If you are a regular blogger, you understand that content can make or break your posts. You also understand that finding inspiration can be a nightmare. Even when you have a thousand ideas, you struggle to visualise how these ideas are related. Trying to be creative and organised at the same time can sometimes be mind boggling.
To overcome these issues, look no further than a Mind Map. Simple at first glance but here’s where the organised part kicks in. You can make your Mind Maps as intricate or as detailed as you like, with multiple branches attached to one key idea. Thinking of all the little details and attaching them to the relevant branches in your Mind Maps makes it easier as you have everything you need in one easy-to-read, organised workspace.
When considering how to approach a writing task, whether it’s an essay, a blog post or an article, the approach to Mind Mapping remains the same. The following Mind Mapping tips can be adopted for almost any writing task so let’s discuss how it would work:
1) The what, where, who, why, when and how?
It’s always a good to know the key facts. Mind Mapping is designed to display key pieces of information in a clear and concise format and displaying information this way ensures that you have the perfect platform to build upon. If you know the key facts, everything else will start to flow from there.
2) Key Themes
With Mind Mapping, always think first and organise later. Let your creativity run wild with various themes and sub themes, but remember to be ruthless when it comes to what is actually included. In iMindMap, you have a bird’s eye view of what your blog will include so when you start grouping your ideas together, you can easily identify themes that don’t fit in. Don’t forget to number and colour code your themes around the central idea as this will help you maintain the flow of your piece when you refer back to your map.
Attachments are everything
3) Attachments are everything
Hate having a million tabs open in your browser? You may find yourself creating a Mind Map just to keep a record of all the resources and links you wish to use in your post. Do not underestimate the value of having all of your literature in one place – especially when it comes to referencing them.
4) Remaining SEO friendly
Incorporating keyword optimisation into your Mind Mapping is a great way to maximise exposure for your blog. Rule One of Mind Mapping is one word per branch. If you have a list of keywords which you want your website to be associated with, insert each keyword on a branch around the central idea. This will develop your content in line with your keywords and help keep you on track. Nevertheless, bear SEO in mind when writing your post because the more visible your post is, the more likely people are to read it!
5) No essays please!
Remember that sometimes less is more. Jam packing all the information you think a reader wants to see in one post can often detract from the flow of it. With Mind Mapping, you are forced to think concisely and keep only what is relevant on your page. However, if you find yourself overflowing with themes which seem too important to delete, why not group your themes into separate posts? This is an excellent way to guarantee variety in your content and keeps your reader’s coming back for more.
6) Previous content can be gold dust
Analysing previous content is a great way to identify topics which may not have been explored enough the first time around. By creating a Mind Map based on your previous blog posts, you can assess the variety of your content. There’s nothing worse than repeating old content, so can you identify any niche areas you haven’t covered yet? Have a look and you could discover some hidden gems.
Re-assess your previous posts
Key things to remember when Mind Mapping your blog posts…
Use the ‘one word per branch’ rule to help you capture only key pieces of information.
Colour code your branches to highlight themes. This will improve the flow and structure of your post.
Use your Mind Map to create a knowledge storing centre. You can store mass quantities of information and media in one easy-to-navigate map.
Write your blog post with the intention of millions seeing it. Mind Mapping around your keywords will boost your SEO. Simple as that.
You don’t want to bore your audience with one long essay. Use your Mind Map to break a substantial blog post down into instalments.
Scatter brain techniques of creating ideas can work well however having an overview of all of those ideas will identify new territory and reveal overarching themes.
Voila. When you’re finished with your Mind Map, why not export it to Microsoft Word? This simple feature converts all of your branches and any attachments into an easy-to-read word document complete with titles, paragraphs and links. All of the hard work is done for you so after a quick edit, you’re ready to publish.
Don’t forget, you can download iMindMap for free today:
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