This pick ‘n’ mix guide is packed with inspiration and ideas for your marketing efforts over the autumn period, from September to November 2026.

For each month, I’ve prepared an event calendar, which might inspire a post, promotion or tie-in. I’ve included links where possible, so you’ll find all the information you need, including themes and full event details.

Please double-check the 2026 dates and that the events are still going ahead before you invest time and money on marketing.

There are also three seasonal content themes for each month, which you should be able adapt for your brand and your audience.

Remember, your content should be about helping rather than selling, so make sure it’s customer focused with a clear What’s In It For Me (WIIFM).

This is an evolving post that I return to and update every year. For advance notification of updates, make sure you’re following me on LinkedIn.

If you need more ideas, you’ll find plenty in my blog post:
111 Blog post ideas to benefit your business.

*Denotes events held on the same dates every year.

Content ideas for September 2026

September 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — World Alzheimer’s Month
1st* — Blood Cancer Awareness Month (UK)
1st* — Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
1st — East & South East Asian Heritage Month
1st* — Oddfellows Friendship Month (UK)
1st* — Organic September (UK)
1st — Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month
1st* — Sepsis Awareness Month (UK)
1st* — Sleeptember (UK)
1st* — Self-Improvement Month
1st* — Snacktember
1st* — Sourdough September (UK)
1st* — Urology Awareness Month (UK)
1st* — Vascular Disease Awareness Month (UK)

Weeks, fortnights etc

7th — National Payroll Week (UK)
7th — Know Your Numbers Week, for blood pressure (UK)
11th — Heritage Open Days (UK)
13th — Balance Awareness Week (UK)
14th — National Inclusion Week (UK)
14th — Orchid Male Cancer Awareness Week (UK)
14th — Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Week (UK), TBC
14th — Jeans for Genes Week (UK)
14th — Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week
14th — Recycle Week (UK)
16th* — European Mobility Week
19th — Oktoberfest, Munich
21st — FSC Forest Week, for the Forest Stewardship Council (UK)
21st — National Coding Week (UK), starts third Monday in September, TBC
21st — National Eye Health Week (UK), TBC
21st — Fairtrade Fortnight
21st — ICON Week, to raise awareness of infant crying
21st — Fire Door Safety Week (UK)
21st — International Week of Happiness at Work
21st — Migraine Awareness Week
21st — Organ Donation Week
21st — World Reflexology Week, TBC
26th — British Food Fortnight
27th — Shetland Wool Week (UK)

Days

5th* — International Day of Charity
5th — International Vulture Awareness Day, first Saturday in September
6th* — National Read a Book Day (UK)
7th* — World Salami Day
8th* — International Literacy Day
15th — Pension Awareness Day (UK)
10th* — World Suicide Prevention Day (UK)
11th — National Make Your Bed Day
12th — World Sepsis Day, TBC
13th* — International Chocolate Day
13th* — Roald Dahl Day (UK)
15th* — World Lymphoma Awareness Day
15th* — International Dot Day, for creativity
15th* — International Day of Democracy
16th — National Fitness Day (UK)
16th* — International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
17th — World Patient Safety Day
18th — Youth Mental Health Day (UK)
19th* — International Talk Like a Pirate Day
21st* — International Day of Peace
21st — World Gratitude Day
21st* — World Alzheimer’s Day
22nd* — World Car-Free Day
23rd — International Day of Sign Languages
24th — National Manufacturing Day
25th* — International Ataxia Awareness Day
25th — World Pharmacists’ Day
25th —World’s Biggest Coffee Morning (UK)
26th — World Copywriters’ Day
26th* — European Day of Languages
26th* — World Contraception Day
27th — World Tourism Day
28th* — World Rabies Day
29th* — World Heart Day
30th — International Podcast Day
30th* — National Sporting Heritage Day (UK), TBC
30th — Thank You #HiddenHeroes Day (UK), last Wednesday of September, TBC
30th — World School Milk Day, last Wednesday of September

September 2026 content ideas

1. Do something for charity

September 5th is the International Day of Charity. So why not do something to help your favourite charity and write a blog about it? Helping charities

• Volunteer your staff or services to help with a charity project or event
• Hold a fundraising event
• Donate money to fund a project and write an article to show what your donation helped the charity to achieve
• Give learning opportunities or apprenticeships to disadvantaged or underprivileged young people and document the process in a blog
• Run a challenge or competition, charge people to enter and donate the profits to charity
• Write a post to promote the charity you’re supporting, talk about the work they do and why it’s so important — tell your audience how they can help too.

2. Christmas countdown for marketing

In marketing circles, the start of autumn is the countdown to Christmas, so it’s a good time to start your Christmas preparation posts. Depending on your brand you may have one or several posts planned in the run up to Christmas.

• Create a Christmas gift guide
• Plan your Christmas special offers
• Compile ideas and inspiration for Christmas: home decoration, recipes, time-saving, food preparation, party planning.

3. Winter break ideas

As summer comes to an end, your audience will be thinking about their next break. If you can make it relevant to your brand, give them some inspiration.

• City breaks: destination ideas, city guides, restaurant recommendations, most popular tourist attractions, best cultural experiences, hidden gems that are off the beaten track
• Winter activity holidays: skiing, snowboarding, sledging, ice fishing, whale watching, trekking, snow mobiles
• Themed breaks: Christmas markets, reindeer rides, northern lights, winter snow, winter sun
• UK breaks: destination ideas, Christmas markets, winter customs and events.

