Chuck LEAN Business Consultant
What kinds of topics are you writing about?
How much success have you had?
I’m willing to wager that if you’re reading this article, you fall into one of two camps:
- Either you’ve been blogging for a while and just aren’t seeing the needle move or
- You’re just getting started with inbound marketing and want to make sure your first steps are in the right direction.
Whatever the case, I’m going to give you a comprehensive list of business blog topics you will want to start writing today.
Business Blog Topics
- Cost
- "Best of" Lists
- Comparisons
- Pros & Cons
- Benefits/Advantages of
- Problems (Your Problems)
- Problems (Their Problems)
- How-to/Tutorials
- Correlation/Causation
- Definition & Description
- Types/Classifications
- Qualifications
- Laws/Regulations/Requirements
- Myths & Misconceptions
- Reviews
- Ideas/Trends
- Timeline
Over the last four years, I’ve helped dozens of companies launch their inbound marketing strategies and one of the most important aspects of successful inbound marketing is choosing topics that not only connect with your audience but, ultimately, turn them into paying customers.
The mistake I’ve seen far too many businesses make is publishing blog content that simply isn’t relevant to their audience’s [removed]
The content doesn’t help customers make well-informed buying decisions. And because of that, it is either never read or it leaves little to no impact on the reader.
Where My Blog Topic List Comes From
I got my start working as a content manager for The Alaska Sleep Clinic (ASC). They diagnose and treat sleep apnea and other sleep disorders.
They have a service: sleep studies.
And they sell products: CPAP masks and machines.
To their misfortune, however, most of the blog articles on their site didn’t relate to the services they provided nor the equipment they sold.
Instead, they opted for light-hearted, entertaining, and fun articles like:
- “What do Dreams Mean?”
- “Celebrities with Sleep Disorders”
- “5 Bedtime Beauty Tips”
While those might be amusing to read on a site like [removed] , they don’t often help people make buying decisions.
I mean, do any of them sound like they relate to selling diagnostic tests or equipment?
Even if there are some valuable nuggets of information in there, the titles don’t make that known. They’re entertaining -- but not really educational.
When I joined Alaska Sleep, I would have made the same mistakes too because those were the kinds of articles I’d also read and think were interesting.
Fortunately for me, I had an amazing mentor in [removed] [removed]
Alaska Sleep hired Marcus to teach me the inbound marketing strategies outlined in his book, [removed] .
The basis of this strategy is a simple one: Answer the questions your audience is asking.
By applying the strategy of answering the most common questions the staff at ASC was asked on a regular basis from patients, I was able to grow the website traffic from 2,500 visits each month to over 400,000.
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I’ve since worked with dozens of businesses helping them answer the questions their prospects are asking.
Through reviewing the top-performing content on each site (by view counts, engagement, lead generation, and sales), I’ve found the common topics that bring companies the most results.
I’m going to share them with you below. And note, every link to examples listed in this article are from companies I’ve worked with both at The Sales Lion and here at IMPACT.
1. Cost Articles
Now, this one comes straight from what Marcus calls [removed] (as do four others on this list).
Have you ever searched online for how much you might pay for, say...anything?
If you’re like everybody with internet access, you have -- but how often do you get frustrated from not finding answers?
Quite often, right?
Cost questions are so important to buyers, but so few companies care to answer these questions. In fact, they’re afraid to.
Be the company that answers these questions. Cost articles are easy wins for traffic as well as conversions because they build trust.
Note: Cost is so important to not only write about but to get right, that I wrote an extensive article on the topic, [removed] .
Examples of Great Cost Articles
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2. “Best of” lists
Here’s a quick exercise:
Let’s say you’re thinking about picking up mountain biking.
You moved to a new place with lots of amazing bike trails. You’re ready to explore your new surroundings and have fun while doing it. The only problem is...you don’t have a bike, nor do you know anything about mountain biking.
If I asked you to turn to Google to find the perfect mountain bike, what is the very first search you type?
“Mediocre Mountain Bikes,” right?
No. Nobody has probably ever searched that.
Instead, you probably searched, “best mountain bikes.”
Or, if you wanted to get more specific, you might have searched “best mountain bikes for women,” “best mountain bikes for beginners,” or “best mountain bikes for muddy trails” (depending on where you live and ride).
