blog guide

Did you miss #ContentWritingChat this week? There’s no need to worry! We have you covered with a recap of Tuesday’s chat, which was filled with great tips to help you come up with your next blog topic. Let’s dive into the tweets! #ContentWritingChat June 7 2016 Recap: How to Consistently Find Fresh Blog Topics Join us for #ContentWritingChat Tuesday, June 7th at 10 AM CDT with guest host @monikacjansen! pic.twitter.com/42ttM8vlxR — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) May 31, 2016 This week, Monika Jansen joined us as our guest host. Monika is the founder of Jansen Communications, as well as an experienced online copywriter. She shared key tips on creating “fresh” content for your blog. Q1: What are ways to come up with new topics for your blog? The truth is, sometimes it’s hard to come up with interesting topics to write about on your blog. Instead of stressing as you try to come up with ideas, check out these tips: A1: I always start with FAQs. What are your clients asking you about? #contentwritingchat — Monika Jansen (@monikacjansen) June 7, 2016 A1: Also – just ASK your clients/customers what they care about. They’ll tell you! #contentwritingchat — Monika Jansen (@monikacjansen) June 7, 2016 Monika suggested starting with your FAQ. Odds are, you’re getting a lot of questions from clients or readers of your blog. Address those questions in a blog post. It’s so simple, but it’s effective because you’re giving your audience exactly what they want. If you’re still stuck, just ask your audience what they’d like to see from you. They’re the best people to tell you what they’d like to read. A1) I like to cover topics relevant to a service/product that haven’t been covered yet or not in depth. #contentwritingchat — Kyle Murray (@TheKyleMurray) June 7, 2016 Kyle knows it’s important to keep your content relevant to your product or service. His tip is to choose topics that haven’t been covered yet or haven’t yet been covered in depth. Ask yourself what could use more coverage in your field and start writing. A1) Google Alerts and #Hashtag tracking on social media. I also solicit ideas from colleagues. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/38CfYLzv2s — Jeff Reno(e) (@Renoe) June 7, 2016 Jenn likes to use Google Alerts and also tracks hashtags to see what other people are talking about. This is a great way to alert you to trending topics or questions people in your field may have. Asking your colleagues for ideas is another great tip! A1 I always start w/ brainstorming sessions the @Affinio content team! Then look at what is resonating w/ our audience #ContentWritingChat — Hannah Chapple (@HannahChapple) June 7, 2016 For Hannah, coming up with blog topics starts with a brainstorming session with the team at her job. If you have multiple people on your team, get everyone together to talk about ideas. They just might have some amazing tips you can use. A1 Brainstorm internally- teamwork can garner best ideas! Tools ie @Buzzsumo to research competitors & get inspiration #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) June 7, 2016 Our CEO, Julia, agrees that teamwork is powerful. She also likes to use BuzzSumo to research competitors for inspiration. A1: Read! Nothing works better than educating yourself on your industry. The more you read, the more you can share. #ContentWritingChat — Yelling Mule (@YellingMule) June 7, 2016 Don’t forget to read! You want to stay updated with everything that’s going on in your industry. Reading will help you come up with ideas, plus give you amazing content to share with your audience. A1 Social listening, like seeing questions folks ask in twitter chats, is a big source of ideas. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/jGIWgXi5d3 — Erika Heald (@SFerika) June 7, 2016 Erika said social listening is a great way to come up with content ideas. If you join a few Twitter chats, you’re sure to find people asking questions. Use those ideas to spark new content for your blog. A1b: Don’t just give audience what they want to know. Also give them what they need to know. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/DtxGHzizDp — Michael Kinney (@michaelkinney) June 7, 2016 One thing to keep in mind via Michael: give your audience what they need, not just what they want. Q2: What are your favorite tools/methods to help you come up with blog topics? There are plenty of tools you can use to find blog post topics, plus a method or two you can implement. Here’s what our chat participants like to do: A2: I know we already talked about this, but READ, read, and read some more. #contentwritingchat — Monika Jansen (@monikacjansen) June 7, 2016 Monika’s advice is pretty clear: read more often! Find books, articles, etc. in your industry and start diving in. A2 Google Keyword Planner, checking trends & hashtags, or old-fashioned brainstorming w/ a pen & a notebook #contentwritingchat — Brittany-dot-Social (@BrittanySocial) June 7, 2016 Brittany likes to use Google Keyword Planner and she also likes to check trends and hashtags. While they’re all helpful, she also knows sometimes you just need to brainstorm with a pen and notebook. A2: @BuzzSumo is our best friend, @feedly is an excellent tool and sometimes we just skim the tech section on @BuzzFeed #ContentWritingChat — Yelling Mule (@YellingMule) June 7, 2016 We’re also fans of BuzzSumo here at Express Writers, so we highly recommend it. Check out Feedly to see what other websites are posting about and it might spark some ideas of your own. A2 I use @Buzzsumo, google’s adwords planner, @Meltwater & @Feedly to generate content ideas. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/7W3ta4w4PY — Erika Heald (@SFerika) June 7, 2016 Erika is also a fan of BuzzSumo, which is awesome! Some other tools she uses includes: Google Adwords Planner, Meltwater, and Feedly. A2: Twitter, industry expert articles (SEJ, Search Engine Land, etc), Google Analytics; so many! #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/T3f7jQwhMS — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) June 7, 2016 Sarah from ThinkSEM knows Twitter is a great place to find ideas. She also turns to articles from industry experts and uses Google Analytics. Don’t … Read more