Article Blogging for translators: how to never run out of ideas for what to write

So, you’ve decided to start a blog. And now you’re casting around for inspiration for posts.

Or maybe you’ve been flirting with the idea of starting a blog, but you’re concerned you won’t come up with enough ideas to be able to post regularly, and that’s been putting you off.

The good news is, coming up with ideas is far easier than you might think.

After all, you’re wonderful at your job and you know your stuff, even if you’re still a newbie.

You’ve got no shortage of knowledge and insights to share with your potential clients and fellow translators, it’s just a matter of finding the key to unlock all those ideas.

Here are a few tips for making sure you never run out of things to write about.

Before you start writing anything, create a pool of ideas

The best starting point for a blog is to come up with a big pool of ideas that you can keep adding to and fishing from.

Sit yourself down with a pen and paper. We always find that gets the creative juices flowing far better than staring at a screen does. Even better if you head out and find a nice café, or head for a natural space, rather than sitting at your desk.

Take the time to brainstorm plenty of ideas for blog titles. That way, you can just look over your list of titles every time you want to post and you don’t have to worry about coming up with a new idea every week or month.

Ideas not flowing? Not to worry. Keep scrolling for more tips that will help you add to your ideas pool.

Read and interact with other blogs and social media profiles

We’re obviously not trying to say you should be copying other people’s blogs or ideas. But you should be reading plenty of them, as topics that other translators and freelancers cover might serve as inspiration for you.

You could come at the same topic that they’ve looked at from a different angle. Even if it’s a topic that gets a lot of air time, share your take on it.

Or maybe something they’ve just mentioned in passing on Instagram or LinkedIn might inspire you to write an entire blog post.

Use your blog to boost your website’s SEO

One of the main reasons a lot of businesses add a blog to their website is that they’re great for boosting SEO. That’s because sharing high-quality content shows Google that you know your stuff.

Quality should always be your priority when it comes to your blogs, but optimising them for SEO is also a great way to get more eyes on your site.

And search keywords you want your website to rank for can also serve as brilliant inspiration for blogs!

Your home page or services pages are probably targeting two-word phrases, or might be focused around ranking for your own name or company name.

You can use blogs to cover slightly longer (known as long-tail) key phrases that have lower search volumes, but might be used by customers who need your services.

So, brainstorm keywords that your potential clients might be searching for and then build your blog topics around those keywords. It’s a cracking way to come up with ideas, as well as boosting your site’s visibility.

If you’re a bit confused by SEO and all the terms related to it, don’t worry, you’re not alone! There’s a lot of jargon to understand.

But if you’re serious about building a blog that’ll benefit your business, then it’s worth your while learning the basics of SEO so you can get the very most out of your posts and your website. You can check out our blog post on SEO for your translator website where we share 5 tips to help your clients find you on Google.

SEO translation can also be a great extra string to your bow! There are plenty of courses and books on SEO for translators out there, so get stuck in.

Use your FAQs as blog inspiration

We’re sure you’re always getting asked the same questions by your prospective clients.

So, think about those questions and ask yourself whether you could write blog posts answering them in detail. Depending on your niches and how often you decide to post, that could give you blog material to last for months on end.

Your blog can be the perfect way to educate your clients and clear up any doubts they might have about whether you’re the right freelancer for them, so you’re not having to field the same questions time and again.

Have a plan, but don’t be afraid to stray from it

Once you’ve got a pool of ideas, it’s a good idea to come up with a plan for when you’ll write about what.

But creative energy ebbs and flows, and no matter how much you have to say about a certain topic, if you’re not feeling inspired to write about it that day then don’t force it.

If it works well for you to set aside a certain regular slot in your diary for writing, then go for it. Just don’t beat yourself up if you’re not feeling inspired when that time comes.

Try writing about a different topic to the one you had planned, or even getting on with things and leaving blog writing for another day.

If you force yourself to write blog posts when you’re not feeling it, they won’t do you justice. The more you pay attention to what makes you feel inspired, the more you’ll be able to predict when you’ll have those creative juices flowing and be able to plan accordingly.

That way, you’ll never run out of inspiration or ideas for things to blog about.

Track the time you spend on your marketing

Just as you (hopefully) track the time you spend on your client work, it’s a sensible idea to track the time you spend on marketing for your business, including blog idea brainstorming and the actual writing.

That’ll help you plan your time better, as you’ll know how long it will actually take you to write a post. It will also help you calculate your rates, as your hourly or daily rates have to take all the non-client work that keeps your business going into account.

It might even make you realise that it’d work out better financially for you to outsource your blog writing, as it would make more sense for you to spend that time on paid work.

If you’re in need of a time tracking tool that’s easy to use, LSP.expert has a built-in one that makes keeping track of all your tasks and your time wonderfully painless.

Try it out for yourself with our 30-day free trial.