Overcoming writer’s block as a blogger: 6 strategies

As a blogger, fresh content is key to keeping your site relevant and generating revenue. However, coming up with new ideas all the time can be difficult, especially when you find yourself breaking writer’s block. This happens to even the most seasoned content creators, and the difference between success and failure is knowing how to get through slow patches.

Luckily, there are several techniques that bloggers can use to find inspiration for their websites. Once you know where to look, it becomes much easier to find sources for your blog’s articles. This also makes pulling it out of the well easier over time.

In this post, we discuss six outstanding tips for overcoming writer’s block as a blogger. Let’s get straight to the point!

📚 Table of contents:

1. Publish updated versions of older posts on your blog
2. Use a keyword planning tool to find high-volume search terms
3. Observe trending topics and jump on the moving train
4. Provide answers to frequently asked questions
5. Research your competition and improve their posts
6. Integrate an “auto-blogging” tool to curate content

How to overcome writer’s block and start writing again

1. Post updated versions of older posts on your blog

One of the easiest ways to find new content is to search your old posts. Chances are, you have posts that are less than “evergreen” — outdated posts that you wrote months or even years ago. Even if it was relevant when you published it, content can quickly deteriorate in quality and accuracy.

You can take those old posts and revamp them, or even write entirely new posts with updated content on the same topic. A classic example is “annual” content – ​​if you wrote a post about new trends in web design last year, the topic is ripe for reevaluation this year as a brand new post:

Not only will this help you overcome your writer’s block, but it will improve the overall quality of your content. By updating or improving outdated content, you become more relevant in your niche and know more about the topics your readers care about.

2. Use a keyword planning tool to find high-volume search terms

Keyword planning is a smart technique for content strategy and search engine optimization (SEO) in general. But it can also be especially helpful when trying to overcome writer’s block.

If you’re missing the topics, go to your favorite keyword planning tool – such as Google Keyword Planner or Moz’s Keyword Explorer – and do some keyword research for topics related to your niche. This should bring up a few ideas to inspire you to crack your writing software:

For example, a quick search for “web design” returned keywords like “web design tutorial”, “web design courses”, and “main aspects of web design”. Any one – or all three – of these could become your next unique contribution.

Choosing high search volume results also helps improve the chances that your new post will perform well. However, if your primary goal is to avoid writer’s block, it may be worth taking a more relaxed stance and only choosing from high-performing keywords.

3. Observe trending topics and jump on the moving bandwagon

Internet users are bombarded with content practically every second. Every topic has its day in the spotlight, and it’s not hard to find out what people are interested in right now. Therefore, researching trending topics can help you stay relevant and break writer’s block.

You can try browsing sites like Reddit, Buzzfeed, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms to see what’s popular and customize the theme to match your blog:

Alternatively, you can also look at tools that aggregate trending content, such as BuzzSumo:

This can be a way to conduct more targeted searches rather than scrolling through multiple platforms looking for ideas.

Still, depending on your niche, social media can be a mature resource for content. Which method is best for you ultimately depends on your specific situation.

4. Provide answers to frequently asked questions

It goes without saying that the best blog posts deliver value to your readers. Producing content that solves a problem or answers a question that your audience is often confronted with is a smart move from a strategic point of view.

With that in mind, finding questions that need answers can help you fill your blog with posts when you’re running out of posts. You can search question sites and forums e.g ratedo some specific keyword research as in the previous step, or just take a look at Google’s autofill suggestions for specific terms:

Additionally, if you have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, you can provide more detailed answers to those questions in a detailed post. This arguably brings you into the realm of developing a knowledge base, for which you may even have other ideas in mind. At least your FAQ page will get a few more internal links, which will help from an SEO point of view.

Finally, the comment sections of your blog posts are also ideal hunting grounds for questions that you may be able to address in a separate post. Even polling your audience directly could be a fruitful endeavor.

5. Research your competition and improve their posts

A major trigger for a clogged “creative drain” is the feeling of constantly having to develop your own ideas and approaches. However, remember that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, especially when it comes to blog content writing.

For example, checking out your blogging competitors can be a helpful way to generate ideas for your own content while overcoming writer’s block.

Also, by keeping an eye on your competition, you can ensure that your website is up to date while ensuring that your blog is providing content of comparable quality.

Of course, if you just copy their approach and topic strategy, you won’t stand out. Instead, consider looking into your competitors’ archives and noting posts that you think you could improve and areas where their blog is missing.

That “Skyscraper Technique” is your go-to solution here. It’s basically a way of taking existing content and improving it. We’ve featured it regularly on KCCSB and think it’s one of the best ways to outperform and outshine other competing blogs.

6. Integrate an “auto-blogging” tool to curate content

Autoblogging is the practice of collecting content from outside sources and curating it for your blog. To install an auto blogging plugin like our RSS feed tool Feedzy on your WordPress site can regularly send new theme ideas straight to your site:

While curating content is a skill that you need to practice, it can be a smart way to source content for your blog, especially if you’re short on fresh ideas.

Alternatively, you can use an RSS aggregator to send content your way and then create your own unique posts on the same or similar topics.

Combine this with other solutions we’ve mentioned and you’ll get even more inspiration for your own theme ideas with almost no lifting of a finger.

Conclusion

In this post, we’ve covered six different ways you can get rid of writer’s block. Let’s take a quick look at each of them:

1. Publish updated versions of older posts on your blog.
2. Use a keyword planning tool to find high-volume search terms.
3. Observe trending topics and jump on the moving train.
4. Provide answers to frequently asked questions.
5. Research your competition and improve their posts.
6. Integrate an auto-blogging tool to curate content.

Do you have questions about overcoming writer’s block as a blogger? Ask in the comments section below!