Content ideas for October 2026

October 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — ADHD Awareness Month
1st* — The Big Draw Festival
1st* — Black History Month (UK)
1st* — Breast Cancer Awareness Month (UK), TBC
1st* — Charcot-Marie-Tooth Awareness Month
1st* — National Cholesterol Month (UK), TBC
1st* — Go Sober for October (UK), TBC
1st* — Inktober
1st* — Lupus Awareness Month (UK), TBC
1st* — Positive Attitude Month
1st* — Speak Up Month
1st* — Stoptober, to quit smoking (UK)
1st* — Unblocktober, to fight plastic entering our seas (UK)
1st* — International Walk to School Month

Weeks, fortnights etc

1st — National Vegetarian Week
3rd — Family Learning Festival (UK)
4th* — World Space Week
5th — National Curry Week, (UK)
5th — National Hygiene Week (UK)
5th — National Work Life Week
5th — Dyslexia Awareness Week (UK)
5th — Back Care Awareness Week (UK)
5th — Bike to School Week (UK)
5th — National Braille Week (UK)
12th — International Adolescent Health Week
12th — UK Coffee Week, TBC
13th — OCD Awareness Week
15th — Baby Loss Awareness Week (UK)
24th — International Brain Tumour Awareness Week

Days

1st* — International Coffee Day
1st* — International Day of Older Persons (UK)
1st — National Poetry Day
1st — World Sake Day
1st* — World Vegetarian Day
2nd — World Smile Day, first Friday in October every year
4th — International Vodka Day
4th* — World Animal Day
5th* — World Teachers’ Day
6th* — National Badger Day (UK)
6th* — World Habitat Day
8th — World Sight Day
9th — World Egg Day, second Friday in October
9th* — World Post Day
10th — World Hospice and Palliative Care Day
10th — World Mental Health Day, TBC
10th* — World Porridge Day
11th* — International Coming Out Day
11th* — International Day of the Girl Child
13th — National No Bra Day (UK) for breast cancer awareness
13th — International Sceptics’ Day
14th — National Burns Awareness Day
15th — Conflict Resolution Day, third Thursday of October, TBC
15th — International Credit Union Day, TBC
15th* — Global Hand-washing Day
15th* — Global Wave of Light, for baby loss
15th — World Values Day
16th* — World Food Day
16th* — Restart a Heart Day, TBC
16th — Developmental Language Disorder Day
16th — Wear Red Day, against racism (UK)
17th* — International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
18th* — Anti-Slavery Day (UK)
18th* — World Menopause Day
19th — International Gin and Tonic Day
20th* — World Osteoporosis Day
21st — Apple Day (UK), weekend closest to the 21st
21st — International Pronouns Day, third Wednesday in October
21st* — National Reptile Awareness Day
22nd — International Stuttering Awareness Day
23rd — Wear it Pink, for breast cancer (UK)
23rd — International Champagne Day
25th —World Pasta Day
26th — National Sleep-in Day (UK), TBC
26th — British Summertime Ends (UK)
31st — Halloween

October 2026 content ideas

1. Preparing for winter

It may only be October, but it’s a good time for your audience to plan ahead for the colder months and make sure they and their homes are prepared.

• Winter home prep: insulation, boiler, heating system, radiators, fire/chimney, smoke detectors, draughts and air leaks, roofs, gutters, outside lighting etc
• Winter garden prep: trimming and pruning, storing furniture and pots, shed/greenhouse maintenance, salts for paths and driveways, repair broken/dangerous steps and paving slabs
• Winter vehicle prep: battery, tyres, anti-freeze levels, oil, screenwash, lights, kit to carry in case of emergency
• Personal care for winter: medicine cupboard essentials, hair/skin care, foot care, joint care, colds and flu, keeping warm, staying active, healthy foods and drinks
• Winter clothes: latest fashions, warmest outerwear, best non-slip footwear, skiwear, sunglasses.

2. Halloween

Halloween is known for wickedness and mischief, so it’s a good time to write about bad things. Here are some ideas:

• Buyer beware: scams, swindles, hoaxes, rip-offs
• Bad behaviour that loses customers, such as poor etiquette, spamming, aggressive selling and poor customer service
• Shocking mistakes people are making that are preventing them from achieving their goals
• How to recognise the signs of bad clients and troublesome customers
• Scary statistics that show your audience why they should/shouldn’t be doing something in their business.

3. End of British Summertime

UK clocks go back one hour this month, giving people a whole extra hour of time. So you could talk about some of the things that can be achieved in an hour. There are lots of themes for this, depending on your brand, but here are some ideas:

• Teach them how to make something
• Show them how to make a plan or prepare something in advance
• Host a one-hour course where they can learn something valuable
• Host a practical class, in person or online
• Help them write a blog post or schedule some social media posts
• Encourage them to do something they might have been putting off
• Take them through a how-to to demonstrate a new technique.

Content ideas for November 2026

November 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — Lung Cancer Awareness Month (UK)
1st* — Mouth Cancer Action Month (UK)
1st* — Movember, for men’s health
1st* — Men’s Health Awareness Month
1st* — National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month (UK)
1st* — World Vegan Month
19th — Disability History Month

Weeks, fortnights etc

2nd — International Stress Awareness Week
2nd — National Pathology Week (UK)
2nd — Green Careers Week (UK), TBC
2nd — Talk Money Week (UK)
6th — Diwali begins
9th — World Nursery Rhyme Week
16th — Anti-Bullying Week (UK)
16th — Sugar Awareness Week (UK), TBC
13th* — Trans Awareness Week
15th — International Fraud Awareness Week
15th — Road Safety Week (UK)
16th — National Self-Care Week
30th — Lifelong Learning Week (UK)

Days

1st* — World Vegan Day
3rd — World Sandwich Day
4th — National Stress Awareness Day (UK)
5th — Bonfire Night
7th — International Stout Day
8th* — World Radiography Day
8th — Remembrance Sunday
9th* — World Freedom Day
11th — Armistice Day
13th — Children in Need, TBC
13th* — World Kindness Day
14th* — World Diabetes Day
18th — World COPD Awareness Day
19th* — International Men’s Day
19th* — World Toilet Day
19th — Carers’ Rights Day (UK)
20th* — World Children’s Day
20th — Trans Day of Remembrance
21st* — World Television Day
25th — White Ribbon Day, for violence against women (UK)
27th — Black Friday
30th* — St Andrew’s Day

November 2026 content ideas

1. Christmas countdown for customers

For many of your customers, the start of November starts the countdown to Christmas, so anything you can do to help will be appreciated.

