blog.rebeccamurphey.com Adventures in front-end consulting

6 criteria for evaluating business blog post ideas

By Rebecca | September 23, 2008

categories: howto, small business websites, social media

When I work with a client to start a blog, one of the first things I do is ask them to give me a list of ideas they have for what they will write about. Seeing the list helps me assess where they are when it comes to understanding what blogging is about; seeing who offers good ideas gives me insight into who in the company will be a strong contributor.

To help evaluate that list, and to evaluate future ideas as they come up, I find it's helpful to provide some really simple criteria by which to evaluate post ideas before you start writing. They need to be adapted to fit the particular situation, of course, but in general I think they are a good starting point:

• Can you write a headline for it right now (even if it might change once you're done writing)? If not, you may want to think a bit more about what you want to say before you sit down to write it. Ideas like "exploring trends in the industry" don't pass this test; ideas like "5 ways [insert service here] will help you [solve a problem]" are obviously going to make better blogging fodder. Having an idea at the outset of what you're going to write will help focus your writing. Here are some examples of blog headline approaches to get you started.
• Does it provide some value to the reader? A post that doesn't solve a problem, point to a resource, or otherwise leave the reader more informed than when they arrived may be more suited to a news and events section. Viget has a good discussion of the difference between a blog and a news and events section.
• Can you write it in a well organized, scannable format? Bulleted lists and copy interspersed with subheads are your friend; long essays, not so much. Think about how you'll organize your ideas, and remember that blog readers will scan your content to find information of interest to them; it's in your interest to help them find what they're looking for.
• Can you think of at least two links you'll include in your post? Links have the altruistic benefit of pointing readers to more information on a subject, but they also give your post visibility through trackbacks. If not, you may need to do a bit more homework before you start writing, or you may be trying to write about a subject with which you don't have a ton of expertise. Can you reframe the subject, or find someone else in the business who may be better qualified to write about it?
• Can you research and write it in less than two hours? If not, the topic may be too broad, or you may not be sufficiently fluent in the subject to be writing about it in a blog setting. Perhaps more importantly, you may be overinvesting your valuable time. Some of the best posts are written from personal experience with the subject: solving a problem for a customer or client, attending a conference, trying out a product. The real-world experience makes you more capable of writing something compelling and valuable about it than if you approach the subject cold and need to do a bunch of research.
• Lastly, is the topic related to your business, at least tangentially? If not, this isn't a deal-killer, but you may want to evaluate whether it fits with the overall objective of your business blog.

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