“Best of” lists are successful for two significant reasons:
- They announce how digestible they are.
- We love ranking things and seeing how they stack up against others.
Common keywords to use: Any superlative adjective (best, top, fastest, easiest, strongest, longest-lasting, most popular, etc.)
Examples of Great “Best of Articles”
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3. Comparison Articles
To put things into neat little ranking orders, we often want to take some of the leading entries and have them duke it out in a head-to-head matchup.
You can either structure your article by seeing how the competitors fare against each other in different categories, or you can give each it’s own in-depth discussion detailing the pros and cons of it with a nice little wrap-up at the end.
Read More: [removed]
Examples of Great Comparison Articles
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4. Pros and Cons Articles
Buyer’s remorse sucks. Nobody wants to make a purchase only to regret it a short time later. When this happens, you’re often left wishing you had researched your decision just a little bit more.
With this in mind, one of those possible searches you’re likely to make is for a list of both the pros and the cons of the thing you want to buy.
We know we love to organize and rank things. In this case, we’re just organizing two columns and determining whether the benefits of the purchase outweigh the drawbacks.
Examples of Great Pros and Cons Articles
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5. Benefits Articles
Sometimes we just want to block out the bad stuff and only look at the good stuff.
With Benefit articles, you can write persuasive pieces that only highlight the advantages of a product or service.
While these are important, be aware that they are among the most common articles businesses are already writing about.
Readers are often a little more on-guard when reading these types of articles because they know we want to tell them how amazing our stuff is, and their BS flags will be quick to call us out for over inflating our value.
Be careful how far you push your chest out lest they roll their eyes at you and walk away.
Examples of Great Benefit Articles
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6. Problems (with the solution) Articles
If you really want to build trust with your audience, be willing to talk about the problems with your product or service.
You know, and I know, what you’re selling isn’t the perfect fit for everybody.
It might be a tough pill to swallow, but you should be the first to admit when this is so.
It may be hard to turn down potential leads, but if it was never going to work out in the first place, these kinds of articles can vet out bad fits.
On the other hand, some of the problems your readers heard about might actually have easy solutions. In your article, you can address the problems fairly and offer the right solutions, stopping their objection in its tracks.
Examples of Great Problem Articles
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7. Problems (that need a solution)
The buyer’s journey begins with a problem or pains your customer is experiencing.
They might not know the names of any of the possible solutions, but they’re very aware of their symptoms. So, they turn to search engines to help identify what their problem is (put a name to it) and see what the various solutions might be.
For example, at Alaska Sleep, the most frequently asked questions by our patients were about the problems they experienced:
- Why am I so tired all the time?
- Is snoring harmful?
- Is lack of sleep bad for my health?
- Reasons I can’t sleep at night
- Symptoms of insomnia
Ask yourself, “what is the root problem my products and services solve? How would my customers phrase their query?”
These articles are often top performers in bringing traffic to a site, but are also very top of the funnel and require lots of lead nurturing to close as sales.
Examples
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8. How-to/Tutorial Articles
Does your business have a YouTube account? If so, start shooting “How-to” videos. If not, make a page and start shooting How-to videos.
If you sell software-as-a-service, you should have tons of tutorial videos on how to use your product, but let’s look at another example.
Let’s say you sell and install home appliances, you should have articles on all your appliances with titles like:
- How to choose a dishwasher
- How to use a dishwasher
- How to clean a dishwasher
- How to troubleshoot a dishwasher
- How to replace a dishwasher’s Water Pump
- Side track: How to care for electrical burns
- How to tell if you need a dishwasher repairman
- How to choose a dishwasher repairman
- How to become a dishwasher repairman
Examples of Great How-to/Tutorial Articles
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9. Correlation/Causation Articles
Getting back to problem articles, many people might ask correlation/causation types of questions around the same time.
Perhaps they’ve got a problem, and they want to know if it’s being caused by X.
Or, they’ve heard of a solution, but want to make sure that the solution doesn’t lead to Y.
These are especially important questions to answer for medical clinics, but many industries can find value in answering these types of questions.
Examples of Correlation/Causation Articles
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10. Definition and Description Articles
Sometimes people just want a clear explanation of what that thing you sell is or what exactly that service you offer entails.
