5 Tips for Converting Documents into Blogs
If you’re struggling to think up a new topic for a blog article, then looking back at past documents you’ve written could be a source of inspiration for a number of blogs.
There will always be plenty of content for blogs, and documents can serve as a good jumping off point if your imagination has run dry for the day. Here are five tips on how to convert an old document of yours into a series of engaging blogs.
1. Choose a document that your audience is interested in
First and foremost, it is best for you to choose wisely when it comes to your document. Whether it’s an online white paper or physical copy of a case study, be sure to go with a document that has sparked a lot of interest in the past for your audience.
So if a white paper has been downloaded over 100 times but people have only made an order for your case study 10 times, then it is better to go with converting the white paper into blog posts.
Here are some other documents that you could convert into blog articles:
- brochures
- sales training material
- pricing information
- project profiles
- competitive comparisons
2. Segment
With documents, the general hope is that you will be able to convert it into multiple blog posts, whether in a series or blogs of differing subjects. Look through your document and analyse each area, deciding how you can divide it up into multiple blog posts. If you manage to find to 10 potential blogs, then you could have your blog covered for the next few weeks.
3. Create a series and include a call-to-action
If your document is digital (aka a white paper) and you’re creating a blog series out of it, then you can also include a call-to-action with each instalment to the series that links to the original document. Don’t be shy to promote the product that these blogs are coming from. If you spike someone’s interest and they download your white paper, then you’ve just earned yourself a lead. Even if you don't have that, simply include calls-to-action that you believe your audience will be interested in.
4. Be creative
Just because your blogs are a conversion of content that you’ve written before doesn’t mean you can’t be creative with it. You may want to expand upon what was written in the original document. Maybe certain statistics have changed since the original publication of your document, for example.
Research and add new information to your blog so that it doesn’t end up just being a carbon copy. The more creative you are, the more interested people will be in what you have to say. Search engines will love you more, too.
5. Schedule
Make sure to have an idea of how you want your blogs to come out. How frequently, how many, how long it should take for each one to be developed. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted, and ensure you provide yourself with reminders about writing your blog. Sometimes we just forget, and a scheduled reminder keeps us on track.
Hopefully these five tips have provided you with enough incentive to start taking those old documents and converting them into some truly fantastic blogs. If you’ve done it before, please share your experience with us in the comments below.
* Image sources: Margin Media and renjith krishnan
Connect With Margin Media: