Blogo Team
How to Decide What to Write Next on a Manufacturer's Blog
A repeatable 5-source method — sales questions, Search Console, competitors, old posts, buyer FAQs — to pick the next article that brings RFQs.
To decide what to write next, stop brainstorming and collect evidence from five places: the questions your sales team keeps answering, the searches Search Console already shows you for, the gaps competitors leave open, your own old posts, and the FAQs buried in RFQs and buyer emails. Put every candidate topic in one list, score it on the same five factors, and write the top one. Repeat the review once a month so the list stays tied to real buyers rather than guesses.
This guide is for small marketing teams at manufacturers and exporters, often one or two people sharing time with sales. You need Search Console access, a spreadsheet, and a short conversation with whoever answers customer inquiries.
Image: Ivan S via Pexels, Pexels License
Why "what should we write?" keeps getting stuck
Most manufacturer blogs don't run out of ideas. They run out of a way to choose between them. A trade show conversation suggests one topic, a competitor's new page suggests another, and the owner wants a company news post. Without a shared rule for ranking them, each decision turns into a debate, and the list grows while nothing gets published.
There is also a quality reason to be choosy. Google's guidance on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content asks whether you are writing about things "simply because they seem trending" rather than for your existing audience, and whether your content shows first-hand expertise. A manufacturer's strongest advantage is exactly that first-hand knowledge: what you make, how you test it, and which problems buyers bring to you. The five sources below keep topic selection anchored there.
The five sources at a glance
| Source | What it tells you | Where to find it | First-pass time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales questions | What real buyers are confused about right now | Sales team, inquiry inbox, call notes | 30 minutes |
| Search Console | Which searches already show your site, and how well | Performance report | 30–60 minutes |
| Competitor gaps | Buyer decisions nobody in your niche explains well | Competitor sites, your own searches | 30–60 minutes |
| Old posts | Pages worth refreshing, merging or leaving alone | Your site plus Search Console | 30 minutes |
| Buyer FAQs | Repeated pre-purchase questions in writing | RFQs, email threads, trade show notes | 30 minutes |
The times are rough estimates for a first pass on a small site. After that, a monthly update usually takes less.
Source 1: Questions your sales team answers every week
Start here because it costs nothing and carries the strongest buying signal. Ask your sales or customer service staff one question: "What do buyers ask you that you keep explaining from scratch?"
Write down the question in the buyer's own words, not your internal product terms. Google's SEO Starter Guide points out that people who know a lot about a topic may search with different words than people who are new to it. An engineer might type a material grade; a purchasing manager might type a plain-language problem. Both are useful, but they often need different articles.
What to capture for each question:
- The exact wording, plus who asked (engineer, buyer, distributor, end user)
- How often it comes up: once, occasionally, or most weeks
- What usually happens after you answer it: a quote, a sample request, or nothing
Example: a custom silicone rubber parts exporter hears the same question from several new buyers: whether silicone or EPDM is the better choice for an outdoor enclosure gasket. Sales answers it by email every time. That is a strong candidate for a comparison article, because it is frequent, specific and sits right before a quote.
Source 2: Search Console queries you already appear for
Search Console shows which searches your site already appears in. The Performance report lists clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, and covers the previous three months by default.
Three quick filters for topic finding:
- High impressions, low CTR. Google suggests using the query dimension to find queries with high impressions and low CTR as opportunities to improve your page title and description. Sometimes a better title is enough; sometimes the query deserves its own page.
- Question-style queries. Add a query filter, choose Custom (regex), and try something like
^(how|what|which|why|can). Search Console uses RE2 regular expressions, and matching is not case-sensitive by default. - Queries landing on the wrong page. Click a query, then switch to the Pages tab. If a specific technical question is landing on your homepage or a broad category page, nothing on the site answers it directly.
Treat average position as a direction, not an exact rank. The same help page notes that results vary by location, device, time and search history.
For a deeper walkthrough, see our guide to turning Search Console data into a content plan.
Source 3: Competitor gaps, not competitor calendars
Looking at competitors is useful only if you look for what is missing. Copying their topic list gives you articles that say the same thing in a different font, and Google's helpful content guidance asks whether content that draws on other sources avoids "simply copying or rewriting those sources" and adds substantial value.
A practical way to do it:
- Pick three to five direct competitors, including at least one in your main export market.
- List the buyer decisions behind their main product pages: which material, which size or rating, which certification, which supplier.
- For each decision, check whether they explain it anywhere in plain terms with real specifics. Mark the ones that are missing, vague or out of date.
- Search the question yourself and see whether any result answers it well for a buyer like yours.
The gaps worth owning are usually the ones only a maker can fill: how you test, where a process does and does not work, what drives lead time, and when a different product or process would suit the buyer better.
Be careful with topics where nobody seems to compete. Sometimes that is real white space; sometimes nobody writes about it because nobody asks. Cross-check against Sources 1 and 5 before spending engineer time.
