Looking for some ideas to simplify your content creation process?

What follows are 26 tips, from A-Z, to help you create optimal blog posts every time you sit down to write.

#1: Anatomically Correct

A blog post contains several areas that require our attention and care. Pamela Seiple refers to six parts of the anatomy of a lead-generating blog post:

• Eye-catching title
• In-text links to landing pages
• Sidebar/banner calls to action
• Social sharing buttons
• Call to action at the bottom
• Relevancy—making sure the post is relevant from top to bottom

Parts of the blog anatomy.

Example of more anatomical parts to include in your blog posts.

#2: Blogging Platform

By knowing the ins and outs of your blogging platform, you’ll ensure that your posts look as good as they can. Take the time to master the visual editor (or raw HTML, if you prefer) so that you know how to format a post, insert an image and embed a video or podcast.

Whether you’re working in platforms such as WordPress, Tumblr or Posterous, it’s good to stay up to date on the features and new versions.

If you’re not comfortable with the more technical aspects of blogging, try to find someone who can be a resource for you to answer questions as they arise.

WordPress' editor where you can toggle between visual and HTML editing functions.

#3: Categories

Whether your new blog post is a stand-alone article or part of a series you’re writing, it should fit into your blog categories as well as your overall corporate content strategy. Meaning that you want to stay on topic and have your posts fit into the categories you’ve established.

For example, HubSpot has nine categories on their blog. Posts are written to fit in with each of these categories. Writing about category topics such as analytics, blogging, email marketing, HubSpot TV, etc., allows both readers and writers to stay focused on what they can expect to see on HubSpot’s blog.

When you choose your categories, ask yourself, do they make sense, and do they fit into the objectives of my business? Having clearly defined blog categories will help you continue generating meaningful content and topics for your blog.

Write posts that fit into your categories.

#4: Description

Most search engines will use a maximum of 160 characters for your post description on their results pages. If you don’t create a meta-description (defined as a “…concise summary of your page’s content”), a search engine will often take the first 160 characters it finds on your page instead.

Note too, that when you create a meta-description that is fewer than 160 characters, you’ll see the full description in the search engine. Otherwise it will be cut off.

An example of a meta-description created within the All-In-One SEO Pack plugin in WordPress.

An example of how a post's description appears in Google search results with and without the meta-description.

#5: Editorial Calendar

Bloggers find editorial calendars helpful for scheduling and organizing topics for posts. Some people use their calendars to track more elaborate details.

Michele Linn suggests using specific tabs in a spreadsheet to track info for each post such as: post date, author, tentative title, keywords, categories, tags, call to action and status. She says “By tracking more than topic and date it will help to make sure the key elements you need for SEO, digital optimization and conversion are accounted for.”

Download a sample editorial calendar worksheet.

An example of a template for a master editorial calendar as shown by Michele Linn.

#6: Fine-Tune and Revise

Like other forms of writing, a blog post is rarely completed in one draft. Many writers find it helpful to take a post through several revisions and fine-tune the post as you go along. Check grammar, spelling and punctuation, and make certain that all of your links are working.

#7: Guidelines for Writing for Search Engines

By following a few tips and best practices, you can increase the chance that your blog post will be found by search engines—by Google in particular.

The State University of New York at Plattsburgh offers these helpful writing tips:

• Google likes text
• Google likes formatting
• Google likes freshness
• Google likes accessibility
• Google likes outbound hyperlinks
• Googlebot isn’t psychic, so remember to link your pages
• Google likes you to tell it where you are
• Google likes experts

#8: Headings

Joost de Valk offers some good suggestions regarding blog headings. He writes, “The heading structure of your pages is one of the very important aspects of on-page SEO. It defines which parts of your content are important, and how they’re interconnected. Because they have different goals, a single post needs another heading structure than your blog’s homepage or your category archives.”

He offers five basic principles about heading structure:

• The most important heading on the page should be the H1
• There is usually only one H1 on any page
• Subheadings should be H2s, sub-subheadings should be H3s, etc.
• Each heading should contain valuable keywords; if not, it’s a wasted heading
• For longer pieces of content, a heading is what helps a reader skip to the parts that he/she finds interesting

Headings should contain valuable keywords.

#9: Images

Blog posts are made up of more than words and headings.

Judy Dunn recommends five ways the right photo can increase readership and blog views:

• Convey the overall feeling or emotion of your post
• Illustrate a metaphor or analogy that is part of your main idea
• Evoke surprise or curiosity
• Complement your headline
• Make your reader smile

Judy points out too that readers are visual learners and images can help people take in and retain information better.

#10: Journalistic Approach

Bloggers can learn a lot from traditional journalists and the ways that they approach their news stories.

Mickie Kennedy offers five things that bloggers can learn from journalists:

• Get your facts straight
• Trust has to be earned
• Give credit to your sources
• The inverted pyramid works (basic overview in first paragraph and then delve into more details in subsequent paragraphs)
• Editing and proofreading are essential

As shown on Wikipedia.org

#11: Killer SEO and Blog Design

Cyrus Shepard makes an important case for having a beautiful blog. He says, “…the overall design of your site is the first thing visitors see and it significantly influences bounce rate, page views and conversions.”

Cyrus suggests that certain elements on the page will add to a blog’s success:

• Search box
• RSS feed
• Breadcrumbs (helping users navigate),
• Flat site architecture by minimizing the number of clicks it takes to reach your content
• Images
• Keep your best content above the fold
• Link to your best content
• Don’t overdo links
• Watch ad space
• Encourage comments
• Add sharing buttons
• Test the blog for speed
• Check your blog in different browsers
• Pick a powerhouse blogging platform (e.g., WordPress, Posterous, Tumblr)

For a resource that will help remind you of these killer SEO suggestions, check out Cyrus’ infographic, Blog Design for Killer Search Engine Optimization.

#12: Lists

Lists have become a very popular type of blog post.

Nate Riggs offers three types for bloggers to consider: brief, detailed and hybrid lists.

The brief list has little description but can entice readers to bookmark the post to use the list as a resource down the road or to share it across their own networks.

In a detailed list, each bullet is a complete thought and serves as a good way to communicate complex information.

The hybrid list combines the elements of short and detailed lists, often with descriptive narratives or explanations in paragraphs between the actual lists.

Nate’s post has a lot of useful information about lists as a powerful content marketing tactic and is a good example of a hybrid list.

#13: Metrics for Blogging

Magdalena Georgieva identifies five metrics to keep an eye on to know how your blogging is going: visitors, leads, subscribers, inbound links and social media shares.

As Magdalena says, “Measure the performance of your business blog regularly to identify weaknesses in the content you’re producing, what topics your audience truly cares about, and what blogging tactics work for you.”

When you find topics and approaches that work particularly well, try to replicate those efforts and be willing to let go of features that aren’t performing well. Magdalena recommends looking at your five most successful blog posts and asking, “What do they have in common?”

#14: Names, Titles and Bio

Not only are readers interested in the content in your blog post, they also want to know who wrote the post and their role at your organization.

Sometimes you’ll come across a thoroughly researched and well-written post only to find an attribution of “admin.” Even if the blog is only written by you and you’re the administrator of the blog, be sure to include your name, title and a way for readers to contact you.

#15: Original vs. Curated Content

The type of post you write can contain completely original content or can consist of content that you’ve curated.

Pamela Seiple addresses the issue of curated content and makes an important point when she says, “There’s a misconception among marketers that curated content is lazy and unoriginal, but we think it’s the complete opposite. It takes time and careful evaluation to create quality curated content and the result is oftentimes a very valuable piece of content that helps people seeking information on a given topic to cut through the clutter on the web and save time.”

The 26 tips series here on Social Media Examiner is an example of curated posts, pulling in the expertise of others who have written on the topic. As a curator of this kind of post, I love the journey of the research and find it especially rewarding to see the content pulled together in a way that hadn’t been previously available. Curated posts can be incredibly gratifying!

#16: Publish and Promote

Kristi Hines speaks about the publishing and promoting stages of creating a successful blog post. Kristi says that one thing you want to do during the publishing stage is to ensure that your post has some kind of call to action. “Think about what you want people to do once they’ve read the post….”

Promoting a blog post can involve a fair amount of thought and strategy, as you’ll see from Kristi’s approach. She has a different plan in place for “averagely awesome posts, awesome posts and killer awesome posts.”

What differs for the three types of posts is how many social networks she shares the posts with, whether she includes the post in her writing portfolio and whether it’s included in her custom RSS feed or utilizes blog commenting promotion and direct messaging partners in social media to see if they’ll help spread the word.

Kristi describes promotion as taking from a few minutes to a few hours, and recommends taking the time to build a good foundation before you expect to execute a successful blog promotion.

#17: Questions

What are you going to write about post after post, week after week, year after year? Sometimes thinking about content for your blog can seem daunting.

Lee Odden offers a great piece of advice: “One particularly effective way to get content ideas for blogging comes from reviewing web analytics for the kinds of questions people type into search engines like Google or Bing that deliver visitors.”

In one example, Lee said that he noticed that numerous visitors each month were typing in the question “What does a community manger do?” and search engines were sending them to one of his posts about that topic. He used it as an opportunity to explore other related questions about social community managers and providing content in the form of answers.

What questions are your web visitors asking before they arrive on your pages? How can you maximize your content to answer readers’ questions?

#18: Research

Well-researched blog posts can differentiate your content from your competitors’. Being known as a go-to source in your industry will help make your blog stand out. Where do you go to research posts?

I find that utilizing a variety of sources helps me gather the information I’m seeking.

For example, while I can often find a lot of useful content via web-based searches, sometimes there’s nothing like a visit to the library or a bookstore where I often will discover a helpful book on the shelf that I wouldn’t have known existed if I hadn’t been standing there physically eyeballing them.

Oli Gardner makes a good case for using social media research for your blog posts. He suggests ten social media research strategies:

• StumbleUpon
• Infographics
• Twitter real-time searches
• Facebook events
• Experts who are using LinkedIn
• Uncovering quotes with Delicious
• Letting users tell you within the comments section of your blog and others
• Creating roundup mega-lists with Delicious and StumbleUpon
• Apps on Facebook
• Delicious and Google Marketplace
• YouTube and the UrbanDictionary

#19: Stand Out

When you’ve been blogging in a competitive marketplace for a while, chances are good that you’ll see other bloggers writing on topics similar to yours. It doesn’t mean that you have to stay away from the topic completely; rather you can use it as an opportunity to see what worked and didn’t work in their post and write yours in a way that will help you to stand out in the topic area.

By reading the comments on similar blog posts, you will get a great view of what questions and thoughts people had after reading the post and you can take a slightly different angle by making sure you cover those areas in your article.

#20: Title

How important is the title of your blog post? Simply put, very important!

Brian Clark writes that the title is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader.

He says, “Without a headline or post title that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist.

But a headline can do more than simply grab attention. A great headline can also communicate a full message to its intended audience, and it absolutely must lure the reader into your body text.”

An example of an eye-catching title from copyblogger.com.

#21: User-Centered Content

Possibly one of the worst mistakes a blog post can make is missing the mark of its readers, forgetting who they are and their needs and interests.

Georgy Cohen goes as far as to say that content can serve as customer service and that to be helpful, content should be user-focused (asking what our users’ problems and priorities are), communicated clearly and presented in succinct language.

#22: Valuable Content

In the perfect blogging world, creating valuable content would be at the top of every blogger’s list for their post objectives.

While our definitions about valuable content may vary, Ahava Leibtag has created a very helpful step-by-step checklist that reminds us to ask five questions:

• Can the user find the content
• Can the user read the content
• Can the user understand the content
• Will the user want to take action
• Will the user share the content

She suggests:

• Findable content includes: an H1 tag; at least two H2 tags; metadata including title, descriptors and keywords; links to other related content; alt tags for images.
• Readable content includes: an inverted-pyramid writing style, chunking, bullets, numbered lists, following the style guide.
• Understandable content includes: an appropriate content type (text, video), indication that you considered the users’ persona, context, respect for the users’ reading level, articulating an old idea in a new way.
• Actionable content includes: a call to action, a place to comment, an invitation to share, links to related content, a direct summary of what to do.
• Shareable content includes: something to provoke an emotional response, a reason to share, a request to share, an easy way to share, personalization.

Download the checklist for future reference.

Ahava Leibtag's Valuable Content Checklist.

#23: Word Count

How many words should you have in your blog post? Some blogs have set parameters for optimal length and put a value on whether a post is short or long.

Corey Eridon has an interesting perspective on word count and suggests that focusing on blog word count might not be as important as you think it is. “Some topics take 100 words to explain, some take 1,000, and that’s okay.”

Corey suggests that writers focus instead on whether posts are optimized for mobile, use effective formatting, communicate in a clear manner and that outlining the points you want to cover may ultimately be a better use of your time and energy.

If you’re restricted to shorter posts by the parameters set up in advance for your blog, then you could also follow Corey’s advice to link to longer-form content you’ve developed around the topic.

Bottom line: Don’t let the quantity of words dictate the quality of your post.

#24: (E)xcerpt

On the heels of our discussion about blog word count, a shorter blog post can also be an excerpt or summary of what readers will find in your longer-form content—e.g., eBook or white paper—but it needn’t be restricted to words.

You can also use an excerpt of the transcript or a brief description to demonstrate what information the users will learn if they watch your video or listen to your podcast.

Mike Stelzner provides great excerpts from his expert interviews on Social Media Examiner.

#25: Your Story

Readers like to get to know how writers tick and often appreciate hearing a few personal details and insights from the person who has taken them on a journey through a post. While business blogs shouldn’t be thought of as personal journal entries, you can tell your readers a little bit about how you operate.

