What’s the best content for a blog?

When it comes to blogs the truth is that any content can be a great topic. The success comes in how you format it. Think of a blog like a blank piece of paper, what you do with it is up to you. Sometimes you might draw a picture, or maybe do a list or if you’re feeling fancy go for an extended piece of writing.

That’s exactly how blogs work. You can turn (almost) any topic into a blog as long as it hits these three areas.

Depth

I know that some people write 400 words and call it a blog. Apologies if that’s you but to me, that’s not a blog. That’s a paragraph. For a blog to be useful to your audience and to give you an SEO bump your blog needs to have depth. 

It needs to have substance and that means you need to be able to write a minimum of 750-words on that topic, without repeating yourself. No easy feat for some topics. 

The secret? Finding the right angle. This blog could very easily have been snackable content, a brief description and move on. But instead I’ve found an angle which allows me to dig further into the topic. I know it’s not going to be one of my longest blogs, but it will be a decent length that answers the question while keeping your interest.

Interesting

Whether you’re writing purely for your audience or for SEO purposes there’s one thing that your blog has to be, that’s interesting. Now I’ve written about some very niche and dry topics and you can always find a way to make them more exciting.

Don’t forget if you are operating in a more traditionally less interesting industry, your audience still needs your advice and they’ll be interested in what you have to say. In those instances it’s not about changing the subject to be more captivating, it’s about your writing style and how you express yourself - that’s how you get them hooked. 

Before you start writing, think about what angle you’re going to take and how that relates to your audience’s needs. Making sure your blog is relevant to them is half the challenge.

In your sphere of business

It can be tempting to use your blog as a place for your personal stream of consciousness, writing whatever comes to mind. The problem with that is no one’s going to read it. 

For your blog to be an effective marketing tool you need to ensure all your content supports your business aims - or in other words gets you known for the right thing. For example, I’ve got one recruitment client who wants to be known for their work in championing gender equality so we write an awful lot about the gender pay gap, DEI, and issues impacting equality in the workplace. 

For another client they want to be known as the go-to VoIP provider for small business so we focus on the practical concerns they hear from business owners around VoIP technology. If we suddenly started talking about sustainable energy while almost related, it wouldn’t make sense and would be out of place. 

Focus on what you want to be known for and what your audience wants to read about. If you don’t know what that is then talk to your client facing team about what questions they get asked, or what problems your clients are facing or do some research and ask them directly. 

But I’d like to raise another question - is a blog the best format for that content? Just because it can be written, should it be? There are so many different ways to present content that you need to make sure you’re using the right format at the right time. Even within blogs there are different formats that you can draw on from listicles to articles to white papers to case studies to showcases to how-to to comparison, the list goes on. The impact your content makes and how successful you judge it to be, will begin and end with the way you choose to present it…..so choose wisely.   

Looking to write a blog? Amazing, before you start writing make sure your topic has the depth, the right angle and is on a topic that supports your business goals. With those three things aligned you’re on the right track. 


Still not sure? I work with businesses to define content strategies, identifying topics (and formats) for all your content, making sure that every piece you hit publish on has a role to play in achieving your business goals. Drop me a message and let’s chat.