Want to update your blog, but you’re just not in the mood? Check out my guide to thinking up stellar article ideas and getting the motivation to write!
Picture the scene. It’s 2pm on a Friday afternoon in August, and it’s absolutely sweltering.
You’re in the office, counting down the hours until you can go home and sit in a pub beer garden with a glass of wine.
(Don’t drink? Half a coke or a mocktail, whatever you fancy.)
However you’ve got to write an article for the company blog before you can stick your sunglasses on and run out the door.
I’ve been there both as an in-house marketer and a freelancer. Thinking of and creating content can be hard, especially if you’re writing about an industry that’s for the lack of a better word, not an exciting one.
Sometimes you’re waiting for something to inspire you, but it doesn’t come.
With this in mind, I’ve put together a comprehensive guide to coming up with article ideas, as well as how to write content quickly and efficiently.
How to come up with article ideas
Thinking of good articles is half the battle. You need to come up with ideas that answer your prospective customers’ questions and encourage them to convert.
The good news is that with a bit of preparation and research, you can come up with weeks, even months, of blog post ideas.
Do some brainstorming
Here’s something I do when I need to create blog titles for my website. I grab a notebook and pen, set a five-minute timer on my phone, and scribble down as many ideas as I can.
Seriously, don’t worry if an idea is a bad one or not viable, just write it down.
When the timer is up, you’ll have lots of article ideas you can refine. This method is excellent for thinking up ideas you might not have initially considered.
If the idea of writing stuff down on a piece of paper fills you with dread, there are online platforms that can help you come up with article ideas too.
The benefit of this is that you can identify topics and keywords people are searching for as well as how often they’re searching for them. Ideal if you want to write articles that rank.
One of my favourite tools is AnswerThePublic. This uses the autocomplete suggestions on Google, Bing, TikTok, Amazon, and YouTube and presents them in an easy-to-read format.
(Of course you don’t need to use AnswerThePublic to get this information, but it saves so much time!)
Most keyword research platforms have specialist tools that make identifying content ideas really easy.
For example, Semrush’s Keyword Strategy Builder lets you enter some starting keywords and comes up with topic ideas, including pillar pages and topic clusters. I’ll talk about this concept in more detail later.
Spy on the competition
An easy way to get inspiration is to look at what your competitors are writing about.
Of course, you don’t want to steal their ideas – that’s not cool. But you can use their content as a springboard for your own posts.
For example, let’s say your nearest rival has written an article about ‘the best drinks to cool you down in the summer heat.’ You could flip the script and write an article about ‘which drinks you shouldn’t order when it’s hot.’
Moz talks about creating 10x content – content that is ten times better than what is already ranking in the search engines. So another good strategy is to take an existing article your competitor has created and make it better, providing even more value to customers.
How can you do this? Suppose your competitor has written a blog post about ‘the top ten vegan restaurants to visit in London.’ You could create an article that goes into more detail and covers twenty places to eat, alongside photos, the best dishes to order, prices, and reviews.
Extend on an existing piece of content
Sometimes you get a blog article that does exceptionally well. For example, my article about how to write a tender ranks on the first page of Google for specific keywords and gets a lot of organic traffic as a result.
If you’re stuck for ideas, you can take inspiration from your most popular posts.
For example, let’s say you’ve written an article about decorating a home office, which contains a short paragraph about the most popular colours to paint your walls.
A good idea is to create a new blog post that goes into more detail about paint colours. This could include information about the different paint finishes, a comparison between warm and cool shades, and the psychology of colour.
Earlier in this article, I talked about pillar pages and topic clusters. A pillar page is an extensive article about a particular topic, which links out to topic clusters – pages that go into detail about the individual sections on the pillar page.
In this situation, your article about decorating a home office would be a pillar page, and your article about paint colours would be a topic cluster.
Thinking of your articles in terms of pillar pages and topic clusters is an easy way to generate new content ideas and keep your blog organised.
Write ideas down when inspiration strikes
Have you ever had a really awesome dream, but when you wake up, you can’t remember what the dream was about? All you remember was that it was amazing.
The same logic applies to article ideas. I can’t remember how many times I’ve had a fantastic idea for a blog post, only to forget about it when I log into my computer!
Carry a notepad in your bag or install a note-taking app on your phone – I like Google Keep. Then if you’re out walking the dog or waiting in line for coffee, you can write down thoughts when inspiration strikes.
I also use Trello to save article ideas for my own blog, as well as for clients. I set up a list and add cards to it when I see something I’d like to look at in more detail, like a LinkedIn post or news article. I can then add additional info, like keywords and relevant links as I think of them.
Ask your customers
Your customers can be a great source of blog ideas. Plus, if you’re creating content that answers their questions, you’re one step closer to getting them to convert on your site.
You can ask them directly, whether that’s through email, on social media, or face-to-face. If you’re not in a position to do this, look through your email messages, form submissions, and live chat logs to see what your customers want to know.
That’s how my 30 days of LinkedIn prompts article came about. I used to work in marketing and a couple of members of staff wanted to post more on LinkedIn, so I put together a list of prompts to help them out.
Create a content calendar
Creating a content calendar takes time and effort to set up, sure. But once it’s in place, you’ve got months, even years of article ideas to work off of.
