Don’t Trash The Boring Articles! Here’s What to Do!

February 15, 2011 by Daniel Sharkov|

Just a few days ago I got inspired to write on a social media subject. I jumped into it, but after a while things weren’t going as smooth as I hoped for. Although the article was finished, it just felt like something was wrong. Reading it left an impression of something missing. Honestly it was boring stuff, nothing too special.

My point is that no matter how good one is at writing, sometimes a post might not turn as good as his other works. I believe many of you have gone through a similar situation and asked themselves: “What should I do with that boring article – delete it, post it on my blog or maybe do something else?” Read the following paragraphs to see a few answers to the question!

We will first start with the don’ts and then move on to what you can do. Here is what you should avoid by all means:

Post it on Your Blog

Obviously that is the number one thing you must not do. It might seem like common sense to some but there are still those bloggers, who are firm believers that something, no matter how good or bad, is better than nothing. Yes, consistency plays a role, but keeping your blog clean of trash is of a greater importance. Regular visitors might get a bit frustrated by the lack of updates, but posting boring stuff is a certain way to make them leave for good. I’m talking from both blogger and visitors’ perspective here.

So in short – don’t let your readers down by posting just for the sake of it. One or even two weeks without updates are not that much . People are not clicking each and every day on your blog to see if there’s something new. Think about it (and share your two cents in the comments section)!

Submit it as a Guest Post

Why not submit your boring article as a guest post? Firstly you don’t clutter your own blog with average stuff and secondly you have the chance of getting some backlinks and a bit of direct traffic. Sounds great in theory, but in reality… not a wise decision . The two backlinks you will get your hands on are not the most important thing about guest blogging.

Although I can (but I am not going to) name a few blogs, accepting even not-that-high quality content, this is just not the best way to promote your skills (or the lack of them in that case). The purpose of guest blogging is to get yourself new fans, subscribers, etc. and to solidify your brand. Boring content is not going to do the job. The negative reactions you can get can have a bad impact on you and your blog. Do you want that? If so, go on – submit that article…

Now that we are done with the don’ts (yes, they are just 2), let’s head on to the more important ones and namely the do’s:

Boring Articles are Good Enough for Article Directories

In contrast to guest blogging, article directories are the perfect place for average content. Articles on such directories are not really meant for building a brand or something. Instead they are (relatively) good for some link building, as you are allowed to include anchor text links, pointing to your blog.

Without question the top article directory in my (and probably everyone else’s) list is EzineArticles at number 97 in Alexa’s ranking. For 26 more DoFollow article directories, check out this post – 27 Article Directories that Follow. The list is from August 2009, but this shouldn’t bother you, as not much has changes since then.

Boring Articles can be Repurposed Into a Video…

Repurpusing content into a video can be a great way to spice it up a little. Watching a video presentation with graphics, images, etc. is always more interesting than reading plain boring text. The process of turning an article into a video is not time consuming at all. A pretty decent video can be created with PowerPoint in less than 40 minutes . After converting your article into a presentation, you just need to upload it on YouTube, apply that awesome strategy to get more views on your videos, include a link to your blog and viola – you are pretty much done.

…or Maybe Into a Podcast

Been reading a lot about podcasts recently and it seems like these are getting more popular by the day. Currently such podcasts are being implemented by big players, such as Yaro Starakand Hector Cuevas. And no wonder – they are great for blog visitors. The biggest benefit for the user is that he can just turn on the podcast, listen to it and do what he’s got to do in the meantime. On the other hand I doubt that many people prefer reading something over listening it. Most of us are just too lazy.

Repurposing content into a podcast can give a good twist to the information, similarly as with videos. A voice with a good intonation has the power to make a seemingly boring topic interesting.

Why not Just turn Average into Great Content

Of course there is always the option to rethink an article, rewrite it and make it great. The simple secret is to leave it for let’s say a week and then come back to it. Reading the article then will feel more like as you are an actual reader and not the author. This will make it easier for you to find what is good and what needs to be improved. The next thing you need to do is read “ Writing Tips– 3 Ways to Squeeze the Most from Your Articles”.

Conclusion

Hopefully that article didn’t felt like the ones I was referring to above. If you have any questions regarding the post, feel free to let me know in the comments section! As always sharing your two cents will be much appreciated, so I hope to hear from ya!

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