In order to be successful and consistently appear in the top of the search results, a blog must be updated at least three times a week and preferably on a daily basis so that search bots find the updated content and return to the blog more frequently than they would for a website or infrequently updated blog. Content must also be fresh, interesting and provide an angle that helps to promote the writer as the expert in their field so that readers turn to them as a source of respected and interesting information and so that they want to keep coming back for more. Because a constant flow of new content is vital to any blog’s survival, the following tips can be helpful to ensure that you always have plenty of new updates on hand.
1. Take Notes: When you are feeling inspired, take notes about your ideas and store them somewhere safe, preferably online so that you can turn to them at a momentfs notice when inspiration seems to have dried up. Often when I am writing, I will come up with several ideas about various topics that my readers would find helpful, but they are not always related to the current topic that I am writing about. I keep lists of these thoughts and turn to them for inspiration when I feel the creative well run dry.
2. Plan Ahead: Don’t wait until the last minute to write your blog posts. Procrastination often leads to the death of many blogs that were off to a great start. Nothing will lose you readers more rapidly than a site that was once updated several times a week slowing until the postings dribble away to months in between changes. To overcome this challenge with my busy schedule, I often write several posts during those times when my schedule is not so full, then use the blog tools to schedule them to post at regular intervals. In this way, I am able to keep up with my other commitments and still post regularly.
3. Take Breaks: If I have been slaving away at the keyboard for hours and I just can’t come up with something interesting and informative for my readers. I take a break. Whether that break is something simple like walking away from my computer and taking a quick run down Seal Beach with my dogs for 15 minutes (when I’m at my home base), or even working in a short nap, be it 20 minutes or an hour, I have often found that “changing gears” for a few minutes helps to reset my brain so that I can come back to writing refreshed and renewed and then produce content that is worthwhile to my readers.
4. Use the News as a Resource: Any site that provides interesting or insightful content that is related to your business could be just the inspiration that you need to create your next great post. Perhaps your competitor just came out with a new development – you can use this to comment on how your services match or exceed the competition.
5. Change the Presentation of your Content: Maybe your usual blog posts are a few paragraphs long about new advances in your field. Mix things up a little by adding variety in the form of video, audio or pictorial clips and make that clip the focus of a new blog post.
6. Make Friends: You can never have too many friends. When you are a blogger, you can often reach some agreement with your fellow bloggers to swap guest posts on each others’ blogs. This exposes you both to a wider viewership and helps you bring a fresh set of eyes to your own site. This idea is similar to “taking a break.” Sometimes you may have ideas that would work better on a friend’s site than your own. Offer to swap guest posts to help one another out on these occasions. Often, this will help you to change gears by adapting your voice to match another site so that you return to your own with renewed vitality and creativity.
By responsing to your readers’ comments and reviewing both your work and the work of others, you should be able to find a steady stream of blog content with which to entertain and inform your auddience. As long as you can maintain this output, your blog will remain well-placed with search engines while generating good word of mouth and expanding your following.