For example, I stated above that writing curated posts like the 26 tips series here on Social Media Examiner is one of my favorite types of posts to write. (Truth be told, curated posts are also some of my favorite types to read.)

In the description of “research” above, I also shared how research is one of my favorite parts of blogging and how I enjoy researching both online and offline by doing the footwork of visiting libraries and bookstores in search of materials.

What parts of yourself are you willing and able to share with your readers?

#26: Zone for Writing

Ideas for blog posts come at all times—when you’re driving in your car, sitting at your desk, and yes, even in the middle of the night!

Chances are good though that the actual writing of the post will happen in multiple drafts and revisions, and depending on how you work, it may take place over a period of days.

What can be helpful is to create a time and place where you can get into the zone for writing and allow yourself to go with it, with as few interruptions as possible.

What do you think? How do you keep your blog posts consistent and dynamic? What tips would you add? Leave your questions and comments in the box below.

Even the most prolific writers can find themselves with a serious case of “blogger’s block.”

When blogger’s block strikes, some basic keyword research can provide a fresh batch of blog post ideas.

A series of posts written around related keywords can also look good in the eyes of the search engines or prospects.

Using Keyword Tools to Brainstorm Blog Post Topics

#1: Google Related Searches

There are a number of tools that can uncover related keywords and ideas for possible blog topics.

One of the first and easiest places to start is on the Google home page. Start by searching for a phrase that you’d like your blog to rank in on search engines.

After conducting the search, click on “More search tools” in the left column and then “Related searches.” Google will return a list of related searches for the keyword or phrase for which you just searched.

Opening Related Searches on Google provides a list of possible blog post ideas.

For example, let’s say I wanted to write about blogging and needed blog post ideas. I would start by searching Google for “blog” and looking at the related searches. As you can see in the image above, related searches for the term “blog” include terms and phrases such as “free blog,” “create blog,” “blog software,” “WordPress,” and “Technorati.”

Each one of these terms could be turned into blog posts with titles such as:

• Five of the Best Places to Start a Free Blog
• Three Things You Must Do to Create a Successful Blog Post
• Why I Like WordPress
• How to Get Your Blog Post Listed in Technorati

#2: Google AdWords Keyword Tool

The Google AdWords Keyword Tool is another place to brainstorm topics for your next blog post. A search on Google AdWords will bring up a much bigger list of search terms and will also provide insight into how often the term is searched and the competition for the keyword or phrase.

For example, a search for the phrase “how to blog” brings up phrases such as “YouTube blog,” “funny blog” and “blog calendar.” All three have a high monthly search volume yet low competition for the keyword. Blog post titles using these keywords might include:

• How to Create a YouTube Blog Post
• Five Things to Consider When Writing a Funny Blog Post
• Schedule Your Posts With a Blog Calendar

Google AdWords returns a list of related search terms that can be used to generate blog post topics.

#3: Wordtracker’s Keyword Questions

Wordtracker’s Keyword Questions is a powerful tool designed to help with content brainstorming. Enter a keyword and Wordtracker returns a list of 100 questions asked by search engine users that include the keyword.

For this example, let’s say that a realtor is trying to come up with a list of possible blog post ideas. Entering the term “Home” into Wordtracker’s Keyword Questions brings up a list of possible blog topics including:

• “How leasing a car affects qualifying for a home mortgage”
• “Home security systems and which one is the best one”
• “How do I calculate the value of my home”
• “Do it yourself home remodeling”

The search above also provides a number of topics not related to real estate to sort through such as “Can I make holy water at home or do I have to go to a church,” but who knows, there might be an interesting blog post in there somewhere. When it comes to writing blog posts, don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

Wordtracker provides actual questions asked by users searching their search engines. Many of these can be directly used as the title of a blog post.

Along with questions, Wordtracker Keyword also offers search results based on keyword connections, random trigger words and the top searched keywords. Each of these options pairs your keyword with various other search terms and provides results based on actual searches conducted through Wordtracker’s partner search engines. The results can provide a wide range of blog post ideas and topics you may not have considered.

#4: Google Analytics (or Other Traffic Analytics Program)

Analyzing the incoming traffic to a blog can provide a number of ideas for blog posts and highlight the opportunity to build upon popular posts and search terms that are bringing traffic to a site.

If our realtor notices that searches for a particular neighborhood are driving traffic to her site, she can capitalize on the opportunity by writing a series of posts about community resources and the real estate market in the neighborhood.

If you discover that an unusual or unexpected keyword is driving traffic, the brainstorming methods above can help unlock potential blog posts related to the keyword.

Google Wonder Wheels

Although Google has taken down their Wonder Wheels tool, I have to mention it because it was such a great brainstorming tool and comments in the Google help forum have left the door open (if ever so slightly) for its return.

Wonder Wheels provided a graphic display of related terms that could be clicked and searched in an ever-growing web of related keywords. As I wrote in an earlier post on Social Media Examiner, it not only provided a great brainstorming tool for writing blog posts, it also gave insight into the way Google connects keywords.

Hopefully Google will find it in their wisdom to bring it back in the near future because I personally feel that it blew the above tools out of the water.

Create a Resource

When done well, a series of posts written around keywords can give your blog a nice jump in the search engines. Always remember, though, focus on content first and let the keywords follow.

By providing a resource of topically related articles, you create a reason for others to link to your site and quality incoming links are key to top search engine rankings.

What do you think? Leave your questions and comments in the box below.

If you struggle to attract a steady stream of quality readers to your blog, you’re not alone. The good news is that your blog isn’t a lost cause.

There are many smart strategies you can use to create compelling, bite-sized content your readers will devour—and share like crazy.

The secret is to tap into the power, speed and instant accessibility of social media. Here are 5 simple, foolproof ideas you can put into action TODAY:

#1: Build instant rapport

Rapport happens when there’s a relationship of mutual trust between you and your audience.

Social media conditions lead us to expect meaningful relationships to grow quickly, based on interests, likes and other searchable snippets that instantly highlight what we have in common.

But we do the exact same thing in real life. We connect to people at networking events based on first impressions—age, appearance, business niche, and so forth.

We talk to people in restaurants who are rooting for the same football teams. In other words, it’s human nature. The question for you is how do you achieve this same instant rapport on a BLOG—especially in a virtual world that’s full of distractions?

You can’t be everything to everyone. But you should write like you’re talking to someone—preferably, to just a single reader. Who is that person? What does he or she want to know?

In the image below, Derek Halpern of Social Triggers shows how he addresses his blog readers.

Derek makes it a point to always use a personal, friendly and conversational tone when writing blog posts to his ideal audience.

Be friendly and direct, and never forget that your readers are individuals with interests, families, jobs, etc.

For example, to promote a recent blog post to my email list, I might start by saying something like, “Halloween’s almost here. We just got back from picking pumpkins. I can’t wait to carve mine. I hope you’re enjoying the cooler weather too!”

The first time I did that, emails came back to me—with colorful personal stories, anecdotes and even photos. Those relationships are priceless.

