Running an online business is difficult. If you have been trying to rank a website or start any type of online business, then you probably know that content is important. And (hopefully) you know that a lot of content is important. I know.. this sucks because it takes time to build content and can be very challenging. After all, writing content is procrastination’s waiting room. Or is it? Join me in a simple journey to writing some stellar content that would bring a tear of joy to Shakespeare’s eye. I promise you that it will be an enjoyable experience. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Coming up with Ideas

We know that it is hard to come up with writing content on a constant basis, but there are a few ways to curb this dilemma by doing some simple research. There are 3 different methods to content research.

Method A: Researching Offline

The internet is loaded with great resources, but can end up sucking up your entire day with the plethora of information that is out there. A great strategy is to walk away from the computer and find inspiration or resources offline such as a magazine related to your niche or business. In these trade/niche magazines, there is a surplus of ideas where you can take and build into awesome online content. There is no need to buy these magazine, simply hangout at your local book store and browse through the page to see what captures your interest.

Method B: Keyword Research

This is by far the most common way to find ideas for content. But many rely on search volume and other metrics, then the brainstorming intention gets lost. I personally have two methods to finding content ideas via keyword research that have nothing to do with search volume or the level of competition:
  1. Alphabet Soup Technique
  2. Using Jaxxy Brainstorm feature

The Alphabet Soup Technique

Alphabet Soup Technique is where you leverage the power of Google Instant and let Google give you suggestions as you type.

How To Write Content For Your Website

Articleheader Howtowritecontent
In the example image above, you see I have written ‘how to write content for your website’ and below that Google has given me other suggestions based on what I have written. That in itself is great for content ideas, but the intention of the Alphabet Soup Technique is to use a basic root keyword and then go through the alphabet for additional suggestions. Have a look at what I get when I add ‘how to write a’ and notice the suggestions pick up from where I left off.

How To Write A

Next, I add the letter ‘b’ right after the ‘a’ to come up with additional suggestions.

How To Write Ab

One of those suggestions stood out to me, so I dig a little deeper by simply adding a space after my search to see what I can get.

How To Write About Yourself Person

The phrase ‘how to write about yourself without using first person’ is an awesome content piece that would probably pick up some great traffic and additional keywords based on the content that I would write. And it took me under 60 seconds to find that phrase. If you would like to see the entire process via video, check out the walkthrough below.

Alphabet Soup Video

Using Jaaxy Brainstorm Feature

Jaaxy is an awesome keyword research tool that does so much more that give out keyword research results. It can help you discover untapped high traffic niches by starting out with a simple broad keyword. In this example, I researched ‘how to write blog posts’ and within a few seconds I had my initial results and a ton of other results. Upon further investigation, I looked at the related keywords area on the left and noticed ‘writing effective business blog posts’ as a potential keyword idea.

Jaaxysearch

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t look at the search volume or how difficult the competition is related to that keyword because I know it will rank for a variety of other terms based on my content within the article, so I am good to go! It really isn’t that hard to come up with content ideas if you follow these simple steps to help you discover some amazing niche topics for your blog or website.

Step 2: Writing the Content

Here is where many people fall short and feel they run into a stumbling block. Folks tend to not know what to write and my theory is that they are chasing after that perfect article. The other stumbling block seems to be wanting to write for the search engines and NOT the reader – huge mistake

Write for the Reader

Ask yourself the following: Who buys from you?
  1. Google
  2. Your Readers
Unless you have a master plan to have the search engines sponsor all of your content, I would advise you focus on writing content for your readers. There is more to life than Google. That mind shift alone will help you improve as a content author and entice you to build more content more often.

Planning Your Content with Bullets

I am not sure if anyone else does this, but it works for me. Before I start any of the creative writing process, I build a brainstorming list of what I am going to write about.

Contentbrainstorm

The above image represents what I am writing about here. If fact, I ended up doing an entire live case study about this article over at Wealthy Affiliate where I am the live training coach. The list is in (somewhat) a chronological order and I may not use every point listed, but it gets my brain going in terms of what I want to write about.

