Business blogging offers plenty of benefits to those who use it. It adds value to your website. It expands your web presence, increases your search engine visibility, encourages interaction from readers, drives more traffic to your site … the list goes on.

But it’s not always easy. Sometimes writer’s block rears its ugly head, bringing your blogging efforts to a screeching halt. You sit down to write a blog entry but nothing comes to mind. You know the importance of a consistent publishing schedule, but you’ve simply run out of ideas. Your last blog entry was a long time ago. Things have become stale.

Don’t worry. The following list of business blogging content ideas will keep you going for a long time. There’s no limit to the number of blog entries you can create from these idea generators!

1. Recycle your email content to create blog entries from it. If you’re like most modern business owners, you probably do a lot of emailing. Much of this can be re-purposed as blog entry material, especially any Q&A emails about your business.
2. Add a small box / form to the sidebar area of your blog, where your visitors can type in their questions. They click the “send” button and the question is sent to you by email. You can answer their question right on the blog. You’ll never be strapped for blog entry ideas if people keep asking question about your business / products / services.
3. Use a keyword research tool like the one offered by Google to identify a list of key phrases related to your business. That’s how I came up with the idea for this article. I saw that people were looking for blog entry ideas through the search engines … so I gave them some! Why rack your brain to get inside the heads of your audience, when you can find out exactly what they’re researching?
4. Follow the media. Nothing influences Internet search behavior like the media. What’s being talked about in your industry or niche? What are the hot topics? How can create blog entries around it?
5. Create some Google Alerts so you’ll have an endless supply of blog content ideas and writing material. This idea ties back to the previous one about keeping tabs on the news. You can set up a Google Alert for some keyword or phrase related to your business, and you’ll be emailed daily or weekly as relevant news breaks online (such as news stories, press releases and the like).
6. Look to your own business for blog entry ideas and subject matter. How kinds of products or services to you provide? What are the important components of those products or services? Break this up into informational entries to educate your audience. It’s great for search engine visibility as well.
7. If you’re really stuck for blogging ideas, but you want to keep your blog chugging along, check out our writing services.
8. Create a series of entries on some kind of theme related to your business. Top 10 reasons to [blank] … 15 steps to better [blank] … 21 things you should know about [blank]. Each item in the series is a separate post. You get the idea. This is also the type of blog entry that gets linked to a lot from other bloggers, which sends extra traffic your way!
9. Get out a piece of paper and start brainstorming for blogging ideas related to your business. Write down your products and services. Then write down the ways those products solve people’s problems. Jot down some of the special features or benefits of your products / services. Don’t edit yourself … just writer freely. You’ll have a bunch of blog entry ideas by the time you’re done.
10. Do you have colleagues who are enthusiastic about blogging? Invite them to be guest authors on your blog. You could even set them up as a regular contributor. Most blog programs have some kind of “Add an Author” feature for this very purpose. They get extra exposure. You get extra blog content.
11. Conduct an interview in Q&A format on your blog. Talk to experts in some field that’s related to your business. Invite them to do an online interview and email the questions to them. When you get their answers back, publish the whole thing onto your blog.
12. Look to other bloggers in your industry for blog content ideas and inspiration. What are other people talking about? Which seem to be the hottest topics in your industry or niche?
13. Do you know of any web forums related to your business? If so, visit those forums and see which topics of discussion seem to be the most popular.
14. Do a search on Google News for keywords and phrases related to your business. This will bring up press releases, news articles and the like — another great source for blog entry ideas and guidance.
15. Visit an article distribution website (EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com, etc.) to see if you can find some quality material to use. If you’re blog is related to business or marketing, you can also visit the Free Business Articles section of our website to find material.

So there you have them … more blogging content ideas than you can shake a stick at. Bookmark this page or print it out for future reference. It will help fuel your blog entries for a long, long time!

This blogging advice article is written specifically for small business owners who want to get more business via the Internet. If you have been considering a blog for your business, but you’re not sure what to do with it, this blogging advice is for you.

What should I be blogging about?

This is the first question most small business owners ask about blogging. What should I write about? My advice is to write about topics that (A) interest you and (B) related to your business in some way. This may seem like an obvious bit of blogging advice, but you’d be surprised at how many bloggers choose the wrong topics for their blogs. If you don’t choose a topic that interests you, you’ll be more inclined to fall behind on your blogging schedule. If you choose a topic that’s not related to your business, you’re defeating the whole purpose of business blogging.

It will help if you create a blog plan before getting started.

How often should I blog?

As often as you can, without neglecting the other aspects of running a business. The benefits of blogging are cumulative in nature. Search engine visibility, traffic levels, buzz, popularity — these things will happen over time, not right away. So my best blogging advice on frequency is to do it as often as you can. That might mean once a day, three times a week, or once a week. Just find a schedule that works for you and go for it!

How should I organize my blogging topics?

It’s best to limit the number of categories you have on your blog, to prevent readers from being overwhelmed by a huge list. By “categories,” I’m referring to the way you group your blog posts. For example, on this blog I have a handful of categories listed in the sidebar area. Every post I make falls into one of these main categories. This gives readers an easy way to search through the blogging I’ve done in the past.

Learn more about blog usability

What writing style should I use when blogging?

Use your own style, even if you don’t think you have one. Be yourself. This is the best blogging advice I can give you, because it will make the writing process easier and the end-product better. If you need help coming up with topics, use a keyword research tool like WordTracker and enter the name of your products / services. This will give you a list of phrases and topics people are searching that pertain to your business. Great for blogging material.

How should I promote my small business blog?

First, list your blog in our directory and a handful of other directories. These links will help with your long-term search engine visibility. You can also consider submitting a press release online, if you think your blog is newsworthy. Find other bloggers within your industry and network with them.

Here are hundreds of additional tips for promoting your blog.

I hope you found this short burst of blogging advice helpful, and I wish you all the best with your small business blogging efforts. Surf around this website for a while, and you’ll find literally thousands of additional tips and tools that might help you.

I’ve often written about how the media drives online search patterns, and how bloggers can capitalize on this in order to increase their traffic levels. Here’s a prime example of that, wrapped up in a weird story about a Sarah Palin birthmark on a cow in Texas.

Today, I was doing some research to track the Internet popularity of Sarah Palin topics. If you don’t know who Sarah Palin is by now, go back under your rock … this doesn’t concern you.

I actually started tracking the Internet search patterns of the Governor on the day that Senator McCain announced her as his running mate. The results were pretty predictable at first. Internet searches for “Sarah Palin” started to climb, as people began looking her up in Google, Yahoo, etc. One of the most popular phrases seems to be Sarah Palin pictures — not surprising, considering she is a former beauty queen.

But I was not expecting the degree to which her Internet popularity skyrocketed! I use tools like WordTracker and Google’s keyword tool to track this kind of thing (I’m a search engine marketing geek … what can I say). And I’ve never seen search numbers like those pertaining to Sarah Palin pictures and the like.

Many of the entertainment, media, political and pop culture bloggers and well aware of Palin’s rising popularity, and the smart ones are publishing plenty of blog posts, articles and fact sheets about Sarah Palin topics. This is the key to getting maximum traffic to your blog.

Of course, not everyone can blog about Sarah Palin pictures and get away with it. But this is just an example of the media driving Internet search patterns. Your job, as a business blogger who wants to increase traffic levels, is to know what topics are being covered in your industry and to find a way to capitalize on that.

Oh, and I promised you a picture of a Sarah Palin birthmark on a cow. I am a man of my word!