This is why I’ve put together some tried and true ways to develop lead-generating blog post ideas and content that will not only attract new readers to your blog, but will enhance your thought leadership position and increase the likelihood of actually converting visitors into qualified leads.
If your target audience is searching for certain phrases or asking particular questions online, then this is a green light to create a blog post providing the answers they’re looking for. Having a solid keyword strategy in place that incorporates branded terms (like your company name) and broad terms (like “sales performance” and “inbound marketing”) as well as a plethora of long-tail, niche terms (like “how to start a company blog” or “how many times should I contact a lead?” will ensure you are covering all of your bases when it comes to search queries by your prospects and customers.
Tip: Higher search volume for any keyword phrase means people are searching for those answers often so that’s a good place to start writing. However, many of the more long-tail keywords won’t have high search volumes but can be tremendously impactful in driving more qualified traffic and leads to your site.
What kind of questions do you or your sales team hear a lot from prospects? What answers are you constantly typing up in an email reply to customers? You could even refer to your FAQs for ideas. Think about exactly how you would respond to someone in person or in an email, and turn that into a blog post.
Bonus Idea: Interview some of your busy salespeople about a question they find themselves answering all the time during the sales process. Take that interview, transcribe it, and turn it into a blog post. It will save them time and provide you with a wealth of content.
This method is similar to content curation, but different in that it must be done quickly in order to be effective. When news breaks that impacts your industry or target, simply write your spin on it and how it affects your readers.
Take a minute and think about what’s going on in your industry or in the news today. What would make for an interesting blog post that you could put your own spin on? If nothing occurs to you right now, that’s fine—but every time you read a story in an online trade publication or even your local newspaper, ask yourself if it offers you a newsjacking opportunity.
For example: Check out this blog post I wrote about the launch of Twitter’s new profile layout. It was easy to write, and allowed me to give my opinion on a topical piece of news in the digital world.
Remember, the content you create doesn’t have to be fancy or technical—it just needs to answer questions real people have, be genuinely informative, and provide actionable takeaways that will keep your readers sharing and coming back for more.
Happy writing!