What’s a blog without great content? There are plenty of examples all over the Internet: blog posts with luring titles, but boring content that makes you sorry you ever clicked the link. If you want to be different, you have to think about every single aspect of the articles you create.
The process starts with idea generation. Clearly, you need to think of something your target audience would want to read, but you also have to offer specific solutions for their problems. The content you create should contribute towards the general base of knowledge and information on the Internet. If you can’t make such contributions, there is no point in blogging.
Once you get a nice idea, you should support it with arguments and facts. Not many people of the online community are interested in your personal opinions; you need to convince them with believable argumentation. Finally, the writing can begin. This is the point when you need distraction-free software that contains all needed features which enable you to write more in less time.
When you support all stages of the content creation process with the right online tools, you’ll reach a whole new level of productivity and quality. Technology is super-supportive for bloggers; you just need to rely on the proper tools. That’s why the following list is important.
Idea Generation Tools
With proper brainstorming, you can turn even the most conventional idea into something extraordinary. You simply unleash your creativity and start keeping track of all ideas that come to your mind. As a result, you’ll end up with a list of thoughts that can be combined into the most unusual outcome. Of course, you can’t rely on plain paper and pen at this point.
Use Bubble.us – an awesome brainstorming tool that enables you to draft your ideas in the most compelling visual presentation. The free version enables you to create up to 3 mind maps that you can share or download as images or HTML files. If you purchase one of the plans, you’ll be able to create unlimited mind maps enriched with images and files.
Have you heard of the Pomodoro Technique? It’s a simple system developed by productivity consultant Francesco Cirillo. He recommended an effective way of achieving the highest levels of productivity: work actively for 25 minutes, and then take a short break of 5 minutes. It’s extremely important for you to get rid of distractions during the burst of work.
Tomato Timer will help you go through the idea generation stage with greater focus and commitment. Set the timer and spend 25 minutes in thinking. Do not open distracting websites and don’t do anything other than writing during this period. If necessary, you can start another session after the short break.
The idea generation stage seems like the most convenient time for your mind to get blocked. You clean your desk, take a shower, have your coffee, and sit in front of your computer, ready to start getting awesome ideas. Nothing happens. You just stare at the screen for minutes without getting a single thought.
That scenario seems familiar to you? Try Ilys – an online tool that stimulates the genuine flow of ideas by disabling you to focus on the things you’ve written. You see only a big letter at a time, so your mind doesn’t get distracted by whole sentences and paragraphs. You just start typing, and you’ll see what you’ve written once you’re done with the brainstorming session.
Tools for Effective Research
When you want to make a blog post believable, you can’t just link to a friend’s blog and consider the research stage done. People want to see arguments; if you fail to provide backup to the claims you make, not many readers will perceive the post as relevant.
Start the research process with Paperity – an online resource that gives you access to journals from hundreds of disciplines. Take your time to analyze the data you find, and you’ll be able to write trustworthy content that people will share and link to.
What’s the most effective way to conduct a thorough research on an especially demanding topic? Teamwork! Of course, you can’t ask your friends to help you locate online resources; you need people who understand the niche and the particular post you’re working on.
At EduGeeksClub, you can collaborate with expert researchers from different areas of study. These guys hold graduate-level degrees in the areas they cover, so you can rest assured that you’ll get great recommendations and a reliable base of resources. The team pays attention to each customer’s instructions. You’ll be protected with guarantees and you’ll get the work you need by the deadline you set.
The quest for backlinks is an important part of the research process, although many bloggers decide to neglect it. You need to discover sites willing to link to your blog and recommend it as a relevant resource.
One of the greatest advantages of this online tool is that it can show you a comparative analysis of the backlink information of your competition. The domain matches will show you how many of your competitors have links coming from a particular domain. This will enable you to build high-quality backlinks and improve the rating of your blog.
As a blogger, you need to have basic knowledge of digital marketing. Otherwise, you would just write good content with no great effect. There is no need to hire a digital marketing expert when you can access online tools that provide the needed data.
SEMrush enables you to research competitive data, perform keyword analysis, dissect content strategies, reveal site monetization options, and more. The best part is that you can also track performance in real-time and get important insights that will help you develop better content.
Writing Tools
Stress can be a powerful motivator. When you are afraid you would suffer consequences if you didn’t complete the work in the given time, your mind starts working like crazy and your performance is boosted on different levels. That’s the state Write or Die puts you in.
The tool helps you overcome the inertia by encouraging you to achieve the goal you’ve set. Punishment is a good motivation, which is why the Consequence mode is the recommended method. If you choose the Kamikaze Mode, the content will start deleting itself when you leave the keyboard idle and you fail to achieve the word goal.
When you want to write effectively, you need private space where no one will disturb you. The writing software you use should also keep all distractions away. Write.app stimulates your creativity by launching you in a minimalistic writing environment. You’ll see the customization options on the right, but they won’t get your attention away from the writing dialog area.
You can pick different themes and work in fullscreen mode. The tool also supports Markdown.
The zen-like environment this writing software creates will instantly put you to writing mode. You’ll write in minimalist full-screen mode that leaves you alone with your words. You can see a word count at the bottom and a few features on the right side, but even those disappear when you start typing.
Since you won’t be distracted by fancy formatting features, you’ll write much more productively. When you export the file as RTF or PDF, you can decorate it as much as you want.
Learn from The Experience of Others: These Tools Work!
I used to be limited to Word and WordPress for a long time. I even criticized fellow bloggers who relied on advanced technology, thinking they were drifting away from the main purpose of blogging: content development. I’m lucky I was wrong, since my practices were profoundly changed when I started brainstorming with Bubble.us and Ilys. The Tomato Timer is a constant part of my routine; I’m can stay focused for 25 minutes, and the 5-minute break is enough for me to take a breath and get back to work with full speed.
I usually start the research stage with Paperity, but the researchers from EduGeeksClub help me develop content of a whole new level of authority. Write or Die is scary, but it’s the only tool that pushes me to the limit and enables me to reach my full potential. I lost some content when I started using it, but that taught me a good lesson.
Finally, I switch between OmmWriter and Write.app when it comes to the actual writing. Both tools are awesome, so I can’t choose a favorite one. Full-screen writing environment is the real deal; you won’t realize how lame MS Word is until you start using something different!
