The blogosphere is getting pretty crowded. There are too many blogs out there, that don’t even get 1000 visits per month. The reality is that the majority of the blogs are… well, pretty much, failures. They fail to keep the user engaged because of the lack of new inspiring content. The reason is that it’s difficult to come up with new content ideas and the blog is left to die. You end up to publish press releases or bore to death your audience with sales pitches.
Even worse, most bloggers end up quitting within the first 3 months!
Don’t get me wrong, you could definitely benefit from a company blog. And you should, by all means, start an engaging blog for your business. But try to come up with fresh and new content that your followers will respond well to.
You don’t know how to come up with great content ideas for your blog?
Here are 5 tips and tricks to help you getting started:
- Words, words, words
We often ask ourselves how many words a blog post should contain? There are, of course, blogs that set up limits for the number of words a blog post should contain. Many say that you need to have as many words as possible, because you can’t possible make a positive impact in a short story.
But, think about it. There are stories that can be explained in many words, and stories that can be explained in just a few words. The word count shouldn’t be your priority. You should focus instead on optimizing your posts for your audience and find better ways to reach your users. You should find ways to get your content in the hands of more people. Generate traffic and even more great content.
- Provide Valuable Content
Give the users something valuable on a regular basis and you can be sure that they will return to your blog every time you post something new. But what’s a valuable content? How can you stand out when there are more than 152 million blogs out there that say the same things nobody cares?
The secret behind standing out is to find a better niche to focus on. Be more specific about what your websites stands for. Become an authority in your niche. Even if your audience is smaller, you can always extend when your blog becomes the “go-to” source in your industry.
- Research
Well researched blog posts can really stand out and differentiate your content from your competitors’.
Here are some tools for conducting thorough research (other than… you know, Google search):
- StumpleUpon
- Infographics
- Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, Quora
- Experts in the field on LinkedIn
- Feedback from your customers
But like I said above, there are many bloggers out there. Chances are that many other bloggers are writing about the same topics as you. You can use this as an opportunity to see what worked and didn’t work, and how you can improve it so you could stand out in that particular topic area.
By reading similar blog posts and their user feedback, you can see a different angle on the topic and have better researched posts.
- Don’t forget about your users Amazing Posting
The biggest mistake you can make is to forget that you write for your users, who they are and their needs and interests. To create a user-centered content strategy, you must start by learning who your user is.
You must understand who your user is by reviewing all your relevant data: Google analytics, market research, your user-base lists and member databases.
Then ask yourself: What are their needs? Why are they on your website? When you find out the answers to these questions you will be able to create content that will engage your audience and generate more traffic.
- Tell Your story
Readers love to read successful people’s story. To walk in your shoes for a while. You don’t have to write personal journal entries on your blog, but give some details and insights about how you operate.
By telling the world your story, you’re not just creating unique content, but you inspire others to step out of their comfort zones.
So, here’s my story: