The thought of writing a blog isn’t usually a pleasant one. You might run into writer’s block, it takes a lot of time, you wonder if anyone will actually read it, and it might not even be worth the effort.
Still, content marketing offers many opportunities for search engine optimization to generate traffic and reach your target audience through search engines as well.
You can outsource blog posts to external copywriters, but you can also write the perfect blog post yourself. These days, the internet is full of tools that can help you write blog posts.
We’d love to tell you more about these free tools! Use these tips to avoid writer’s block and distractions, plan ahead, and write the perfect blog post that gets results.
Do you have an idea but aren’t sure how to turn it into a great blog post? The HubSpot Blog Ideas Generator turns your idea into a blog post.
Enter three keywords, and this generator will give you five ideas for a blog post. Use this tool as a starting point for a blog post, and you’ll even get a title for free!
Don’t have time for an in-depth discussion with the team, but would you still like to bounce ideas off them? There’s a tool available for that, too.
With Miro (formerly RealTimeBoard), you can easily share ideas and notes online. This way, you can brainstorm with your team in between all the other tasks you have to do.
In addition, you’ll have an overview of all the ideas and be able to make a well-considered decision.
Blogging helps increase your website’s visibility. Naturally, you need to know what people are searching for and which keywords they use.
You can use Google Ads for this, but there are also plenty of free tools you can use to find keywords, such as Ubersuggest and Keywords Everywhere. Identify what people are searching for so you can improve your website’s search visibility.
See also: Free alternatives to the Google Keyword Planner.
Are you curious to know if people will actually read your blog? Buzzsumo is a tool that helps you find out which blogs are popular and frequently shared on social media.
Not only will you easily discover what topics are popular, but you’ll also get ideas for a good title. By knowing what’s trending online, you can easily capitalize on those trends.
In addition to knowing what performs well online, you also want to know exactly what’s going on online among your target audience. Google offers many tools, including Google Consumer Barometer.
This will give you insight into how your target audience uses the internet, what role it plays, and what devices they use. With these insights, you can write a blog that resonates with your target audience.
You’ve exchanged ideas, you know who you’re writing for and what’s going on. You’re ready to start writing a blog. It’s understandable that things are still a bit chaotic and that the new blog doesn’t have a structure yet.
Use the Milanote Mind Mapping tool to organize everything; this will give you an overview of what your blog should look like.
Are you afraid of writer’s block, or do you tend to stop writing halfway through because you saw an interesting email? This wastes a lot of time and is unnecessary. With the Cold Turkey Writer tool Block all distractions on your computer.
This tool blocks everything until you’re done writing. You set how long you want to write or how many words, and only once you’ve reached that goal will Cold Turkey Writer give you access to other applications on your computer.
No more distractions—just write until you’re done!
Even though all those coworkers are often fun to be around and have good ideas, you don’t want to be distracted by the noise in the office. Grab a pair of headphones and mute your coworkers!
With the A Soft Murmur tool, you can listen to soothing sounds—like a crackling fire—while you write.
On average, content with an image is shared ten times more often on social media than content without an image. When your blog is shared on social media, you’ll get even more traffic.
The Pexels website Helps you find a suitable image. The internet also offers plenty of tools you can use to edit any image, such as canva.com, which will help you round out your blog post.
If you have multiple social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, you’ll need to schedule a post for each account.
Using tools like Buffer or HootSuite Schedule your posts on various social media channels. That saves a lot of time.
Let your creativity run wild with Lucidspark. This tool helps teams collaborate online and turn ideas into action. It’s a handy tool for a quick brainstorming session where participants can vote on the (content) idea that appeals to them the most.
After the brainstorming session, you can easily sort the ideas automatically; for example, you can easily group all your blog ideas by number of votes or category.
With a passion for SEO and an unmatched drive for results, Jarik Oosting is the driving force behind SmartRanking. With over 15 years of experience in the field, he has built an extensive body of knowledge spanning technical SEO to complex site migrations. As the founder of SmartRanking, he has assembled a team of like-minded SEO specialists who help businesses achieve sustainable online growth.
His academic background in information science at the University of Groningen, with a specialization in natural language processing, gives him a unique perspective on the world of SEO. For Jarik, it’s not just about visibility in search engines, it’s about sharing knowledge and guiding businesses toward sustainable online success. That mission also led him to write a Dutch book about GEO.