Has your blog flatlined? Maybe your blog has gone dormant for a few months or maybe it’s just not getting the kind of traction you want. Either way, you can resuscitate it. Blogging has a lot of value for brands. After all, one blog post has a lifespan of two years, so while it is a time investment, it does offer long-term ROI.
To breathe new life into your blog and cash in on that ROI, here are five content ideas to bring your blog back to life.
Curate lists
Pick a theme and curate a list of articles about it. Let’s say you run a beauty blog. Consider curating a list of the Top 10 Makeup Tips for Busy Moms. The list can consist of hyperlinked article titles and a quick summary of each article. Include links to your own content, but you can also include an outside link or two, maybe to a partner company. Curated lists go together quickly and give readers a great collection of content to read. It’s a win-win.
Refresh old content
Take a look at your traffic stats and identify a handful of blogs that resonated with your audience. Take some time to refresh these articles. Consider adding a new introduction, statistics, examples, and images.
You don’t want to change the URL. If it’s doing well, you want to keep the “link juice” that it has, so update the original post as opposed to creating a new one.
While the article is refreshed, technically it’s not new, so don’t change the publish date just add a disclaimer at the top that says, “Updated” with the month and year.
Consider doing an expert roundup
One of the ways brands can drive new traffic to their site is to do an “expert roundup.” In this type of post, you reach out to a handful of experts and get their take on a specific subject. You’ve probably seen these posts. They have titles like, “22 Marketing Experts Predict 2022 Marketing Trends,” or “15 Fitness Influencers Offer Tips to Beat The Workout Blues.”
How do you gather this information? You can reach out to industry experts or peers. You can also use tools like HARO. On this site, you post a query asking experts to weigh in on a certain topic and people send their responses. In return, most experts expect to be quoted in the article alongside a link to their site.
Once the article is written, you can share it with the participants. In doing so, they share it with their audience, which in turn, brings new eyes to your blog.
Try “newsjacking”
Have you tried “newsjacking” before? Essentially, you take an issue in the news and write about how it impacts your brand. So, for example, you could write about how the COVID-19-induced labor shortage has impacted your company or how your brand plans to maintain its affordable pricing in the face of rising inflation.
Explore internal events and happenings
Is your brand introducing a new product? Is the company hosting a gala to benefit a local non-profit? If so, write about them. Think about what kind of exciting news is happening inside your office and share it with others.
These posts lend themselves to visuals. If you hosted an event, add some pictures to liven up the post. If you’re writing an article about outstanding employees or customers, share pictures of them.
It’s easy to get so wrapped up in day-to-day operations that you forget about some of the awesome things that are going on inside your own walls.
How can you bring readers back?
You’ve got some ideas on content now, but how do you tell readers that your blog is alive and well? Here are some suggestions:
- Send out a newsletter that previews your blog content.
- Share posts on social.
- Ask experts who participate in a roundup to share the piece on their social channels.
- Ask employees to share a post or two.
- Consider putting some ad dollars toward boosting a Facebook post that promotes a well-written article.
- Add sharing buttons to each blog post so readers can easily share it with their followers.
How can brands keep their blogs running?
To prevent your blog from going into cardiac arrest again, here are some tips:
- Set a realistic posting frequency that’s right for your brand.
- If possible, ask coworkers to contribute a post.
- Consider hiring a freelance writer to ease some of the writing burden.
- Get ahead. Schedule content out so you’re (ideally) three months ahead.
- Make an editorial content and stick to it.
- If you need content quickly, create a curated list or refresh old content to save time.
- Use tools like Ask the Public to maintain a steady stream of content ideas.
It’s not uncommon for a blog to get stagnant, but it’s important to revive it. More and more consumers rely on content to learn about brands and research products, which is why so many brands started a blog in the first place. If you’re having trouble keeping up with your blog, you can also reach out to ContentMarketing.com to increase content production and streamline the process.