Start with a Foreshadow

In your opening paragraph, you need to let people know what they are about to read. It can be as simple as ‘In this article, I am join going to discuss..’.

Just Write

This is that part where you just go ahead and write, don’t be scared of being perfect because it’s not going to happen. Once you realize that a perfect article isn’t important, it will make writing so much easier!

Add Images

As you’ve seen within this article, there are a few images to visually represent what I am talking about. It is nice to have visuals that go along with your content because it breaks up the words a bit and keeps the reader engaged. When adding images, keep them aligned to the right or centered below the content. Images on the left side tend to break the visitors reading pattern.

Your Bottom Line

The last paragraph is where you should summarize what was written and how you ‘solved’ the problem. I also think it is important to ask a question to your audience to entice them in user engagement within the comments area.

That’s It!

Writing is only as hard as you make it. If you follow the above steps when it comes to planning and actually writing your content, you’ll be blasting out awesome content for your site all the time. Just be yourself and don’t worry about having the perfect article. We are our worst critics! What is your biggest challenge when it comes to writing content? Let me know your thoughts below.
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11 Comments

  1. Hi Jay i really like your article. I have a question what technique or strategy i can use to create content of a niche that i don’t know anything. I can use google to look for some ideas and creating content based on other site information or what do you do. I like technology as Iphone, android, tablets, etc. Do you think this is a good niche to work since there are a lot of authority sites on this field.

    Or you think I need to focus in an specific item on this niche and create my site. I really appreciated your feedback

  2. Thanks for the great post Jay. I wanted to add one additional thing as far as where to get ideas for your next content piece.

    It’s a really easy one too. All you have to do is ask your audience what they would like to know more about.

    This can be accomplished in a few different ways…..

    1. Create a post titled “What would you like to know more about x?”
    2. Ask on your Facebook Fanpages, Google +, Twitter, etc….
    3. If you do video marketing (this one really works) ask your audience what they struggle with when it comes to your niche.

    Doing this accomplishes a couple of things in my opinion. First, it gives you ideas for content that your audience is desperately craving and second, it helps you build lasting relationships with them.

    Once again, thanks for this awesomesauce post Jay and keep em rolling!

    Tony

  3. Excellent post Jay … Always great to see how ideas come together and quite often the thought processes behind them. Great read with lots of useful tips which I know many people are going to gleam from – Great work as always. Richard

  4. Just was watching your video “Happy conversions Funnel” and then visited your site again. Came across your article and found it really great.

    Writing for READERS and not for Google is exactly what took me some time to understand. As always, very simple but missed out by many folks unfortunately.

    Google is not going to rank our sites based on our preferences or ALL in one SEO plugin settings. Rather it will rank based on our actual content.

    Thanks again for a great video lessons within WA and a great job at affiliateresources

  5. Like always another great post! You have inspired me to write today and I felt great doing it. I even enjoyed it. Thank You Jay for your amazing posts.

  6. Great article, inspired me as well posted this on Facebook and through HootSuite to cover all social networks at once. Have learned a great deal thanks!

  7. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you develop the strategy for writing this article, and I am even more impressed with the final product. You’ve inspired me, Jay! Thanks.

    Pat

  8. One thing that you said that is something that so many people miss the boat on is that when you create content, you are building content for YOUR READERS.

    Too many folks get caught up in search engine algorithms and hunting for the next “hole” they can expose in Google’s search. Guess what happens, they find a hole, Google patches it, and then they have no business because Google has put their entire website in the dog house.

    Google and other search engines chase relentlessly after not keyword rich content, but content that is the most engaging, highest quality, most helpful out there. That is why the same techniques work 5 years ago that work now and that is creating quality content.

    Simple as that. Of course, a brilliantly helpful piece here Jay!

    1. Thanks Kyle!

      And this is the reason why I don’t focus on search volume and competition as this ends up being a battle with the search engines and the readers are the victims.

      1. Yeah, agreed. In saying that, if you have a grasp of QSR (the real competition) it can make it much easier to cherry pick rankings (also as you have covered). There is so much of that low hanging fruit out there that it is going to keep us busy for a lifetime!