A blog, news, or stories page is a valuable asset for any company. It can help you to attract organic traffic, build trust and credibility, generate leads and sales, improve customer engagement, teach your audience, and showcase your company culture. A good blog page is an essential part of a content strategy for your business.
Researching blog ideas is crucial for producing relevant and engaging content. Several tools can help in this process, whether you’re looking for inspiration, validation, or insights into what audiences are currently interested in.
- Research keywords: using tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, or Google Trends can help you identify keywords users search for and generate content ideas.
- Generate content ideas: Buzzsumo helps you identify what kind of content gets the most shares or backlinks in your industry. Semrush gives you content ideas by browsing trends and topics. Companies like Writesonic or Jasper use artificial intelligence to help you generate content. Additionally, you can use AI chatbots such as Chatgpt, or Bard, to get started.
- Ask for audience feedback to create content. Surveys or forms can help users suggest content they like to watch or read about.
Creating Blog Posts
AI tools can help automate content creation, but they should be a starting point. To create good content, humans still need to research and develop unique, high-quality content. When visitors land on your website or blog, they have a goal and questions. They need information that is useful, actionable, and original. Your content should meet their needs by answering their questions and providing a great user experience. Part of a great user experience is authenticity, so your content should be based on your real-life experience. You can also conduct original research, leverage subject-matter experts in your community, and avoid creating generic, unoriginal content.
The Anatomy of a Good Article
Creating an interesting article, like “How Rockets Work: A Complete Guide” (see image), serves as an exemplary model for effective content creation. The incorporation of key strategies elevates the article’s appeal and ensures its appeal to a diverse audience interested in science, space, and technology.
- Content: Content ranging from how-to articles and guides to tips and top lists, can create organic visibility on the internet. Moreover, search engines favor lengthy articles, with most top-ranking organic search results exceeding 1500 words. Articles featuring original research findings, expert interviews, and insightful infographics perform exceptionally well.
- Keywords: Good articles include keywords identified through comprehensive research in the title and content to enhance the article’s visibility and search engine rankings.
- Structure: organize content into distinct paragraphs, enhance readability by incorporating images and multimedia elements, and meticulously proofread for accuracy. Employing varied headings and subheadings, denoted by <h2>,<h3>, and <h4> tags, not only enhances readability but also contributes significantly to SEO scores and rankings.
- Media: images, videos, infographics, and graphs enhance the user experience and promote engagement.
- Strategic linking: Internal links improve content discoverability and site structure by connecting related blog posts, portfolios, case studies, products, and service pages. Articles should also include external links from reputable sources known for their expertise and reliability, as these links bolster content visibility and credibility.
Blog Post Examples
Blog Page Examples
Lululemon
Lululemon‘s blog covers a wide range of fitness and wellness topics, such as different types of workouts, nutrition tips, and injury prevention. Lululemon’s blog also covers fashion and style topics, such as how to style Lululemon clothes and how to choose the right Lululemon clothes for different activities. The Lululemon community stories feature profiles of Lululemon ambassadors and athletes and stories about Lululemon’s initiatives to support its community.
Gensler
Gensler is one of the largest architecture firms in the United States. The company blogs about the latest trends in design and lists case studies about their work on specific projects. Gensler also posts blogs that share their insights on the future of design and the role that design can play in solving some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Expedia
Expedia blogs about a wide range of topics related to travel, including travel trends, tips, and travel inspiration. Expedia also posts blogs that serve as destination guides, providing information on specific places to visit, things to do, and where to stay.
Antropologie
Antropologie writes about fashion and style trends, styling ideas, and home decor inspiration. Antropologie creates makeup tutorials, offers skincare advice, and provides hair inspiration. Furthermore, the company provides travel tips, reviews of movies and books, recipes, and advice on everything from entertaining to self-care.
Northern Trust
Northern Trust is a global financial institution that provides asset servicing, investment management, and wealth management services for institutions, high-net-worth individuals, and families. The company researches and analyzes risk management strategies, offers investment tips, and blogs about industry trends.