A content calendar is a document that outlines what you’re going to post and when. It’s fantastic for when you want to keep on track and post consistently. It’s also good when multiple people are involved, as you can identify who is responsible for each element of the article, like sourcing images, editing, and posting on your site.
But how can you use your content calendar to help generate content? Through themes. Every month or every quarter, identify a different theme to blog about.
For example, let’s say you run a website selling dog treats. One of your monthly themes might be DIY dog treat recipes.
So you could write articles about the best recipes for puppies, the best recipes for dogs with sensitive tummies, the best recipes for fresh breath, and the best no-bake treats. Job done.
Content calendars also lend themselves to pillar pages and topic clusters. You can identify which articles will be pillar pages and which clusters to write around them.
How to write content when you’re not in the mood
How long does it take to write a blog post? How long is a piece of string?
According to a study by HubSpot, it takes most marketers between one and two hours to write 500 words. HubSpot did this study before ChatGPT cannonballed into our lives, so odds are, writing now takes a little less time than before.
However, speaking from personal experience, the actual time can vary greatly. If I’m creating content I know a lot about, I can write 500 words in 45 minutes if I’m in the zone.
However, let’s say I’m writing a post about something new that I have to research. For example, the state of the mechanical engineering industry in South East Asia post-covid (no word of a lie folks, this was an actual article I wrote when I started freelancing.) This will take longer.
That article took me about six hours to write, and I got paid naff-all for it. Never again.
The good news is that there are things you can do to make the writing process faster and a lot more pleasant. Here are some tips I’ve picked up over the years.
Write first, edit later
When I first started copywriting, I used to edit my work as I went along. The problem with doing this is that it disrupted my creative flow and meant content took a lot longer to write.
A copywriting friend recommended writing an article first and then editing it afterwards. Complete game changer.
Here’s a helpful tip. If you’re stuck on a particular sentence, for example, you want to segue into a new paragraph but aren’t sure how, just leave a note and move on to the next section. Chances are that when you come back to it, you’ll have a better idea of what to say.
Want to write quickly but need some motivation? There’s a website called The Most Dangerous Writing App, which I used a lot back in the day. You set a time and start writing – if you stop, your content gets deleted.
Trust me, if you’re not a fast typer, this website will make you one!
Plan your structure
Before you start writing, I recommend putting an article structure in place with headings and key points you want to mention.
That way, if you’re stuck on a particular section, you can skip it, go to the next bit, and revisit it later. An additional bonus is that you can ensure your writing is always relevant and appeals to your target reader – does what you’re writing tie in with the heading?
While I wouldn’t use AI tools to write an article, they can be good at helping you plan if you’re stuck.
Open up your AI tool of choice and provide as much detail about your article as possible, including optimal length, call-to-action, and what points you want to cover. It will then put together a brief structure for you to edit as needed.
Ignore distractions
Did you know it takes 23 minutes to get back on track with your work after you get distracted?
So every time a cold email pings in your inbox or your boss loiters around your computer, you’re getting further and further away from the goal of writing your article.
Sucks, doesn’t it? The good news is that there are things you can do to reduce the risk of losing focus.
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- Schedule article writing on days when you work from home. If this isn’t an option, book out a meeting room and stick a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door
- Block out time in your calendar so people know not to call or visit you
- Put your headphones on to remove external noise. I struggle to listen to music while I’m working, but the LoFi Girl playlist is fantastic. Alternatively, brown noise is great for blocking background sound like annoying neighbours and overly chatty co-workers
- Lock your phone away in a drawer and minimise any email and video call apps on your computer
I like using the Pomodoro technique when I have to knuckle down and get things done. This is when you work uninterrupted for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break. After doing this four times, you take a 20-minute break. You can set a timer on your phone, or there are apps you can download.
The Pomodoro technique works well as it’s structured, and you have something to work towards.
I always grab a fresh coffee and scroll through Reddit during my long breaks!
Leave the heading and intro until last
Writing killer headings and introductions is hard. You need to create content that neatly summarises the whole article and encourages people to read to the end.
Scary fact for you – five times as many people read the headline as they do the body copy. As David Ogilvy famously said: “When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”
No pressure.
In my experience, the best way to save time is to leave the heading and intro until last. This lets you get a clearer understanding of what the article will be about, making it easier to write a solid starting section.
And if it means one less AI-generated article that starts with “in the realm of X….”, it’s a bonus!
Take a break
I know, I know, it sounds counterproductive. But if you’re struggling to write, taking a short break away from your desk can motivate you and stop you from feeling overwhelmed.
If you can get outside and take a short walk, that’s ideal. Exercise gets the blood pumping, which means more oxygen to your brain. Plus, studies show that walking boosts creativity by 60%.
Can’t get out for a walk? No worries. Take an early lunch. Get started on another task. Speak to a colleague in another department and moan about how you’re struggling to write your article.
It’s all good.
Need additional blog inspiration?
Writing good blog articles is a lot trickier than it looks. Heck, I’ve been writing them for over 15 years and there are still times when I stare at my screen and think, “Is it the end of the day yet?”
However, there are things you can do to make the ideation and writing process far less painful.
Of course, the least painful way to write blogs for your website is to get someone else to do it.
I have several years of experience writing well-researched, SEO-optimised articles for industries including digital marketing, construction, and energy management.
Click the button below, and let’s see how I can save you time creating articles that deliver results for your business.