#2: Create relevance

After you succeed in building rapport with your readers, you’ve hooked them—at least temporarily. But how can you be sure they’ll come back?

The key is to consistently provide engaging, actionable and relevant content.

Focus on delivering added value to your core market at every opportunity. Deliver actionable takeaways. Cater to their interests. Remember to educate, entertain AND empower—no matter what topic you’re covering.

I know my blog readers value additional resources when I blog about a new topic. That's why in this blog post, "5 Reasons Google+ Will Change Your Content Marketing Strategy for the Better," I added links to relevant articles as a way to further their education on Google+.

If you want to educate AND empower your readers, you’re going to need to give them evidence that what you’re saying or doing really works—and that’s where you can go above and beyond your competitors.

Statistics, infographics, research and quotes from experts (especially from a new interview YOU conduct) are great ways to add value and create truly unique content.

In the image below, Vistage International (a training agency for CEOs) created an in-depth infographic.

Vistage International used this graphic to share their recent findings about CEOs' confidence in the economy.

For another eye-catching example of a “meaty” post, check out crowdSPRING’s recent post on how small businesses are using social media. It’s jam-packed with data that really delivers a punch both statistically and visually.

#3: Provide instant gratification

If you’re really passionate about what you do, then chances are you’ve got a ton of ideas you’re itching to share.

But you might want to put the brakes on that instinct. One of the cardinal rules of social media is speedy delivery of good ideas. Remember: quality, not quantity.

Providing instant gratification is all about effectively delivering high-quality content in bite-sized pieces. It’s about making your blog readers’ lives easier.

Take a look at Seth Godin’s blog. He’s the undisputed master of instantly gratifying, bite-sized blog content. Even his post on Steve Jobs’ passing, “A Eulogy of Action,” boiled all of our complex feelings down into one simple, compelling, actionable idea—would we live up to Jobs’ example?

Seth Godin's blog posts are a perfect example of delivering instant gratification. With each post, Godin only touches on one idea, keeps it simple, short and extremely valuable.

Instant gratification is also about restraint. Our fidgety readers are scoping out a ton of blogs, posts and feeds every day—you need to catch their eye and keep it in a short enough time to give them one main idea or action item that they’ll remember—and come back for more. Don’t indulge the urge to go on the “tangent train.” Stick to one idea, develop it, give it some meat and watch your blog engagement rise.

#4: Ignite shareability

Serious bloggers know how valuable their blogs really are. But most of us won’t see real business results from blog content until we take the next step and give our content wings.

Content with wings takes off—people send it to everyone they know, because they love it so much. To make sharing easy, provide the right mix of sharing buttons with each post. Put prominent share buttons where they’re easy to see, reach and click.

In the image below, Free Blog Factory uses the DiggDigg share buttons to encourage sharing on their site.

Adding share buttons increases your viral reach and introduces your content to a new audience.

Another important component of shareability is harder to pin down—it’s about providing value in unexpected ways. And sometimes, that means thinking outside the box. A great example of this is a post Chris Brogan wrote, “The Practice Is the Reward,” where he manages to connect his workouts to social media, business, happiness and beyond.

Don’t be afraid to branch out and introduce a new concept or idea into your posts. Face it: we get so hung up on our business or niche that we all forget to put down the vacuum and look outside ourselves for a pick-me-up.

Talk about a book you think your audience will like, even if it’s not directly related to your service or product. Interview someone new whom readers will benefit from learning more about. Select ideas that matter to you and your audience—but in a new or challenging way. This will inspire YOU—and in turn, your readers.

#5: Make your closing count

Great content isn’t enough.

The final challenge? Getting your readers emotionally invested in you, your brand and your business. Invested readers comment, share and engage in higher numbers—and they’re also more likely to become future customers.

Don’t let readers just walk out on you. Instead, make every closing count. Ending a post with “Make sure to post a comment” is accurate, but it’s not a very effective way to close a blog post. (Full disclosure: we’ve all made this mistake, including me.)

Stop telling your readers WHAT to do. Instead, spark conversation—ask them to think, participate and invest in your content.

I often use the "Now it's your turn" approach to encourage blog comments.

Better Content Leads to Better Results

Improving engagement on your blog is just one part of your content strategy, but I’d say it’s the MOST crucial—because you can then use your blog as a hub, driving traffic to and from your social media streams, email list and even YouTube channel.

Remember, the best blogs aren’t necessarily the best written, or the ones with the newest ideas. They’re not necessarily the shortest. (We can’t all be Seth Godin!) But they DO share one thing in common: meeting, and often exceeding, the expectations of content-hungry readers—who are happy to devour, share and come back for more.

Now it’s your turn. What do you think? What ONE piece of advice would you give a friend to help take his/her blog to the next level? Share your thoughts and comments in the box below!

This can be a real problem if you’ve made Facebook updates an integral part of your communications strategy.

These are the times when having a ready-and-waiting list of Facebook ideas will come in handy. In this post I’ll show you 26 practical ways to use good content for your Facebook pages, everything from A to Z.

Some days knowing what updates you want to post to your Facebook business page comes easily.

#1: Alltop

If you’re looking for a comprehensive list of content ideas, the online magazine-rack format of Alltop may be just what you’re looking for. According to Alltop, the purpose of the site is to help you answer the question, “What’s happening?” in all the topics that interest you. Alltop aggregates the headlines of the latest stories from websites and blog feeds, and displays the five most recent headlines. When you mouse over a headline, you’ll see the first line of the post. Perusing the vast number of headlines will give you access to loads of great material.

#2: Business Updates

These updates include news about your business and are akin to mini press releases, including: announcements of new products and services, new hires and new customers you want to welcome on board. Word of caution regarding these types of posts—limit how frequently you use them so you’re not seen as a self-serving broadcaster!

#3: Contest

A contest is a good way to engage with your Facebook community. There are a number of apps that can be added to your page and become a tab on the navigation bar. Some companies use their Notes tab as a place to post information about how to enter a contest and official rules. A contest requires planning and forethought, so it’s best to go this route only when you’ve already invested the time and necessary resources.

#4: Data

Facebook is an excellent way to share facts and statistics. You probably come across great data all the time that your fans will enjoy, too. For example, in 10 Fascinating Facebook Facts by Amy-Rae Elliott, the author shares interesting Facebook posts. Here’s a sample: 1) the meaning of the term poke has never been defined, 2) the average Facebook user has 130 friends, and 3) Mark Zuckerberg calls himself a “Harvard Graduate” on his Facebook profile (not what you learned in the movie The Social Network, was it?) What unique facts can you share?

#5: Events

With Facebook Apps you can easily share information on Facebook about upcoming events you’ve been invited to or are hosting. Events can be classified as open, closed or secret (only visible to invitees). Among other things, you can add an event description, photos, videos and links, and specify whether guests can bring a friend. You can invite friends and manage and promote the event.

Facebook fan pages can have a lighter side.

