The hardest part of article and blog marketing is finding interesting topics to write about. Typically, the way you write a publishable article differs a bit from what you post on the company blog. Articles tend to be more fact-based and educational, while blog posts provide an opportunity for a more personal slant and opinion. In any case, you need something to get started. Here are some ideas for each of these writing tasks:
Article Topic Ideas
The purpose of posting articles online is two-fold: to increase the number of backlinks to your site and to encourage potential customers to click through to your business site. Therefore, article topics should focus on what your potential customers want and need to know.
It starts with what you do and how you do it. Break it down by product line, individual service, or some step in the process. Explain why what you do is important and how it benefits your customer. Publishable articles should generally be at least 500 words (about 6-8 paragraphs), but rarely need to be much longer. This means you can write a separate article not only for each product or service you offer, but also for the individual features of each: what the feature is, what problem it solves or what benefit it provides, why it’s a great deal, and where to find it. . them. Bam – 500 words. Don’t sell on your article… save the sales pitch for your resource box or landing page on your website.
For example, a hardwood flooring retailer has begun to sell a line of glues that have low VOCs. An article can compare standard glue to low VOC glues, explain the differences, explain why a low VOC product is a better choice and in what situations, and how to identify a low VOC product. Then, in the resource box, the reader is directed to the home page of your website which provides more information about the new line of low VOC glues and a way to contact your company to place an order.
Once you’ve published an article for each product and feature, you can always start over. While you usually can’t submit the same article twice, chances are that writing a new article on the same topic will end up with a different approach than before. Every time you add a new product or discover a new benefit, be sure to include that idea in the topic list of your article.
In addition to products, services, and features, effective article topics include any tangentially relevant topic that makes your target market think about what you offer. For example, if you sell dog grooming supplies, write about different breeds of dogs and the best lifestyle and breed combinations. People thinking of getting a new dog look for that type of item…then they’ll look for the supplies you sell. If you sell tile flooring, post articles about allergy problems carpets can cause.
If you sell business services, you can write articles on accounting or tax issues that are interesting to business owners, possibly even those you’ve dealt with. If a struggling entrepreneur is reading an accounting article written by a small business expert who also provides SEO services, he might just click through and continue reading…and become aware of those services too.
Include a tool on your website for potential customers to ask questions. Quite often these questions will lead you to great article topics. You get two benefits here: the opportunity to directly interact with a potential customer by answering their question, and the ability to turn that answer into a general interest article.
Blog Theme Ideas
Blog topics and posts, for that matter, are much easier to find. You can blog about your business, the industry, recent news, your clients…the list goes on and on. Every time you submit an article, create a quick blog with a link to the article (on your own site, preferably). Include a little opinion in your blogs and ask your readers for answers.
Sign up for news related to your business and industry and jot down quick 150-300 word responses to the news. Introduce an employee or client, promote community events your company sponsors, evaluate the competition (professionally, of course). Because blog posts can be much shorter than published articles, they should be much easier to create and publish.
Keep the tone positive and professional, and keep the content interesting. Loyal blog followers often make excellent referrals – they’ll forward your link through their own blogs and even through Twitter and Facebook, building traffic as they go.
just keep writing
Whether you focus your efforts on articles or blogs, the key is to keep writing. The more you write and post, the easier it will be to do. Soon you will find yourself with more ideas than you need!