Blogging is a vital part of the digital marketing mix. We recommend blogging to the vast majority of our clients and are always looking for opportunities to produce interesting blog content internally.
Why is blog content such a big deal?
- It adds fresh content to your website, keeping it relevant in the eyes of search engines
- It adds deeper levels of content, meaning you can capture more long tail search queries
- It gives you collateral to share and drive engagement with on social media
- It helps you position your brand as a thought leader
Bearing all these benefits in mind, it seems obvious that producing high quality blog content is an easy win.
There’s the rub. Blog content is great, but there are two problems. One, you need to produce it. Two, it needs to be good.
Let’s look at some ways you can produce blog content that helps you get those 4 benefits listed above. (Also provided are examples of how we’ve used these techniques on our blog – hopefully they’ll give you some inspiration!)
Hit the books – reading and research
Perhaps the most obvious way to get ideas and inspiration, as well as quality quotes and sources, for a blog article is to do reading and research.
The key here is to engage with other people in the field. Follow influential figures on social media and read what they post and share. Read other relevant blogs, read magazines, read books on your field.
Following research into the arguments for against, Liam Shepherd added his insight and wrote…
Found something that’s piqued your interest? Great. Now, don’t just regurgitate what you’ve read. React to it, add to it, criticise it – make sure that your voice and your opinion are the core part of the article. Your input needs to be fundamental to the cut and thrust of the article.
Social media is for sharing things you’ve found interesting, blogging is for interacting with them.
Having looked into the practices of multiple brands, Samantha Knott added her own opinion and expertise…
Get topical – recent events
The digital sphere is all about what’s happening now. Your blog can be a way to you to get involved in topical conversations in a meaningful way, whilst also benefiting your brand.
Now, it’s not as simple as reacting to every trending topic on social media. You need to look for topics that you and your brand can react to and interact with in an interesting and meaningful manner.
Sometimes that means reacting to industry news. Don’t limit yourself to that. however – there are ways and angles to interact with other major events through the lens of your brand.
James Clark reacted to the latest Google changes, offering his thoughts on what they’d mean for PPC and the industry as a whole…
An oldie but a goodie, Jamil Shehadeh looked at the 2010 General Election through the eyes of a web designer, analysing the websites of the 3 major parties…
Recent events doesn’t just have to mean what’s been in the news – it can also literally mean events you’ve attended recently. Fresh off the back of an event there’s often buzz both on social media and organic search, so blogging about it is a great way to enter the conversation.
BrightonSEO is a big deal in the world of digital marketing. Emily Dravnieks went along and shared her thoughts…
Ask around – consult internal expertise
Whether you’re in charge of all the marketing coming out of your website or someone with a dedicated responsibility to produce content for your brand, you can’t be expected to know everything your target audience could want to know.
If I want to create a piece of content, the first thing I do is talk to a specialist within the company. Even if you are educated on a subject, getting a second opinion might offer some insights or ideas you hadn’t considered.
Drawing on the expertise and knowledge that exists within your company can allow you to produce content on subjects that would otherwise be out of reach, meaning you can offer useful content to parts of your target audience that might otherwise be neglected.
David Wharram reached out to experts across the company to discuss the exciting possibilities of marketing via augmented reality…
Let’s hear your ideas
How do you generate your ideas for blog articles or other content pieces? Is there a particular source of inspiration you find always delivers?
Let us know in the comments below!