Creating a Content Strategy for Your New Blog

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When you launch a new blog, it’s a good idea to have some kind of content strategy in place. That doesn’t just mean that you should have a basic category structure setup, or a posting schedule in mind, or a handful of ideas to blog about.

Your content strategy is your long-term plan for the content on your blog. Although it can (and will) change periodically over time, having a long-term content strategy can help you avoid the common pitfall of quickly running out of blogging ideas.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when outlining a long-term content strategy for your new blog (valid for any niche):

  • Are there any regular features you can include (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) that will not only keep ideas coming in for you, but that will build anticipation regularly with your readers? For example, I offer daily freelance writing job listings on one of my blogs, which brings me repeat traffic daily. On a related blog, I offer weekly links to other blog posts in the niche for people to catch up on the field’s news from the week that’s ending. You may find that a weekly tip would suit your audience, or regular interviews or features on other sites and resources. People like stability, and these “themes” can help you to get out of a rut if you can’t think of anything completely different to write about.
  • Do you have any content series ideas for the future that would give you a longer collection of post ideas? For example, maybe you can write a 10-piece series on basic HTML, or a 30-post series on how to lose 10 pounds in a month. Make a list of all of the series ideas you can think of while you’re still excited about the new blog.
  • Is it realistic to think you could get guest posters to offer content on your blog (or can you afford to pay a regular blogger to keep it fresh)?
  • Is your niche topic news-heavy, where you can link to interesting news stories and write your own short commentary when you’re having an otherwise slow day in coming up with post ideas?

One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that many bloggers are excited and passionate about their blogs when they’re new, but that fizzles to some degree when they realize exactly how much work is involved in the writing, marketing, etc. of their blog. It’s vital to understand early on that the ideas can seem endless in the beginning, but they can seem to dry up down the road. Take advantage of that start-up mentality, and plan as much of your long-term content strategy as possible, and avoid blogger’s block in the not-too-distant future.

This post was originally featured on January 22, 2008.

Jenn Mattern

Jenn Mattern is a professional blogger, freelance business writer, consultant, and indie author. An active digital publisher, she runs numerous websites and blogs including All Freelance Writing, Freelance Writing Pros, and Kiss My Biz.

Jenn has over 20 years' experience working as a solopreneur running a 3-prong business of offering freelance writing and consulting services, running digital publications, and operating as an indie publisher of predominantly e-books.

This experience includes 25 years working as a professional writer and editor, more than 20 years' experience in marketing and PR (specializing in areas like digital PR, online marketing, social media, and SEO), 19 years' experience as a professional blogger / online publisher (including web development), and around 18 years of experience as an indie author / publisher.

At Kiss My Biz, Jenn shares stories, tips, and tools from her own adventures in solopreneurship, while aiming to help fellow solopreneurs and creative professionals succeed even where it feels against the odds.

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