Five Tips on How to Create Great Content Efficiently
Blogging can be a challenge for many businesses today. Procuring content can be time consuming and overwhelming if it is not approached with a proper plan in place. There's no question whether or not your company should be blogging. Benefits of blogging include: being perceived as an industry thought leader, getting found online, giving your site authority and credibility, converting your visitors into leads, and generating more traffic. Instead of viewing blogging as a necessary evil, here are five tips on how to create great content efficiently.
1) Have your topic ready
Read, read and then read some more. The more knowledgeable you are the easier it will be for you to generate really great content. The goal of your blog is to position you and your company as industry thought leaders. In order to do this you need to educate and build trust. Remember that this content should be customer-centric. What content is going to be beneficial to them and ultimately make their life easier. Your blog content should always have a helpful tone (i.e. "How to..."). When your goal is to create content quickly, select a topic that you have a strong understanding of and one that is easy for you to communicate.
2) Planning is key
Create a content calendar. When you prioritize content you make yourself available to resources regarding that topic. By picking one topic per post, it allows you to clearly and completely focus on that one theme. With one topic, your blog is easy to understand, easier to rank, and ultimately better for search engines. Consistency is key when it comes to content. HubSpot recommends a minimum of two times per week. This volume of content can be intimidating, however, if you have a content plan in place it can make content procurement an efficient task. As long as you cover your topic in full, don't worry too much about article length. You don't want your blog post to be too long or too short.
3) Write first, fact check second
Anything you can do to minimize the interruptions of your writing flow is key to producing quick, quality content. If you're unsure of something, make a note to go back and fact check before publishing. A reference check can be an efficient part of your blogging process if done at the right time. Complete your blog and then go back and add supporting statistics if time allows.
4) Write the title last
HubSpot suggests that you spend half your time writing content and half your time writing the title of your post. While you should know the topic and what your primary message is, you should plan on completing your blog post before finalizing the title. Your blog post title should be shaped around the long-tail keyword you have selected to be your topic of the post. This long-tail keyword should be mentioned naturally throughout the content of your post. Keep in mind that the title should be longer than 70 characters.
5) Finish with formatting
If you've got a good writing flow, there's no reason to interrupt it with the monotony of formatting. However, be sure to finish your post with this critical step. It is not one to take lightly. Proper formatting is key to making content irresistible and easy to digest. Whitespace and images are great ways to break up the content of your post. Subheads, numbers, bullets and bolding make content easy to digest for the reader.
The more frequently you blog for your company, the more natural this important task will become. Practice makes perfect. If you keep these five tips in mind you will be writing like a blogging pro in no time!