• Update customers on your festive season opening hours, delivery dates, last chance dates etc so they can make sure they’re prepared — you can follow this up with a series of reminder posts on social media
• Create a Christmas checklist to help your customers with planning, workload, shopping etc.

2. Stress Awareness Day

November 5th is National Stress Awareness Day. This could be a great opportunity to help your customers by:

• Showing them how what you offer can make their lives less stressful
• Giving them hacks and tips to make their work/lives more manageable
• Talking about healthy vs. unhealthy ways of dealing with stress
• Write about the benefits of exercise and taking more time outside
• Compile a list of helpful stress-management resources.

REMEMBER, you can also visit the website to see what the 2026 theme is and write a post based around that.

3. Recycle an old blog

Articles that are more than three years’ old are often out of date and need a refresh, so why not recycle or repurpose an old blog and republish it?

Here are a few ideas on how to do it:

• Update the article with the latest information and statistics
• Expand the article with more information and add more value
• Add new voices and industry insights
• If it’s an image-based article, update the images to show the latest trends and styles
• Rewrite it to show how things have changed since you published the original article.

Want to add an event?

My aim is to build a comprehensive calendar of UK and international events. If there’s a great event that’s missing and you’d like me to consider including it, please get in touch with the details and official website.

Other posts in this series

As many dates aren’t confirmed until close to the event, these posts will usually be updated a couple of months before each season starts. I’ll publicise them on LinkedIn when they’ve been updated.

Need quality content for your business blog?

I’m Jenny Lucas, a freelance content writer based in Leicester, UK.

If you like what you’ve read here, but don’t have the time, skills or inclination to do your own content marketing, I can help by writing it for you.

For more information, head to my content writing page, where you can find out more, or get in touch.

Need more content ideas?

Check out these other posts I’ve written.

The post Content ideas for Autumn 2026 appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

You have a blog that’s been working well to drive organic traffic to your website.

But, lately, you’ve been noticing a drop in your traffic and your click-through rate (CTR) is down. So what could be the problem?

The same thing happened to a business I know.

Here’s what happened.

This is a true story

A business had a top 10 tips article on their blog and it was one of their most visited webpages.

The tips were valuable, the SEO was on-point, the traffic was excellent. But the article could have been ranking and converting better, so the business made some improvements. They kept the existing listicle format, but added more SEO keywords and focused more on how their business could help visitors.

At first, it seemed the changes had been successful. The article’s impressions grew, as expected, and it climbed up the rankings, as expected — but its click-through rate fell off a cliff. Ouch!

What went wrong?

As the business published their improved article, Google was introducing the latest version of its new AI summary.

The new AI summary was programmed to pull together bite-size information in a list format. The business’s article contained bite-size information in a list format.

Can you see where I’m going with this?

Google’s AI was taking information from the business’s article to use in its summary. And because people were reading the information in the summary, they had no reason to click on the article.

Effectively the AI summary was stealing the business’s clicks. Rude.

This is something that’s becoming more prevalent and, as a website owner, you need to be aware of it.

It’s an example of commodity content

The business’s top 10 tips article was a classic example of what we’re now calling commodity content.

In economics, a commodity is something that’s basically the same product, no matter who produces it. Like sugar, oil and steel. The buyer cares less about the product and more about the price, convenience and availability.

What is commodity content?

Commodity content is generic and easily copied. The reader cares less about who created it and more about how easy it is to find and consume.

It’s the kind of content AI will strip for parts — taking all the good stuff for itself and leaving you with a husk of an article that does nothing for your business.

Commodity content is content that’s:

• Generic and kinda meh
• Been done to death
• Not introducing anything new or different
• Not bringing any original insight, opinions or perspectives
• Compiled using publicly available information, anyone can find.

Examples of commodity content

Commodity content includes:

• Generic listicles
• Basic how-to guides
• What is… ? explainer articles
• Generic buyer guides.

AI isn’t totally heartless. It will credit your blog article as its source and give a link to it. But when your article is titled ‘10 tips’ and the AI summary is giving 10 tips, it’s already stolen your thunder.

Businesses should be creating non-commodity content

Non-commodity content is the opposite of commodity content. It’s fresh, unique, and authentic to you, which makes it more valuable and more difficult to replicate.

When it’s non-commodity content, readers do care about who creates it. They care that it’s real and comes from a place of first-hand knowledge and experience. This is the kind of content they feel invested in and they want to know they can trust it.

Non-commodity content contains material like:

• Storytelling
• Lived experience
• First-hand research
• Original imagery or photography
• First-hand knowledge and expertise
• Unique perspectives and opinions.

Examples of non-commodity content

Non-commodity content includes:

• Real-life stories
• Research studies
• Expert opinion pieces
• In-depth case studies
• First-hand interviews
• Original infographics
• Independent experiments
• Unique inspiration guides
• Evidence-based forecasting.

Non-commodity content is a natural next step in blogging

Google has been pushing us towards creating more unique, non-commodity content for several years now.

Its Quality Rater Guidelines have rewarded content that features Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). And its Helpful Content updates have penalised commodity content created by content spinning and mass-producing AI articles without any human oversight.

So, although content writers weren’t able to predict exactly what AI search would look like, we were prepared enough to start adding that extra uniqueness and value to the articles we wrote.

How to get your blog back on track

If you think your blog has a commodity content issue, this is something I can help you rectify.

Have a professional content audit

A content audit is like a health check for your blog.

It’s a review of the articles you have on your blog to assess their quality, relevance and performance. This will tell you if an article is fighting fit, if it needs reviving, or if it needs killing with fire.

Spoiler alert: most content contains some value — even your commodity content — so never write anything off straight away.

When I audit your content, I’ll start by creating a spreadsheet inventory of your articles and how they’re performing. I’ll then produce an action plan that details what needs to be done to update and improve your blog. This will include transforming commodity content into non-commodity content.

You can read more about my content audit service here:

6 Good reasons your blog needs a professional content audit >>

Content auditing to make your blog work harder for your business >>

Revisit articles with problematic titles

Some article titles are problematic because they appear to give it all away.

For example:

• 10 Top tips for contouring —> AI summarises the 10 tips
• How to boil an egg —> AI gives instructions on how to boil an egg
• What is matcha? —> AI explains what matcha is.

If people can get what your title promises from the AI summary, they’re not going to bother reading your article — even if your article includes way more value than the title suggests.

Your title needs to tease something more valuable — and your article needs to deliver it.

For example:

• Contouring secrets from a professional make-up artist
• A chef’s guide to cooking eggs with perfect runny yolks every time
• Mind-blowing matcha flavour combinations we created in our kitchen.

Refresh, rewrite or repurpose older articles

Yes, okay, I shamelessly stole this idea from Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, but it works in a similar way.

I have a make-do and mend mentality, in life and in work, which means I make every effort to fix things before I throw them away.

Rather than simply deleting older articles that are no longer serving their purpose, I’ll look for ways to sharpen them up. Some older articles are still valid, but need refreshing with the latest information or better SEO keywords. Some could benefit from a rewrite. Some might have passed their use-by date, but the information or ideas could be repurposed.

You can read more about how Refresh, Rewrite, Repurpose works, here:

Refresh, Rewrite, Repurpose: how to audit and reuse your old blog posts >>

Add as much value as only you can

Your articles will be more unique and valuable to you if they include your input.

That could be in the form of your:

• Real-life stories
• Insight and experience
• Knowledge and expertise
• Perspective and personality.

When I rewrite articles for you, I’ll always prompt you to add your own twist.

This is how to turn generic commodity content into non-commodity content that showcases your Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). And it should help stop that pesky AI from stealing your clicks.

Need some help to stop AI stealing your content?

As a human copy and content writer, nothing irks me more than the AI takeover of our glorious internet. And if there’s any small thing I can do to stop it, I’m there.

That includes helping businesses, like yours, from losing potentially valuable clicks and traffic.

Work with me and I’ll:

• Audit your blog to highlight commodity content, poor performance and other issues
• Create an action plan that outlines how to fix them
• Do the work to bring those articles up to standard
• Give you the prompts you need so we can add your own spin
• Develop a better strategy for writing non-commodity articles in future.

If this sounds good and you’d like my help, get in touch and send me the link to your blog.

You might also like…

The post Is generic commodity content helping AI to steal your web traffic? appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

This pick ‘n’ mix guide is packed with inspiration and ideas for your marketing efforts over the summer period, from June to August 2026.

For each month, I’ve prepared an event calendar, which might inspire a post, promotion or tie-in. I’ve included links where possible, so you’ll find all the information you need, including themes and full event details.

Please double-check the 2026 dates and that the events are still going ahead before you invest time and money on marketing.

There are also three seasonal content themes for each month, which you should be able adapt for your brand and your audience.

Remember, your content should be about helping rather than selling, so make sure it’s customer focused with a clear What’s In It For Me (WIIFM).

This is an evolving post that I return to and update every year. For advance notification of updates, make sure you’re following me on LinkedIn.

If you need more ideas, you’ll find plenty in my blog post:
111 Blog post ideas to benefit your business.

*Denotes events held on the same dates every year.

Content ideas for June 2026

June 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — Pride Month (UK)
1st* — SPANA’s World Tea Party, for sick and injured working animals

Weeks, fortnights etc

1st — Volunteers’ Week (UK)
1st — Child Safety Week (UK)
1st — National Growing for Wellbeing Week (UK), TBC
1st — World Heart Rhythm Week
5th — The Big Lunch (UK), TBC
8th — Aromatherapy Awareness Week, TBC
8th — Carers’ Week (UK)
8th — Diabetes Awareness Week (UK), TBC
9th — Bike Week (UK)
13th — March for Men (UK), for prostate cancer
13th — Drowning Prevention Week (UK)
14th — Book Week, Scotland
15th — Loneliness Awareness Week (UK)
15th — Men’s Health Week (UK)
15th — National Picnic Week (UK)
15th — Children’s Hospice Week (UK)
15th — Learning Disability Week (UK)
15th — Refugee Week (UK)
15th — #GladToCare Awareness Week (UK), date TBC
20th — English Wine Week
20th — Rabbit Awareness Week (UK), TBC

Days

1st* — World Milk Day
1st* — Global Day of Parents
3rd* — World Bicycle Day
4th* — International Day of Innocent Child Victims of Aggression
5th* — World Environment Day
5th* —International Day Against Illegal Fishing
5th — National Fish and Chip Day (UK)
7th — Cancer Survivors’ Day
7th —LEAF Open Farm Sunday (UK)
7th* — World Food Safety Day
8th* — World Oceans Day
13th — World Gin Day, second Saturday in June
14th* — World Blood Donor Day
15th* — National Beer Day (UK)
15th* — World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
17th* — World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
18th* — Autistic Pride Day
18th* — International Picnic Day
18th* — Sustainable Gastronomy Day
18th — National Clean Air Day
19th* — World Martini Day
19th — National Writing Day (UK), date TBC
20th — International Surfing Day, third Saturday in June
20th* — World Refugee Day
21st — Father’s Day (UK), third Sunday in June
21st* — World Humanist Day
21st* — Global MND Awareness Day
21st* — Summer Solstice, Northern Hemisphere
21st* — World Music Day
21st* — International Day of Yoga
22nd* — UK Windrush Day
23rd* — UN Public Service Day
23rd* — International Widows’ Day
23rd — International Women in Engineering Day
26th — National Cream Tea Day
26th — Take Your Dog to Work Day (UK), Friday after Father’s Day
26th* — International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
26th* — UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
27th* — Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day
29th* — International Day of the Tropics
29th* — Haro Wine Festival, Spain
30th* — International Asteroid Day

June 2026 content ideas

1. World Environment Day

June 5th is World Environment Day.

• Talk about your environmental policies and show how you’re making a difference
• If you sell products, talk about ways your customers might reuse or recycle them or their parts
• Introduce a new environmental initiative and write a blog post about it
• Ask your employees where the waste problems are in your business and take steps to tackle them — show others how you did it so they can do the same.

2. Summer holiday

With summer holidays just around the corner, why not help your customers prepare? Offer some tips, create an inspiration guide or write on a relevant topic. Choose something that’s relevant for your brand. Here are some ideas to inspire you:

• Self preparation: tanning, waxing, hair styling
• Inspiration: hairstyles, fashion, beach-ready looks
• Winding up at work: checklists, advance preparation, autoresponders
• Health and safety tips: sun care, healthcare, first aid, dos and don’ts
• Travel tips: regulations, restrictions, money, vehicle hire,
• Activities: hiking, water sports, camping, photography, video
• Equipment: wetsuits, sunglasses, hiking shoes, cameras, canoes, tents, caravans, awnings, furniture, backpacks and bags
• Packing tips: holiday essentials, checklists, ‘don’t forget’ lists.

3. Making the most of the season

• Summer offers and promotions
• Cooking: fresh seasonal produce, new ideas, recipes or flavour combinations
• Summer drinks: cocktails/virgin cocktails, punches and party drinks, best for hydration
• Health: summer diet, benefits of keeping hydrated, ways to drink more water, best exercise for hot weather
• Getting out and about: things to do, places to go, activities to try
• Being outdoors: garden furniture recommendations, how to style a balcony or small garden, bringing the outside in with healthy plants.

Content ideas for July 2026

July 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — Disability Pride Month
1st* — Plastic Free July
1st* — Sarcoma Awareness Month
18th — South Asian Heritage Month

Weeks, fortnights etc

6th — Alcohol Awareness Week
6th — Great British Pea Week, TBC
6th — National School Sport Week (UK)
18th — Festival of British Archaeology
24th — Love Parks Week (UK), TBC
25th — National Marine Week (UK), TBC

Days

1st* — International Reggae Day
2nd— Cycle to Work Day (UK), TBC
3rd — National Bereaved Parents’ Day (UK), TBC
7th* — World Chocolate Day
10th* — Don’t Step on a Bee Day
11th — World Mojito Day
11th* — World Population Day
11th — World Rum Day, second Saturday in July
12th* — National Simplicity Day (UK)
15th* — World Youth Skills Day
17th* — World Emoji Day
17th* — World Day for International Justice
18th* — International Nelson Mandela Day
20th* — World Chess Day
24th — International Self-Care Day
24th* — Talk to Us Day, 24/7 for the Samaritans
24th* — World Tequila Day
25th* — National Schizophrenia Awareness Day (UK)
28th* — World Hepatitis Day
29th* — International Tiger Day
30th* — World Friendship Day
30th* — World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

July 2026 content ideas

1. War on plastic

It’s Plastic-Free July. Here are some ideas for a tie-in, choose something that’s relevant for your brand:

• A how-to on how to find all the sources of plastic in your business — even the hidden ones — and talk about alternatives for buying better in the future
• Create a tutorial for reusing and repurposing plastic: in arts and crafts, for storage, for decoration, making toys, plant holders etc
• Write about projects in your industry where plastic waste is being repurposed, reused or recycled
• Compile a guide to plastic-free alternatives, where to find them and how to use them
• Launch an initiative in your business to cut or reduce your use of plastic and write about it — or talk about your current efforts to cut plastic waste.

2. School summer holidays

The school summer holidays start in July, so it’s a good time to look at content that will involve families and children.

• Activities: new things to try, places to go, sports, gaming
• Create a challenge to encourage creativity, promote learning or help the community
• Devise an online or outdoor treasure hunt
• Write about planned events in your local area
• Put together a list of books to read or films to watch
• Family barbecue: food, activities, games, theme, ideas
• Create an arts and crafts tutorial.

3. Communication

July 17th is World Emoji Day, so it could be a good time to talk about the way we communicate, how it’s changed and how it’s changing. Here are some ideas:

• Write about AI and how it’s changing the way we communicate
• Create an on-brand emoji or picture quiz — for fun or with a prize draw for correct answers
• Write a piece about the best communication strategies in your industry and what makes them so effective
• Run a customer survey to learn about communication problems in your organisation, publish the results and show how you plan to improve
• Write about your experience of automated communications, when they work well and when they don’t
• If you’re improving or changing the way you communicate with your customers, use this as an opportunity to talk about your plans
• Write about how our language and communication styles are evolving with new generations and technologies.

Content ideas for August 2026

August 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — National Road Victim Month (UK)
1st* — Swim 15, for bowel cancer (UK), TBC

Weeks, fortnights etc

1st* — World Breastfeeding Awareness Week
10th — Afternoon Tea Week (UK)
12th — World Photography Week
23rd — World Water Week

Days

1st* — Yorkshire Day (UK)
5th — Play Day (UK), first Wednesday in August
7th — International Beer Day, first Friday of August
8th* — International Cat Day
8th* — National CBD Day (UK)
10th — National Lazy Day
12th* — International Youth Day
13th* — International Left-Handers Awareness Day
13th* — National Prosecco Day (UK)
15th — International Relaxation Day
19th* — World Photography Day
19th* — World Humanitarian Day
30th —World Mai Tai Day

August 2026 content ideas

1. Back to school

The new school term starts next month. If this is relevant to your brand, you could write a post aimed at the members of your audience who have children. Here are some ideas:

• Lunch prep ideas to make things quicker and simpler
• Back to school checklist: stationery, uniform, school shoes, school bag, PE kit, trainers, software/apps
• Parental advice to help their children with productive study, being active, staying hydrated, handling stress, keeping a positive attitude, bullying, online safety, friendships and relationships
• Compile helpful resources to help parents and their children get back to school, such as study guides, tips and advice.

