3 Ways To Prevent Your Blog Content From Becoming Stale

With today’s emphasis on search engine optimization (SEO), many businesses are producing content that takes up space without providing true value to visitors.

An increasing amount of articles are being written to produce as much content as possible for SEO purposes. While much of this content is well written, it was constructed backward.

Writing articles for SEO purposes often produces content with less relevance than if it were written for the visitor first. The truth is, the overall relevance of a blog fades once the “meat and potatoes” of the industry has been covered.

When you’ve already provided your visitors with the value they want, here’s how to create more content without being monotonous: 

  1. Expand your subject matter but remain relevant

You can only write so much about your industry before your visitors fall asleep or bounce. Truth be told, not every visitor is going to be interested in every detail about your industry. They just want to know you can solve their problems.

On the other hand, you need to continually publish fresh content to be found in the search engines. When it’s difficult to come up with relevant topics, content that started off strong becomes watered down. Visitors end up having to sift through mediocre content in order to find the good stuff.

For instance, professional plumbers often launch blogs that start off discussing useful subjects, like how to snake your own drain and why you shouldn’t use chemical drain cleaners. However, since those subjects don’t need to be repeatedly written about, it’s more difficult to accumulate quality content. What else could a plumber discuss that people would want to read?

In order to increase their volume of content, companies broaden the subject matter they cover. If a plumber did this, for example, they might publish articles about how to prevent septic overload during holiday parties, or how to create a routine maintenance schedule.

These subjects mostly rehash the original meaty articles and use marketing techniques to make them appear different. This works for search engines, but it waters down content for visitors.

As a general rule, don’t publish anything that doesn’t add value to a visitor’s experience, or if you’ve already written a similar article.

  1. Appeal to your visitors’ human nature

Rather than expanding your content by rebranding existing information as applied to new circumstances, think deeply about what else your visitors will find relevant and interesting. You don’t need to limit yourself to industry-specific content, either. You can just as easily write content that appeals to your visitors on a more intimate level.

For instance, Green Residential provides helpful information for landlords and property owners that extends beyond collecting rent on time and getting the best deal for bathroom remodels. Some of their content speaks to the landlord’s human nature, like this article on being a more likeable landlord. This is a good takeaway for any industry. Who doesn’t want to be more likeable?

You could also write articles about what drives your company values, and any philanthropy you’re involved in. These types of articles will speak directly to visitors telling them who you are, building automatic trust in the process.

  1. Use list-based article titles with numbers

Although some bloggers might just be following the trend, using numbers in article titles, headlines, and subheadings is effective. In fact, there’s even a method to using numbers to generate more conversions.

ConversionXL discovered that headlines with a number had a 30% higher conversion rate. According to the article, “larger numbers are more comforting in future-oriented or abstract contexts. A loan payment of $100/month for the next 180 months might be more agreeable than paying the same loan for the next 15 years.”

In the same article linked above, researchers found that when the larger benefit is presented first – in number form – it anchors the viewer’s perception in the benefit. For instance, offering 100 items at $5 each is perceived as a better deal than offering $5 items from a selection of 100 items.

Change your inner conversation

Coming up with new content for your blog requires changing how you come up with ideas for new content. Rather than devising ways to increase the quantity of articles you publish, spend time coming up with ways to provide more value to the visitor.