If you have been blogging for your auto body shop for a while—let’s say six months or more—you have likely suffered from a case of writer’s block at some point in there. It’s inevitable when you do any sort of long-term writing, so be assured that you’re not alone in this. Maybe you’ve just completed a spurt of inspiring articles about paint work or dent repair and now you’re like, “What next?” If you’ve been writing for a few years, you might even be wondering if there’s any collision repair content left to cover. We’ve heard this before: “But I’ve already addressed every body shop topic there is!” Don’t fret—there are ways to keep coming up with new auto body blog posts even after years of writing. Just try out the following tricks:
1. Brainstorm with your crew. Get the shop together for an hour and invite everyone to call out every question they’ve ever heard from customers. If you haven’t already been addressing customer questions in your collision repair blog writing, this is one of the best things you can do to generate more website traffic for your shop.
2. Dig deeper. Many times, when auto body shops blog about a topic, they’ll answer in a fairly generalized way. For instance, maybe you’re writing a post about types of car parts, so you talk about various types all at once (OEM, aftermarket, LKQ, and so on). That’s fine, but why not dig a little deeper in an upcoming blog post. Devote an entire entry to the ins and outs of OEM parts. Devote another blog to comparing one type with another, and so on. Sit down for ten minutes and just brainstorm everything you can think of that has something to do with car parts, then proceed to write about each item at a time. Get into all the nitty-gritty details you can.
3. Revisit old topics. Take a look back at posts from 6 months ago and see if any could be re-written using different terminology. This is a great way to cover all your bases, keyword wise, while allowing you to provide new content to your readers. For instance, instead of “paintless dent repair” you could write about “paintless dent removal,” in case someone uses the latter search term in Google. Just be sure to avoid duplicating any language in your new entry.
4. Use search engines for inspiration. You can Google popular body shop terms to see what comes up or, better yet, use a site like Ask.com or Yahoo! Answers and see what questions pop up revolving around the words you insert. You’d be surprised how many great content ideas can be generated this way.
5. Use social media. Turn to your Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter followers and ask them what questions they might like you to address. This can be an excellent way of engaging with your contacts on social media, while also getting useful ideas for blog content.
Do you have more questions about content marketing for your collision repair shop?
At Stratosphere Studio, we are experts in crafting content for auto body shops, auto mechanic shops, and auto dealerships. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have and to help you develop the most popular body shop in your city.
