Pooling content ideas can be quite difficult especially if you have already written a lot on your blog. If you’re trying to schedule content for your editorial calendar but you’ve run out of ideas, here are our 25 tips on what you can post on your blog!
But before we rush into that, why the fuss over content planning?
Isn’t it enough that you post something on your blog at least once a week? Wouldn’t it be enough to just have some 500-word article on your blog for the sake of updating it? We collected some statistics that will convince you that blogging has wonderful benefits not only for your brand but also for your website’s visibility on search engines:
We collected some statistics that will convince you that blogging has wonderful benefits not only for your brand but also for your website’s visibility on search engines:
- A website with a blog has 434% more indexed pages than those who don’t. Search engines tend to crawl websites that are recently and frequently updated as they prioritize websites with rich information and resources.
- Websites with an active blog receive 97% more links. Links are important in bumping your website up the search page ranks. The more you get awesome, natural, un-spammy links, the more that you get exposure in the search engine results.
- Blogging alone can generate 38% more traffic for your website. If you already have some old content that still drives traffic to your website, it’s better to optimize those content pieces and add more valuable information as time passes to convert more audiences.
Having a consistent content calendar helps in keeping your website alive and continuously crawled by search engine bots. Let’s begin filling up that content calendar with these 25 content ideas!
1). Blog Posts
The most common type of content that you’d come across a blog. This is the easiest to come up when it comes to building a content calendar.
Even if you’d include different types of content in your blog, never forget to include a blog post on the calendar. You can talk about anything just as long as it is related to your website, and it is informative to your readers.
2). Case Studies
Have you recently done something awesome for your client that it yielded positive results? Or did you discover something that would easily solve another man’s problem?
Flaunt it with a case study! A case study will help demonstrate your expertise and how you solved a problem with your chosen methodology. Here’s an example of a case study from Search Engine Land on how Andrew Dennis achieved 100,000 traffic from nothing in just 12 months!
3). Opinions
Opinion articles need not be full of hate; but the more the controversial it is, the more that it is shared by people. However, beware of the possible consequences of going against the tide. We recommend that you should take a stand on your opinion of a certain issue in your industry.
For example, this opinion article from Resident Advisor is indeed a controversial one since it talks about “being black”. Standing up for what you believe is a good thing, but if you’re already going past the line, beware of the Internet’s rage.
4). Infographics
Visual content marketing has made its way as people are now accepting richer means of content through visual content. Infographics are effective in conveying data as people retain more information through images than reading the information through content.
Using infographics makes it easier to turn a boring heavy-data article into a more digestible content piece. Nielsen noted that “Eye-tracking studies show internet readers pay close attention to information-carrying images. In fact, when the images are relevant, readers spend more time looking at the images than they do reading text on the page.”
5). How-to articles
How-tos and DIYs are great examples of evergreen content. This directly helps the reader solve this problem through a how-to. Usually, these are long blog posts or infographics displaying step-by-step procedures in accomplishing a task.
In creating a how-to article, we recommend setting it up as a pillar content for your blog. These types of blog posts don’t grow old; you will continuously get traffic from these blogs.
The most that you can do is optimize it carefully and make sure that all areas are already covered in the article.
Here’s a good example of a how-to article that can stand the test of time: this article from DesignBombs is a definitive how-to article of creating and starting a blog that walks you through the whole process from setting up, choosing a domain, etc. It’s not just listing what you need to do, but it has some good advice on what to do on each step.
6). Lists
Top lists are also an engaging type of content. Our tip: go beyond that 10th mark. Do not settle for less; everyone can compile a Top 10… of something. Prove that there are more than 10 items to be included in a list.
If you’re currently listing a top 10 list of best web hosting for websites, go beyond that 10th item and push through at least 20. People love more information; if your article has more information than the other, readers will come back to your site for more information.
7). E-Books
Readers love e-books. This is your chance to go in-depth with a topic. With an e-book, you can establish your expert status on a particular subject. If you want to benefit more from the hefty piece of knowledge, your best bet is to share via an eBook.
Later on, we’ll discuss more on gated content.
HubSpot is one of the best examples of gated content and eBook distribution. Their eBooks focus on one topic and does it in a way that’s it’s visually appealing.
8). Announcements
If you have any announcements, it’s best to post them at your blog! Are you welcoming a new member of the team in your company? Have any developments in your recent app update?
Were you recently recognized in your industry? Post it on your blog! DropBox has populated their blog with these kinds of posts, recently when they were recognized as a leader by Gartner.
9). Webinars
Do you have any upcoming webinars? You can turn that into a blog post, too. After the webinar, try to transcribe the whole webinar if possible.
