by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
In part one of this series, I covered setting up a blog and maintaining a blogging schedule. But that’s only part of the process. Today I’ve got ideas for post content (since our writing is the most important part of our blog) and finding/connecting with an audience (since no one wants to blog to thin air).
Tips for content:
Comments on your blog posts can inspire other posts. Many times my blog commenters have either asked questions or suggested future posts.
Expand on topics other bloggers have covered (giving credit to the original source). Sometimes I’ll run across interesting posts that inspire me to experiment with a writing or promo approach. I post on my results and how they might have differed from the original writer’s.
Update older posts (with an eye to not wrecking your SEO). For those of us with years of posted content on our blogs, there’s always the option of updating older posts with fresh content. Since it’s not a good idea to repost blogs from an SEO standpoint, it’s probably best to use the older content as the basis for a mostly-new post.
Break longer content into shorter posts. This approach certainly helps fill up a blog’s editorial calendar. I’ve gone back and forth on this through the years, but now my posts are usually pretty short. If there’s a complex topic, breaking it down into a couple of different parts can help. I keep reading that most blog readers prefer short posts since they’re skimming on their phones. I don’t mind long posts, myself … what’s your own preference?Continue reading
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig