Does Your Blog Solve a Problem or Answer a Question?
Saturday, January 09, 2010
In a previous posts I talked about how to pick your blog's topic and then decide whether your blog will be a social or search engine blogger.
Now we come to the topic of content and this is another way to figure out what your blog could be about. I talked about it before but I wanted to expand on this idea.
Of course you have heard, "content is king" which means that what you write about is what attracts readers to your blog.
The content is the meat of your blog. If you don't have content then what is the search engine going to pick up? If you just post one sentence and maybe a picture there is not enough meat for the search engines to grab.
If you have a social blog then content is what drives the people to keep coming back and participating through comments and interacting with you. Readers use "word of mouth marketing" to spread what you are writing around and that attracts other readers.
If you have a search engine blog then content is what drives your traffic from what people search for on Google and other search engines.
Now whether you are a social blogger, a search engine blogger, or somewhere in the middle, one of the best ways to attract traffic and readers is to SOLVE A PROBLEM or ANSWER A QUESTION!
What do we all use the Internet for?
Information. We all have problems - big problems and small problems - and we are all looking for answers.
Sally wants to know what to do with the pound of hamburger she bought to cook something new and interesting for dinner.
John wants to know how to fix that leak under the sink.
Joe wants to know how to solve the math problem his teacher gave him.
Rachel wants to find a way to save money on her grocery bill each week.
Bob is looking for a review for the lawn mower he wants to buy.
Do you get the gist of what I am saying? Solve a problem, answer a question, and you have your blog's topic.
Readers will come to you because instead of figuring out how to solve their problem on their own you will do it for them.
People are busy. We are busy. People need answers and they don't have a lot of time to find the answers on their own.
But, what questions will your blog answer?
Everyone is looking for answers to something.
What problems will your blog solve?
The best way to figure that out and come up with content that you can put out on an ongoing basis is to look at yourself, your friends, and your family. What are you passionate about solving and what are the questions that you have answered so many times you know the answers or you know where the find the answers?
I have always been a problem solver. I was a quilting instructor for 7 years and loved working with senior citizens to help them create a quilt. They needed my help to cut the pieces, draw the 1/4" marks so they could hand sew the blocks together. I loved showing them and others how to sew assembly line method and how to baste the layers together for quilting.
Then I became a computer instructor. I became quite good at explaining how to do simple things on the computer that appeared to be complicated for some but obvious for me. I put myself in my students shoes to come up with a step-by-step method to do just about anything on the computer.
When you help someone solve a problem or answer a question not only are you empowering them but you are becoming an expert on that topic. One thing to consider is, do you want to be seen as an expert on that topic for quite awhile. Once you are seen as an expert you will get those same questions over and over. If you write articles that solve problems you can create an index or sorts on your site and readers can use those same articles over and over. Then you can focus on short updates either everyday or 2 to 3 times per week. You can always start a new blog if you get tired of just one major topic. That is why I have so many blogs. Each one has a specific focus. It helps me make more money and also keeps me from getting bored.
Find out what people are asking in your field and then answer those questions.
You will not only build up a social blog but also a search engine optimized blog as well.
Put the answer or the question in the title of your post.
Do a test:
Go to www.google.com and type how to in the search box.
Do not type anything else and do not hit search.
Google has a neat query suggestion feature and it will bring back some interesting results.
Check out this screenshot. Without even typing anything else in the search box you see some of the top results for how to that people are typing in.
Boy, someone could have a great blog just writing about tying a tie or teaching someone to how to kiss? And just look at the amount of searches are being done for those results.
You should get the picture now. Think about the questions you can answer in your line of work, or what your blog can offer to solve a problem.
Try some of these other words or phrases in Google to get ideas:
Now we come to the topic of content and this is another way to figure out what your blog could be about. I talked about it before but I wanted to expand on this idea.
Of course you have heard, "content is king" which means that what you write about is what attracts readers to your blog.
The content is the meat of your blog. If you don't have content then what is the search engine going to pick up? If you just post one sentence and maybe a picture there is not enough meat for the search engines to grab.
If you have a social blog then content is what drives the people to keep coming back and participating through comments and interacting with you. Readers use "word of mouth marketing" to spread what you are writing around and that attracts other readers.
If you have a search engine blog then content is what drives your traffic from what people search for on Google and other search engines.
Now whether you are a social blogger, a search engine blogger, or somewhere in the middle, one of the best ways to attract traffic and readers is to SOLVE A PROBLEM or ANSWER A QUESTION!
What do we all use the Internet for?
Information. We all have problems - big problems and small problems - and we are all looking for answers.Sally wants to know what to do with the pound of hamburger she bought to cook something new and interesting for dinner.
John wants to know how to fix that leak under the sink.
Joe wants to know how to solve the math problem his teacher gave him.
Rachel wants to find a way to save money on her grocery bill each week.
Bob is looking for a review for the lawn mower he wants to buy.
Do you get the gist of what I am saying? Solve a problem, answer a question, and you have your blog's topic.
Readers will come to you because instead of figuring out how to solve their problem on their own you will do it for them.
People are busy. We are busy. People need answers and they don't have a lot of time to find the answers on their own.
But, what questions will your blog answer?
Everyone is looking for answers to something.
What problems will your blog solve?
The best way to figure that out and come up with content that you can put out on an ongoing basis is to look at yourself, your friends, and your family. What are you passionate about solving and what are the questions that you have answered so many times you know the answers or you know where the find the answers?
I have always been a problem solver. I was a quilting instructor for 7 years and loved working with senior citizens to help them create a quilt. They needed my help to cut the pieces, draw the 1/4" marks so they could hand sew the blocks together. I loved showing them and others how to sew assembly line method and how to baste the layers together for quilting.
Then I became a computer instructor. I became quite good at explaining how to do simple things on the computer that appeared to be complicated for some but obvious for me. I put myself in my students shoes to come up with a step-by-step method to do just about anything on the computer.
When you help someone solve a problem or answer a question not only are you empowering them but you are becoming an expert on that topic. One thing to consider is, do you want to be seen as an expert on that topic for quite awhile. Once you are seen as an expert you will get those same questions over and over. If you write articles that solve problems you can create an index or sorts on your site and readers can use those same articles over and over. Then you can focus on short updates either everyday or 2 to 3 times per week. You can always start a new blog if you get tired of just one major topic. That is why I have so many blogs. Each one has a specific focus. It helps me make more money and also keeps me from getting bored.
Find out what people are asking in your field and then answer those questions.
You will not only build up a social blog but also a search engine optimized blog as well.
Put the answer or the question in the title of your post.
Do a test:
Go to www.google.com and type how to in the search box.
Do not type anything else and do not hit search.
Google has a neat query suggestion feature and it will bring back some interesting results.
Check out this screenshot. Without even typing anything else in the search box you see some of the top results for how to that people are typing in.
Boy, someone could have a great blog just writing about tying a tie or teaching someone to how to kiss? And just look at the amount of searches are being done for those results.
You should get the picture now. Think about the questions you can answer in your line of work, or what your blog can offer to solve a problem.Try some of these other words or phrases in Google to get ideas:
- can I
- show me
- teach me
- will I
- how do
- create
- make
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September 12, 2020 at 7:50 PM
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