Breaking Through the SEO Content Creation Block
One of the most essential pieces of any search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is creative, fresh, content. Even if you’re a thought leader in your industry, there will come a time when your ideas slam headfirst into a creative wall. Not to worry, though—it happens to the best of content creators! All you can do is dust your doubts off and push forward in the hunt for new ideas that will attract your target audience. Writer’s block may seem painful, but fortunately, there are plenty of resources out there that can help get the creative juices flowing. Try out these eight tips that have oiled our own SEO machine.
1. Hunt Through Relevant Forums
Search engines like Google value content that answers questions that people are asking online. If you’ve hit a wall for your next topic, then digging through forums can help you find your next great idea! General forums like Quora can help generate broad ideas around a specific topic or keyword. If your content needs to be very industry-specific, your best bet will be to search Google for forums that focus on your industry. The ideas will build from there!
2. Create a Swipe File for Future Blocks
As a content creator, a huge part of your job is researching and finding new ideas to dive into. Whether you make a folder on your Gmail account or create a file on your computer, it’s always great to have a place where you can just dump future potential ideas for later. Not of your finds will be relevant to your current objective, but anything you think could be interesting to your target audience should go in this file. From images to linked articles, feel free to make this small part of your computer’s storage a corkboard of future first-page SEO content.
3. Creep on Social Media Followers
Well, don’t literally be a creeper… but check-in on what your social media followers are talking about. Is there a new buzzword creeping into your industry? Have you gotten specific questions about a certain product or service? Social media is a brilliant landscape for truly connecting with your audience, and using the connections you’ve made to create content that is SEO-friendly, relevant, and above all, what your customers want!
4. Check-In with the Competition
You may have hit a writer’s block, but that doesn’t mean your competitors have! Even if you still have ideas to work with, it’s always a great idea to visit the sites of competitors ranking above you on search engines. Find out what they’re talking about and come up with your own unique twist on the topic. From there, dig deeper into that topic and create something that explores the totality of your idea. This will help to create the long-form content your site needs, while also staying relevant to what similar leaders deem important. During your competitive research, be on the lookout for:
- The keywords drawing in the most traffic
- What people are linking to
- What is currently trending
5. Use the Tools at Your Disposal
Google Analytics and programs like SEMRush go much deeper than programs that feed you the analytics of the month. With features like SEMRush’s very own “Topic Research” section, you can quickly plug in an industry or keyword and end up with a plethora of content ideas that people are currently on the lookout for.
6. Subscribe to Industry Publications
Get the news and updates you need without even having to search! If you know of some of the top publications in your industry, stop by their site and subscribe. This is one of the easiest ways to build up that swipe file on your computer without using up too much of your precious time in the process.
7. Ask Google!
General topics can lead to very great, focused blogs with the help of Google search! Simply enter your general idea in the search bar and watch the suggested topics flow. These can be easily found hidden gems for the creator in a rut. You can also scroll down to the bottom of the search page and see what other searches people have recently entered that revolve around your general topic!
8. Tie in Breaking News with Your Brand
While your brand may not always be the best one to alert the public on general breaking news, there are still ways to stay involved with what’s going on in the world around you. As we’ve seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses that didn’t directly work in the healthcare field created content that centered on the topic of Coronavirus and what they were doing to keep guests and employees safe. Sometimes this content approach can seem like a stretch, but it can still create something unique that builds trust and keeps your name in the limelight.
Crash Through the Block with Dallas SEO Dogs
At Dallas SEO Dogs, we are always ready to help our clients find the most up-to-date keywords and ideas for their site’s content. We know how time-consuming content creation can be, and that’s why we’ve made part of our job to take that weight off of our client’s shoulders. So, if you’re ready to put a little more focus on your day-to-day operations and worry less about where your content comes from, we’re here to help! Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
