Have you ever sat down to write something only to have your mind go completely blank the second you're about to begin? According to a journal published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information, writer's block is a "depressive feeling where writing feels like a painful thought and one questions why one is even bothering."
Everyone's been there at some point. Sometimes, our brains don't let us get the words out that we so desperately wish to convey. However, it's nothing you can't overcome. There are ways to refresh your mind and your environment so that when it's time to grind, you're beyond ready.
If you have a blog or business website that's in need of valuable content, there's no time for writer's block to hinder your content marketing strategy. You need to stay consistent if you want to continuously improve lead generation and drive organic traffic to your website. Here are a few tips to try to overcome writer's block when creating content for your business.
Conduct keyword research.
As part of your content marketing strategy, you should already be conducting keyword research for your blog posts. The whole point of creating a strategy is to increase the chances of your content ranking in search, attracting the right audience and driving organic traffic. This will ensure a boost in your business efforts and give your target market content they're actually interested in and enjoy.
Use tools like BuzzSumo or Google Keyword Planner to search keywords relevant to your niche and see what's trending right now among your audience. These keywords alone, specifically long-tail keywords, will give you insight into what topics your audience wants more of in this very moment and can spark inspiration instantly.
Use social media.
If you haven't yet looked through various social platforms to see what your readers want to know, it's time to start. You can find a goldmine of questions posted by your target audience on social media, as well as concerns and complaints within your industry that perhaps you can solve.
Keep track of relevant industry hashtags that your audience uses to express their feelings or concerns about things happening in your niche. Compile a list of popular questions and insights that will prove valuable when curating content for your blog. If well-written and helpful, you'll find increased levels of engagement and more traffic to your website.
Look up industry topics on question-and-answer platforms like Quora and Reddit to get even more insight into what information your audience is desperate to get their hands on. Add this to your list of questions that you'd like to answer on your blog. Once you've created the post, you can link back to it on social media to increase traffic to your website.
Switch up your environment.
If you write in the same environment day after day, this could add to your writer's block because there's a lack of inspiration around you. Sometimes, all you need is some fresh air or a new coffee shop to sit in to get your creative juices flowing. You can't wait for inspiration to hit. If that's what every writer did, nothing would ever get written. You have to force yourself to find creativity and motivation even when it's nowhere to be found.
Try something new. Visit a new space to brainstorm ideas and write. Take a walk on a nice day and take in everything you see. Talk to people about the writer's block you're experiencing and see what they have to say. Write about it on your social media. You might be surprised by the different ways you can spark creativity and write a marvelous piece you're proud of.
Wrapping up.
Overcoming writer's block is more difficult than it sounds. It takes willpower and motivation to force yourself to write when inspiration is nowhere to be found. However, it is conquerable and something you can use to improve your content marketing strategy efforts. It doesn't have to be a bad thing; rather, you can use it to find new methods to brainstorm topics in order to deliver refreshing, insightful content to your audience. How will you overcome writer's block in your business?
Jared Atchison is the co-founder of WPForms, a drag & drop form builder for WordPress that's being used on over 400,000 websites.