworthy. Good traits to have for an online business.
Along with the features of your product or service, it would be great also to give the pricing or cost of your products. Have you noticed nobody talks about how much things cost on their blog, yet one of the first things consumers want to know is the price! So why not write a piece justifying the cost of a product as a blog content idea.
10. Create a better and optimised version of popular content on a competitor’s website
This method is actually popular with research work, where researchers use secondary data to improve on their research and to give additional information on a subject that has already been published in the past. Similarly here, you could take a look a what your competitors are writing. Take inspiration from them and aim to do better with your own article.
Let us know what you think and also add your ideas to our comment section below.
