We’ve all heard that content related idiom which has been used by SEO companies far too much, and if content isn’t king, then it is at least a really powerful submarine which should be involved in all your marketing battle plans.
But content writing isn’t all that easy, it transpires. You might be a wildly creative person with lots of ideas, but writing interesting and informative posts about the same industry, or topic, every day might not fit with how your mind works.
Maybe you’re a great writer but you struggle coming up with ideas. To get by in the content writing world you’ll need to keep those ideas going.
Tricky.
Write Down Every Idea
I keep a teeny tiny pocket sized notebook on me all the time and I write in it whenever I think of an idea. As a result it is full to the brim with lists.
I don’t know about you, but I often find my best ideas come to me when I’m doing something else. Thinking up new topics is hard, so if you think of something great don’t let it pass you by.
Jot down a provisional title, or a general idea, and any points that come to mind. When you run out of things to add, stop. You don’t have to write that idea into a great post straight away, because chances are you haven’t thought it through as thoroughly as you could have. You might come back to it days, weeks, or months later. You might never write it at all.
You can also take the technology route and make your lists on your phone, tablet or laptop. Evernote is really helpful to make your lists accessible. It doesn’t matter if you’re jotting things down on your hand; the important thing is you’re improving your process.
I use a notebook because I am a scribbler, and you can jot ideas and diagrams and all sorts of nonsense when you’re writing with a pen. Flicking back through these ideas might allow you to write more than one post from a single concept. You’re looking at your own idea with a fresh perspective, more writing under your belt, and a whole heap of research done. What was ‘how to do…’ can easier become ‘30 ways to streamline…’
Once you’ve written on a topic once, don’t consider it exhausted.
SEO Companies, Know Your Keywords
To maximize the SEO benefit from pieces of content, SEO companies recommend including your targeted keywords, while making sure that the article sounds natural and flows. Fitting the right keywords into your content each time can be tough, but actually they make a great starting point. While your posts don’t have to revolve around these words, having them in mind from the beginning can make forming a cohesive post on the topic much easier.
It’s all too easy to ramble a bit when you don’t really know what you’re trying to say, both aloud and in writing. If you keep your focus you’re more likely to stay on topic.
Write a Series
After a few weeks of stellar blogging, you might find the ideas well is running, well, a little bit dry. Writer’s block is a horrible issue, and sometimes the only way to overcome it is to walk away for a while and come back later.
A series of posts or regular feature can be a great way of making the most out of an idea. Some topics would require a mammoth post, and would have to skim on details. So rather than trying to say everything at once, why not break the whole thing down in to little digestible chunks?
It will be easier to read, people are likely to stay on your blog longer, and it will be more helpful than trying to get everything in at once.
And you’ll have written five posts rather than just one.
Perfect Is Really, Really Hard
If you try and write perfectly every time, you’re probably blog blocking yourself. Obviously your spelling and grammar need to be great, but if you’re striving for perfection you might only be able to write 100 words in a day – you might struggle to come up with any ideas at all.
SEO companies don’t always want perfect, sometimes really good is good enough. As long as you’re producing something useful, don’t get too caught up in being perfect.
Write What You Know
I’ve just written 750 quite lovely words on not being able to write blog posts – in the form of a blog post. What a beautiful thing. When you get to your laptop and your head just isn’t in the game, try thinking outside of the box a bit. Writing about what you know requires less thought and research, so you’ll be able to produce something a bit quicker. Chances are it will also be more interesting because you’re a bit of a pro on your own topic.
By writing about the problem I’ve been able to give myself some ideas, and I’ve hopefully provided something useful and meaningful for others.
Maybe I’ll write a series.
SME Paid Under
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