Revive your Content Strategy with our 7 Tips for Writing Content

It’s the beginning of a new week, and you’ve been asked to write an article for your company’s blog. The only problem is, your mind’s gone blank, and you literally cannot think of any new ideas for this week’s content. Furthermore, how are you going to match last week’s blog written by your colleague which was a huge hit with the boss and site visitors alike? Whatever you do, don’t despair! Follow our seven top tips and you’ll be able to create compelling blog posts time after time for a wide range industries.

1. Identify Your Audience Before you start to write your article, it’s really important to identify your target audience to ensure you engage with them properly. Ask yourself these questions; who are your audience? What do they like? What information will be of most interest to them? This is the time to demonstrate your knowledge about your audience’s interests. Let’s propose that you’re writing a blog about hotels in Tenerife for a high end travel company. Readers of this particular blog are not going to be interested in the cheapest hotels on the island which have received mediocre to satisfactory reviews on Trip Advisor. Instead, they are going to want to read about the best hotels in Tenerife. We’re talking 5* luxury hotels, boasting junior suites, a multitude of restaurants and bars, outstanding customer service and an indulgent onsite spa which will please even the most discerning of guests.

2. Calendar Dates What month is it? Are there any upcoming dates of significance approaching on the calendar or seasonal holiday dates? If so, use this to your advantage for your upcoming blog article. For instance, let’s say you’re writing an article for your company; a chocolate manufacturer. With Mother’s Day looming why don’t you base your blog around this date and discuss the limited edition mother’s day chocolates currently in production at your factory? This would be a great way to inform and promote to readers your company’s current product range from a relevant angle. 3. Magazines In addition to teaming with a hot drink and snack on to your tea break, magazines are a great way to help you devise new content ideas for your blog. Containing all the latest news and trends, there are sure to be a large range of ideas to inspire your upcoming blog post. Have a flick through and see what catches your eye. Once you’ve spotted something interesting, grab a pen and paper and see if you can develop these ideas further. Suppose you’re writing for a client who specialises in Home Improvement Services. After having a browse through a home improvement magazine, you happen to come across an editorial feature on the latest colour trends. Why not create an article about colour themes for a specific room in the house? Or why not develop this idea further and discuss the mood changing abilities of colour in the home? This would make an interesting and informative article for anyone thinking of rejuvenating their home with an injection of colour!

4. News & Current Affairs What’s been happening this week on the news? Is there anything that’s linked to the industry that you work in? If so it might be worthwhile discussing this on your blog. Perhaps you could offer your take on the latest news, or you could write about how it’s relevant to your company and what it means for you. For example, let’s say you’re working for an automotive company - a good idea would be to touchdown (sorry) on the latest Super Bowl trend and devise a blog based on the best Super Bowl car ads of all time, or even discuss celebrity appearances in these ads to appeal to a wider audience. As a result, you would have not only written an interesting and relevant article, but also have benefited from the current buzz surrounding it.

5. Social Media Social media is a great opportunity to find out exactly what is happening in real time, and is a great source of inspiration for any blogger with writer’s block. Check out Facebook and Twitter and discover the latest trends, then have a think and see how you could take a spin on the latest internet trends from your company’s prospective. For example, the birth of the royal baby was one of the biggest social media trends of 2013, which as expected sparked an enormous response from around the world. Many brands and businesses took this opportunity to promote themselves online and created themed statuses and blog posts to reflect this trend. Let’s say during this time, you worked for a business specialising in baby equipment, and wrote a blog on “Baby cots fit for a prince”. By doing this, you would have highlighted the great range of baby sleeping solutions available at your company, whilst also directly reflecting a major online trend which will have meant many others may have seen your post – which if good enough can lead to more social shares and referral traffic!

6. Google Online Tools There are some great tools available online which are definitely worth using on your quest to creating compelling blog content. Check out our favourite online tools below… • Google Keyword Planner is a useful tool used for keyword research and campaign planning on Google Adwords. Once you’ve entered a keyword which you wish to find content ideas around, Google keyword planner will return ideas for potentially relevant keywords, including synonyms, whilst also providing their average monthly search volume – this all makes word association much easier. Have a scroll through the results to see what searches are most popular and have a think to see if you could create an interesting angle for your blog on any of the returned terms. • Google’s Autocomplete functionality is an effective way to generate more article ideas. Simply enter your search term into Google’s search box. As soon as you start typing, Google will suggest some variations of that search term based on their search volume frequency. This is a great way to see what others are interested in and what searches have been popular recently. 7. Discussion Finally, this idea might be one the simplest, but it’s also one of the most effective. Have a chat with friends, family or colleagues and pick their brains. They might come up with a great angle on a blog idea that you hadn’t even thought of, or you could even take one of their ideas and develop it into something else and make it your own. So whether you’re writing for an exciting industry or one that’s considered relatively dull - now you’ve read through our seven handy tips, you should be feeling more positive about creating some great content ideas for your blog and well on your way to creating a masterpiece, just don’t forget to then promote your work on social channels to maximise its exposure.