Blog Topics that Get Traffic!

Blog Topics that Get Traffic!

1. Top 10 Lists (or Top 8, 6, 12, 33, whatever you’d like) showing:

- A number of ways to do something (Ex. “Top 10 Ways to Show Appreciation”)

 - The best reasons to do something (Ex. “Top 8 Reasons to Switch to Natural Gas”)

 - The steps required to do something (Ex. “5 Important Steps to Car Waxing”)

- The most important rules of doing something (Ex. “6 Must-Follow Rules of Composting”)

2. Myth busters that disprove common thinking. Try this:

 - Identify the common perception.

- Illustrate why it’s incorrect or not always correct.

- Show the better alternative / truth.

Ex. “12 Reasons Most So-Called Financial Experts Are Wrong about the Recession”

3. How tos & instructional content. Here’s a writing tip:

 - Use bullet points to show each step. It makes your content easier to read and to write.

Ex. “How to Organize A Closet, Step-By-Step”

4. Seasonal content. Tie your content into different times of the year, holidays, etc. For example:

 - Articles based on the season / weather (ex. “Tips for Beating the Heat When Pregnant in the Hot Summer Months”).

 - Content to help people cope with stress around busy holidays (ex. “9 Tips for Dealing with Stress During the Holidays”)

 - Grab a calendar and see what’s coming up. Or go to holidays.net for holidays you never even knew existed.

4. Resource lists. People are always on the lookout for great resources…share them with your readers.

Ex. “21 Sources for Free Stock Photos”

Ex. “My 18 Must-Read Biking Blogs”

5. Product reviews that may include:

 - A succinct, yet detailed list of features.

 - Your objective opinion about the product (durability, quality of information, quality of output, user experience, etc.).

 - Price comparisons from different sellers.

 - Feature & benefit comparisons for similar products.

 - Add visual elements, including products from different angles, highlighting different features.

5. Interviews are easy to put together. Try:

 - Interviewing an expert or “celebrity” in your target market.

 - Have someone interview you.

 - You can record the audio and have it transcribed.

 - You can have the interviewee respond to questions in writing.

 - Or make your interviews more readable by reformatting them into a paragraph magazine-style interview.

6. Commentary on someone else’s content. Whether it’s a blog post, an article or a product review, content on another site is a great source for creating your own original content.

7. Have fun and entertain. You don’t have to be a serious educator all the time. Have a little fun. Here are some examples:

Ex. “8 Reasons Programmers Have More Fun”

8. Turn popular jokes into jokes about your own industry. Ex. “Why did the mommy blogger cross the road?”

- Search YouTube for video codes to embed and create your own commentary.

- Use relevant stories. Stories are very powerful for showing proof, illustrating concepts.

 - Try stories about your own experiences, relevant to your topic/target audience (Ex. “How I Broke The Diet Soda Habit & You Can Too”).

 - Try “Meet Sue” or “Meet Frank” stories. They can be fictional (and be sure your writing indicates it) that illustrate typical experiences/pitfalls, etc. that your target market encounters (Ex. “Meet Sue. She gets up every morning at 5:30 for work. She gets in her car, battles traffic for an hour and finally arrives at her office, where she sits at her computer for the next 4 hours. At lunch, she grabs a quick bite at the fast food joint……..Sound familiar? You’re not alone…”).

9. Share stories about your clients, where appropriate. Don’t use names without permission or give away any confidential details.

10. Case Studies. These are kind of like stories, but they specifically demonstrate how your product or service has helped every day people. Include:

 -Your client info (with permission of course).

 - Where they were when they started.

 - Where they are now.

 - Details of how they used your product, challenges and results.

 - Worksheets. Make it easy for readers to put your content to good use.

 - Worksheets can accompany articles, reports or ebooks.

 - Have your readers brainstorm thoughts and ideas based on the content.

11. Ask questions that will help your readers consume the content.

12. Checklists. Simplify content with succinct checklists.

- A 1-page checklist summarizing detailed instructions can be a handy desktop reference.

 - A checklist makes it easier for your readers to see the complete picture and understand the content you’re presenting.

13. Make a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section. Put together all those common questions and answers into one place.

 - Include questions your readers and customers commonly ask.

 - Include answers to the questions you anticipate them asking.

 - Include questions that lead readers to your products as solutions.

 - Transcripts. We talked about interviews, but you can also put together transcripts for:

 - Audio recordings you create yourself.

 - Your pod casts.

 -  Live teleseminars, webinars, etc.

 - Transcripts can also be converted into paragraph-format content.

 - User-generated content. Sometimes it’s easiest to let your readers create the content.

Ask controversial or thought-provoking questions on your blog.

Ask questions on twitter.com or facebook.com and publish the answers (giving credit to the sources).