Sometimes the most difficult part of business blogging is knowing what to write about. While it’s a good idea to pre-plan your blog post topics with an editorial calendar, that isn’t always where you’ll find yourself. Fortunately, some blog post ideas are reusable, so your next topic idea might be sitting right in your post archive.
As some examples, here are five types of blog content you can use again and again when you need business blog post ideas:
1. Tutorials / How-To Posts
How-to posts can be a good fit for any blog. That could mean posting tutorials about how to use your company’s product. Or, if you’re in the niche blogging game, the “how-to” door is wide open to write about anything your readers might want to learn.
You can never publish too many tutorials. Readers love them. But how do you know what tutorials your readers want?
A tool I love is Answer the Public. Visit the site. Enter your niche, industry, or general topic your blog covers. Then check out all the questions that pop up.
Let’s look at an example. One topic I talk about on this blog is, well, blogging. So I entered “blogging” on the site. Here’s what I got:
You’ll find a variety of blogging-related questions there. But you can go beyond the “how” section when looking for tutorial post ideas.
For example, you could take the question “Which blogging platform is best?” and turn that into a how-to post like “How to choose the best blogging platform for your business.”
You can do two free searches per day on that site, and you can turn those questions into multiple blog post ideas.
2. FAQs / Answer Reader Questions
If you want a constant flow of blog post ideas, keep an eye on your inbox.
Reader questions are another great type of blog content. And if one customer or reader has a question, chances are others have the same question, but they haven’t reached out to ask. So use them in your content strategy.
You can space these out. If several customers send in questions in a single day, you can answer them privately and still add the ideas to your blog post list to be published later.
Take this a step further if you’d like: encourage readers and customers to submit questions like I do on my “free writing advice” page on my site for beginner freelance writers.
You can do this by adding a contact form for reader questions in your blog’s sidebar, or simply inviting readers to submit questions by linking them to your contact page at the end of other posts.
3. Industry Insights / Expert Commentary
Offering expert insight into, or expert commentary about, industry issues are other repeatable types of blog content.
Think about common industry concerns, especially ones where there might be some controversy. Then share your take in a professional way on your company’s blog.
You can also set up news alerts tied your expertise, and offer timely commentary when you see fit.
For example, if you’re an attorney, you might monitor court rulings related to noteworthy cases in your specialty area, and explain the rulings in plain English to potential clients on your firm’s blog.
As another example, let’s say you run a landscaping company. You might monitor news tied to the region you serve – weather incidents, infestations, or plant diseases making the rounds that could impact your customers, and offer expert tips on dealing with those issues.
4. List Posts
List posts, or “listicles,” are another popular type of blog content. They never seem to go out of style. Why not add some to your editorial calendar?
For instance, let’s say you’re a medical professional. You might do a list post on the top ten books patients can read about your specialty. Or you might regularly post lists of the top research findings in your area, so patients and colleagues can stay up-to-date.
You could even do a regular series of “round-up” style lists where you share others’ blog content each week.
Just remember, lists posts that rely heavily on external links might need to be updated occasionally, and you’ll want to regularly scan those posts for broken links.
5. Tips / Mistakes
Instead of only posting tips in list collections, why not dedicate an entire post to each of your favorite tips for your customers or other readers?
You could even spin these off your list posts, going into more depth or turning those initial tips into tutorial posts of their own.
A related option is to focus on mistakes. If you make a mistake, don’t be afraid to admit it. Those stories can make for great teaching opportunities. Or you could write a series of posts related to common mistakes your customers make with your product, or common mistakes in your industry, or simply common misconceptions about what you do.
All these types of blog content can be used repeatedly to give you months’ worth of blog posts to keep readers interested and keep customers coming back.
Are you still struggling to come up with a blog content strategy, business blog post ideas, or your company’s editorial calendar? Contact me today to see how I can help.