2. Last days of summer

As we’re edging closer to autumn and a new school term, it’s time to make the most of the last days of the summer holiday. You can use this as an opportunity to inspire your audience with ideas on how to do that.

• Inspire your readers to compile an end of summer bucket list, filled with fun family things to do — give them lots of ideas
• Last minute summer break ideas featuring late details and where to find the best sunshine spots
• Talk about the best new attractions, places to go and events happening in your area during the last weeks of summer
• Write about the best seasonal produce that’s still available to enjoy.

3. World Photography Day

August 19th is World Photography Day: A worldwide celebration of the art, craft, science and history of photography. Here are some ideas for photo and image based posts:

• Run an on-brand photo challenge or competition on your social media and publish your best entries in a blog post
• Put together a photographic post that will show your audience inspiring ways to use or style your product
• Present a series of photographs, images or mood boards that represent your brand, then write about them in a blog post
• Produce a photo diary for a week behind the scenes in your business.

Want to add an event?

My aim is to build a comprehensive calendar of UK and international events. If there’s a great event that’s missing and you’d like me to consider including it, please get in touch with the details and official website.

Other posts in this series

As many dates aren’t confirmed until close to the event, these posts will usually be updated a couple of months before each season starts. I’ll publicise them on LinkedIn when they’ve been updated.

Need quality content for your business blog?

I’m Jenny Lucas, a freelance content writer based in Leicester, UK.

If you like what you’ve read here, but don’t have the time, skills or inclination to do your own content marketing, I can help by writing it for you.

For more information, head to my content writing page, where you can find out more, or get in touch.

Need more content ideas?

Check out these other posts I’ve written.

The post Content ideas for Summer 2026 appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

That’s weird, right?

Maybe to you. I wouldn’t really know, because I’ve never known any different.

I think in pictures and feelings. I have a constant stream of colourful imagery, parading through my head like a 24/7 carnival. Hence my featured image.

It may not be ‘normal’ — whatever ‘normal’ is — but it’s me and how I process the world.

It’s called hyperphantasia

Hyperphantasia is a condition where you have extremely vivid mental imagery. They say it’s rare, but it’s more common than its opposite condition, aphantasia, where you have no visual memory and can’t create images in your mind.

Now there’s something I can’t imagine.

These two opposite conditions exist on what’s known as the aphantasia-hyperphantasia spectrum.

The aphantasia test

You can get an idea of where you sit on the aphantasia-hyperphantasia spectrum by taking an aphantasia test.

This test asks you to imagine something everyone is familiar with: an apple.

Not everyone imagines an apple in the same way. People with hyperphantasia can imagine it in full colour, with texture and photographic detail (1). People with aphantasia can’t imagine it at all (5). With both hyperphantasia and aphantasia being described as rare, it figures that most people sit somewhere in the middle.

How did I realise I had hyperphantasia?

It all started when I was reading this article about people who have no inner monologue. That’s a condition, too. The scientists are calling it anendophasia.

I’d heard people mention their inner monologue before. And I’d just assumed I had one, because why wouldn’t I? But it was only after reading the article, I actually started ‘listening’ for it and realised it wasn’t there.

Understanding my thoughts weren’t vocal made me think consciously about how I was thinking. Have you ever tried that? It messes with your mind for a while, but it helps you understand yourself better.

I digress.

Other people have described their inner monologue as the thing that narrates their life. Like a constant voiceover they can’t switch off. Sometimes, like a bully that constantly berates and demeans them.

My head is completely silent.

If I want to hear my thoughts I have to say them out loud, which explains why I talk to myself so much. Have to say, I’m a little relieved about that.

But the visuals play constantly. When I think it’s time for bed, I see my bed and I can describe it in detail. When other people describe objects or happenings, my brain responds by creating a visual. When I berate myself — because I don’t get a free pass on that — I see a cartoon cat, repeatedly bashing me over the head with a saucepan, Tom and Jerry style.

How does hyperphantasia affect my writing?

To explain this, we’re going to have to fire up the DeLorean and go back to the 80s. So fasten your seatbelt.

From sensory stories to metaphors with meaning

I’ve always had a vivid imagination.

As a child, I’d read books and they’d play like movies in my head. I was drawn to the descriptions and my mind brought them to life. I wrote my own stories, too, and had dreams of becoming a writer.

At high school, my essays were filled with imagery, even when there was no call for it. I’d use visual metaphors in my explanations and reasoning. I now realise that was my thought process. I was writing out the images in my head.

My teachers always praised my writing and graded it highly. They never said my style was odd or unusual.

Until I started my A’ Levels.

My writing wasn’t academic

My first A’ Level English assignment came back ungraded.

My teacher took me to one side. He told me the ideas were there, but my writing was ‘inappropriate’ for A’ Level and it needed to be more ‘academic’.

I didn’t understand what that meant. Even when he explained it to me for the third time.

Deflated and confused, I took my ungraded essay home to rewrite it in a more academic style.

I still remember sitting in my box-room bedroom at my too-small desk. Bic biro in hand. Paralysed.

No words came. My vibrant mind had gone black. Like someone turned the lights off.

I fell out of love with writing

^{Image created by ChatGPT}

When my English teacher said academic, he should have said boring and safe. I’d have understood that.

The books on the reading list were dull. The lessons, where we painstakingly picked them apart, were tedious. The essays I wrote about them were formulaic, flat and colourless.

I passed English A’ Level, but it broke my spirit, destroyed my love of reading books, and killed my dream of writing fiction.

I lost my writing voice

I talk a lot about brand voice and how your copy should sound. And my clients are always delighted when their new copy sounds just like them.

But what about my own voice? Did it sound like me?

Apparently, it didn’t.

