If blogging is a part of your automotive SEO campaign, you have probably hit a brick wall when it comes to topics more than once.
How many posts can you really write about the features of your brand’s vehicles or about the specials you are offering, or how-to blog about washing your car or safer driving?
The number one reason most people abandon their blogs and, in turn, their SEO campaign, is because they just can’t think of anything to write about.
They skip posting for a week, hoping they will come up with something to write about next week, and when they don’t, find that they just keep putting it off until they forget about it entirely.
Some even resort to recycling topics that they have already written about a hundred times, leaving their readers with a stale post that provides them with nothing new or interesting to read.
The first thing you need to do the remedy this problem is to sit down and write out a content schedule. You need to know exactly when you need to have content by, months beforehand, so that you are never at a loss for what to write.
The second thing you need to do is to brainstorm topics that you can use for that content schedule.
Where are those topics going to come from?
Here are a few ways to come up with new and interesting topics your readers will actually want to engage with:
1. Read the news.
Don’t just read the news that your brand (if your dealership is associated with a brand) puts out (though if you are not a religious reader of that news, you should be reading that, too).
Your industry’s news is the ideal place to look for new and interesting topics to write about, especially if you want to write about topics that are going to be relevant to your readers right now.
They want to know what is going on right now, whether their favorite brand has just won an award or announced a new type of car they are going to release, or something similar.
2. Pay attention to social media comments.
Many dealerships who do not yet have a strong social media following of their own might think that social media is not a good place to come up with topics.
They do not have people leaving comments or questions on the things that they post, so they do not think they have comments they can read to take topics from.
But every major car brand in the world does have social media pages, where they post often and which have large followings.
This is a great way to find out what customers and fans of your specific brand or of vehicles in general are interested in, are talking about, and want to learn more ab out.
Keep in mind that most people get their news through social media these days, so this is an excellent place to gauge their reaction to it.
3. Look at Q&A websites.
One of the best places to find topics that your target audience is actually interested in is to look at what questions are posted in relevant topics on question and answer websites like Quora and Yahoo! Answers.
Both of these places have hundreds of thousands of questions about vehicles in general and even about the specific models that you have on your lot.
This makes it the perfect place to find out what people want to know, either about your brand or about their vehicles in general.
Keep in mind that most people are going to be finding your blog through a Google search about a relevant topic.
They are not going to come directly to your blog first, so you need to write about topics that you already know people are looking for.
4. Ask your customers.
How do you know what your customers want to know?
Ask them.
When you sell someone a car, ask them if they have any questions for you.
Ask them what their concerns are when it comes to choosing a dealership or, more broadly, choosing a car. Ask them what made them choose you.
Ask them what information they want or need to know before they are ready to make a purchase.
Your customers are likely going to be asking your questions all throughout the purchase process.
Write those questions down and use them to create posts for your blog.
5. Look at your competitor’s blogs.
There are probably dealerships in your same area that also have blogs.
There’s nothing wrong with looking at what they write about, especially if you can use their topics for yourself.
Of course, you do not want to copy their topic exactly, but you might find that you are inspired by reading one of their posts or that they have written something that you disagree with and want to clarify.
You should look for inspiration everywhere, including on your competitor’s blog.
6. Interview an expert.
Why not talk to someone in your service department?
Your service department probably deals with a whole range of questions that you never hear on the showroom floor.
A lot of people are going to find your blog while they are looking online for information about how to fix their car or why their car is making a certain noise or how often they need to buy new tires.
Talking to an expert about what questions they hear and then what answers they give is a great way to generate topics for your blog.
