A phenomenal blog is a gold mine in today’s online marketing world.
However, getting your blog to stand out isn’t as easy as it was in 1999 when only 23 blogs existed on the internet!
Today, about 7.5 million blog posts are published every day.
Getting your blog into the top percentile for your ideal audience is still possible, but it doesn’t happen by accident. The internet is a competitive place. If you want your audience (and potential customers) to see your content and hopefully buy from you, you have to go all in.
Google is a smart cookie too. More and more, we are seeing that Google is prioritizing user experience when rankings sites for SEO. In other words, keyword stuffing isn’t going to cut it anymore. Your blog needs to be an enjoyable, intuitive, and easy place for readers to land.
This is going to become especially more relevant with the rise of AI.
Because, let’s face it, although AI writing is convenient and fast, it’s not nearly as pleasant to read as human writing.
This is leaving bloggers, marketing managers, and content creators pivoting to adapt to this changing landscape. If you’re here, chances are you’re looking to grow a blog organically in a sea of AI-writing and keyword-stuffed mega blogs.
As a creative copywriter, there are a lot of things I can’t advise you on.
Site speed, web design, and backlinks all play major parts in your SEO ranking.
But creativity? Now that’s something I can help with to make your blog stand out.
It’s my prediction that creative, innovative blog content is going to be the way brands cut through an increasingly competitive landscape.
Brands that want to have fun, innovate, and apply creativity to their blogs will win the day.
So, you can follow a checklist, or you can create the next checklist digital marketers will be following to get their sites to rank.
There’s no better time to get creative with your online content.
3 Tips from a Creative Copywriter to Make Your Blog Not Boring
As a creative copywriter and content manager, I absolutely love working with clients who are ready to try new things, think outside the box, and take risks with their marketing materials.
If you’ve worked in content for any amount of time, you probably know the traditional method of getting your blogs to rank.
I’m not saying ignore those strategies, but I’d encourage you to leave some room for innovation in your content strategy.
As in, sometimes you just need to create content because you feel like it.
Why is this important? Because your reader can tell.
Your reader can tell when you’re just following a trend, going through the motions, or copying a competitor.
They can tell when you’re trying to take the top spot in a niche that already exists.
The antithesis to this pattern is why TikTok has become a force to be reckoned with in the digital marketing space.
Innovation reigns supreme on TikTok, and the democratization of virality means that creative content gets rewarded with more views.
So why not carve out your own niche instead?
Here are some simple tips on how you can do that.
Tip #1: Give your blog a name
This is my favorite tip: naming your blog!
I don’t mean simply giving each blog post its designated catchy H1 (because you have to do that.)
I mean, give your entire blog a name that encompasses the purpose behind creating a blog in the first place.
Here are some examples:
- [Company Name] Insights
- The Conlectio
- Innovation Station
- The Gold Paperclip Collective
I love named blogs because it adds another dimension to your company branding.
Having a named blog invites the reader into an experience. It’s another way you can communicate your mission, your expertise, and why your brand should matter to the reader.
Named blogs will also help foster a sense of community around your content too. It elevates your blog and provides a stronger purpose behind each post you write. If you can incorporate your unique selling proposition into the mix too, that influences them to buy even more.
If you don’t feel like naming your blog, then name your newsletter instead. Add chapters, volumes, or installments, and name each one.
Tip #2: Research your target audience extensively
This needs to be square 1 if you’re a content manager or marketing manager, but you’d be surprised by how many leads I talk to who don’t directly draw the link between their market research and their blog rollout.
Of course, your target audience research will help you come up with topics your blog should write about, but I want to go a step further: brand voice.
Brand voice is an essential way to reach your ideal audience, and weed out those who aren’t going to buy from you.
Don’t be afraid to push the envelope with your brand voice too. Lots of marketers prioritize sounding professional in their content, which is great.
However, a basic pillar of copywriting is to prioritize clarity over complexity.
For this reason, your brand voice may include slang, emojis, or grammatically-incorrect phrasing.
If that’s the way your ideal audience speaks though, it means you’re closer to reaching them.
Here are some questions you can use to determine your brand voice:
- What emotions do we want our brand voice to evoke in our audience?
- What are our brand values and personality traits?
- What tone should our brand voice adopt on Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.?
- What are the key messages that we want to convey to our audience?
- What language and vocabulary should we use to resonate with our target audience?
- What are the key pain points of our target audience, and how can we address them through our brand voice?
- How can we differentiate our brand voice from that of our competitors?
In essence, identify your ideal audience, and then write as if you’re speaking to them one on one.
Tip #3: Write for user experience
As we’ve covered, Google is prioritizing user experience.
So write for the user!
Incorporate more of these elements into your blog posts:
- Bullet points: Like this one!
- Highlighted or bolded text: It helps move the eye along.
- Quotes: interview your internal experts or client stories to highlight key messages.
- Images: Take the key messages from your blog post and make them sharable images. Post to Pinterest for even more traction and repurposing.
- Utilize storytelling: Most people will skim your blog. The best tool to get them to stay on that page longer is to tell them a story!
All of these tools help the reader have an easier, more intuitive experience on your blog. Creative writing is what gets the reader to pause, think, and reflect on your content. The longer you can get them to stay on each page, the better you will do in search engines.
FAQs About Creative Blogs
Q: Don’t I have to stick with topics my SEO manager sent me?
A: Follow your gut. Of course, you should follow the expertise of your SEO manager, but if something doesn’t feel authentic to you, or it doesn’t fit your brand, skip it. Try to sprinkle in more innovative topics among the topics you’ve been given for SEO.
Q: How can I come up with new and interesting blog post ideas?
A: Client reviews, client stories, and current events in your industry will all be great topics. If you have a launch coming up, try to come up with some tongue-in-cheek or creative ways to blog about it.
When in doubt, just create a lot of content and see what performs best. It’s the only way to get to know your audience thoroughly.
Q: How will creativity help us rank in search engines?
A: The reason why I recommend creative copy so much is because you can’t replicate innovation. Creativity is the best way to carve out your own niche on the internet, even if it’s a small one. Having a lot of dedicated, excited users on your site will always be more valuable than thousands of random users who aren’t prepared to buy.
Get a Professional Creative Copywriter to Captain Your Blog
Do you know how many times a day I wish I had access to a creative brain that wasn’t mine?
Our own blind spots and cognitive biases make it hard for us to innovate when we are so close to the project we’re trying to manage.
The times I have listened to an outside perspective on my work were the times when I was really able to make some breakthroughs.
If you’re in need of another creative brain to captain your content, I’ve got you covered.
Check out my portfolio here, then climb aboard and reach out!
And for more tips on content and creativity, check out these posts: