blog writing tips - Express Writers

17 Secrets To Creating Awesome Blog Topics

December 31, 2020February 20, 2015 by Adam Oakley

It’s that time again – you’re stumped for awesome blog topics and you aren’t sure how to come up with any. I know—I’m a writer over here. It’s as frustrating as the feeling that everything you touch turns into ice, right? Time to “let it go…” Sorry, I think I got carried away there. In any case, you really CAN create some incredible topics that are sure to please every single one of your readers, and I’ve got some tips to help you. Let’s take a look at 17 different ways you can easily come up with some awesome blog topics for your business and readers! How to Generate Engaging Blog Topics Use the HubSpot Blog Topic Generator. You already know the area you want to write about, and you likely already have a few nouns and keywords at the ready. However, you might be stumped for creating great headlines and forming topics. HubSpot understands this, and we love them for it! In fact, they created an excellent topic generator where you can put different nouns into a search field and have them generate headlines and topic ideas to help inspire you. You might not use what they come up with, but it can help get those creative juices’ flowing. It is important to remember that this is a computer generating the ideas, so use discretion and decide if it is a decent topic or headline. Pick Evergreen Topics for Your Blogs. You can also come up with awesome blog topics by utilizing evergreen topics. Evergreen means that the topic will last for a long time instead of writing on trendy topics that only last for as long as the trend does. You can come up with some great evergreen topics that pertain to your business by researching your audience, asking what they want to read about, and searching Google for some great ideas.For example, if you write a blog about foot health, then you will want to write on things like how to treat plantar fasciitis or diabetic foot care. This is a great example of a topic that will remain popular long after trends fade away because people will always need to learn new ways to take care of their feet. You will notice that using evergreen topics will not only get more social shares and views, but also give your content more mileage and allow you to reuse parts of it throughout the year. Always Create Excellent Headlines. When creating great blog topics, you have to make sure you also come up with awesome headlines. Headlines are what will make people click on a link or avoid it all together. Craft something that gives the audience a question while also giving a small answer. Consider staying away from click bait sounding headlines and craft something that doesn’t come across too sales-like, but as something that offers the reader real value. You might even notice that by crafting a great, powerful headline, you can come up with a few more topics, too! This has happened to me more than a few times, and it is wonderful. Use “Trigger” Words to Pique Interest. Along with crafting a great headline, you should make sure you use “trigger” words. This is what can convince someone to click on the link, instead of passing it by. A few trigger words are things such as “awesome,” “top secrets,” “top tips,” “great,” “amazing,” “perfect,” and so on. I am going to use foot care as the example yet again. If you are writing about how to treat a common foot condition, you don’t want the headline to sound bland and boring. Instead, you can write a headline that says, “The Top Awesome Ways to Keep Your Feet Wonderfully Healthy” or something similar. Keep a File of Ideas for the Future. This might not seem like a way to come up with new blog topics, but there have been several times where I have thought of several topics, only to forget them. When you begin brainstorming, you will find that it is easy to come up with a plethora of topic ideas. This means you need to write and file each idea away in order to remember it in the future. You can use something like Evernote, Dropbox, or Google Docs to create a file for ideas and resources. This will help significantly in the future when you begin to hit the inevitable topic idea brick wall. Take Inspiration from Other Blogs. While you don’t want to steal their information and exact headlines, gaining inspiration from others is a great way to come up with great blog topic ideas. You can take a look at what your competitors are blogging about, and follow industry leader blogs to get notifications about new posts. This will help you generate some great ideas for your own content and might even help with your social media posts! Again, only gain inspiration from others; never copy or steal what they are doing. Create an Ideas Board When Brainstorming. Sometimes people have trouble brainstorming by staring at a computer. However, if you make an ideas board, you might find brainstorming easier, especially if you are brainstorming with multiple people. In fact, find one or two people to brainstorm with to come up with some great topics. While you might be stumped for ideas, others might be able to come up with some great ideas that you hadn’t thought of. Don’t go brainstorming alone! Take along a pal or two and use an ideas board to keep things organized and in view the whole time. Ask Your Audience What They Want to Read About. You might not realize it, but your audience is one of the greatest resources you should be using for topic ideas. You can ask your readers what they want to see and even have them ask questions to be featured in a question and answer post. This will give you … Read more

