Some days ago I have wrote about
Stuck For Post Ideas? Unsure What To Write? Here’s The Solution
Now I will post an article about writing tips again
Taking on the role of a webmaster is a
path that leads straight to content. No matter what niche you enter, the
one and only reason your visitors will come to your website is for
content.
Content comes in all different forms – mainly writing
and products (both physical and electronic). Without content, your
website is just a design, and that benefits absolutely nobody.
Finding
new topics to write about can be quiet difficult at times. There are
always a million and a half things to express your thoughts towards, but
it’s not always so obvious when it comes time to actually write them.
Writer’s block emerges – how to fix it?
8 Ways to Generate Great Content Ideas
It’s
clear that content is prominent. Content is, as always has been said,
king… Or is it? I like the way Steve Scott put it in a recent tweet;
TIP: Create AWESOME content. The expression, “content is king” is wrong. However “great content is king” is always true.
Whether
you want to face the reality or not, creating amazing content is only
possible if you have a good idea. In much of the way that lemons are
essential to lemonade, ideas are essential to great content.
As
you progress, though, you may find yourself running out of ideas.
Luckily, there are numerous ways to generate amazing ideas for future
content – I have listed, below, a few that I take advantage of:
1. Read Other Websites In Your Niche
Whether
you are able to think of ideas or not, somebody else in your niche can –
and they can be used to your advantage! The wonderful thing about the
internet – and blogs specifically – is that everybody has their own
opinion.
I find it very helpful to pull multiple
RSS Feeds (for blogs) into one central place (I prefer Google Reader),
then find interesting articles to write my response to.
If
somebody writes an article about why FaceBook is their favorite social
network, take the initiative and write about what your favorite social
network is, and then explain why everybody should use it. You can
reference back and share it with their audience and generate traffic,
too.
The key to this method is to be careful as to not steal
their ideas. Use their content to help influence what you will share to
your visitors.
2. Keep an “Ideas” Log
It
happens all the time – you head out for a bit, and then, just like
that, an idea hits you. Most people have nowhere to put it, though, and
the idea fades from existence.
With the emerging cloud-storage
services on the internet, it has never been easier to keep ideas in one
central place no matter where you are. You can update your log from your
phone, computer, or even tablet. Some of my favorite services are:
Evernote
OneNote
If
you aren’t fond of a cloud service, a notepad and pencil will work just
as effectively. Anything that will allow you to store your ideas and
beneficial.
3. Think Back to Your Origins
For
many niches – including website management – it is easy to create
content by thinking back to when you started. What kind of questions did
you ask?
One question I often asked, for example, is why SEO
mattered. It would be very logical to assume that many other beginners
also asked that question, so why not give them an article about it?
4. Eliminate Distractions and Think
In
our everyday lives, we have hundreds of distractions that will deter us
from the brainstorming that will lead to an amazing article. Skype,
Twitter, Facebook, the television, the latest performance of Roger
Waters’ The Wall – they all are harmful.
Before bed, each night, I
generally have very few distractions that stretch before my mind – it’s
the perfect opportunity to brainstorm. With a notepad or iPod in my
hand, I will quickly sketch out ideas for new articles.
5. Check Social Media
Let’s
say that eliminating distractions didn’t amount for much in the long
run. It’s time to be counter-productive and open all the tabs again and,
as you may have been told not to do, engage with your audience during
writing time.
In TweetDeck, I have several columns created that
show me anyone who tweeted key terms like “web development”. A quick
scan will show quiet a few questions – that’s a free idea.
The benefit is simple – you get an idea, and after writing it, you are able to share it with people to create a larger audience.
6. Just Ask
Your
readers will, in theory, want to have their questions answered.
Figuring out the questions that ponder among their minds may seem
difficult, but is incredibly simple in reality.
How can you
figure out what goes on in their minds, you may ask? Just ask. That’s
right – ask them what they want and they will, if they have a bit of
sense in their brains, tell you.
One of my favorite tools for
asking readers what they want is with a simple bottom-of-the-page-pop-up
provided by KissInsights. The results are spectacular!
7. Search a Forum
Forums
are full of people who need their questions answered. Sometimes,
multiple people will ask the same question. That’s where your
opportunity lies – answer their question at length.
I’ve seen
questions ranging from how to change a domain name’s nameservers to
design advice. They’re all pretty easy to answer, and will pull in a few
ideas for future articles.
A quick Google search will provide
you with many popular forums in your niche. If you happen to be in the
web development or internet marketing niches, a great forum is
WarriorForums.
9. Walk Away
Some
people don’t value the ability to walk away from their work for a bit.
Whether you realize it or not, taking a break and not trying to think of
ideas is one of the best ways to think of ideas.
Nothing gets
the creative juices flowing like taking a brisk walk through the park or
a warm fire outside. It’s pretty amazing how stepping away and focusing
on other things will help you brainstorm.
Grab your notepad or iPhone and go for a walk – they notepad will be full by the end of the walk.
How Do You Generate Ideas?
ADS HERE !!!