HUG2010: How to Create a Blog Factory

It can always be daunting when you are faced with the task of constantly coming up with new blog topics for your website. This session gave suggestions and idea on how to keep the ideas for blog topics flowing.

Brainstorming

It's easy to brainstorm several ideas for a blog post but having enough information and knowledge to actual write a blog post isn't always easy. So taking a large list of ideas and then narrowing it down to which ones you can write about and then from that you can select which topics you actually blog about.

Spin Offs

There is the option to provide more detailed information on previous blog submissions. You can write another blog posting that relates to a current one that utilizes keyword phrases you wished you could use and link between the two blog postings. You can also create a new blog posting that responds to questions or comments that were made on previous postings.

Use Old Content

You can use older case studies or white papers and break them apart into a series of new blog postings to revitalize an interest in the topics. You also have the option to link back to the initial white paper for them to see all the information in one place. It is important to optimize the information for both SEO and for new visitors to make the most of your content.

Brian Halligan the CEO of HubSpot also had a few suggestions that have helped him over the years. He finds that he thinks of blog topics in his every day activities whether it's going to a ball game or reading the morning paper. Just make a note of ideas when you think of them and you can weed through the good and bad ideas later when you have more time to think about what you want to say.

He also had some suggestions on the best way to brainstorm. He's researched brain function and has found that if you're in a quiet room, not thinking about a specific topic, and let your mind day dream that you can come up with lots of ideas. Just write them down when you think of them and keep on day dreaming. There is bound to be a good idea in there somewhere.

Brian had a suggestion on how to entice people who don't want to blog into blogging. Bring out their competitive side. Give an incentive to the person each week who created the blog with the most pageviews or comments to an article in the last 10 or 30 days. People like to win and this just might work.

Blog topics are always going to be a struggle just try to sit back relax and see what comes to you or hit the books or archives and see what you can repurpose into useful information for your visitors. You won't be sorry.