9 of The Worst Blog Writing Pit Falls To Avoid

December 31, 2020December 7, 2014 by Adam Oakley

How difficult is it to blog like a pro? The rules are simple, right? You can just write about topics that you’re familiar with, update the blog regularly and interact with your audience if you get any comments. Unfortunately, being successful requires a bit more than adherence to these very general rules. Many bloggers and copywriters have had to learn this the hard way. We’re here to help you not do that. Blogging pit falls come in all possible shapes and sizes but some could be more detrimental to brand establishment than others. We’ve compiled a list of some truly bizarre and funny blog writing errors. This is your opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others rather than experience the consequences of such shortcomings on your own. 1. Both Bad: Too Short, Too Long How would you react to a blog post that is 150-word long? Yes, some bloggers do think that the length is sufficient to present an idea and back it up with some evidence. How about the exact opposite – a blog post that exceeds 4,000 words? Who has time for that, right? Discovering the golden standard when it comes to blog post length involves staying away from the extremely short and the boringly long. Some of the best ranking pieces online are 2,416-words long. Blog post length that falls below 200 words can seriously jeopardize the search engine ranking of the blog or the website. Just think about it – how much can you say in 200 words? These will add up to just a few paragraphs, which is totally insufficient to present an interesting idea, develop it and support it with evidence. On the other hand, it’s important to refrain from getting carried away. Say what you need to say and stop. The audience doesn’t have time for all of your ideas and the concepts that you want to share with the world. It’s best to break it up in several different blog posts than to overdo a single one. This approach will also enable you to link the posts to each other, thus helping the audience explore more of your content and visit a bigger number of pages. 2. Not Breaking It Up: The Large Chunk of Text & Other Bad Styling Imagine searching for a topic of interest and coming across a title that sounds promising. You follow the link and come to a page featuring a large, uninterrupted chunk of text. It goes on and on for the next 1,000 words. Even if the content is great, chances are that you’ll give up on the piece after struggling through the second lengthy sentence. Poor formatting, large paragraphs and endless sentences interfere with readability and make it impossible for the audience to reach the end of the text. Many people will get bored with this kind of structure even when it comes on a printed page. Trying to go through the endless paragraph on a screen is going to be even more challenging. Here’s a simple visual example that will shed some light on why formatting is so important for the readability of blog posts: Formatting does make a difference with the second style being much easier on the eye and encouraging scanning through the text. Think about it the next time you feel the urge to write a lengthy paragraph that is full of convoluted, complex sentences. Another example of bad styling is consistently bolded text. Bold and capitalized text can be used to put some emphasis on the most important parts of the text. When every second word comes in a bold font and the author uses capital letters to share an exciting idea, however, the reader feels as if the content is “screaming for attention. Need a visual example? Here’s one: Words in bold and italic look different from the rest of the text, which is why the eye of the reader is immediately drawn to these parts of the content. Abuse in terms of text formatting, however, accomplishes the exact opposite – it confuses the reader and leads to the lack of focus. Using subtitles and pull quotes is a much better idea in terms of creating structure. The same applies to bulleted and numbered lists. This example expands the idea of how bad a large chunk of text is. In essence, formatting is as important as having quality content. Even the most brilliant article will become virtually unreadable because of poor formatting. While we are still discussing this point, it’s a good idea to mention the importance of font selection and text color. Fancy fonts may look great on an ad but they will do very little for the audience. Avoid gothic, handwritten and funky fonts because they’ll often make the text unreadable. The same applies to white text on black background. Try reading an entire article this way and you’ll know what we mean: 3. Doing Too Much Self-Promotion & Blogging Selfishly It may seem bizarre that some people would still attempt to sell through every aspect of their online presence. Excessively promotional and spammy blog posts are still a major problem that newbies deal with. Unfortunately, this problem can lead to the devastating loss of visitors. When looking for content, people want to read something informative, original or entertaining. Having a call to action at the end of the post or discretely mentioning a product or two is acceptable, as long as the text provides a lot of valuable information. According to Hubspot, excessive focus on promotion, especially if it comes with a misleading title, is a certain way of aggravating the audience and making sure that people are never going to come back to the blog. Now what do I mean by blogging selfishly? I mean blogging only about the titles you care about without considering your audience. Just like writing a cliché blog posting is a really bad idea, trying to go for something exceptionally niche and industry-specific isn’t going to be good either. … Read more