These articles can sometimes have high competition volume because they’re so easy to answer. You might even find sites like Wikipedia, dictionary.com, and the most authoritative entities in your industry ranking on the first page, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also answer these questions.
You might just have to write [removed] .
These article types can often serve as cornerstone pieces of content on a topic you regularly discuss. When you answer more granular questions on a topic, you can always link back to this article as the main hub.
Examples of Great Description & Definition Articles
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11. Type/Classification Articles
Type and classification articles are the offspring of comparison and definition articles.
They further categorize products and services into neat rows and columns to undergo review and you can write them just about anything.
For instance, in the last three years, I’ve really gotten into playing disc golf. One of the things I enjoy most about it is it’s an easy sport to learn, but a hard sport to master.
There are so many subtle nuances to playing, I often find myself geeking out on articles addressing topics like:
- Types of Disc golf discs
- Types of plastics for discs
- Types of throws
- Types of courses
- Classifications of tournaments
Examples of Great Type/Classification Articles
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12. Qualification Articles
How can you tell that the person or business you’re thinking of buying from is the most qualified (or at least minimally) to do the job?
Is the general contractor you hired to remodel your home legally able to perform the job or gone through additional certifications to prove his value? Is he licensed, bonded, and insured? What does any of that mean to you?
These articles are your opportunity to educate your audience on what they should be looking for in a high-quality product/service -- and maybe even position yourself as such in the process.
Also, if you’re hiring and training employees to fill specialist roles, you could write articles to better recruit or educate your own candidates.
Examples of Qualification Articles
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13. Law/Regulation/Requirement Articles
You’d probably agree that it’s best practice to keep yourself and your customers out of any kind of trouble, right?
Are there any laws pertaining to your products and services they should know about? Anything that could come back to haunt them?
Educate them on those with these types of articles. They’ll be thankful you did.
Examples of Law/Regulation/Requirement Articles
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14. Myth/Misconception Articles
Do some of your prospects have your products and services all wrong? Have they heard or been fed misinformation? Rumors can hurt any brand’s reputation.
Whether you have persistent misconceptions about the product you sell or your competitors are intentionally misleading prospects about your services, you can use your blog to clear the air once and for all.
Examples of Great Myth/Misconception Articles
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15. Review Articles
Getting back to comparison and “best of” articles, people search for reviews on products and providers of services as part of their vetting process.
If you sell products, consider reviewing every single product manufacturer, product line, and the individual product you sell.
Just remember to be as objective as possible, or let people know why you’re being subjective.
You may also want to include links to other reviews around the web in the process.
Video reviews are also very influential pieces of content. Just search any electronic on YouTube with “review” and you’re bound to find one.
Examples of Review Articles
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16. Idea/Trend Articles
Is your audience often looking for a little inspiration? A little guidance on how they can create something of their own (hopefully while using your product)?
These can be great articles if your product or service is very visual.
Maybe you sell furniture and also have interior designers on staff. In these articles, you can give show off different design ideas that would appeal to them.
If you sell cooking appliances, gadgets, trinkets, or gimmicks, you could showcase food trends or new dishes to try.
Then, as you’re giving your readers the creative nudge, link back to the pages where they can purchase the products and services that can bring their ideas to fruition.
Examples of Great Idea/Trend Articles
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17. Timeline Question Articles
How often do you answer questions that deal with the fourth dimension? Other than, like, right now?
All the time, right?
Let’s pretend you own a landscaping company. You probably get timeline questions daily. Customers want to know things like:
- How long will the job take?
- How long till my flowers bloom?
- When is the best time to hire a landscaper?
- How often should I have my trees trimmed and lawn mowed?
- Is it too late to put in a garden?
This is another opportunity for you to educate your audience on what it’ll be like working with you and set realistic expectations.
Examples of Great Timeline Articles
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Wrap Up
So there you have it, a list of blog article topics you can start writing today for your business that actually brings in traffic converts leads, and close sales.
Why?
Because they’re the questions people want to be answered before they make a purchase.
If you’re the one providing those answers, what do you think their impression of you is going to be?
That you’re honest, trustworthy, and you care about educating your customers.
The kind of business they want to buy from.
Are you using these blog topics to bring in traffic that may convert leads, and close sales.
