Content creation

gslc

I don't mind putting in the work to do it I just want it to be worth it. How do i find the best content to write about I do lawn care yeah super exciting I know, but there has to be a way I can find out what people are searching for and create the content before they search.

So my question is how do you find out what content will go viral im not saying like spin out and land on CNN but I mean there's got to be a way I can figure this out.

Anything would be helpful.

Thanks guys and girls.

William.Lau

Use social listening tools to get ideas. There are a bunch of social listening tools and maybe search "lawn mowing" or what not and see what others are saying.

You can even go into twitter/search and check out what people are talking about. Generally, finding out what users are talking about and getting ideas of what people consider funny and worthy of a social share by researching and increase the chances of your content being shared.

Some people don't like the lawn mowing smell, maybe there is a way to have it smell better? Some might find that useful and worthy to share among fellow lawn owners.

josh-riley

The best source for topical information is your customers, trade groups and general trends. First , are you noticing an uptick in a certain service or are you getting the same question over and over? These would mean people want to know about that topic.

Next, look at seasonality - March is home improvement time so what can people do to kick off their lawn care? Summer: if it's extra dry, what considerations should people think through to manage their lawn care? Or, if it's overly wet, what might they need to know? Fall: what should people do to prep their yard for winter? (Depending if you are in an area with more traditional four seasons.)

From industry trade shows - are there certain plants or trees that are a hot trend and being pushed? Is there a fear of any type of bug or insect infestation people need to counter?

What about best practices or care tips? "Tips from the pros." Your industry has plenty of information there - it's just a matter of you looking at it from a different perspective.

Google Trends is one way to see what people are searching for, and same with the Adwords keyword tool to gauge what type of searches people are conducting - not to mention any analytic data you see that drives traffic.

Think less like a business person and more like a reporter - address the topical relevance (timeliness - there's a reason why tax articles are more popular starting in January because it's when people start preparing, not in September), the problems (what problems do customers have and how can I solve them?) and the share. (Who, what, where, why, how?)

trickshotric

We write fun articles that often get picked up by the big blogs and we get a lot of useful links out of them. Recently the New York Times stumbled across our blog and asked us to join their debate on air conditioning. Air conditioning is also a pretty boring topic but we have pushed the industry boundaries and have had some good success because of it.

BUT.... you can have great content but you need to know how to promote it!

Some Examples of posts that went viral:

http://www.rollaramp.co.uk/news/infuriating-wheelchair-ramps/ (on our wheelchair ramp website)

http://www.airconco.com/news/9-most-extreme-air-conditioning-repairmen-1243.html/

http://www.airconco.com/news/how-not-to-install-an-air-conditioning-unit-1190.html/

http://www.airconco.com/news/the-air-conditioned-outfit-83.html/

http://www.airconco.com/news/invasion-of-the-air-conditioners-189.html/

With anything you produce you should always be proud to show it to a friend (that's my motto)