10 Keys to Create Killer Blog Content

January 1, 2021March 1, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Developing killer blog content is important. Why? Let’s just put the amazing benefits in a tiny nutshell, shall we? Quality blog content can promote new traffic from the search engines to your website, improve relationships with your direct audience and consumers, and show people that you know what you are talking about, by establishing you as an authority. What is Blog Content? That’s really great. But let’s check out the fundamentals first. What is a blog? If you google “what is a blog”, you will find over 4 billion results, and without actually following any links, you can learn the following: A blog is a website on which a person or company regularly posts opinions, informational links, and other useful or promotional content. Blog as a verb means to add new content or updates to a blog. The word blog originated in the 1990s as a shortened version of the word weblog. So if this term has been around since the 1990s, and continues to increase in prevalence, shouldn’t you have gotten on board with it already? The answer is yes. And if you haven’t, well, let’s put it nicely—you’re about to get run over by a Mac track in obliterated SERPs rankings if you don’t get moving on starting a blog. (Sorry, that may not have been all that “nice”.) But I’ve got good news. Luckily for you, due to the popularity and importance of blogging, there is a ton of information available to help you get started. 10 Great Tips for Developing Killer Blog Copy Because there is so much information available, you may have trouble sifting through it all to find good advice for creating great blog content. To simplify your search, what follows is a list of 10 great tips for developing killer blog content, gathered from the masses of information out there. What’s in a Name? Shakespeare may be right when he says that a rose would smell as sweet by any other name, but would you be likely to stop and smell the roses if they were called garbage, or feet? The title of a blog post gives it a name, and is assuredly one of the most important things to think about when creating content. The title will draw the reader in and make them want to read more. You might think that a title is there as a place holder, or just as a convention, but according to Pamela Vaughan, it is a potential reader’s first impression of your content, and can make all the difference. A strong blog title is: Concise, about 7-10 words in length Informative, sums up the content Catchy, makes a reader stop to look further This may seem like a lot to ask from a simple sentence, but these are just title basics, which can make or break your blog post. Start out with a solid title, and the rest will follow. Heading in the Right Direction Blogs need structure in order to be more easily read and understood, and the best way to structure your content is with headings. There are different levels of blog headings, which are described in great detail by Joost de Valk on Yoast.com. Some important heading information found here is: H1 is the most important heading, and there is usually only one H2’s and h3’s are sub-headers which break the text into sections Headings should contain valuable keywords Headings help a reader effectively navigate a piece of writing In the case of your blog, the H1 would be your title, the name of your post, and would be the largest text in the piece. Any further subheadings would be smaller, and serve to break the text up into manageable sections and make it easier to read. A piece looks much less intimidating if it is structured with headings, and readers are less likely to get lost in or impatient with large blocks of text. Get the Picture? They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and that means using pictures can sometimes convey just as much information as an entire blog. In fact, people would often prefer looking at a picture to reading an article, so if you incorporate images into your blog, you are appealing to your readers. Some great information about images in blogs can be found at problogger. There are many different kinds of pictures you could use: Infographics Photographs Diagrams Illustrations And more… Images are more likely to catch a reader’s eye than a block of text, and can be used to emphasize a point. Content becomes more stimulating and attractive when there are images to provide variety and perspective. It is important to remember that while images are a great way to spice up a blog post, they need to be relevant to the material. A picture of a kitty cat can be very nice, and in fact many a cat picture has been shared and viewed on the internet, but it is unlikely that it will have an effective part to play in your blog content. Be sure you are using images properly, and not throwing them in haphazardly. Appropriately incorporated images can take blog content to a whole new level. List of Demands As a few tips have already discussed, breaking up your text is important to make the reader more comfortable and more likely to continue reading. Lists are an excellent way to diversify your text and present information in a clear and simple manner. There are many different ways lists can be used, and 3 main types of lists for content marketing blogs: Brief Lists – these usually contain short, informative statements or words, often with bullet points. Detailed Lists – these often communicate more complex information, and each list item is a complete thought or paragraph. Hybrid Lists – these combine elements of both list types above, and are very versatile for blogs. Lists can change the appearance of a blog post to … Read more

