If your blog posts are going to engage your audience, you’ll need to ask questions that really help them think about their situation. This is a simple concept that works because the answers your audience gives you will help you determine exactly what they want to read about next.
It is not enough to know what you think are the most common questions about your products, services, or brand. You must find out what they actually are, and what your readers really want to know.
When I first started writing about the things that were important to me—I quickly discovered that a lot of other entrepreneurs were facing the same challenges – overcoming writer’s block. I realized that what worked for me didn’t always work for them and vice versa. After a lot of trial and error, I finally learned how to write posts that would answer the questions that my audience were asking me in a way that was educational and provided good value.
Let’s say you’ve found a great topic, but you’re not sure how to approach it. You might even be scared to tackle it in the first place. To put it simply, it’s hard to come up with a creative, original idea. So what do you do? Start with a list of the most frequently asked questions. This will save you valuable time by helping you get clear about what your customers really want to know.
But what if you don’t have a lot of clients or you’re just getting started?
In the age of research, Google is your friend. We’ve become so accustomed to answering our own questions with a simple search query. And thanks to the abundance of free content online, we’re able to find solutions to nearly any question we might have…some good and some bad.
So how do you answer what people are actually asking? That is, what do you put on your blog that your audience wants to see? First answer the next question:
Why should anyone read my blog post?
I can tell you why I am writing this post, but why should anyone else read this blog post? This is the first question you have to answer as the author of your blog post. Most people write blogs for different reasons. They write blogs to
- inform
- entertain
- market
- teach
- sell
and this blog post is for those of you who are looking to learn how to write a blog post. If you are planning to start your own blog, then you should have a good idea of what you want your blog to be about. Otherwise, I recommend you write an article that will help your target audience solve some sort of problem.
Writing an article for your own personal gain isn’t enough. You need to do something that is useful for other people. You can’t just write a blog post that you want to publish and then expect people to read it. If you do that, you’re going to run into problems.
You’ll need to write about a topic that you care about. This is an important thing to consider when writing a blog post. What your writing about should be interesting to you as well as your readers. If it is not interesting to you, then why should anyone else read this blog post?
Now that we’ve determined that you care about this topic, it’s time to figure out what people specifically care about. You have to understand your audience. Who are they, what do they care about, and what type of topics would they like to read?
To figure out what people care about, you need to know what type of information is needed to satisfy people. You need to write an article that gives people what they want. This is where I am going to help you.
In order to give people what they want, you have to know what people are asking. You have to understand their pain. You need to know what problems they have and what they want to learn. The problem with most people who write blogs is that they think that they know what people want. In reality, they are usually writing a blog for themselves.
First…Brainstorm
Before starting any blog post, a little prep work will go a long way. I’m going to assume that you’re in the early stages of blogging, maybe you haven’t even written one yet.
Think of your ideal customer or reader. If they were to phone you or email you, what would they be asking you? write down everything that comes to mind.
For example, if you sell jewellery accessories, you might want to think about the questions your ideal customer might ask:
- How many co-ordinated sets should I have?
- How many pairs of earrings should I have?
- What type of necklace should I wear with a patterned blouse?
You can use this list to help you write your first post. If someone calls you up and asks these questions, you can answer them in your blog. Start by writing down the answers to these questions. You may not have all the answers to these questions, but that’s okay!
Identify Keywords in the Questions
Look over your list of questions. Do you see a pattern of keywords? write those down
Where the Magic Happens: Google
This is where you’ll do some research and type the questions into Google and on the search results page, glance at what comes up…but what I’d like you to look for is found by scrolling down a bit and look for a section called “People Also Ask”.
These are questions that people commonly search for on Google and are not sponsored ads. They are actual questions.
Example: I typed in the search box “what necklace should I wear with a patterned blouse”, scrolled down and this is what people also asked:
How helpful is this! Regardless of the topic, you instantly have 4 more blog post ideas where you can dig deeper into the content. But you can also use these as part of your blog post outline (sections).
Now what happens if you want more?
Scroll down and find “Related Searches” which are searches based on what other people have done.
My display showed the following:
Which you can use for further blog post topics or include this into your main blog post. You can click the magnifying glass next to each search to expand that search in more detail.
Example: I clicked on the first in the list “how to match jewelry with your outfit” and then scrolled down a bit to find “People Also Ask”
Can you see how helpful this tool is, and it’s completely free. Without using a calculator, I can estimate at least 37 blog posts in the examples shown.
- 1 main search
- 4 – People also ask
- 8 – related searches
- 4 – People also ask per related search
Can you see how this can work so well when creating Pillar Content and working with the Topic Cluster Model? Let’s not even talk about how many smaller pieces of content you can get out of repurposing your blog post.
How to Find Out What People are Asking without Asking Google a Question
Wow, that was a mouthful.
In addition to searching by questions, you can search by keywords. In Google, I started typing “pairing jewelry” and Google filled in another entry.
Clicking on either search, bring up a search engine results page (SERP) and scrolling down, you’ll find another “People Also Ask” and at the bottom another set of additional related searches.
Can you imagine how you can use this simple tool to answer what people are asking?
How to Write Your Blog Fast
To make this fast for you, use each question as your outline and expand with your answer using the PAS method (problem, agitation, solution) of copywriting.
So how do you do that? There are two ways to answer this question:
- create a blog post that answers one specific question, or
- create a blog post that answers multiple questions
The question is the problem, agitation is expanding on the problem some more and the solution is your answer.
The PAS method works either way and will also help you focus your writing.
Bonus Points: Video
You know that video is not going away and that all platforms such as YouTube (of course), Instagram Reels, TikTok, Pinterest Idea Pins etc. are putting preference on video content. It’s much easier to record a short video when you’re answering one question, so use this opportunity to create short form content for these platforms without overwhelm.
A simple question-and-answer format is a great way to capture the attention of audiences. Video works well in this format, but it can be overwhelming to produce a video to answer let’s say 10 questions. Don’t let that stop you, though. If you’ve already prepared some short answers to questions people may ask, consider making a video around those responses as individual videos. For example, you could make a quick video that’s under 60 seconds to answer each question. That will take care of IG Reels, TikTok, Pinterest Idea Pins and YouTube Shorts.
Then you can take all those videos and create one long video for a long form YouTube video. The problem with this is that the short form video content above is filmed in a portrait orientation and YouTube traditional videos is filmed landscape. If you have access to two phones, you’re golden!
Conclusion
The People Also Ask feature of Google helps find out more questions related to your topic that people are actually asking and gives you opportunities to use those questions to create your own Q&A blog post or other type of content for marketing. In addition to asking questions, you can use this feature to find other questions or search topics similar to yours on Google.
If you’re just getting started with blogging for your business or are in the early stages of blogging, it might be a little difficult to write.
It’s important to write from a place of passion because if you’re not inspired to write by something you care about, you won’t keep writing. That’s why it’s so important to have a purpose for what you write.
- What does the topic mean to you?
- Why is it important?
- Why should anyone care?
Those questions are important. Without having a reason behind it, your content won’t have much meaning. It will only end up being mediocre and forgettable.
So, start by thinking about what you would want others to say about your topic. When you’re writing, remember that you’re writing for a future audience that will care. Think about how the audience will respond to your message and what they might ask after reading your post. Write to answer that question. Then, write the answer to that question. If you’re stuck on questions, that’s when you take it to Google and use the “People Also Ask” and additional search terms feature to give you a boost of relevant inspiration.
Now…go and write a blog post that answers your audience’s questions.
Suggested Reading
Sometimes you don’t always have to create something new, make the most of your time by repurposing your existing content. Here are some articles to give you some insight about the idea.
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