The art and science of writing blog posts gets analyzed in countless ways. From blog formats to titles that help your post rank to the use of keywords, there’s seemingly no end to the details that go into writing a great blog post that accomplishes your goals.
Let’s take a step back from all those details and look at two overarching types of blog posts that should be a part of your blog strategy: time-sensitive content that needs to be published immediately and blog posts that can be written and scheduled well in advance of publication.
While both require the same basic writing skills, like grammar and spelling, the benefits and implementation of these two categories are wildly different. Understanding how to take advantage of the unique benefits each has to offer will help you create a thorough, actionable blogging plan that will attract visitors to your website. Now let’s look at the how and why of each type with a little Q&A.
Make Room for Trending Topics in Your Blog Schedule
Q. Why should I post about time-sensitive topics?
A. In a word, relevance. Old news is boring. People naturally gravitate toward the latest, next best thing. When you show visitors that you’re paying attention to the latest trends, you show them that you and your brand are still relevant and still in the game. And, while it’s not the only ingredient of a viral blog post, blogging about a topic that’s connected to a newsworthy event is an opportunity to create a post that spreads like wildfire because of its relevance. But remember, relevance isn’t just about timeliness. As Neil Patel explains in this HubSpot post about choosing the best blog topics, relevance also means you need to stay focused on your audience, your niche, your objectives and providing solutions. Keep these in mind as you look for opportunities to leverage time-sensitive topics.
Q. How do I make time-sensitive posts a part of my blog?
A. Here are four steps for creating timely blog posts:
- Pay attention to the news
Read general news stories and articles from news outlets that are relevant to your industry. Google News and other search engines make this easy because they let you manage your news feed by your interests.
- Monitor trending topics
Social media platforms, like Twitter and Facebook, are a good place to start. Plus, there are tools built specifically for the purposes of observing and analyzing trends. Google Trends is just one of these tools. For additional options, check out this list posted on ProBlogger: 8 Ways to Find Trending Topics and Keywords.
- Be prepared to write quickly
Always be ready to write or have someone on-hand to write a blog post that can go from concept to publication in less than 24 hours. Some trending topics will stay relevant longer, but many newsworthy events may require you to publish the same day in order to capitalize on them. Posts don’t have to be long, just relevant and timely. But, make sure they are easy to read and grammatically correct. Your reputation is always on the line, no matter what kind of post you are publishing.
- Make your timely post timeless
Be sure to leverage the newsworthy event or trending topic so that your blog post remains relevant. You may achieve a spike in traffic from time-sensitive content, but you also want the blog post to continue driving traffic to your site long after the event has passed. The best way to achieve this is to make sure the content has relevance beyond the day’s event. It’s not enough to simply comment on the event; the idea is to leverage the event to create your blog post. For example, if you write about the lessons your audience can learn from an industry guru’s recent faux pas or an industry giant’s major win, you’re using the event to write about a much broader topic – one that will still inform and educate your visitors for years to come. For a real-world example, you can see how we blogged about a newsworthy event in the e-commerce industry.
Build a Bank of Posts to Feed Your Blogging Calendar
Q. Why should I plan ahead and build a bank of blog posts?
A. Blogging on-the-fly about the next random topic that pops into your head isn’t a great way to run a business blog. To attract visitors to your website, and then convert them into leads, customers and loyal fans, you need a plan. With a well-developed blogging plan, you’ll be able to bank posts for future publication. These bankable blog posts are the meat and potatoes of your blog. The main advantage that comes from building a bank is time and resource efficiency. With a list of solid, goal-driven ideas in hand, one person can sit down and “get in the zone” of researching and writing posts or, depending on your resources, different people can be assigned posts that suit their expertise, which cuts down on the amount of research that needs to be done from scratch. With a bank of blog posts in place, you’ll enjoy greater flexibility – no more scrambling at the last minute to come up with a topic, write the post and then publish it to make sure you’re blogging consistently.
Q. We barely have time to write one post a week. How are we supposed to build a bank?
A. You might be surprised to hear that it’s possible to create a month’s worth of blog posts in a single day. Here are the three basic steps for creating content ahead of time:
- Brainstorm ideas
Gather your people and spend an hour brainstorming ideas for blog posts based on your business goals and your audience. If you don’t know where to begin, mind mapping is generally a good way to start a brainstorming session. How to Brainstorm a Year’s Worth of Blog Topics in Under an Hour provides a step-by-step look at how to quickly come up with business blog post ideas using mind mapping.
- Determine who will write what when
Whether it’s one writer or many, to create a bank of blog posts, you need to plan it out. If your goal is to produce 20 blog posts and you know you have five people who will be assigned to write them, then you can assign each person four blog posts. To have all of the posts done in a day, that means each person would have about two hours to work on each post (yes, blog posts can be written that quickly). As I mentioned before, if you have experts on a particular topic, assigning them the subject will cut down on the research portion of writing the post as well as the actual writing time. Your expert is likely to have an understanding of the language needed to address the specific topic, and that makes it faster and easier for them to write on the subject.
- Schedule the posts logically
Similar topics should be separated. You don’t want six posts in a row about fly fishing if half your business comes from hunters. Mix it up. And don’t forget to think about the format of each post. Publishing 10 list-style posts back-to-back looks unprofessional. Use lengthier and more in-depth content in between to keep it interesting.
A Well-Rounded Blog Strategy
At this point, it is probably pretty clear that both time-sensitive posts and well-planned posts have their advantages. Blogging can be pretty competitive, and that’s why it’s a good idea to remain open to creating content quickly when the opportunity arises while staying prepared to deliver valuable content to your prospects consistently week after week. Still not sure how to do both? Our blog post, Hot Topics: Scaling Your Content Marketing Calendar For Trending Topics, may be able to help.
If you have questions about growing your business through blogging and content marketing, we’ve got experts who can answer your questions.
About Virtucom Group
Consistent business blogging yields results – more clicks, more subscribers and – ultimately – more conversions. Whether you’re writing an automotive blog, an accounting blog, a healthcare blog or a home renovation blog, blogging for business and content development are useful for any industry. Follow the content writers at the Virtucom Group blog as they share digital marketing tips and discuss website content writing services that can optimize your business blog.
