Honestly, the hardest part of writing a blog post is the brainstorming stage. Finding the right topics to cover can be a huge challenge. While it’s usually pretty obvious when you’ve made the correct choice, it’s somewhat less clear when your topics have fallen flat – and why.
Let’s talk about that. Here are a few red flags that you’ve selected the wrong topics for your blog.
Your Niche is Either Overcrowded or Totally Dead
Content marketing is a highly-saturated discipline, such that standing out is a bit of a challenge. With that in mind, you might be tempted to go for a topic that no one has ever written about. That can work, but in most cases, if something hasn’t been covered, there’s a reason for it.
Maybe the topic is too complicated. Maybe it’s too simplistic. Or maybe the audiences in your niche simply don’t care about it.
Similarly, if you’re suffering from writer’s block, you might opt for a topic that everyone’s buzzing about. Do this only with caution. Otherwise, unless you can put a unique spin on your content, it’ll just end up getting lost in the noise.
Your Blog Receives Zero Engagement
If your blog is receiving no engagement because it’s receiving no traffic, that’s probably a search engine optimization problem. You’ll want to look into the possibility that you’ve made mistakes with your on-page SEO. If, however, your traffic numbers are fine, then there’s an issue with your blog.
This could be a range of things.
- Your content isn’t well-written. Check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
- Your posts have no flair behind them. Work on imbuing them with your own personal brand.
- Your content is either too long or too short. Find the right ‘sweet spot’ for your audience.
- Your blog is difficult to navigate or read.
- Your headline and sub-heads are terrible.
Provided you do a content review and everything else checks out – you’re certain it’s none of the above – then that just leaves one thing. You’ve chosen the wrong blog topics. For whatever reason, they simply aren’t resonating with your audience.
You’re Bored
When it comes time to sit down and write, you simply cannot motivate yourself to do so. You have no passion for your niche and no genuine interest in your chosen topic. Rather than enjoying the writing process, you begin looking at it as a horrendous chore.
You’d rather be doing anything but writing.
In short, you find your topic painfully boring. Not only will this manifest as writer’s block – an inability to even brainstorm effective topics for your blog – but it’ll also be reflected in your writing. When someone doesn’t care about the topic they’re covering, that comes across in their tone and style.
Put another way, if you’re bored, then your readers are bored.
But what if you’re using a ghostwriter for your blog? In that case, look at what they’ve written for you. Do you find it interesting? Compelling? Informative? Do you care enough to read it, or do you tune out after the first few sentences?
If you find a post boring, then your audience probably will too.
Write Smarter
Topic selection is one of the most challenging steps in the writing process. It’s also one of the most difficult. It’s important that you write about stuff that actually resonates with your audience – and more importantly, that resonates with you. Following the advice outlined in this piece will make it that much easier for you to do so.