Each article should generate future ideas
Creating a blog isn’t just publishing a single article and calling it good for the month. New articles should be published regularly, weekly ideally. Coming up with that many topics can be tricky when you first start a blog. When done right (read that as ‘best), each blog article written should generate ideas for future content ideas. Writing blogs that help produce topics for future blogs can create an ongoing conversation with your readers. It stands to reason that if a blog post doesn’t inspire at least two or three other new articles, it might not be worth writing and developing. This mindset helps to ensure that your blogging strategy stays efficient, consistent, and most importantly valuable to your audience.
The Power of Related Content
Every blog article you write has the potential to be spun off into related content. Think of it as a starting point to a great series, not the conclusion. For example, I wrote a blog post about the best SEO practices. After writing that article, it’s obvious to do a follow-up post about the worst SEO mistakes or practice. Contrary to how it may sound, this kind of content pairing keeps your blog fresh and relevant as it gives readers a dive deeper into the topics.
By having a blog article generate ideas for other blog articles you can also help strengthen and develop your authority. This authority can be with your demographic as well as search engines. Readers will value you as a knowledgeable source if you continue to go deeper into various aspects of a single idea. As an added bonus, writing interconnected posts can help to improve your website’s internal linking structure, which is a huge SEO ranking factor. When your blog posts link to one another, search engines understand the depth and authority of your content, thus leading to higher overall ranking.
Creating a Content Web
Imagine your blog as an interconnected web where each article or post is a singular point that is then connected to others. This “content web” ensures that your posts work together to build a complete resource for your audience. Instead of creating random and disjointed blog articles, you’re building a connected network of highly valuable content. This content web can help to encourage your audience to explore further and build more trust with you and your brand.
For example, if someone lands on a blog about SEO best practices, there is a considerable chance that they’ll want to read related topics and articles such as keyword research, on-page optimization, or link-building strategies. By inter-weaving these topics into future blog posts, you’re creating a natural flow of content that benefits both the reader and your SEO efforts.
This strategy can also help with reader engagement. When you offer multiple articles on topics or ideas, your audience will likely stay on your site longer as they navigate from post to post. This will boost your website’s analytics and also enhances the user experience by providing the in-depth information they’re looking for.
How to Find New Blog Ideas From a Single Post
Finding new ideas from existing content is not actually that difficult. In fact, some of the best content strategies revolve around reimagining, retelling, or expanding on what you’ve already written. Here are three simple ways to generate new blog ideas from past post:
Opposites: A great way to generate new article ideas is to simply flip a blog article on its head. As mentioned before, I’ve written a post on the best SEO practices, making it a logical step to write about the worst SEO mistakes. This creates a natural contrast that engages readers and also keeps new articles coming out.
Deeper Dives: Sometimes when writing a blog article, you’ll find a section within the blog post that deserves its own article. For example, when writing a blog about keywords, I had a section about long-tail keywords. After writing the first article, I took that smaller section and wrote a second article going into great detail about long-tail keywords. Doing this allows you to explore the topic in greater depth and easily provide more value to your readers.
Complementary Topics: Certain topics naturally flow into others. After writing a post about hamburgers, you might want to explore rela
ted ideas like cheese, pickles, and hot dogs. These complementary topics tie back to your original blog post and help build a well-rounded content strategy.
A foundation for future content
Each blog post you write should serve as a foundation for future content. By having the idea that every article should inspire at least two or three others, you’ll create a steady flow of blog ideas, ensuring that your content strategy remains fresh, engaging, and effective. Not only does this approach improve your SEO and content interlinking, but it also saves you time in brainstorming, as you’ll have a constant stream of new ideas ready to go. So, the next time you sit down to write a blog, ask yourself: Can this post inspire more content? If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track.