We, bloggers, spend many hours, sometimes many days to write a great article, and it stays in the limelight only for few hours, before the piece of content is forgotten. Readers, usually, don’t remember what they read last week, let alone last month, or last year.

It’s tough to accept it, but even your best piece soon becomes junk, which is read by not many people.

There are, however, few blogs that are read often by most visitors. Their articles are never stale. Instead, number of visitors on the blog keep mounting every day. So, what is it that keeps you from developing such content? How do you write content that wouldn’t be thrown away like a piece of junk?

Here are few things that you need to keep in mind, while developing the content for your blog.

1.Aim High

You don’t have to think yourself as a blogger, or someone who simply writes for a website. You need to think yourself as a writer, as an artist, as a person that can create a difference. Even if you have produced the best content ever written, do not think ‘Well, I have been writing good content since last many years. My readers would certainly cut me some slack this time’.Give your best every time you write.

2.Involve in Productive Work

Get into some habits that would improve your profession as a blogger. Start reading interesting articles, know more about your domain, read books on Search Engine Optimization, play creative games, and so on. Spend some time daily for activities that would eventually make you a better blogger.

3.Post Articles Strategically

Before you plan to write about something today, make sure the articles relates to your domain, and will take you one step closer toward your long term goals. Every article in your blog should fill-in the missing pieces.

This means you will have to spend some time deriving strategies for your blog, and make sure the articles you write are aligned with those strategies.

4.Write Enduring Articles

Trendy, topical articles attract temporary traffic. Once these posts serves the purpose, do you expect people to read it? New pieces are only temporary They wouldn’t make you great writers.

Instead, write articles that are valuable and searched often. Write timeless articles that will help people solve their problem today, and even after a decade. Writing such articles everyday will help your blog emerge as a valuable blog, and an enduring one.

5.Rework Your Old Articles

Not every reader has read all the articles that you ever written. Many of them would be really useful, but are simply dumped beneath the newer ones or below unattractive headlines. Take a look at your previous articles, and identify the ones that are really useful, and rework on them to create fresh content, with similar essence.

6.Get Themes From Other Blogs

You can simply pick up themes from other blogs, and this is certainly not considered as plagiarism. Cross-fertilization and cross-linking is the essence of blogging. When you are short of ideas or basic themes, you can simply explore other blogs in similar niche.

Understand Why Are You Doing This

Blogging cannot be your gaol. This is just a way to achieve your goal. State your real dream, whether it’s earning money, becoming popular, or simply writing to create a difference.

And if you simply love to write, blogging is probably the best way to get started.

You will agree with me when I say it’s not possible to be at our blog all the time. However, you will find it little difficult to concur when I declare that not being at our blog doesn’t mean we can’t improve the blog. We definitely can, that is, if we want to.

And you probably wouldn’t believe if I say that being away from your blog is actually the best you could do to improve it.

If you are among those who are always thinking about their blog, its performance, its traffic, etc. then probably these tips a re tailor-made to suit your needs. Sometimes, I just sit against my computer and stare at the blank word document because I don’t know what to write. My mind is as blank as the word document. Perhaps, it might have happened to you as well.

That’s the time you need to be away from your blog. Here is how it helps:

1. Coming up with Fresh Ideas
   This is something that even the best blogger of the world might not be consistent in. It requires a calm and clear mind to generate new ideas. And do you really think sitting in front of your computer for hours would help? It wouldn’t.One possible option is to get away from your PC and relax for a while. Then, take a pen and paper and start jotting down all the topics that you have written about. Select any topic among them and try to look at it from a very different perspective, from all the possible angles.

   Ask yourself: have you covered all the sub-topics that could possibly be created from this topic? What else people would need to know about this topic? For instance, ‘Blogging Content’ is a topic or an idea. However, there can be numerous sub-topics or sub-ideas created from this topic like ‘How to write good content?’, ‘What is bad content?’, and so on.

   This is a very good exercise that promises consistent flow of ideas. You would never have to stare at the blank screen and keep thinking for hours.

2. Relate with the real world
   The real, refreshing outside world probably has much to offer. It can help you to come up with something that the internet wouldn’t. How do you think a new idea is generated? It is generated when we look at various things and think about it differently. Look at everything around you, everything in the outside world, each or any of them could be your next topic, or a new blog.Let’s look at something concrete for now. Pick up any magazine and you will find hundreds of article, which is no different from a blog. Magazine itself is a big blog.

   Next, a business. Any business. My father owns a departmental store. His business, in many ways, can help me to improve my blog. No, I cannot start writing about shopping habits or prices of groceries, if my blog is about improving the way your blog. But I definitely can learn  lot from the smart business models, new ideas applied in the store, how advertising affects the business, or just the way people act, and apply it in my blog someway or the other.

   If I can’t apply it, at least I would know how to operate a business. However, that’s not what we are focusing on right now. According to me, you will get something out of it. Remember, it all depends on how we look at something.

3. Use the technology
   If it’s really urgent to update something on your blog, or replying a comment, and your are traveling, or just far from accessing a computer, don’t fret. Just relax and enjoy the benefits of the improvement in technology. You can access your blog or edit it through your mobile, iPod, blackberry, PSP, or many other devices.An application called WordPress for iPhones can allow you to type and post your article on your blog. You can also edit blog pages, upload images, or reply to a comment. So, you aren’t actually away from your blog, are you?
4. Offline Advertising
   It is the most effective way to utilize your time improving your blog while you are away from it. Unfortunately, very less percentage of the bloggers today use offline advertising as a source of promotion. This can be very effective if your blog discusses something about the real outside world. Offline blogging can be done by distributing t-shirts, car stickers, posters etc. I will be soon writing about the various ways to advertise offline because I rally think it’s quite effective and least used.
5. Just Relax
   Here is another point on which you won’t agree with me, but relaxing does help to improve your blog.
   I have seen many bloggers face something known as ‘Blogger’s Block’ i.e. a time when they are not able to write, not even a word. Relaxing, then, is the best solution. Even if you are a bit overworked, relaxing will help you to soothe you mind and body, which is quite important to come up with new ideas regularly.Being relaxed is a way to calm your mind.
   Being relaxed is a way to be creative.
   Being relaxed is a way to be in a proper state of mind.
   Being relaxed is a way to improve your blog.

Okay. These were my suggestions on how can you make optimum utilization of the time you are away from your blog. Some people have the habit of carrying a pen and paper along with them, wherever they go. I do believe it’s a great idea because it helps you to jot down every idea you come up with.

I would really appreciate if you can discuss how you can utilize you “non-blogging” time. Would love to read your inputs.

Suggestions Please!