Image: Ann H via Pexels, Pexels License
Source 4: Your old posts
Your next article may already exist in a weaker form. Before writing something new, list your existing posts and give each one of three decisions:
| What you see | Decision | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Still accurate, gets impressions, matches a buyer question | Refresh | Update specs, photos, examples and internal links |
| Two posts answer the same buyer question | Merge | Combine into one stronger page and redirect the weaker URL |
| Off-topic, thin, or about products you no longer make | Leave or retire | Do not spend writing time here first |
When you merge, Google recommends a permanent server-side redirect when consolidating URLs that reach the same content, so the old address points to the new one. The SEO Starter Guide also advises keeping each piece of content reachable through one URL.
Refresh for substance, not for the date. Google's helpful content page asks directly whether you are "changing the date of pages to make them seem fresh" when the content has not substantially changed. A real refresh adds something: current specifications, a new test result, a newer standard revision you have confirmed, or an answer to a question buyers started asking this year.
Source 5: Buyer FAQs from RFQs, emails and trade shows
Sales calls capture questions people ask out loud. RFQs and email threads capture the ones they ask in writing, often with more detail. Search your inbox and quote requests for phrases such as "can you", "do you offer", "what is the difference", "minimum order" and "lead time". Trade show notes are another good source if someone wrote them down.
Group what you find by type:
- Fit questions: can you make this size, material or finish?
- Comparison questions: which option is better for this use?
- Process questions: how do samples, tooling, testing or shipping work?
- Compliance questions: which documents or certificates can you provide?
Some of these belong on a product or FAQ page rather than in a blog post. One note on format: adding FAQ structured data is unlikely to change how your page looks in results, because Google now shows FAQ rich results only for well-known, authoritative government and health websites. Write FAQ content because buyers need it, not for a search feature.
Score the shortlist
Put every candidate from all five sources into one sheet, merge duplicates, then score each on five factors from 1 (weak) to 3 (strong):
| Factor | 1 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Sales signal | Nobody has asked | Comes up most weeks |
| Search evidence | No impressions or related queries | Clear impressions in Search Console |
| Gap | Already answered well elsewhere | Nobody answers it well |
| First-hand detail | You would have to summarize others | Your team has data, photos or test results |
| Business value | Far from what you sell | Leads straight to a quote or sample |
Add the five scores for a total out of 15. When totals tie, pick the topic with lower effort, or the one other pages will link to.
Example (illustrative scores for the silicone parts exporter):
| Candidate topic | Main source | Sales | Search | Gap | First-hand | Value | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silicone vs EPDM for outdoor enclosure gaskets | Sales + Search Console | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| What compliance documents to request for food-contact silicone parts | Buyer FAQs | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| Refresh an older post on molding tolerances | Old posts | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| History of synthetic rubber | Competitor list | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
The score is a sorting aid, not a forecast. A topic with modest search evidence can still go first if sales hears it every week and it sits next to a quote.
Match the format to the question
The source of a topic often tells you what kind of article it should be.
| Question type | Usually best as |
|---|---|
| "Which is better for my use?" | Comparison article with a decision table |
| "Can you make this?" | Capability or application page with real specifics |
| "How does the process work?" | Step-by-step guide with photos from your floor |
| "What documents can you provide?" | Buyer FAQ or compliance explainer, confirmed by your quality team |
| "What went wrong with my part?" | Troubleshooting guide based on cases you have seen |
Before writing, name the person who will confirm the facts a writer cannot know: tolerances, materials, certifications, minimum order quantities and lead times. If nobody can confirm them in time, pick the next topic on the list.
Turn it into a monthly routine
- Week 1: collect new sales questions and buyer FAQs; export fresh Search Console data.
- Week 1: add candidates to the sheet, merge duplicates, and score anything new.
- Weeks 2–4: write the top one or two topics, plus one refresh or merge from Source 4.
- Every month: check whether sales still hears the questions you published answers to, and whether new pages are picking up impressions.
If a question keeps coming up after you published the article meant to answer it, the article missed. Put it back on the list as a refresh rather than marking it done.
If you want help with the legwork, Blogo can recommend the next topic from your site and Search Console data, research and fact-check the draft, and send it to WordPress as a draft for your team to approve.
FAQ
Which of the five sources should a small team start with? Sales questions. They cost nothing to collect and carry the clearest buying signal. Add Search Console next, because it shows which of those questions people already search for.
Should I refresh old posts or write new ones first? If an existing post already answers a high-scoring question but is out of date, refresh it first. Write new when no page on your site answers the question directly.
How do I avoid copying competitors? Use their sites to find buyer decisions they explain poorly, not topics to repeat. Then answer with your own data, photos, tests and examples.
What if a topic has no search data at all? It can still be worth writing if sales hears it often and it leads to quotes. Score it honestly and let the total decide.
How often should I redo the list? Monthly works for most small manufacturer blogs. Add new questions, re-score, and check whether published articles reduced the questions they were meant to answer.
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