When you have an online business, you want to create and publish content to attract people to your website and business. According to the authors of the book Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, content is “the stuff in your website.” This includes text, images, sounds and audio, videos, documents, and other items placed within web pages. 

Engaging content will inform, educate, and draw your readers in to learn more about you and the services you offer. Prospects may consume large amounts of your content, whether on a blog, video, or website before they make the decision to purchase any of your products. 

Getting Stuck on Content

Have you ever drawn a blank when it comes time to sit down and write engaging content? It’s not always easy to come up with content creation ideas for your blog or website. You have to be in the right frame of mind. Sometimes it helps to shift your attention to other tasks, as I describe in my article what to do when you get stuck.

However, you can’t put off creating content forever! Figure out a strategy that helps you to prioritize and create content on a regular basis. In this article and video, I give you 5 simple ideas you can use to give you inspiration when you’re crafting your own material.

Watch this Short Video (6 min) below that steps through the 5 Simple Content Creation Ideas

Here are the 5 Simple Content Creation Ideas:

1) Surveys & Quizzes

Survey your audience! Ask them what they want to know about your area of expertise.  What kind of content do they enjoy?  Or, you can create a blog post and ask for feedback in the comments. Here are some resources for conducting surveys or polls. 

SurveyMonkey
www.christinasresources.com/surveymonkey
Quiz and Survey Master Plugin
wordpress.org/plugins/quiz-master-next
WP-Polls Plugin
wordpress.org/plugins/wp-polls
YOP Poll Plugin
wordpress.org/plugins/yop-poll
Poll Daddy
www.polldaddy.com

2) YouTube Videos

YouTube is a great resource for ideas and inspiration. You don’t have to create your own video!  you can search YouTube for videos that relate to your business. There are very informative and helpful videos on YouTube, it should be easy to find a topic that will appeal to your audience.  

Here’s a blog article I wrote about remembering your passwords where I included a funny YouTube video. 

This article is about focusing on your client’s experience first and includes a video of a presentation by Steven Jobs. 

If you’re unsure how to embed a YouTube video in your WordPress site, I’ll walk you through the process in this article. 

3) News Headlines/ Current Events

Though it’s not a good idea to tackle controversial subjects in your blog (unless it’s relevant to your business), news headlines and current events can offer great content inspiration. 

News headlines give you hints for topics to write about. They’re also great for eye-catching subject lines. Think about the headlines that try to grab your attention while you’re in line at the supermarket. You could put your own spin on a headline so that it’s relevant to your business. 

In addition, media can also inspire you to create niche content. Here’s an article about finding inspiration in the newsstands.  Here’s a great resource to help you analyze your headlines  – Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer at www.aminstitute.com/headline.

A word of caution!  Be sure that your “news” inspired content stays evergreen and won’t become stale. 

4) Images or Graphics

Visuals, images, graphics, and illustrations can be great content inspirations. You may see a picture and it will trigger an idea or topic. You can then use that image as a jumping-off point for a blog post.  

Here’s an example of an article I write where the idea for the article came from a stock image that I found. I didn’t create this graphic, but it inspired me a write a blog post on the topic of what success really looks like. 

A Few Free or Low-Cost Stock Photo Sites:

Canva (www.canva.com)
Pixabay (www.pixabay.com )
Morguefile (www.morguefile.com)
Unsplash (www.unsplash.com)
StockSnap (www.stocksnap.io)

5) Top “X” Formula

The Top “X” Formula is when you take a subject and list your favorite or most valuable pieces of information about that subject. I’ve used these types of lists a lot in my blog. Here are some of the articles I’ve written with this formula.  

These types of posts tend to be engaging for a few reasons. First, the reader knows exactly how many valuable nuggets are on your list and it’s not overwhelming. Second, they consider you an expert on the topic and are interested in your favorites. By learning your top resources on the subject, they hope to bring that information back to their own business. 

Parting Words…

Make time each week to create content for your current and future audience!  It’s an important aspect of owning an online business.

I’ve shared just a few ways to stimulate content creation ideas. There are others! Quotes, books, poems, conferences, lessons learned, experiences, and more. Finally, if you’re still at a loss for a blog topic, check out this “Blog Topic Generator” from Hubspot.

Which of the 5 content ideas do you find easiest to implement? Or, is there another way that you get inspired to write?

 

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