A few years ago I found myself working with another copywriter. To beta test one of her own services, she offered me a critique of my LinkedIn profile and I was interested to see what she thought.

That critique was a wake-up call.

She said my profile was sterile and she couldn’t find any trace of me in it. That it was all tell and no show. I’d said I was visual thinker, but I hadn’t demonstrated that. I’d said I had a dark sense of humour, but I hadn’t expressed it. I’d said I was full of ideas, but my copy said otherwise.

Damn.

I’d made myself vanilla

As a copywriter, I’d made myself small. There was some logic to that. I’d thought if I showed too much personality, prospects wouldn’t see me as the chameleon I was and someone who could write in their voice.

So I’d presented myself as a blank canvas, to be painted with their vision. A bowl of plain vanilla ice-cream, to be adorned with their sauces and sprinkles. But, in doing so, my own writing sounded like it was trying to impress my A’ Level English teacher. Ugh.

I needed to find a way to bring back the old me — the real me — and be proud of what made me different.

I rewrote everything

Over the next year, with reckless abandon, I tore everything down — from my LinkedIn profile to my website and blog.

And I rewrote them all, to show my true voice and my unique way of thinking.

And then something marvelous happened

I noticed people started reading — I mean really reading — what I’d written.

Some would repeat it back to me, almost verbatim.

Some wrote just to compliment me on a blog they’d enjoyed.

Some told me they’d lost hours reading my website.

Some said they’d decided they wanted to work with me before we even met.

My blog started being featured on ‘top copywriting blog’ lists.

I guess that’s the power of authenticity and of being your true self.

Are you selling yourself short?

In so many areas of life, we shrink ourselves to make us more acceptable to others.

Removing the personality from your writing. Dressing down to avoid standing out. Downplaying your achievements, so as not to seem boastful. Over-adapting to fit the crowd you’re mixing with.

Accepting less than you deserve.

Yeah, sod that.

We need to rewrite the ‘rulebook’

Because it’s cool to be different. And when you embrace your differences, you start attracting the right kind of people. The right kind of clients and customers.

People who ‘get’ you and appreciate what you have to offer.

And that counts for a lot.

Showing some personality gets people reading

I always say people naturally skim-read on the internet. I know I do. It’s partly because so much of what’s published online is booor-ing and that’s only becoming more prevalent.

In today’s ever-evolving digital landscape… the internet is awash with AI slop. IYKYK.

I say ‘slop’ because AI relies on human input and most of the people who use it to write their content have no imagination and no idea how to prompt it.

All AI and no human makes Jack a dull boy.

And leaves his readers comatose.

Truth is, if you want people to read more of what you have to say, you need to make it worth reading. Not just facts and value, but the kind of addictive, scroll-stopping copy that makes people want to read it.

Are you ready to find your voice?

Maybe I can help you.

I’m Jenny and I create standout copy for brands that want to embrace their differences and get noticed online.

If that’s you and you’d like to find out more…

Visit my main website to see where I can help >>

Read my About page to see what I’m about >>

See the work I’ve done for other clients >>

Contact me and tell me what you want — what you really, really want >>

Thirsty for more?

Check out these other articles you might like.

The post I’m a copywriter with hyperphantasia and no inner monologue appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

You have a blog and you publish new content regularly, but when did you last revisit your back catalogue?

Do you know what articles you already have on there or whether they’re working for your business?

I’ve spoken to business owners who had never revisited and reviewed their older content. They would publish new article after new article, then forget about them and leave them to gather dust. A bit like the boxes in the attic picture above. 

Some of these businesses had more than 100 articles on their blogs. But they had no idea what those articles were. They could have been sitting on a pile of rotting, stale, old content that was way past its useful date. Or a goldmine of promising articles that had never fulfilled their potential. In reality, it was a mixture of both.

It’s not just your new articles that count

The truth is, everything on your blog should be working hard for your business. Not just the article you published last week, but the articles you published years ago, too.

They’re all still discoverable on the web and they’re all building a picture of your brand. Your knowledge. Your expertise. Your currentness and adaptability to change.

Are they showing a brand that’s always evolving and moving with the times — or a brand that seems like it might still use floppy disks?

This is where content auditing will help

If you’ve been blogging for a while and have a substantial back catalogue of articles you’ve never revisited, content auditing will help you get them all in order. 

What is content auditing?

Content auditing is like giving your blog a health check.

It’s a review of all the articles you’ve published, so we can see:

• What content you already have
• What shape your existing content is in
• Any technical issues that need to be resolved
• Which articles are working and which need work
• What content you don’t have yet, but need to have.

It’s a sensible and cost-effective exercise that focuses on updating and optimising the content you’ve already invested in so it’s working for your business.

Who is content auditing for?

Content auditing could be ideal for your business if:

• You have a large back catalogue of articles 
• You’ve never revisited your older articles
• You don’t know how your blog is performing
• You want to make the most of the content you already have.

How does content auditing work?

My content auditing service is a three-stage process, which typically looks like this:

Stage 1: Collating an inventory of your articles

I’ll start by creating a spreadsheet inventory of all the articles you currently have on your blog.

The spreadsheet will include each article’s title, URL, publication date, performance data and any early issues.

Common early issues I see include articles that:

• Have passed their useful date
• Are too similar to each other
• Aren’t ranking or listed on Google
• Have unhelpful/non-SEO titles.

Once created, the inventory can be used to keep a running record of your blog articles and monitor how they’re performing for your business over time.

Stage 2: Creating an action plan

When the inventory is completed, I’ll create an action plan for your blog’s back catalogue.

This will identify the articles that need to be updated, amalgamated, augmented or re-optimised. And the articles that probably belong in a bin fire.

The process I recommend and use myself is something I call Refresh, Rewrite, Repurpose >>

Stage 3: Content auditing

This is where we start doing the work that will bring your existing articles up to standard.

