How to create blog posts your readers want to read

So, you’ve got a blog running and you’re excited about sharing new content with your readers.

You know that blogging is a fun, easy, and cheap way to market your business.

You’re excited about the idea of reaching new people in your market so you can reel in more clients and customers.

But one thing is haunting you, and perhaps even hindering you from writing that first post.

What the heck do I blog about?

Not only that, but how do I know what I should be creating to improve this side of my business?

How will I know what my readers will want me to write and enjoy reading?

If you are facing any of those concerns, then know that you are not alone!

While blogging can be fun and sometimes therapeutic to ourselves and our business, it can also be a little maddening to think that some of our best work will go unnoticed because what we are creating isn’t the right content for our audience.

This why being strategic about blogging is so important.

When you have a plan in place, you rule out a lot of second-guessing and procrastinating on your end.

And while you might miss a few and completely botch a couple of posts, it’s not the end of the game – no business is perfect so expecting your blog to be is impertinent.

But, there are a few sure-fire ways to create content that your readers want to read, you just have to do a little bit of ground work before you throw yourself into your blog.

Are you ready to get started?

(THIS POST MIGHT CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. OUR FULL DISCLOSURE POLICY IS PRETTY BORING, BUT YOU CAN FIND IT HERE)

 

 

Be relevant

This is obvious, right? Or is it?

Staying on topic to your business should remain at the top of your list when thinking of posts to write.

Sharing too many irrelevant or even personal posts can drive away an audience very quickly, so try to stay on topic.

If you’re a graphic designer, you could share posts about how to pick brand colors or ways to come up with a branding board. Perhaps even give your readers a few tips on how to re-size their graphics for printing and sharing online.

Related: 5 reasons why no one is reading your blog & how to fix it

If you wish to be more transparent in your business and share a bit more personal stories, then you could tie in some real-life ways of how you use your talent to improve your life.

For instance, you could share your kid’s latest birthday party photos and highlight the invitations you created and paper goods that you designed to pull it altogether.

This not only shows that you’re a real person with a family and life, but also demonstrates your work in action.

From there, your readers not only get a glimpse of yourself as a person, but how you can help them in their everyday life too.

It’s a double win and those are always relevant!

 

Look at your best posts

Okay, so this might not be helpful if you haven’t started blogging yet, but it can be the golden ticket if you have.

Taking a look at your past posts can tell a lot about your audience and what they enjoy reading.

You can do this by taking a look at your analytics on your website, or even in your dashboard if you’re using wordpress.

You’ll be able to see which posts have the most visits & views overall and for a specific time.

Once you know what your most valuable posts are, you can start creating new content & blog posts around that topic & branch out even more!

Related: 3 ways to plan 6 months of content for your business

Then you can go back and link up your new posts to the old posts to gain new eyes and traffic to your new relevant posts (kinda like what I just did above & below).

Related: How to get new website traffic from old blog posts

 

Ask your readers

Simple and effective. Just ask your readers what they want to read!

This doesn’t have to be all like “what do you want to read”? Because most likely, you won’t get a response.

Instead, look for clues within your audience in what they want to learn.

For instance, what kind of questions do you get often? What kind of things can you help clarify to your readers/future clients to help them understand and know more about your product or service?

What do you want them to know?

In better terms, how can you serve them better?

 

Spy on your competition

This sounds so devious, doesn’t it?

Looking at your competition and seeing what they are doing (and not doing) can be a valuable asset to your blogging game though!

If your competition isn’t blogging at all, then you have a serious advantage.

If they are blogging and seem to be crushing it, then you can take a gander at what they are offering, how they are offering it, and what you can learn from them.

But, by no means use your ‘spying’ as a way of copying what they are doing – that’s just a big no-no. Not only will that cheapen yourself, but it doesn’t offer your audience any originality.

Instead, create your own spin on what your competition isn’t doing and make it great!

Perhaps come up with a weekly series, a featured post about a client/customer, behind the scenes, or a serious of posts you can string together.

Whatever you do, have fun with it and your readers will too!

Blogging for your business should be fun and informative for your readers.

This can be a big chance for you to educate them on what you can provide to them and answer questions they never thought to ask!

How will you use these tips to help you come up with content your readers are going to love?!

Let us know in the comments below – we’d love to chat about it!