Who else thinks the articles that reach the top SERP ranking are boring?

I often receive orders to write SEO articles for trending keywords, and I’m always struck by how every article that’s currently ranking for that keyword is nearly identical.

Don’t get me wrong; the people writing those articles know how to rank. But once I’ve clicked on the third or fourth article, I can’t help but zone out. There’s nothing that pulls me in or keeps me on the page. The articles are written for Google first with the audience as an afterthought.

I’ve written plenty of SEO articles, and it’s just as boring on the writer’s side as it is on the reader’s. When the search engine results page is your top priority, your content becomes dull. You have to set aside creativity in favor of SEO indicators, and this results in formulaic writing that earns a high ranking but low enjoyability.

By looking beyond SEO and organic search as your key traffic source, you find plenty of opportunities to create blog content that stands out. We live in a time when the internet is inundated with generative AI. To make your company’s voice heard in the cacophony, you must find ways to stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Here are six ways to invigorate your B2B blog.

1. Identify knowledge gaps

Here’s the thing: No matter what you choose to write about, there’s almost certainly at least one other article on the same subject, especially if it’s a trending search term. As a B2B blogger, I often receive orders for the same handful of topics within a three-month period. Often, clients from two different companies will provide nearly identical outlines.

The reason why this happens is because my clients are following tried-and-true SEO strategies. And they work; the articles often earn top rankings for the targeted keywords.

But they don’t stand out, and they don’t add value to the reader. This is a problem.

When there’s a breakout topic you want to address, take some time to read and analyze the articles your competitors write, and find a different angle. Your priority isn’t to be first. In the end, being early doesn’t matter if your blog eventually gets lost among the hundreds of other articles that are similarly composed.

Instead, your priority is to provide a new perspective or address questions that other blogs don’t cover.

2. Don’t be boring

I don’t know why we’ve collectively decided that B2B writing has to be boring, but this idea needs to die.

We forget that business audiences are humans, too, and no one finds joy in reading a bunch of jargon-filled articles. Spice up your blogs by adding a bit of personality.

Formality is overrated; write like you speak. Often, writing becomes convoluted and confusing because we think that the written word has to make us sound overly intelligent. 

It reminds me of Earnest Hemingway’s response when William Faulkner bemoaned his writing for its simplistic vocabulary. “Poor Faulkner,” he said. “Does he really think big emotions come from big words?”

You don’t have to use corporate slang and five-dollar words to convey your point. In fact, your readers will probably enjoy the break from overly technical articles. 

3. Bring in guest writers

Guest writers can add a lot to your B2B blog.

Not only will they bring a new personality and writing style, but they’ll also introduce new ideas. Take it from me, it’s hard to come up with new things to write about. It’s easy to fall into the trap of regurgitating content when you can’t come up with new ideas yourself.

Guest writers can save you from that trap.

On top of this, collaborating with guest writers will naturally result in backlinks as they’ll usually want to promote the articles they’ve written on their website and social media channels. It’s a marketing win all around.

4. Create multimedia pieces

Online writing has so many capabilities that we don’t take advantage of.

I’ve seen some really cool pieces recently that beautifully integrate video, infographics, photos, and the written word. This can be fantastic for SEO and help reduce your bounce rate as people will stay on the page longer. 

These visually stunning pieces can also help maintain audience attention, as online readers are notoriously difficult to engage. When it’s thoughtfully done, a multimedia blog post will draw readers in while encouraging them to explore the rest of your website, too. 

5. Write for humans, not SEO

Perhaps the most important thing that you can do to stand out is to write for humans.

SEO still has an important place in B2B blog strategy, but it should come second to your audience. SEO writing is boring. Once I placed SEO on the backburner in favor of writing for myself and my audience, my writing became way more interesting. I stopped being overly concerned with including a certain number of keywords a specific number of times, and I started writing about what I thought others might like in a way that I thought was interesting.

And guess what? The audience started growing, too.

As it turns out, the stuff that robots label as high quality is a lot different than what humans enjoy. Art cannot be quantified, no matter how much we try. The human touch will always be better than an algorithm.

This also means avoiding AI-generated text. Sure, AI generation means that you can produce more, but the quality diminishes. Because of AI generation and SEO, audiences are more accustomed to terrible writing and half-assed blog posts. Although this means that B2B strategies can get away with regurgitative AI-generated shill, it also means that compelling, human-focused content is becoming rare and refreshing.

6. Invest time and effort into your B2B blogs

Many marketers approach their B2B blogs as an afterthought. They understand the importance of blogs to build awareness and establish their brands, but they fail to put in the effort that a successful B2B blog requires. They’ll slap up a blog every other week and wonder why they’re not getting any traffic.

Successful B2B blogs should be carefully tended. You should have well-strategized topics, a deep understanding of your audience, impeccable data collection methods, and distribution strategies to get the word out there. B2B blog management is a full-time job, and too many marketers tackle it as a to-do item.

Ideally, B2B blogging would be approached from an editorial mindset. Similar to a magazine, its primary goal is readership, and B2B marketers need to do whatever they can to build an audience. Only then will they enjoy the benefits that a B2B blog can bring.

B2B blogging can be a fantastic way to build your brand, earn an audience, and become a leading voice in your industry. But only if it’s done with purpose, not as an afterthought. By identifying knowledge gaps, putting time and energy to write to humans, and avoiding reliance on generative AI, you can ensure that your company’s blog truly stands out.

If you’re looking to create B2B blogs that people actually want to read, let’s have a chat! I’m on a mission to make blogs fun and promote quality in a world where AI shill dominates. Let’s break the mold and create something really cool together.