1) Create a Tutorial
One of the best ways to build a band of loyal blog followers is to become a valuable resource for information and guidance on your subject. Tutorials are outrageously popular with audiences, particularly on YouTube, because they are instructive and often help people to achieve a goal or bring an idea to life easily and more cost effectively.
If you have a secret trick for troubleshooting something in your blog’s subject area, why not share it? Quick fixes and clear problem-solving instructions are highly shareable and could very well lead to a host of new followers.
Recipes, step-by-step diagrams, or full blown explainer videos are all relatively simple to produce for a blog, and if your topic is in high demand online you could reap the rewards.
2) Disagree with something or someone
While it’s great when things go our way, it isn’t necessarily interesting to others. What people do find interesting is when things go awry and make you mad enough to blog about it.
Take this poor chap, for example. He’s been given a tough time all over the internet because he’s ginger and told he has no soul. In response, he takes to the internet to give his tormentors a piece of his mind. While you open yourself to ridicule (as this guy unfortunately has), it’s a sure-fire way to pique public interest. Thirty-four million views and a South Park spoof demonstrate the overwhelming popularity of the angry rant as a blog post genre.
3) Product or Service Review
Most purchasing decisions have an element of research involved, a lot of which occurs online. By helping your audience to compare products, or by giving your honest feedback on products or services you have bought, you provide a very helpful service to your audience.
If something is cheap, free, or you were planning to buy or use it anyway, get in ahead of the pack and get your review up online as soon as possible.
Be honest and detailed with your feedback. How does it compare to previous incarnations of the product? Does it work? What’s the packaging like? Is it good value for money? Would you recommend this to a friend? What are the negatives? Be thorough so that readers get the most value and information possible to make their decisions.
4) Answer a Question
Google has become so intelligent that we now expect it to just know what we’re talking about, and have forgotten that just a few years ago we had to dumb down our requests for the search engine to understand. Our search expectations have gone up as Google has become more sophisticated. We type keywords less often, and instead use complex questions. For that reason the use of keywords, while still important, are less powerful than content that answers a question in detail. Use Google Keywords Planner and the Google Search Bar to brainstorm some questions in your subject area and take time producing a great answer. The more detail you can go into with pictures, videos and step-by-step advice, the better your posts will perform.
5) Write a List
Lists are the internet’s current flavour of the month and it’s not yet too late to jump on the bandwagon. While they are a great way to build your following now, I wouldn’t base your entire blog on this format as Buzzfeed has. No content format will be popular forever. Just like infographics, comics and quizzes ripped through the internet and made The Oatmeal incredibly popular a few years ago, the days of the list (and Buzzfeed for that matter) are numbered.
Five formulas for great blog content that can be applied to any subject, by Niamh Kinsella, account manager at TopLine Communications.