Fifteen Types Of Blogs Your Customers Will Want To Read
• Pose a question a customer has recently asked and answer it. If you do not have “real” questions, visit forums, LinkedIn questions, Merchant Circle questions or questions posed on other blogs/blog comments. Whatever the source, start with real issues that are current.
• Instruct your visitors how to do something. For example, this blog is instructing you on some basic topics you can blog about in an effort to help you write your own blog.
• Write about what not to do. Although this sounds counterintuitive, there is a lot of misinformation out there. It can be helpful to debunk myths and warn your audience against taking actions that could harm them. One of our clients, a Long Island law firm, does this through blogging about common mistakes and misconceptions related to various estate planning subjects. The blog entries are short bursts of “truths” that are extremely valuable to readers.
• Review something. Review a company, a product, a service etc. that is relevant to your industry or closely tied to your customer base’s lives. Offer a unique perspective that is not found elsewhere online, or review features and benefits others have overlooked.
• Compare and contrast. Compare several products or services in a way that others have not done so before. For example, a marketing agency might compare several email service providers to help their readers understand why they work with company X. The entry helps build confidence in the agency while educating customers.
• Do a case study on a local company or organization with a topic that relates to your target audience. For example, we recently did a [removed] on Long Island in which we discussed some of the local marketing strategies they used to integrate into the Long Island community seamlessly. The article is geared towards small local businesses. People can often relate to local places, brands and those that they interact with (i.e. the characters in their daily ‘story’) in their daily lives better than they can with theoretical cases.
• Offer a controversial viewpoint to a “hot” new topic. While this is not for everyone, to get the attention some people choose to take a current story and debate it or offer a contradictory view. Our view is that as long as you are presenting an authentic viewpoint with a rationale rather than writing something simply to provoke visitors and drive traffic, you will be in a better position when people start commenting on your blog and expecting well thought out responses!
• Share News and recently published information in your industry with your customers/clients. For example, a law firm or CPA firm might explain how a new estate planning or tax law in New York can save families $10,000 or more if they make X, Y and Z adjustments to their estate plans.
• Simplify something technical and make it accessible. Take a technical subject and break it down into relevant bite-sized pieces for your audience. If it helps better communicate what your company does and the value it creates for customers, that is an added benefit! For example, while some clients are savvy in Search Engine Optimization or SEO, others have never heard of it before. It can be very helpful to write posts that help prospects overcome obstacles and customers understand at a deeper level what you are doing for their business. This gets back to the importance of writing for your audience, not for your peers.
• Perform and share research. Perform research on a topic and present it to your readers on your blog. Demonstrate how your study proves your hypothesis [removed] Data is your friend here. Make sure it is significant and substantiated. Show sources.
• Discuss a trend or forecast a trend. If there is a trend to discuss, present or debate, a blog can be a great place to start the conversation and see what is on other people’s minds about the same subject.
• Spotlight a business or a customer that did something remarkable. We’re all looking for inspiration and like to hear about remarkable events and people. Truly remarkable events don’t happen every day, so if you have a story to tell, it can make for a great blog entry.
• Provide Subject Matter Expertise (SME) on a specific subject. For example, one of our clients writes articles on parenting strategies related to managing ADHD children. Each article written substantiates the writer’s expertise and authority in her niche while giving her clients a complimentary resource.
• Summarize another blog or article you have read. Not the most creative approach, however, if you take a long or complex article, or something not previously publicly available, you can add value to your audience by packaging the essence of the article and summarizing key points in a new blog entry. It is important to openly give credit to and link to the original source.
• Relate a personal event to a business learning. Share a story that your readers can identify with — a story that simultaneously adds personality and offers a more personal insight into who your company “is” at heart. Personalization can help earn trust and show a more ‘human’ side to your blog.
Take Away
The common thread to all of these blog ideas is to think about your audience first and blog about something you believe is important to them in an authentic way. Blogs are social media meant to spur interaction and engagement. When you put the reader first and your aim is to inspire, educate, motivate, and help your readers, you will find the process and the results more rewarding.
We will provide more tips on blogging best practices, blog optimization, and how to take your blog and market it using online marketing tools in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned! If you have any questions, please contact our [removed] or reply here. Thanks!
Reference terms: What to blog about, writing a blog, starting a blog, blogging topics, blog ideas, blogging for customers, blogging best practices, blogging tips, how to write a blog