That’s what you’re telling your readers, after all, when your content is a week old or more. “Hey, there’s nothing new here, what the hell are you thinking? Go fuck yourself!”
There are lots of great sites I like to go to, and I check them each day for new content. Now, I know it’s difficult to add new stuff each day; I did it on three blogs for three months! But if you can’t even throw up 500 words in 7 days, then why should I waste my time visiting you?
And why should I continue to have your bookmark on my bookmark bar? That’s prime real estate, and as soon as a scroll bar appears there I know it’s time to clean house. Which site do you think won’t be making the cut?
I don’t know what’s with these sites, or why they think they can get away it. What the hell are they thinking? Here’s a few of my theories:
There are lots of great sites I like to go to, and I check them each day for new content. Now, I know it’s difficult to add new stuff each day; I did it on three blogs for three months! But if you can’t even throw up 500 words in 7 days, then why should I waste my time visiting you?
And why should I continue to have your bookmark on my bookmark bar? That’s prime real estate, and as soon as a scroll bar appears there I know it’s time to clean house. Which site do you think won’t be making the cut?
I don’t know what’s with these sites, or why they think they can get away it. What the hell are they thinking? Here’s a few of my theories:
- They’re busy: This one’s pretty common, as many sites I visit are run by copywriters, novelists, or people somehow involved in the publishing industry. But wouldn’t that mean fresh content should be all the more important?
- They’re stuck: This one seems pretty plausible. It’s tough coming up with new ideas, especially if you’ve had a site for a long time. So maybe instead of sitting down to get at it these people are twiddling their thumbs and waiting for magic dust to sprinkle down upon them.
- They’re lazy: You don’t find many lazy bloggers, but perhaps that’s what you’re up against when you run into a site that doesn’t add new content for a week. That laziness will eventually only translate into one thing: a dead blog.
- They’re rubbish: I write eBooks. I know that lots of people write eBooks because I see new authors show up all the time. Often they’ll start off strong but burn themselves out quick. Does it matter that they had anything good to say to begin with? They couldn’t hack it, they went nowhere: they’re rubbish.
So How Can You Add New Content Each Week (at the least)
That’s easy, you have to plan. I can’t tell you how simple it is. Well, I guess I can, and did so more than 6 months ago when I put it in a chapter in my book Write Now! You have to plan things, and the best way to do that is sit down sometime, preferably at the beginning of the week, and write them out.
Yeah, it’s that simple!
So why can’t I do it?
Try these simple ways to plan your blog content weeks in advance, and make it easier to produce when the time comes:
Yeah, it’s that simple!
So why can’t I do it?
Try these simple ways to plan your blog content weeks in advance, and make it easier to produce when the time comes:
Top 25 List
You might as well just get several months out of the way. Take one of those notebooks with the lined-paper; don’t use your computer for this. Write out 25 to 50 2-word titles. Here are some examples:
You get the idea. The point is, when you start brainstorming you come up with stuff. Take that daily blogging: morning, afternoon, evening. My students would try to pull that crap when I was an ESL teacher, and it worked for them. It can work for you too.
Analyzing your daily traffic over three posts gives you internal linking options, external linking opportunities, and content that people might want to share. People love numbers, and that’s not a bad idea.
- Winter blogging;
- Morning traffic;
- Afternoon traffic;
- Evening traffic;
- Weekend traffic;
- User comments;
- Comment responses;
- Quality control;
- Site visitors.
You get the idea. The point is, when you start brainstorming you come up with stuff. Take that daily blogging: morning, afternoon, evening. My students would try to pull that crap when I was an ESL teacher, and it worked for them. It can work for you too.
Analyzing your daily traffic over three posts gives you internal linking options, external linking opportunities, and content that people might want to share. People love numbers, and that’s not a bad idea.
Blog Titles
Sometimes I find it hard to get started on a new blog post because I can’t think of a good title. This sounds silly, and it is. But the sad truth is your title is very important for a variety of reasons.
Your title has power, and that’s why I’ll often wait until I’m finished writing to come up with the perfect title. Actually, lots of times I don’t bother. But if you’re having trouble, or just want to make that killer weekly article, I’d suggest spending a little time on it.
Start off with a simple list of ideas, like above. Take one and expand it, writing what you think a possible title might be. Switch around your object and subject. Move and change nouns, verbs, pronouns, adverbs, and adjectives. Write it as a statement, question, or how-to. Even try writing it from different emotional viewpoints.
Maybe you’ll get a few different article ideas from the exercise. Maybe you’ll just get that great title that keeps visitors clicking on that blog pot months from now. The point is, titles can help you get started and make something that’s finished even better.
Here are the titles I worked on for this article:
- First, it tells readers at a glance whether they should even bother clicking on you;
- Second, you can put keywords in there that will get picked up by the search engines;
- Third, great titles stay with readers.
Your title has power, and that’s why I’ll often wait until I’m finished writing to come up with the perfect title. Actually, lots of times I don’t bother. But if you’re having trouble, or just want to make that killer weekly article, I’d suggest spending a little time on it.
Start off with a simple list of ideas, like above. Take one and expand it, writing what you think a possible title might be. Switch around your object and subject. Move and change nouns, verbs, pronouns, adverbs, and adjectives. Write it as a statement, question, or how-to. Even try writing it from different emotional viewpoints.
Maybe you’ll get a few different article ideas from the exercise. Maybe you’ll just get that great title that keeps visitors clicking on that blog pot months from now. The point is, titles can help you get started and make something that’s finished even better.