#6: Fun

Facebook fan pages don’t always have to be serious. You might want to mix up your posts every now and then by adding some fun ones. Callan Green’s post, Killer Facebook Fan Pages: 5 Inspiring Case Studies, shows how Pringles, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Adidas, and Red Bull have broken out of the mold by creating fun content. Red Bull, for example, has “aggregated tweets from sponsored athletes like skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and snowboarder Shaun White and included them directly in their Facebook presence.”

#7: Gimmick

As described on The Daily Gimmick, gimmicks are often a big way to draw in new customers and entice existing customers to buy more. Here’s one used by Miller Lite’s Fantasy Football Draft Sweepstakes: “On September 1, one lucky winner and nine of his friends will be flown to Dallas for two nights where they will get to conduct their fantasy draft in the fully stocked Miller Lite’s suite at the state-of-the-art Cowboys Stadium. They will enjoy all the amenities of the suite…”

#8: Helpful

You don’t have to be Heloise to list helpful hints. Communicate with readers about things that will help them. For example, what time- or money-saving tip can you share with your readers? Maybe there’s a new phone app relevant to your audience or an upcoming conference where if you register today you’ll save $100. Your readers will thank you for the recommendations and heads-up.

#9: Info

Depending on the business category you selected when you set up your Facebook page, there will be fields for you to fill in to describe your business; e.g., hours, web URL, detailed info, mission. It’s good practice to use the open-field space to put your other social networking profile URLs such as your Twitter, blog and YouTube channel. You only get a limited amount of real estate, so use it to your full advantage.

#10: Jokes

It’s okay to be funny on Facebook. You can be your own comedian or rely on others for Facebook jokes. For inspiration check out Jokes, Jokes and Funny Pictures, and Top 100 One Liners.

#11: Keywords

Keywords are one of the most powerful features of all online content. As Justin Smith tells us in his post 10 Key SEO Strategies Every Facebook Page Owner Should Know, “One important SEO strategy that should be employed on your Facebook page whenever feasible is placing keyword-dense prose as close to the top of the page as possible. Because Facebook limits where page owners can place large chunks of text on the default Wall tab of Facebook pages, the ‘About’ box actually represents the highest place in the CSS structure of the page to add custom text.” Are you using your About box most effectively? Take advantage of those 250 characters and make them work for you.

#12: Like

In the post, 10 Ways to Grow Your Facebook Page Following by Ching Ya, she suggests that in order for a page to be Liked, it must be likeable first; which translates to quality wall posts and consistent engagement. Facebook has some ready-made sharing buttons. Place a shout-out or a reminder to Like your status updates and instruct fans to click the Share button right next to your message so that their friends will be alerted about the update, too.

#13: Movie Reviews

On Facebook’s Blog, Austin Haugen writes that he asks his friends, “Have you seen any good movies recently?” as he’s making weekend plans. Austin suggests using Rotten Tomatoes as a movie review site. You’ll immediately see the reviews most relevant to you without having to register, search for friends or fill out a profile.

#14: Offers

Your Facebook page can be your own daily deal site. For instance, a national movie chain posted, “Last chance to win 1 of 4 prize packs, click the link below. Good luck!” What are your offers?

#15: Promote

In order to be successful, Facebook fan pages need to be promoted inside and outside of Facebook. Social Media Examiner uses Facebook Friday Expert Sessions for Q& A sessions among experts and page fans. Cindy King’s post How Facebook Friday Expert Sessions Increase Fan Engagement discusses how the sessions help to increase fan engagement. She writes, “These sessions are a great way for fans to quickly get the information they need. And you can model this for your business. These open Q&A sessions with industry experts are a great way to encourage engagement with your fans and get your updates to show up more in your fans’ news feeds.”

#16: Questions

While you can use questions and answers in one longer session as discussed above in #15, updates can be made on an as-needed basis to answer questions that come up on your social networking sites or in your in-person meetings with customers. Update your group or fan page on a regular basis with helpful information and answers to questions.

#17: Reads

What book or magazine article are you reading today? What’s on your future reading list? If the book is available on Amazon (what isn’t, these days?) you can add a link to the book so your readers will be able to learn more and maybe they’ll order the book based on your advice. Your audience will appreciate hearing about books that wouldn’t ordinarily hit their radar if it weren’t for your update.

#18: Separate

Fletcher Prince suggests in his post Twitter Updates and Facebook Page Updates for Your Business to keep Twitter and Facebook updates separate because he sees them as “two very different platforms with different capabilities, audiences, and tone.” I agree and would take it one step further—to establish distinct messaging strategies for your profiles.

For example, planning that you’ll communicate on Facebook about what books you recommend, but as a rule, knowing that you will not use your tweets for that purpose. This becomes helpful too when you have multiple people managing your profiles and separate them into different content turf. For a list of tweet ideas, see the companion post to this piece, 26 Twitter Tips for Enhancing Your Tweets.

#19: Static FBML

(Important Update: Facebook no longer supports FBML. Please refer to the articles on Facebook iFrame.) Nick Shin’s post How to Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML shows how to add a clickable image, embed a YouTube video and how to set the FBML box as the default landing tab. As Nick suggests, static FBML gives you the ability to make your Facebook page serve as a marketing vehicle which can help drive traffic to your website and engage further with your audience. Social Media Examiner’s Facebook page does this quite nicely with the Welcome tab and the embedded video.

#20: Tagging

You can tag your status updates by including the “@” symbol before a friend’s name. This way the person will receive a notification and a wall post linking them to your post. Tagging within your status updates is a powerful way to increase the social and shareable features of Facebook. Check out this video by David Erickson to learn more.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxw16T2tWPM

#21: URL

When you create your Facebook page, the URL will first appear with over 100 characters including the name of your business, city and state, followed by a long string of numbers. Hardly easy to communicate! But as soon as 25 people have Liked your page, you can visit here to choose a user-friendly URL for your page; e.g., www.facebook.com/yourbusiness.

#22: Visual Aids

Want to make a point with an image? Use an app such as SlideShare to upload your presentations, documents and PDFs. Remember, content doesn’t need to be limited to the printed word.

Facebook updates are checked on screens of all sizes.

#23: Web Writing

Christina Halvorson, author of Content Strategy for the Web, defines web writing as “The practice of writing useful, usable content specifically intended for delivery online.” Facebook updates will not only be read on computer monitors and laptop screens but on other devices too, such as iPads and smartphones.

Remember that you’re writing for online delivery, so be sure to use a good balance of chunked content, hyperlinks, images and videos.

Good rule of thumb: Commit to a social media content strategy.

#24: Excellence

Soumitra Dutta, in the November 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review, writes in her article, “What’s your personal social media strategy?”, how today’s leaders must embrace social media for three reasons: 1) communicating as a personal brand, inside and outside of your company; 2) engaging rapidly and simultaneously with peers, employees, customers and the broader public; and 3) providing an opportunity to learn from instant information and unvarnished feedback.

