What should I blog about? What content really works? What do folks out there really read?

These are some of the questions I’m often asked by clients facing the weekly or fortnightly task of having to develop fresh and interesting content for their website or LinkedIn posts or for their social media activity more generally.

To lighten the load and provide you with a steady stream of new and interesting ideas, I trawled through ideas from some of the world’s best bloggers. These are some of the topics that ranked consistently well:

Authoritative commentary

As an industry authority you should be talking about trends, changes, new legislation, innovations, new research and current affairs affecting your industry. You convey authority when you tell how things are evolving in your industry and by providing the crucial education and advice where appropriate. Keep up to date by developing Google Alerts for these topics or by tapping into your traditional sources of intelligence.

Client FAQs

For many starting out on their blogging journey, this is often a wonderful place to begin. Consult with your sales or customer service and find out what questions are consistently being asked. Also make sure these posts really work for you by pointing your customers to them when they have queries or concerns. As your company grows, FAQ posts will become a valuable repository of information for new customer service personnel as well as customers.

Tips

Everybody loves tips, and these posts are usually very easy to write particularly if you are an expert in your field. However, should yours be a technical industry or your tips require a lot of explanation, only offer a handful. This way, they’re much easier to digest. However if your niche is not technical in nature, 10 is that magical figure most aim for. That said, some of the experts out there suggest – and this is only if you’re feeling particularly brave – creating a long tip post of 25, 50, or more tips and ideas.

Conference notes

If you’ve been to a conference, quote great speakers or tell readers about the latest trends and ideas from the conference and whether or not your organisation is looking to implement any of these. You can also talk about what the movers and shakers in your field are up to or post photos and talk about some of the amazing people you met at the event.

Interviews with industry experts

Consider interviewing experts in your industry. These interviews will not only provide you with some wonderful blogging ideas but will help make your blog a truly worthwhile resource for your readers. Begin the task by making a list of the experts in your industry and by creating a list of interview questions for each, then reaching out regularly with interview requests.

Client testimonials

Client testimonials are also wonderful fodder for blogs. When you receive a great testimonial from a customer, ask for permission to turn it into a post. In fact, use the post to solicit even more customer stories.

Review a product or service

This shouldn’t be one of your own products or services or a direct competitor’s offering, but rather a related item your customers might want to learn about. Provide even greater value by comparing two or more related products or services.

Be controversial

Disagree with a popular opinion. Get traffic by stirring up controversy and taking a contrary position.

Educational blogs

Use your blog to educate and teach by creating a blog category that provides your readers with all they need to know on a certain topic. I have done this with DIY publicity (earned content) and have subsequently built up sufficient fodder to create an e-book on the topic. Educational blogs are especially valuable as they enable you to showcase your expertise and attract targeted visitors who need what you have on offer.

Case studies

While educational blogs make you the teacher of your topic, case studies build up your expertise and prove you really know your stuff. Case studies should tell the story of how one of your products helped a customer or client. Like any good case study, the beginning should focus on the customer’s problems and how other products weren’t the solution they needed. Then describe the solution you provided and the subsequent benefits and results your customer enjoyed.

Product demonstrations

If you’re launching a new product, the blog is a great place to demonstrate how to use the product and show how it benefits your readers. Product demos are almost always video because they provide a virtual tour of the product, allowing customers to see almost everything without touching it themselves.

Compile a roundup

If you notice several interesting opinions on a topic, you can pull them together into a single post of the best ideas.

Create variety with video posts

You can give a sneak preview of a new product or show a promotional event. Even go behind the scenes and give readers a video or photo tour of your plant, design department or the part of your business you’d like to show off.

Guest posts

Finally, there’s no need for you to write all the content for your blog. Invite other bloggers in your field or experienced customers to write posts occasionally. You can also use this concept to foster a team culture in your business by asking each of your employees to submit blog topic ideas or write posts every month.

Looking to get started on your blogging and social media journey or simply looking to enhance what you are already doing online? Call us on: 0422 694 503 or email: wendy@parkerpublicrelations.com.au.