Insert a copy of your slides and upload the webinar as well. To continue engaging your readers, we recommend placing these goodies at the bottom part of your article to encourage your readers to scroll down and at least skim through your article.
10). Interviews
Interviews and Q&As help boost your blog’s presence. Interview influencers in your industry to take advantage of their fanbase. You can interview one influencer, or come up with a list of influencers reacting to a topic.
11). Comparisons
A sample of comparison from an article on the best website builder.
Perhaps one of the most effective content ideas that you can use if you run an affiliate marketing blog. You can do product comparisons — people are always looking for product reviews pitting against another product. Users may be searching for an article on Samsung S7 vs iPhone 6, or similar products like GoPro Hero 4 vs 5.
You can follow the example above; pay attention to how the writer has differentiated each website builder, and how he has laid out the pros and cons. Don’t just compare and contrast; let the reader know what he can expect from it.
12). Best Practices
Best practices are great guides in performing a certain action. Unbounce has a good page on the best practices on landing pages. It’s succinct and they have thrown in a scorecard that can help you discern if your landing page is good to go.
13). New Method
Writing about a new method you’ve discovered or learned is another good example of an evergreen content. Take this situation as an example: Eventbrite has the capability to track conversions via Facebook, Analytics, and AdWords, but have some difficulties in setting up cross domain tracking.
LunaMetrics had it figured out in October 2016 — until this time, many people are still thankful of their guide in setting up cross domain tracking.
14). Comments
Comments are also part of your blog. However, many blogs have been victims of comment spamming so they prefer to close off the comment section. We suggest that you keep it open to encourage discussion among your readers. It’s also the opportunity to express your expertise on the topic.
As you engage with your readers, you can encourage them to share your article, check out the other articles on your website, or suggest an idea that they’ve been looking forward to reading.
15). Guest Blog Posts
A lot of blogs are encouraging people to submit guest posts. There are many active guest bloggers in the industry, so expect a surge of content pitches to your blog once you open it up for guest posts. While having free content is great, you should be able to manage your time well and don’t forget to post some articles of your own, too.
16). Content Syndication
Joining a content syndication group can help you get more exposure as well. As defined by Search Engine Watch, “Content syndication is the process of pushing your blog, site, or video content out into third-party sites, either as a full article, snippet, link, or thumbnail.”
17). Curated content
Curate relevant content to your blog and categorize them according to how it can help your readers. Readers love to find everything in one place. Take this 400 free tools and resources for entrepreneurs and startups from Growth Supply. They have divided the tools into different categories to help readers find what they need quickly.
18). Twitter Chats
People would love a quick summary of an insightful Twitter chat or AMA. Take a leaf from this blog post from EducationPost.
19). Challenges, Roundups
A blog challenge is a great way to engage with other bloggers and build a network of bloggers that you can connect to. This can lead to more exposure for your blog, getting more traffic, and hopefully, more subscribers who would share your content. Daily or weekly roundups work out too.
Roundup your best blog posts for the week, or include other blogs that pique your interest as well. Some of the bloggers will thank you for the exposure, and they may even share your blog to their own followers.
Gated Content
Practical Ecommerce has clearly defined what gated content is:
While it’s a perennial struggle to choose between gating content or not, it’s been an effective way of determining which parts of your audience are interested in what you offer.
Again, the best example for this is HubSpot. They have a variety of gated and ungated content in their site — their blog on making gated content free is a great read if you’re weighing the pros and cons of gated content.
And now we’re down to our last six suggestions. Oftentimes, these are the types of content included in gated content pages:
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Whitepapers, Research Reports – these are in-depth content best for B2B marketing
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Guides – similar to how-to articles, you can create an in-depth guide that you can put behind a form. For example, you can create something like a newbie’s guide to camping outdoors. Include everything from preparation, first-aid basics, essential gears, and so on.
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Worksheets – you can come up with worksheets for kids like coloring worksheets, writing worksheets, or math problems. You’ll surely get returning visitors for your downloadables.
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Checklists – We recommend checklists on a PDF, printer-friendly format. You can accompany this with a guide to boost its value.
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Resources Library – this is similar to the resource page on Growth Supply, as mentioned previously.
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Downloadables – do you have some templates, PSD files or presentation slides that you want to share? That would be a great addition to your blog post!
Conclusion
We’re confident that these 25 content ideas would help you get through planning your editorial calendar.
Pro Tip: Make some of these ideas as a mainstay in your calendar. Do weekly roundup posts, curate different content once a month, do weekly or monthly comparison articles — it’s up to you.
Do you have any content ideas that you would like to share? Let us know in the comments!
About the Author – Nick Taylor is a product and web designer who specializes in Visual Design, UX, illustration and brand identity. With over 9 years of experience in the industry, he is frequently researching the latest trends in digital design and new-age Internet ideas.