Blog content is one of the most productive ways to boost an SEO campaign. With a blog, you are effectively handed a blank canvas with which to showcase a large assortment of relevant keywords. You can also produce fresh, in-depth, and interesting content that others will share with their audience, enhancing visibility and your backlink profile. However, before dreaming of those benefits, you need to know how to create blog content.
On the surface, creating blog posts seems simple. You type a few hundred words, slap them onto a blog, and wait for people to read your slice of content. Yet, it’s not that easy – particularly when you’re up against competitors and need to appease the search engines.
To help, this guide details how to create content for blog posts that yield results.
Finding Topics: Where to Get Content for Blog Posts
First of all, you need to know how to find content ideas for blog posts. You can’t produce quality, in-demand pieces of content without having a suitable topic to write about.
Are you already knowledgeable within your chosen niche? If so, this step shouldn’t be tricky – you’re likely bursting with ideas. Still, even if that’s the case, it pays to know how to find content for blog posts.
For inspiration, you can analyse what kind of content your competitors post, taking note of the topics they write about. However, the savviest method in terms of how to find content for blog posts is to perform keyword research.
Now, this isn’t just any old keyword research. You want to discover what search terms your audience is currently entering into Google. By doing so, you gain a clear understanding of the questions and subjects your audience wishes to learn about – and you can build content around these.
A highly recommended free keyword research tool for blog content is AnswerThePublic. Simply enter a search term, and it’ll fire out a “goldmine of content ideas” that you can use.
Pick an Angle
The blogging world is a crowded place. Even in the most obscure niches, content gets churned out on the regular. If you’re wondering how to create blog content that stands out from the crowd, you’ll need to select a unique angle.
Attack a topic from the same direction as everyone else, and you better hope that:
- Your website possesses a high Domain Authority
- Your content is the best of the best
Otherwise, it will gain less traction than a cat on ice.
When learning how to develop a blog content strategy with an angle, it’s advised to opt for novelty. Something that counters the usual narrative or produces an emotional or shocking response from the reader will instantly hook their attention. Then, it’s a case of reeling them in with a well-written, well-researched article.
Produce an Outline
Next, it’s time to start producing your content. The only problem is you’re staring at a blank page, not knowing what to write – which is why it’s important to learn how to plan blog content properly.
Any guide on how to plan blog content will tell you that you’ll need to put together an outline, especially when you’re writing a long-form article with oodles of details, figures, and topics covered. With an outline, you’re not starting from scratch – instead, you are effectively filling in the gaps.
You also don’t have to get too fancy with how to plan blog content outlines. Start with a quick intro, put together a list of items to write about for the bulk of the content, and then finish with a conclusion. That’s the tried-and-tested route to take with an outline.
Put in the Research
Research is essential if you’re curious about how to write better blog content. No, that doesn’t mean looking for “how to write better blog content” articles and guides. It means putting in the research for your own blog posts and topic ideas.
You might think you know all about your chosen subject. However, even leading experts in their fields use quotes, data, and research conducted by others when they create and publish content. They do this for a good reason: it adds extra trust and authority to their content and backs up what they have to say.
Furthermore, when you really think about how to create content for blog posts, you’ll realise that research can help you discover and further expand on points you never initially considered. What’s more, thanks to your research, you’ll probably find new topics to write about.
Write the First Draft
You have constructed an outline. You’ve done the research. What’s the next step in the ‘how to create blog content’ guide? Producing the first draft.
You need to flesh out your blog post and get writing. Don’t be too concerned about quality at this early stage – that’s why it’s called your first draft. Yes, the content should still flow and be written to a certain standard, but the initial priority is to get words down on the page – which is harder said than done.
When learning how to create blog content, a tactic we recommend you add to your repertoire is the acclaimed Pomodoro Technique. This excellent method is great for productivity; it involves sitting down for 25 minutes, free of any distractions, and writing as much as you can in this time. You then take a five-minute break. Repeat the process until your first draft is done – easy and manageable!
Add the Polish
To know how to write quality content for blog posts, you must take your first draft and add the polish. This sprucing-up process involves trimming the fat, rewriting those awkward-sounding sentences, improving grammar and spelling, and injecting context when required.
If you want to learn how to create content for blog posts that has that shimmering polished coating, here are a few tips:
- Use a grammar checker (like Grammarly) to spot and correct any grammatical and spelling mistakes.
- Incorporate a mixture of sentence lengths. Short. Long. Single words. This helps break up the monotony and create a more exciting, punchier flow for your content.
- Subheadings, bullet-point lists, videos, images, and quotes make your posts easier to read.
- Focus on the intro and ensure this immediately grabs readers’ attention and makes them want to continue reading.
Invite Guest Posts
Want to know how to get free unique content to your blog? Once you have an established website, you can invite others to submit their guest posts. If your website is good, you won’t be short of offers – people are always looking for precious backlinks to their own content and websites, and many are willing to provide free content to acquire them.
Conclusion
With these tips, you’ll know how to develop a blog content strategy that delivers results. Granted, it requires plenty of work to produce high-quality posts. However, once you understand how to create a blog content strategy, this can become one of your biggest SEO assets that’ll set you on the road to success.
Do You Need Help with Blogging?
Of course, content creation and blogging aren’t easy, particularly if you’re new to it or simply don’t have the time to learn. Plus, even if you’re already an experienced blogger or content creator, you might be too busy to develop a strategy, conjure new ideas, and publish your content – especially if you’re running a business or are too bogged down with work. Whatever the case, our content experts here at Click Intelligence have your back.
With decades of experience in the SEO and content marketing game, we know what makes your audience tick – and how to attract and keep their attention. We also know how to pump good SEO into your tailored content strategy that we create for you, which will see your site skyrocket up Google’s search results pages and land front and centre stage directly before your audience. If you need world-class content – be it a single piece or an entire bespoke campaign – don’t hesitate to contact our specialists today. Your results-driven content strategy is merely a few clicks away!