Just Keep Blogging: Understanding What to Post, When to Post It, and How to Continue Posting

What to do when you suffer from writers block?

An empty Word document is open on your computer screen. You look at the computer blankly and its vast whiteness seems to stare back at you. “What will I write about today?” you wonder. Perhaps you try to type a sentence or two. Delete, delete, delete. “Never mind, that sounds horrible!” you think.  What should you write about?

If you are nodding your head at this point and can relate to suffering from writers block, realize you are not alone! Bloggers, writers, marketers, social media professionals or anyone who is creating content needs to master the art of what to post, when to post it and how to continue posting in the future. 

1. What to post?

Creating content is not rocket science. For example, I’m creating content right now just by writing about how to create content! Yes, it’s actually that simple. Depending on your purpose of blogging (are you blogging on behalf of a brand or are you blogging on behalf of yourself?), you should take time to plan out your content beforehand. If you are writing about a specific industry, do your research! What are people and thought leaders in your industry writing about these days? Search through LinkedIn groups, online forums, online publications, and even Google News to see what the hot topics and trends people are buzzing about. Once you have established a grip on what is going on in the industry, write your own opinion! No one wants to re-read the same story again, so make yours interesting! Why do you care about this topic? Why should others? Is there a slant that nobody has written about yet? Find your niche and go for it!

2. When to post?

Now that you have published an awesome and thought-provoking post, the next order of business is when to post it? As a Social Media Strategist and blogger myself, I have struggled with this question in the past. Deciding on what day and time to launch a new post is critical to receiving the maximum amount of views and overall traction. In order to successfully answer this question, you must ask yourself two more: 1.What time of day are people most likely to read blogs? 2. Are people more likely to read blogs during the weekdays or weekends?

A study from HubSpot’s Social Media Scientist, Dan Zarrella, shows that 80% of 1,400 people surveyed prefer to read blogs in the morning, followed by the afternoon, then evening, and lastly late night. However, if you are re-tweeting content from Twitter, then 4pm on Friday evenings are the hottest time of the week for re-tweets. Because many companies prohibit social media at work, sharing your content through social channels after the workday is over is your best bet for reaching maximum audiences. Takeaway? Publish your content on weekday mornings and “seed” your content through social channels later in the day; preferably on a Friday afternoon. Weekends are great for social media and you will receive more views on the weekends when people are more active on Twitter and Facebook to share your content.

3. How to continue posting in the future and gain more subscribers?

Posting, posting and did I mention, more posting? Frequency is key to attracting more readers, especially if your posts are relatable or relevant in some way to your audience. By posting solid content frequently (and no, frequently does not mean once a week, but keep in mind you also don’t want to be posting silly, boring or irrelevant content), people will begin to trust you as the thought leader of your industry and continue to come back for more. Tip? Leave your readers hungry for more! They will want to see what tips, tricks and insight you have for them next time, and will continue to visit your blog on a regular basis.

Do you have a blog that you read regularly? What is it about that blog that keeps you coming back for more? Comment below or tweet to us @TRA360 and let us know!