Got Writer's Block? Here's How to Keep Blogging

When inbound marketing is first explained to businesses, they are often told that blogs are vital. They are told that 57 percent of companies with a blog have acquired a customer through their blog and that having a blog leads to 434 percent more indexed pages on average. While the concept of a regularly updated company blog may sound nice in theory, many professionals struggle with coming up with enough topics to keep their blog active and interesting for customers. Try some of these ideas to help keep the blog ideas flowing:

1. FAQ from Customers

Why this works: The questions that customers are asking the industry professionals when they call the company are probably the same type of questions that they are searching for online. Pick a couple of common questions that are heard most frequently and turn them into blog posts.

2. Company News

Why this works: Customers today are looking for relationships with the companies they do business with. Many find it difficult, however, to develop this kind of relationship with a company and its logo. Posting blog posts about company news: new hires, pictures from the holiday party, or a brief intro to the employee of the month, can be a great way to show customers some of the faces behind the company and help them feel more connected to the company as a whole.

3. Go Back to Old Posts for Inspiration

Why this works: When bloggers go back to read their old pieces, they can review what types of content really resonated with their readers by reviewing which posts received the most ‘likes’ and comments. Old posts can contain a bullet point that should be expanded upon into an entire post, or a ‘how to’ post can be turned into a ‘how NOT to’. On occasion, it can even be appropriate to completely recycle a popular post from the past. This can draw the attention of newer readers back to the content while helping to remind old readers of what they already learned.

5. Draw From Personal Experience

Why this works: It has already been explained that customers like feeling personally connected to the companies they do business with. Harness that connection by developing posts around ideas such as the first professional success, or even methods that failed. Customers will appreciate the lessons and learning more about the path that the industry leader took to get to the top.

6. Use Our Secret Weapon

Why this works: Are you really struggling for topics? Let the fine folks over at HubSpot assist you. Check out their Blog Topic Generator. Simply plug in a few nouns, and watch the tool deliver you a year's worth of content ideas. While you may want to sift through the piles of titles to weed out the ones that don't make sense, or are irrelevant, the tool in bound to provide you with more writing material than you may be willing to handle for the moment being.

Blogs are a great strategy for succeeding with inbound marketing. They give search engines more pages to index, lots of opportunities for natural keywords, and the chance to show potential clients just what the company is capable of. When company bloggers find themselves facing a bit of writer’s block, using some of the above tips can help them keep the posts flowing.