Bitesize Blog: How to research blog topics?
Jun 19, 2017
This is the first post in our new series of blog posts; bitesize blogs are short, snappy, bite size chunks of information that can be read in 5 minutes! So, take 5 minutes out of your day to learn something new.
Writing a blog for your website is a great way to keep your site in a constant state of rotation with fresh content. We believe that no website should be without a blog. A blog not only helps to drive traffic to your website, it can help establish you as an expert in your industry, with the blog section on your website acting as a virtual salesperson.
However, successful bloggers and marketing experts don’t just pull ideas out of a hat! Writing successful content requires research which isn’t as glamorous as writing and publishing an amazing post, but is very important. Research makes your content on-trend and relevant as well as making it desirable to read.
What topic do I write about?
CONSUMER
The first step in creating content people can relate to, is finding out what people want to read and what they are looking for. You really need to delve into your audience base – what do they do? What are their interests? What lifestyle do they lead? Be specific when researching into this; create in-depth consumer profiles to visualise your consumer.
TRENDS
Your website and business need to keep content fresh and on- trend to keep it relevant to now; write in real-time. Find out what the top shared posts are on other well-established blogs- these blogs will become your influencers. You may want to bookmark them as they’ll be a good source of inspiration for future blog posts. Don’t focus on the actual content but have a look at the comments on their popular posts and see what people are talking about.
KEYWORDS
Once you have an idea surrounding the basic question you want to answer in your post, you need to start forming some search terms your audience may use. Tools like Buzzsumo can be helpful in bringing up recent and popular posts in an area you want to write about. Google Ad words is another great tool to use. It will essentially rate your keywords as high and low competition, as well as telling you how often each is searched for. You ideally want to focus on words with high searches and low competition.
PUT YOURSELF IN THE READER’S POSITION
Finally, put yourself in your reader’s shoes and ask – why should I care? If you don’t, the likelihood of your reader not caring is also a high possibility. Your aim is to make the reader want to read more; it needs to be dynamic and engaging. Use visuals and infographics where relevant, and bullet points to break down complicated topics.
RECAP
- Who is your audience?
- What are the current trends in your industry?
- Search for your keywords
- Break down your points
- Use visuals to further explain
Still in need of some assistance with blog writing? We've written a Simple Guide to...Blogging over on our blog! Alternatively, here at The Creation Lab, we offer content writing for all types of businesses, so, if you feel it's something you want to look into further don't hesitate to call on 0800 644 7070.
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