Blogging content tips - how to escape a blogging rut

Are you stuck in a blogging rut? Do you feel as though you’ve exhausted all options when it comes to blog subjects? Fear not! I spend a great deal of time ghost writing blogs, being creative and coming up with blog topics for my clients. I’m going to share with you the ideas that I refer to so that my clients have a fantastic and varied library of blogs that work on many levels.

First things first

If you start a blog for your business, keep it going. It shows customers that you always have something to say about your product or service: my product is interesting! my product is current! Look at all these features which make it a ‘must buy’!

You don’t need to write a weekly blog, monthly will work too but try to keep it as regular as you can. Blogs work for you in many ways.

• They’re great for SEO (search engine optimisation). Blogs are fantastic vehicles for keywords which is what search engines, such as Google, are looking for to match the consumer’s search term. Blogs are also fresh content for a website which tells Google that it’s still viable and worth listing as a response to a search.

• Blogs can be informative - they don’t need to be ‘salesy’ if that makes you feel uncomfortable.

• Blogs can tell a story - for owners with a business that is close to their hearts, and even for bigger businesses blogs help to tell their story and express the history behind it.

There are lots of ideas for blog content which cover these three bases and more, but next let’s talk about texture.

Texture of your blog page

Garden and interior designers often talk about gardens and rooms having a variety of textures and the same applies to your blog page. You don’t want your blogs to sound the same as each other. You don’t want the reader, who is maybe a potential consumer, to be bored by your repetitive blog format. You want that potential customer to be interested and curious as to what you have to tell them. A blog is a way to engage with your customer so engage with them as you would in a conversation.

‘Texture’ therefore means giving your blog page a variety of formats. Here’s how to do it.

Blog format ideas

There are many blog formats that you can use but here are some of my favourites. It’s not exhaustive and you may have other ideas but these are the ones that come to mind when I’m thinking of blog ideas for my clients.

1. Story

   These can be quite personal so if you’re a private person, these might take a bit of getting used to. Don’t worry though, you can disclose as much as you want - it’s all in how you write it. Some consumers will be fascinated by how you started your business - the triumphs, the hurdles, how it’s evolved to bring it to the present day.

   Here are three ideas for you around this topic (may or may not be relevant to you):

   - inspiration for the business;

   - leaving behind a career elsewhere where you were employed and taking the plunge to start your own business;

   - anniversary blogs for each year or every other year - what’s happened in the last one/two etc years, personally and professionally.

2. Information

   Informative blogs talk about your products or services. You don’t have to sell if you don’t want to but these are a great opportunity to explain the benefits of what you offer, and therefore subtly sell. Depending on your product or service, there are a myriad of informative blogs that you can write.

   Here are three ideas:

   - current trends in your market;

   - how your product is made (if it’s handmade or made in the UK, bespoke, for example)

   - Christmas/birthday gift ideas around your product.

3. Case studies

   Whether you offer a product or service, good content for a blog is a case study detailing how a client came to you and the process that ensued. What did you discuss in that first meeting? What were the next steps? What was the outcome? Always helps if you can end one of these blogs with a glowing testimonial from the client! Case studies work really well for businesses that offer a service such as photography, dress making or catering.

4. Lists

   Lists may sound dull but they make for a quick read (and sometimes a quick write!). Lists could be a Christmas gift list for all the family using products you sell or a ‘Top Ten …’ such as ‘Top Ten Reasons to use a caterer for your special birthday’. It could be a light hearted list related to your business such as ‘Top Ten Weddings in Film’ for a bridal shop, for example.

5. Guest blogs

   Guest blogs give you a week off! They provide a break in writing but they also give the reader a different writing style and different, but relevant, information about another business. They also allow the guest blogging business access to a new audience which could be valuable to them.

   When considering guest blogs, go through your network and think about businesses that complement yours. If you’re a bridal shop, for example, wedding venues, wedding caterers, wedding photographers (you get the idea) would work as perfect blogging partners.

   Guest blogs work for the guest blogger but they also work for you - they show how well connected you are, how you’re willing to help others by giving them exposure to your blog audience and generally, build your gravitas as a business owner.

6. Current affairs

   Newspaper or news reports related to your business or sector could afford you the chance to offer an opinion on that subject. This is slightly dangerous territory if it’s very controversial so tread carefully. Current affairs can provide you with lots of blog content ideas.

7. SEO and keywords

   Keywords should pepper all of the other blogs (try to be natural with your use of keywords rather than forced - search engines and the reader will prefer it) but they can also act as inspiration for blogs.

   There will be some keywords that you use again and again because they’re fundamental to the vocab of your business but there will be some that you rarely touch upon and that’s where a keyword list comes into its own. Scan down the list, past the regularly used search terms and you will find some hidden gems that will lead you to some new blog ideas.

These are not rules. Some blogs will be a combination of these which all adds to the texture so don’t be afraid to mix and match! Try to rotate the formats as well - it doesn’t need to be a strict rotation but keep it fresh!

I hope this list has helped you and do share with me any other ideas that you might have. Don’t be exhausted by blogging - give it a new lease of life!

All images courtesy Unsplash