Blogging, especially when combined with social media is a powerful way to promote a business online.  There are many reasons why businesses have a blog but, in a nutshell, blogs drive traffic to your website, fuel Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), help you engage with your customers and ensure you are seen as a ‘thought leader’ in your field.  According to HubSpot’s report:

• A blog can influence a reader’s decision to purchase
• Companies with blogs have 55% more visitors than those without blogs
• Blogs are part of the inbound marketing process, helping businesses attract and convert readers

Not bad for a humble blog!  But what are you going to blog about? 

We’ve all been there.  You need to publish your next blog but the ideas just aren’t flowing and you’ve spent way too long staring at the cursor on your screen.  

There are, however, many sources from which you can draw inspiration and as long as you know your goals and keep your target audience in mind, you’ll soon be tapping away at that keyboard.

Here are 54 ideas to get you started:

1. Answer the top three questions from your clients
2. Welcome a new member of the team
3. Behind the scenes content
4. Day in the life of…
5. Informational How-tos – especially great as videos!
6. Essential guide to…
7. Frequently asked questions
8. Explain a process relevant in your industry in a step-by-step post – e.g. Critical elements of a XXX, or The art of XXX
9. Upcoming events
10. Best-ofs
11. Provide a free templates, tip sheet, checklist, or other downloadable content that would be useful to your audience
12. Showcase one of your products or services
13. Quick tips and tricks
14. Pros and cons of…
15. Share your views, opinions and insights of what’s going on in your industry
16. Current trends – e.g. X industry trends to ignore, X emerging trends you need to pay attention to
17. Interviews with… (e.g. Manager, client, supplier, peer)
18. Weekly round-up of relevant news/topics
19. Guest posts from experts in your industry or connecting industries
20. Stats in your industry that relate to your target audience
21. Create a seasonal post linked to your service/product
22. Round up for the year
23. Myths in your industry
24. Feature a success story/client
25. Profile an employee in a post
26. Profile a long-time customer
27. Write a “what not to do” or “biggest mistakes” post
28. Share a personal story to inspire your readers
29. Write a recap of an event you attended
30. Post a list of the most useful online resources for your colleagues or clients
31. Create a glossary of the technical terms and acronyms in your niche
32. Use annual events and relate them to your product or service
33. Showcase your charity work
34. Reveal industry secrets or expose lies
35. Keyword posts – think about which keyword searches bring customers to your site then write posts on those topics
36. Read your competitors posts for ideas!
37. Show your passion. What aspect of your business gets you excited?
38. Favourites – resources/tools/quotes/blogs/twitter followers/apps etc.
39. Lessons Learned – best advice, biggest lesson learnt, wish you knew about, one thing nobody tells you about…
40. Focus on the pain points of your target audience – e.g. How we can help you drive sales, Get more from your (product/service), Stretch your budget by (something to do with your product/service)
41. Why we don’t worry about our competitors
42. The people who work here
43. Another perspective on your current situation
44. Why you won’t find ____ at (our Business)
45. Does ____ matter to you?
46. What we do when we’re not hard at work
47. And you thought you knew everything about us
48. This has nothing to do with our business, but it’s cool (do this sparingly, though)
49. What a (something odd) can teach you about (the field you work in)
50. You’re doing it wrong
51. Technology that empowers me
52. Problem Solving – what are your clients’ problems and how can you help solve them?
53. Case studies – use a blog to bring a case study to life
54. Announcements

So there you have it.  54 ideas to get your blogging year started!   And of course, you could take a look at our blog at eXPD8 for further inspiration!

Remember to blog smart – keep your audience in mind and write something that is going to give value to the reader – as well as Google.

Suze Anderson

Marketing and Communications Director