How to Create Great Blog Content from Your Webinars & More

December 31, 2020February 10, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Stuck on blog ideas? It happens to the best of us. Constantly coming up with new content for your website or blog can be one of the most frustrating tasks. Have you ever thought about turning your latest company webinar into a solid, long-form blog? If not, it’s high time you did! Blog Content: Creating Something from Almost Nothing Remember the old saying, “creating something from nothing?” I remember hearing this saying a thousand times over in high school. My art teacher was the most notorious for saying it. She’d put a blank paper or canvas in front of the class and encourage us to stretch our creative muscle by creating something from the nothing in front of us. It takes talent to create something from nothing, and most of us are up to the task when the challenge arises. However, when it comes to our business we often don’t have the time to magically create web or blog content from scratch. So why not create something from almost nothing? Turning a Webinar into Killer Content The Content Marketing Institute published an article discussing some of the flaws with webinars. They are often incredibly lengthy and unsuited for those in our audience who are constantly busy. The Institute went on to recommend using your webinars to create compelling, high quality blog posts suitable for a larger, more diverse audience. We thought their idea held merit, and did a little research of our own. Webinars are a proven means of reaching out to your audience and sharing your experience. They grant you the opportunity to be more visible online, and they provide thought leadership. While these little content gems can offer clear and specific value, they can also help you when you’re running dry on blog content ideas. A great way to repurpose content for a hearty blog post is to reuse your previously released webinars. You can even condense your webinars into video blog form, turning them into more easily digestible online content pieces. Not only will the transition take minimal time and effort since the bulk of the work is already complete, but it will also grant you access to an untapped pool of killer content ideas when you’re struggling for blog topics. Hubspot published a formidable article about how to repurpose a webinar into awesome blog content. Here are the key points to keep in mind: Create a short blog video. You can repurpose your webinar by condensing it into a 3 to 5 minute video reel to display on your blog. The script for the video reel can be displayed below the video in the blog. Since most webinars consume upwards to 60 minutes, these condensed bursts can attract a new audience. Turn the script into a blog. A 60 minute webinar is created from a lengthy script. With a little editing and the addition of a few fresh facts, you can repurpose the script into a well-written, lengthy blog that is search engine optimized. Use leftover Q&A. Often your webinars will have a decent amount of Q&A that you’ve cut out for time purposes. You can utilize this leftover content for blog post ideas and content. Create New Blog Content with Interviews Another way to fill your topic inventory is to use interviews to create new blogs. Forming a piece of content around an interview is one of the oldest and most compelling ways to improve your blog posts. Here’s why interviews pack a punch: They create timeless content They make an impact, regardless of the situation They leave a strong, often emotional, impression The trick to creating a compelling blog around an interview is conducting the interview well in the first place. This means you need to ask questions that open the door to gleaning large amounts of relevant information. If you’re working with an old interview, hopefully you kept good notes. You’ll need them to make the writing process as effortless as possible. If you’re interviewing in the future, here are some tips to follow to not only conduct a great interview, but also set yourself up for creating great blog content in the future: Consider your audience. When crafting questions to ask the professional you’re interviewing, it’s vital to consider what kind of information will bring the most benefit to your target audience. Focus less on technical information and more on the value your audience has come to expect. The mini case study. Ask the subject to talk about their life. Branch into personal terms, not just business. By doing so you will be able to extract how their quality of life and work has improved. Conveying this information to your audience will help them feel a strong emotional connection. Ask for out-of-the-box resources. By asking your subject to provide a list of their “best kept secrets,” you’re likely to walk away with resources your audience will find highly unique and valuable. Tap into inspiration. Ask the subject to share two or three things that have kept them going no matter the challenges before them. This single question can transform the interview, providing a goldmine of information the audience can easily connect to. If you ask questions correctly and dig for in-depth answers, you’ll suddenly find yourself with a ton of information. You will be able to create a series of shorter blogs delving deep into each interview question, the response you received and how it applies to your audience. You’ll even find yourself able to create a solid, long-form blog covering the entire interview and drawing conclusions. Video Blogs from Google Hangouts Google Hangouts are growing more and more popular. Since Google’s search engine algorithms catalog posts to Google faster than anywhere else, it’s in your best interest to tap into this tool. We recently came across an article that discussed how you can use Google Hangouts to create fresh blog content. Crafting video blog content is a great way to add to your content marketing efforts. Busy audience members … Read more