Here are the titles I worked on for this article:
- If You’re Not Writing New Content You’re Telling Me to Go Fuck Myself
- If You’re Not Writing New Content You’re Telling Me to Go Fuck Yourself
- Old Content Tells Your Users to ‘Go Fuck Themselves!’
- Your Old Content is Telling Me to ‘Go Fuck Myself!’
- Old Content Screams ‘Go Fuck Yourself!’
- The Website Told Me To Go Fuck Myself
- Why is Your Website Telling Me to Go Fuck Myself?
- Should a Website Tell You to "Go Fuck Yourself?”
- Extra! Extra! Websites Tell Users to ‘Go Fuck Themselves!’
- Mommy, Mommy, the Website Said a Bad Word!
- Your Website is Telling Users to Fuck Off!
- Don’t Let Your Website Tell Users to Fuck Off!
- “Aaahhh…Go Fuck Yourself!” the Website Said
Copy Others
Yeah, go to the blogs you like and say what they’re saying. It’s not really copying, and I can’t tell you how many times this has helped me.
Start off by rewriting one of the sections from the site content you like. Keep writing, and eventually you’ll find that your own thought processes take over. Soon that little paragraph you copied expands into two paragraphs of your own, and then a page.
You see, when you’re writing content similar to content you’re reading you’ll be able to write quickly. And you usually read what interests you, and interests are some of the easiest things to write about.
I loved making my students write when I was a teacher. For one thing, it gave me a break. Also, it allowed them to get their ideas across in a way they felt comfortable expressing later. I’d always put up a model of what I wanted them to write, often a funny and stupid little short story.
Some would copy it almost exactly, and most would copy the form or format of the model. But all would produce something slightly unique and different. And the keyword there is produce. By seeing a model, copying it slightly, and working off of it, they were able to produce their own content quickly and effectively.
Start off by rewriting one of the sections from the site content you like. Keep writing, and eventually you’ll find that your own thought processes take over. Soon that little paragraph you copied expands into two paragraphs of your own, and then a page.
You see, when you’re writing content similar to content you’re reading you’ll be able to write quickly. And you usually read what interests you, and interests are some of the easiest things to write about.
I loved making my students write when I was a teacher. For one thing, it gave me a break. Also, it allowed them to get their ideas across in a way they felt comfortable expressing later. I’d always put up a model of what I wanted them to write, often a funny and stupid little short story.
Some would copy it almost exactly, and most would copy the form or format of the model. But all would produce something slightly unique and different. And the keyword there is produce. By seeing a model, copying it slightly, and working off of it, they were able to produce their own content quickly and effectively.
Do a 360°
When you just can’t think of a damn thing to say, start to say what the other guy says. No, not that friendly blogger who you love and copy anyway; check out that bastard you hate and can’t stand reading!
There’s nothing like an opposing viewpoint to get you writing quickly. If you’re a little bundle of sunshine and agree with everyone, find a news story or issue that pisses you off. Something must push your buttons, and use that to get you going.
One morning I woke up and read something about John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House. I can’t remember what the headline was, but it so inflamed me that I punched out 800 words or so for my ESL blog. (Thanks, John!)
If that strategy doesn’t work, adopt the opposite positions you usually take. By taking a 360° on your stance you’ll throw your readers, but you’ll also be able to dissect your position and come to a better understanding of where you usually stand. Consider something like “The Top 10 Reasons Why My Competitor…” whatever. You can come up with something that’ll shed light, give your readers a new and unique perspective, and expand your own horizons in the process.
There’s nothing like an opposing viewpoint to get you writing quickly. If you’re a little bundle of sunshine and agree with everyone, find a news story or issue that pisses you off. Something must push your buttons, and use that to get you going.
One morning I woke up and read something about John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House. I can’t remember what the headline was, but it so inflamed me that I punched out 800 words or so for my ESL blog. (Thanks, John!)
If that strategy doesn’t work, adopt the opposite positions you usually take. By taking a 360° on your stance you’ll throw your readers, but you’ll also be able to dissect your position and come to a better understanding of where you usually stand. Consider something like “The Top 10 Reasons Why My Competitor…” whatever. You can come up with something that’ll shed light, give your readers a new and unique perspective, and expand your own horizons in the process.
Newsflash! Regular Content Keeps Sites Regular
Sometimes I think I’m selling Metimucel or some other fiber product for seniors. Regular content keeps your site regular by ensuring your traffic remains the same, your user’s experience remains consistent, and your earnings stay constant.
From a link building standpoint new content is critical. Where are you going to point those new backlinks you want to create; to the same old boring stuff from last quarter? That’s not going to work too well, especially as more sites embrace mobile and update their content to take local search results into account on a much-wider basis.
And this is especially true for social media today. Everyone uses that stuff and they expect updates now. If you’re even a day old on those platforms you’re irrelevant. Does that mean you should bombard? No, it means you need to have a different approach to your social media presence that gets the message across without your users forgetting you, but also without you alienating them.
Please stop telling your users to ‘Go Fuck Themselves.’ Write new content today!
From a link building standpoint new content is critical. Where are you going to point those new backlinks you want to create; to the same old boring stuff from last quarter? That’s not going to work too well, especially as more sites embrace mobile and update their content to take local search results into account on a much-wider basis.
And this is especially true for social media today. Everyone uses that stuff and they expect updates now. If you’re even a day old on those platforms you’re irrelevant. Does that mean you should bombard? No, it means you need to have a different approach to your social media presence that gets the message across without your users forgetting you, but also without you alienating them.
Please stop telling your users to ‘Go Fuck Themselves.’ Write new content today!
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