It’s easy to choose a blog topic, right?
Well, yes and no.
You could quite simply pick something you’re interested in, hash out a few hundred words, stick it on your website and leave it at that.
But, unless you’re being smart about your blog topic, you could be doing your website more harm than good.
Search engines like blogs and articles that provide value to a site visitor.
So if you’re posting about your favourite doughnut flavour on a site about plants, that’s not going to look great in Google’s eyes.
You need to not only pick blog topics relevant to your chosen industry, but they also need to be topics people actually want to read about.
What’s your niche?
Once you’ve nailed your business’ niche you can really start fleshing out a blog content schedule.
For example, it’s not enough to say your blog is simply going to be about plants.
There are, quite literally, thousands of variations of plants from indoors to outdoors, annuals and biennials, shrubs, trees, and flowers.
We could go on.
The point is, that you need to work out your niche based on your product/service and your target audience.
Are you selling shoes specifically for people with wide feet? Or do you specialise in gluten-free foods? Maybe you’re a dog groomer who only handles large breeds.
Work out your specific niche as your starting point.
But hold up, who even wants to read this?
You’re interested in it, right?
Simply put, you’re (hopefully…) selling a product/service people actually want to buy.
So, logic dictates that if your business is doing well and you’re picking up clients/customers then, yes, people are going to want to read what you’ve got to say.
Provided you’ve nailed your niche and people are buying whatever it is you’re selling then you’re on to a winner.
Remember who your target audience is and always try to add value to their lives.
Your clients/customers have come to you because they have a pain point or a problem which needs solving.
You have the solution to their problem, so keep this in the back of your mind when writing your blog.
Next up, you need to figure out the exact phrases people are using to search for your product/service.
This brings us neatly onto…
Do keywords matter in blogs?
Erm…YES.
Have you ever just magically ended up on a webpage you didn’t already know existed?
Of course, you didn’t.
You Googled it, right?
And if your customers are out there Googling phrases which relate to your product, then you need to use your blog to get a slice of that pie.
Sure you’ve (again, hopefully…) got your primary keywords nailed on your homepage, sales pages, service page, about us page etc.
But guaranteed there will be hundreds of variations on those keywords plus longtail keywords, (which we won’t get too bogged down with here) that you should be trying to cover too.
This won’t happen overnight so start a spreadsheet and record all the different keywords you can think of, then gradually build on this.
A great tip is to put a few of those keywords or phrases into Google and see what suggested searches come up.
Google is pretty smart, in case you didn’t know, and tracks search behaviour in order to enhance its user’s experience in future.
Therefore those ‘suggested’ searches are things your potential future customers have already been looking for.
Bingo.
You’ve got your next few months’ worth of blog topics sorted.
Consistency is key
This brings us to consistency.
How often should you be posting?
You probably already know the answer, really, which is as often as possible.
In an ideal world, you should be posting a blog once a week, but you’re busy and blog writing takes time.
If you can’t manage fortnightly, then the very least you should be doing is a blog post per month.
If you’ve ever landed on a website, taken a look at someone’s blog and realised their last post was 12 months ago then you’ll know, it doesn’t look great.
Not only does the site look outdated but it WILL be outdated as far as Google is concerned.
Search engines value fresh content, so if you’re not hot on your blogs or creating new pages on your site then your rankings will suffer.
Your checklist to help choose a blog topic
You should now have a pretty good idea of where you’re headed when it comes to choosing your blog topics.
Here’s a checklist of the areas covered above:
- Work out your niche – what are you selling and who to whom?
- Provide value to your readers – remember, you’re offering a solution to a problem.
- Compile a keyword list – this will pretty much create your blog schedule in one fell swoop.
- Put together a schedule and stick to it – be realistic here. Don’t aim to write once a week if you know that’s never going to happen.
Good luck!
Next, you just have to actually write the damn thing, so check out our eight easy steps to creating a beautiful blog post.
And, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, and still unsure how to choose a blog topic, let us help you.
Seahorse can provide a monthly blog (or more often if you like) through our copywriting packages starting from just £199.
Find out more by emailing su*****@se**************.uk or calling 07973 719047.