Used properly, Facebook business pages provide a vehicle for demonstrating your business excellence, which is even more reason to give thoughtful consideration to the quality and quantity of your company status updates.

#25: YouTube

As already discussed in this post, videos will enhance your Facebook updates. Here’s an important perspective from Ekaterina Walter, a social media strategist at Intel, who shared thoughts about social media initiatives in an SME interview, “The Inside Scoop on How Intel Manages Its Facebook Page.”

Ekaterina encourages businesses to upload raw video files versus just linking to YouTube to enhance their engagement strategy. As she says, “If you upload a raw video file, not just linked from YouTube but uploaded on Facebook, and your fans share it with their friends, when somebody who’s not a fan or liker of your Facebook page actually watches the video, there is a sweet little thing—a button that pops up on the upper-left corner of the video that invites you to basically like the page, or in the old terms, to become a fan of the page. That is the fastest way for folks to just click on it and become a fan.”

#26: Zen

We’ve gone over 25 tips before coming to this last one. This is a good place to wrap up by saying that Facebook updates shouldn’t feel overwhelming. In fact, quite the contrary happens when you view Facebook as a zen-like experience, commit to enlightenment and make a point to provide content that doesn’t add to the noise. Commit to memorable, thoughtful content.

Final Thoughts About Facebook Content Ideas

Whether your business communication is targeted for B2B or B2C end-users, Facebook offers a unique and powerful vehicle for creating a memorable experience.

What Facebook content ideas can you add to this list? Which ones are you already using? Which ones do you enjoy most? Leave your comments in the box below.

Photos from Flickr: smemon87, boetter & Jorge Quintero

This can be considered one of the best ways to beat a case of old-fashioned writer’s block.  You just need to know where to look and set up some channels to provide at-your-fingertips-access when you need it.

Here are nine ways to use social media to find writing inspiration.

#1: Use Twitter for Monitoring Discussions

An example of keyword tracking using advanced Twitter search queries in HootSuite.

I personally like my inspiration in short, 140-character bites, as it provides the spark to think about a topic. If you use a Twitter management tool such as HootSuite, Tweetdeck or CoTweet, you can easily monitor conversations on any given topic by simply setting up searches for particular keywords.

My personal tool of choice is HootSuite, because you can have many tabs, each with 10 columns of searches. You can use the keyword searches simply to see current conversations on that topic, or go further with advanced Twitter search queries, such as:

• Keyword filter:links for people discussing a topic with a link in their tweet so you can see a news item, article, or blog post on the topic. -filter:links removes the link so you can see people just talking about something.
• Keyword ? for people discussing a topic and asking a question – this can be a great way to generate writing ideas because you know people will be interested in your writing if you answer most-asked questions.
• Keyword for people discussing a topic that they like, or Keyword for topics that they dislike – a great way to come up with a top 10 list of things people like or don’t like about a certain subject.

#2: Use Twitter for Monitoring Industry Leaders

Another way to be inspired is to simply see what leaders/authorities in a certain niche are talking about. But first, a good question is how do you find industry experts?

• If you’re looking for experts who blog, try out the Technorati search – just switch the slide over to Blogs and search for a keyword. The results will bring you the highest authority blogs related to that topic.
• Twellow directory allows you to search by keywords found in Twitter profiles. The results are sorted by the people with the most followers, which is not always (but is usually) a sign of an expert in that niche.
• Wefollow allows you to search Twitter users by particular keywords, and you can look at the people with the most followers or those who are most influential. Surprisingly, you will find that the results vary between the two lists.
• Listorious lets you search among Twitter lists for particular topics. Check out the top 140 lists which have the most followers for collections of industry experts.

Once you have found some people who are leaders in your area, create or follow an already-created Twitter list of the top writers in your niche and keep an eye on the things they talk about. Sometimes you may find that you have a little extra to add to what they say, or maybe you disagree and have a better alternative to something they write about. This is a perfect topic to write about in your own blog or article network – just be sure you mention the person who gave you the idea.

Another way to combine the world of experts with the above-mentioned keyword/question searches is to set up a search of questions being asked of industry experts. You would be amazed by the writing topics that can be inspired by simply setting up a search for @expert ? -filter:links to find any mentions of an expert’s Twitter username including a question but excluding any results with links. This limits the number of results in which someone is asking questions about a particular website or a retweet of the expert’s articles. Considering that some people have thousands to millions of followers, imagine how many questions are just waiting to be answered.

#3: Use LinkedIn Answers

Use the simple LinkedIn search box for queries.

Speaking of questions, another great place to find out what kinds of questions are being asked in your niche or industry is within the LinkedIn Answers section. Once you’re signed into your LinkedIn account, simply use the search bar at the top right, select Answers from the dropdown and enter your keyword.

If just reading questions doesn’t inspire you, why not try answering some? Use the Advanced Search option to find keywords specifically in questions only, and check the option to look for only open questions.

Use the Advanced Search for more specific LinkedIn Answer queries.

I’ve found that answering questions on LinkedIn, Yahoo Answers and even within blog comments has a tendency to inspire a new article idea.

#4: Facebook for Monitoring Discussions

Would you like to monitor topics being discussed on Facebook the same way you do on Twitter? There’s a site for that too, although it’s not as advanced as the Twitter search queries (which means no filtering links or finding only questions). Kurrently lets you monitor up-to-the-minute status updates made from public Facebook profiles.

Search real-time Facebook status updates with Kurrently.

Although you can’t do a search for questions only, you can include question phrases in your search, such as “How do I” keyword. But even if you put the words in quotes, Kurrently will pull any status update with those words contained anywhere in it.

#5: Niche Networks

If your niche or industry is super-specific and has networks that are narrowly focused on that area, why not check out the networks that cater to that specific audience? Some ideas on niche networks include:

• Active Rain for real estate professionals.
• Dogster for dog owners.
• Ballroom Dance Channel for dancers.
• Tennisopolis for tennis fans and players.

To find more niche-specific networks, just Google your keyword and “social networks” or visit websites where you can create your own network (such as Ning) and search for networks built with their platform.

Inspiration for Writing on Popular Topics

What if you’re not necessarily looking for just any topic to write about, but the topics that are going to be most well-received by your target audience? The best way to find out the most popular subjects is simply to look at what’s popular and trending right now. Here are some ways to find some great topics that are more likely to go viral.

#6: Social Bookmarking Networks

If your aim is to get a lot of votes on Digg or similar social bookmarking networks, why not check out what has recently and historically gained a lot of votes in your niche? The Digg search box allows you to look up any topic, then sort it by the Best Match, Most Dugg or Newest results.

Search results for "social media" in the new Digg platform.

You can also use the sidebar to get results only from a certain date range (today through the last 30 days), narrow it down to items that have received 50+ to 5,000+ diggs, and sort by a particular media format – in the case of article writing, you will want to go for News. You can also use advanced search queries such as -term to remove unwanted related items from your keyword search.