Blog Writing: How to Keep Your Readers Engaged

January 1, 2021November 20, 2013 by Adam Oakley

Blog writing is just part of the equation. Keeping your readers on your blog long enough to engage, come back and share is the most difficult side of the equation. Ideally, you should be able to keep readers on your blog so they are encouraged to explore more, leave comments, share your content, subscribe and ultimately buy from you (if you’re selling). To do all of that, you need to keep your readers engaged. Powerful Blog Writing Techniques That Will Lock In Your Readers Keeping readers engaged involves more than just blog writing about what they want to read; it’s about going the extra mile for your readers and going a little outside of the box. There are plenty of blogs in your niche category, so you need to stand out among the rest. By looking for ways to step outside of the norm you can have the hippest blog on the block. Adhere to the Three Principles Those bloggers with naturally engaging topics have it easy — such as the guy who travels around the world or the woman who tests out products to see if they’re worth the hype. But, even if your material is inheritably interesting, you could find yourself in a mundane trap that turns readers off. To write a successful blog and keep readers engaged, you need to adhere to the three principles of blog writing: Create a style and tone that is appropriate for your material. Post often and be predictable. Invite reader interaction. Defining Your Style and Tone Your content ultimately drives the style and tone in your blog writing. If you’re a health insurance agency with a blog and you’re targeting elderly individuals, you shouldn’t use slang or youthful language — they won’t appreciate it. If you’re blogging for techies, you need technological speak in your blog. If you’re blogging about food, you need a fun, upbeat tone that speaks to your fellow foodies. It doesn’t matter how flashy your website is, if you don’t have a solid style and tone, your blog is going to suffer. Always remember that a blog is more like a conversation. Sure, it can be informative, but approach that information like you’re sharing it with a friend — not a robot. If you can, read your blog entry out loud and ask yourself if it sounds conversational-like. Try writing your blogs with a friend or family member in mind. This technique might help you approach the conversational tone a little easier. Your audience should be your number one concern. You’ve addressed your audience while developing your content strategy (or at least you should have) so you know your target audience. Use your target audience to select your tone and style, because this is ultimately the person that will read your blog. Post, Post, Post Be a frequent, predictable poster — not a random poster. Not only will this help with search engine rankings, but it will entice readers to come back for more. Try to post three times per week or up to once a day if you can. When readers know there is more to come, they will keep coming back for more. Play with Your Audience — Not literally But, you need to engage your audience as if you’re physically in front of them hanging out. It doesn’t matter how boring the topic, there are ways to get your readers to interact with your blog posts, which ultimately encourages them to come back for more. So how do you get your readers to play along? Ask Questions – You’ve shared your experience and case in your blog, so why not shoot it out to the readers and ask for their opinions. For example, you’ve posted about whether or not you should work from home. Now direct the question to your readers asking for their thoughts, experiences, etc. This encourages comments (always great for search rankings) and engages the audience instantly. Be Visual – Readers could use a break from text. So add a picture or video for them to enjoy along with your post. Insert a Poll – Readers love polls. They’re anonymous, fun, and it encourages the readers to come back later to see the results. Open Up a Debate – Pick a topic and put your opinion in there. Then direct it to the readers for debate. Debates can get heated though, so make sure you’re there to moderate. Remember Don’t Be A Dull Dud Your content strategy should lay out what you’re blogging about and when. Avoid writing about the same topics over and over. If you notice you’ve written on a similar topic a few times in a single month, it’s time to revisit your content strategy and change it up. Use catching headlines. Readers love lists, such as “10 Tips for Writing a Killer Blog.” Make sure you have something compelling in your headline that makes a reader want to click and continue on. Make your content scannable. Break it up with subheaders, use short paragraphs and keep your sentences tight. A wall of text can discourage readers from reading further — even if you added a few photographs to break it up. Engaging your readers isn’t hard as long as you keep it conversational, fun and interesting. Take some time before you write your posts and never write just to rank a keyword. Have a friend or family member read a post before it goes live for an objective opinion. The more natural your writing is, the more engaged your readers will become.