If Digg doesn’t cater to your industry, you should look at social bookmarking/voting networks that are more niche-specific such as:

• Sphinn for SEO to social media themes.
• Tip’d for financial news.
• Design Bump for design and freelance articles.
• Dzone for developers’ posts.
• BizSugar for small-business topics.

#7: Find Out What’s Most Popular on Twitter

If your goal is to have the most tweets, you will want to check out the following sites to learn more about topics that get retweeted the most.

TweetMeme

Tweetmeme lets you see what topics are tweeted about the most on a variety of channels such as comedy, entertainment, business, technology, sports and more. You can view items most retweeted today through the last seven days and sort the items by news, images and videos.

Example search results for "social media" on Tweetmeme.

You can also do a keyword search and sort by the highest number of tweets, age of the tweets (from the last day, week, or over a week old), search within categories and filter items with 100+ or 1,000+ tweets.

Topsy

Topsy is a search engine powered by tweets. Simply enter any keyword. Like the Google search box, it will also suggest specific ideas or phrases for you to get started, or you can just enter a more basic keyword. You can search within the last hour, day, week, month or all recorded tweets for a given keyword, and see the number of times those items have been retweeted.

Topsy uses a suggested search popup similar to Google.

Although you can’t sort items by the number of retweets, what I find particularly useful on this network is the piece of information you can find when you click on the number of times the item has been retweeted.

Example search result on "social media" in Topsy.

Hover over the Twitter username for more stats and the ability to follow.

On the next screen, you can either see all of the retweets for a particular item or you can see just the retweets by influential users.

This little piece of information helps you get to know not only what’s popular throughout the mainstream Twitter community, but what topics are likely to get retweeted by the bigger players on Twitter. Hovering over a user’s name, as shown above, shows the user’s stats as well.

#8: Most Popular on Facebook

It’s Trending is a great site to find out what’s being shared the most on Facebook. Although it doesn’t have a search feature for particular topics, if your niche falls under Sports, Tech, Gaming, Entertainment or Comedy, you can see the most shared items on Facebook in those areas.

ItsTrending.com shows popular shared items on Facebook.

You can also see what’s most popular on particular featured site, so if your writing subject is social media, you can see the topics on Mashable that have been the most popular on Facebook. See our review of It’s Trending for more details.

#9 Most Popular on Authority Blogs

Are you looking to secure a guest posting gig on a major blog, or simply looking to see which posts by authority bloggers in your niche or industry are the most popular? Check out PostRank, which gives posts a ranking based on their audience engagement through comments and tweets.

PostRank displays social engagement ratings for individual blog posts.

You can do a search for Great or Best Posts to receive the top content by particular blog.

Hovering over the engagement score shows social sharing details.

By hovering over the score, you can quickly see how that particular post was shared the most (Twitter, Delicious, Facebook, MySpace, etc.).

Your Use of Social Media for Writing Inspiration

Do you use social media, networks and tools to get you through writer’s block or to find the topics that are going to be most popular? What other suggestions do you have for writers in any industry on finding topics to write about?

This article will show you five practical tactics you can employ when writing any blog post. The great part is that you’re going to get it done in less than 15 minutes.

Before I begin, let’s address a horrible content-based epidemic swarming the Internet:  quantity does not equal quality. Most great writers know the importance of being brief.   This does not necessarily mean that you should craft a one-line post, but it does mean you should be value-focused and not length-focused.

Tactic #1: Plan Your Writing

What are people searching for? What interests them? What do they want to read? Figure this out and then develop an organizational format for your articles. For example, my organizational format for this post is:

• Headline
• Question
• Tactics and explanation of tactics
• Conclusion
• Call to action

Tactic #2: Create a Headline Bank

Why do you think most blog posts fail? It’s because the headline isn’t catchy!   People are drawn in by headlines.  Determining the right headline for your post can be the difference between a reader staying or leaving your site.

A headline bank is nothing more than a list of grabbers that will not only save you a huge amount of time in the initial writing process, but they attract your readers to the content. At the very least, your bank should include:

Questions

When you begin by asking your readers a question, they feel as if you are speaking directly to them.  There is much power in asking the right questions.  For example:

• Who else wants to write a great blog post in less than 15 minutes?
• Is your Twitter campaign sinking?
• How do you make the perfect connection with your audience when speaking?

Quotes

Very few bloggers begin their posts with quotes, but they are just as powerful as questions because they add credibility to the subsequent content.  For example:

Nicholas Boothman stated, “The cheapest, most effective way to connect with others is to look them in the eye.”

Short Stories

You can use sentences and phrases as well for story headlines.  Stories do not have to be two or three paragraphs in length. Let’s examine two short powerful story headlines:

• The Runaway General
• A Tale of Two Twitter Users

Statistics

Numbers always gain the attention of your readers and they do it quickly.  For example:

• 100,000 people affected by iPhone 4
• 500 million flock to Facebook

You can easily access ideas from what you already have. Just pick one from your headline vault and get going.

Although you need to have a bank of headlines, you shouldn’t write your headline until the body of the article is complete.  Why?  Because as you write, ideas change and as ideas change, so will your title. Allow the content to control the title.

Now, if you examine this list closely, you’ll have an option for every day of the week. All you have to do is rotate them to fit the needs of your audience. Also, see Brain Clark’s article 5 Simple Ways to Open Your Post With a Bang.

Tactic #3: Time Yourself (Watch the Clock)

Time is the most precious resource we have.

You need to make every minute count.

When I first started blogging, it would take me three hours to write ONE blog post.  Yikes!

Your first task is to remember that perfection is not an option. Don’t spend all day trying to craft the “perfect message.” Create short, comprehensible sentences and step away from the computer.

You may be concerned that people will not read your article because it’s not perfect.  Not true.  Think of progression and not perfection.

Despite all of your perfective tactics, some people will still never be satisfied.  Set your timer for 15 minutes and when it stops, you’re done.

Tactic #4: Use the “Series Approach”

Say you’re planning to write a blog post concerning this topic: 5 Simple Steps to Getting Your Business on Twitter. Instead of packing all five steps into one post, create a weekly series by breaking each main topic down and creating a single post for that topic.  By doing this, you’ll have developed blog posts for a full week:

• Monday: Set Up Your Twitter Account
• Tuesday: Choose Your Twitter Name
• Wednesday: Upload Picture
• Thursday: Upload Your Best Link
• Friday: Write an Interesting Twitter Bio

Now, let’s create a plan with a few tweaks to the article titles.

• Monday: How to Set Up Your Twitter Account to Attract More Business
• Tuesday: 3 Steps to Avoid When Crafting Your Twitter Name
• Wednesday: Using Your Twitter Picture to Attract Targeted Prospects
• Thursday: Link-building with Twitter: Upload Your Best Link for Success
• Friday: How Writing an Interesting Twitter Bio Can Make You Millions

This will keep your readers coming back for each step.  By looking at the titles of the above posts, you’ll be sure to cover only the necessary content that pertains to that headline, meaning that the content will be shorter. Thus you can almost ensure that you meet the 15-minute mark.

Tactic #5: Get to “the Meat of the Problem”

How would you feel if you went to McDonald’s and ordered a quarter pounder with cheese only to walk away with bread and lettuce? You wouldn’t be too happy.  So, keep that in mind when writing for your readers.

They want value, not diluted information.

So don’t get your readers all revved up with a great grabber, neglect the body (being the meat) and skip to the conclusion.  Imagine reading this:

• Introduction: “Are you aware of the fact that 80% of your colleagues spend more than 45 minutes crafting an introduction for their daily blog posts?”
• Body (the meat): Here’s what you should do to avoid this roadblock:  Prepare.
• Conclusion: All you need to do now is click the Join Now button and pay the $99.95/monthly fee.

Wow, what a great way to start a relationship.  Not good.

The point here is that anyone can ramble on and on or even write a brief statement about something that really does not provide value.  If you want people to continue to follow you and your blog, you must provide quality and not leave the bigger needs unmet.

In the above example, the questions that your reader is going to ask are, “How do I prepare?” and “What am I preparing for?” You see, this is the main source, the missing piece to the puzzle that will throw the entire article off into wonderland. Simply put, your readers want detailed solutions to problems.

Creating a great blog post in 15 minutes might be difficult for you at first, but if you focus on providing value, planning ahead while keeping “headlines in the bank,” your readers will thank you every time!

What are your thoughts? What’s your experience?  If you like this article, press the retweet button at the top of the page. Let’s get the discussion going.

One aspect of your writing requires a great deal of effort getting right, and it is so obvious it is commonly overlooked. What is the first thing a social media user sees?

“I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what’s moving. I rarely read the stories, and I get briefed by people who probably read the news themselves.”
George W. Bush

“It has been found that the less an advertisement looks like an advertisement, and the more it looks like an editorial, the more readers stop, look and read.”
David Ogilvy

Yes, you guessed it. It’s the headline.

Without a compelling headline, you will not attract attention, and your article will not spread as easily. If you do write a killer headline then you will get more clicks, more bookmarks, and your readers will be compelled to share it with their friends and contacts.

Creating Compelling Headlines

Take a look at the last article you wrote that did spectacularly well (or if you do not have a great example, choose a disaster).

• Does it grab attention? The first job you have to get right when producing a new article is to get it read, and your first task toward getting your article read is grabbing the reader’s attention.
• Will it target a particular audience? We are largely driven by self-interest and our brains are wired to look out and listen for any message that addresses us. If your headline identifies a target group specifically, then that group, if they have an affinity for it, will take notice. Be careful though, this can backfire!
• Is it specific? Highly specific approaches work much better to draw attention and create belief than generic and vague statements that can come across as untrustworthy. Rather than say “get great results” say “achieve 147.2% increase in profits with this simple tweak.”
• Are you generating a great deal of curiosity? What is going to get the reader not only to take notice but also take action? You need to give him or her a good reason to keep reading past the headline into the full article, and this is where curiosity comes in. Create a feeling of incompleteness; hold off on the punch line, so the reader has to find the answer to feel satisfied.
• Is the headline promising powerful benefits? Does your headline answer “So what?” Above all, there has to be a payoff. Your readers need to know what is in it for them, why should they care.

5 Types of Headline

The standard social media headline types tend toward the following categories:

1. News—Particularly breaking news, is very popular. Announce something, share a piece of gossip, and let people know what is happening now. Social news has made traditional news media look slow and dated because by the time the news has spread around the social sites, mainstream media is only just picking it up. The downside of this, of course, is that your content is not going to be perceived as evergreen—there will always be something newer, shinier, and trendier. For example: “Breaking News: White House Moves to Ban Bacon”
2. Goals—Offer a way to achieve a goal, get more, be more powerful, wealthy, attractive, healthier… whole magazines are full of this stuff. Just take a look next time you are at the supermarket checkout. For example: “101 Tried and Tested Dating Secrets to Win the Partner of Your Dreams”
3. Problems—The flipside to the goal is the problem. Fear sells just as well as positives; just ask the newspapers. The economy, health, worries about global politics, you name it. For example: “Finally! Make Your Computer Virus-Free With Open-Source Software”
4. How-to—Share a technique, tutorial, recipe or formula to achieve something practical and beneficial. It is kind of the same as the goal, but rather than a dream, it gives you the steps to create something in reality. For example: “How to Win Friends and Influence People”
5. Entertaining—Social media is full of pure entertainment. It might be a funny video, a cute picture, a joke or even a link to an accidentally funny forum thread. This is the coffee break content that social media was built upon. For example: “Nasty or Nice? Take The Ultimate Personality Test”

Most of all, you need to trigger an emotional reaction. Remember we do not just want “interest,” we want the reader to take an action—even if that action is just to hit the vote-up button.

Emotional Hot Buttons

If you want to really draw attention and get your readers to take action, even if it is only to comment or pass along your link to their friends, you need to grab them where it counts: show empathy and make them feel. Can you get your reader to laugh, cry, or shout at their screen? Take a tip from Hollywood and move your audience emotionally using these hot buttons.

1. Boost and Slam—What is the best/worst/most/least? Compare and contrast, particularly if you can combine with Contrary (see #10).
2. Laugh, Cheer, Snigger or Cry—Human interest that tugs the heartstrings always works. Especially when you combine weep, snigger and cheer. Just ask Susan Boyle.
3. Outrage, Anger, and Righteous Indignation—Listen to talk radio or the talking heads and their jabbing fingers on any cable news network.
4. Fear, Scams, Problems and Looming Disasters—Be afraid, get clicks.
5. Sexy, Cute and Attractive—Sex sells. Lust draws attention.
6. Divide and Conquer (Us versus Them)—Polarize your audience, get attention. Many of the chain letters you get asked to pass on are all about supporting one side of an argument while attacking another, particularly when it comes to politics.
7. Shock and Awe—Take someone by surprise, present something as outrageously and wildly different.
8. Curiosity, Confusion, Riddles and Puzzles—Make readers have to read just to get your idea out of their heads.
9. Caught in the Act—People love it when the rich, powerful and famous are caught doing something they shouldn’t, especially when it is against their accepted brand or persona.
10. Contrary, Contentious and Devil’s Advocate—Challenge accepted wisdom, deep-seated stereotypes and assumptions.

10 Headline Formulas That Work

To get you started creating compelling headlines, use the following “fill in the blanks” headline formulas.

1. Do You Make These ________ Mistakes?
2. The Secrets of ___________
3. What ______ Can Teach Us About ________
4. Everything You Know About _____ Is Wrong<
5. How _______ Made _____ and You Can Too!
6. If You ________, You Can ___________
7. Finally, No More _______
8. At Last! _________
9. Learn How Millions of ______ ________
10. How to Get More/Better/Cheaper _______

If you like these headline ideas, make sure you click here to download the free PDF 102 Proven Headline Formulas now.

Over to You

Share some of your best headlines with us in the comments!