• Updating the information, research, sources etc
• Changing your stance and advice accordingly
• Amalgamating similar articles into super articles
• Augmenting your articles to make them comprehensive
• Optimising your articles to compete with the top rankers
• Regularly monitoring your progress and performance.

How much does content auditing cost?

It depends on how many articles you have and how much work needs to be done.

The inventory and action plan is a one-off cost, starting at £500.

The ongoing improvements and progress monitoring can be done for a monthly cost to suit your needs and budget.

Is content auditing worth it?

Absolutely.

Your existing content is an investment you’ve made. Content auditing will squeeze the most out of that investment so your content keeps creating value for your business. 

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ve probably already created some of your most important and cornerstone content. Auditing will help to keep it fresh, relevant and value-packed so it’s always working at its full potential and generating leads.

Does your blog need a content audit?

Maybe I can help.

I’m an SEO content strategist and writer who loves helping businesses get the most value from their blogs.

And I hate to see valuable content go to waste — so I’ll do whatever I can to make it viable.

Want to work with me?

Contact me and let’s see if I can help you.

It’s easy to get in touch >>

You might also like…

6 Good reasons your blog needs a professional content audit >>

Business blogging FAQs >>

Blogging for business: what results can you expect? >>

The post Content auditing to make your blog work harder for your business appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

That is the question.

Ultimately, they want a website that’s:

• Fast and responsive to their needs
• Clear and simple to understand
• Easy to navigate
• Nice to look at
• Intuitive to use
• Secure.

A website that understands what they need and doesn’t make them work too hard to get it.

So how do you get a website like that?

I’m glad you asked.

This ultimate guide gives 21 pointers for giving your visitors the best possible user experience.

So let’s dive in and get started.

Quick links

1. Snappy loading

To give the best user experience, your website should be slick, streamlined and fast. Pages should load in a couple of seconds and it should respond instantly to user requests.

If your website takes an uncomfortably long time to load, some visitors won’t wait.

And if your website lags, buffers, and wheezes like an out-of-shape, old man climbing up a steep hill, your visitors will be giving up and going elsewhere.

We’re not on 90s dial-up anymore. Technology has moved on, with fast fibre and 5G. And as people have got used to websites that load and respond in a flash, most won’t tolerate slow and sluggish.

You can check your website’s speed and get practical tips on how to maximise it at GTmetrix.

2. Responsive design

Responsive design gives the best user experience on any device. It does this by adapting your website’s design and layout for the device each visitor is using.

The image above gives a visual overview of how responsive design works. From the full design on the desktop and laptop to the more scaled down versions, which have been optimised for the smaller screen sizes of the tablet and smartphone.

If your website is older, you need to make sure it scales and displays properly on all devices.

Most web designers use responsive design as standard now. Website builder platforms use it too, but the results aren’t always predictable and the elements on some websites can look like an epic car crash on smaller screens.

You can check how your website looks on different screens using a responsive testing app, like Screenfly.

3. Appealing appearance

Humans make visual decisions at lightning speed. For example, did you know, it takes less than two tenths of a second for visitors to form a visual first impression of your website?

If it pleases their eyes, they’re more likely to stay and enjoy the experience. If it has the visual appeal of a fungal infection, maybe not so much.

To give the best user experience, your website has to look good.

That means:

• Professional and tasteful
• A clean, well-balanced design
• Consistent use of typefaces and colours
• High-quality photos and visuals (see point 9)
• Considered use of colour and colour combinations.

4. Crystal clear hero section

The hero section of your website is the first thing your visitors will see when your website loads. It has to make the right impression and give visitors a reason to scroll down and keep reading.

In clear, accessible terms, your hero section should explain:

Who you are

This will be in your logo/company name, which usually appears at the top of the screen.

What you do

Explain what you do in a nutshell, using accessible language and avoiding unnecessary jargon.

Who you do it for

Give a brief description of the ideal customer you work with or sell to.

Why they should care

Explain the main benefit you’re offering and why they should choose to buy from/work with you specifically.

Your hero section might also include:

An appropriate call to action

The call to action (CTA) is typically a button or link that will prompt your visitors to take action.

For example:

• ‘Get started’
• ‘Browse products’
• ‘Choose your plan’
• ‘Start your free trial’.

Simple site navigation

At the top of the screen, you’ll either have text links to your top tier pages, or a collapsible burger menu if you prefer a cleaner look.

Trust signals

For example:

• Logos to show your professional memberships/accreditations
• Your star rating on independent review sites, like Trustpilot
• Logos of high-profile customers who’ve trusted you
• An example of a customer testimonial.

Contact information

If you do a lot of business over the phone or via email, you might have your phone number or email icon in your hero section.

5. Make visitors feel seen

Visitors have the best user experience when they feel seen and understood. If they’ve been struggling for a while, it can be a huge relief to find a website that speaks to them and shows an understanding of their problem.

To make your visitors feel seen like this, you have to understand them and be able to articulate their problems and needs in a way they can relate to.

Some of this understanding will come from listening to your customers. But these are the people who’ve already found you. To reach the people who haven’t found you yet, you need to attract them to your website by tapping into what they’re searching for. For this, you’ll probably need an SEO content strategist.

6. Predictability and familiarity

These days, most websites follow similar patterns.

For example, they have familiar page layouts, including:

• Hero section at the top of the homepage
• Navigational section at the top right
• Company logo in the top left
• Visual hierarchy of headings
• CTAs clearly marked on buttons.

And they work in a predictable way, so visitors have a good idea of what will happen when they take a particular course of action.

For example, clicking on the company logo is like clicking the heels of your ruby slippers together, because it takes you back to the homepage. Clicking on the ‘contact us’ button will open an email or bring up a contact form.

I’ve talked with prospects who wanted to break the mould on this and do something completely different and ‘out there’. But they never had a good reason beyond not wanting to be predictable.

Bottom line is, your visitors don’t want a website that needs a handbook to tell them how to use it. They like predictable, familiar and intuitive because it makes them feel safe, comfortable and confident.

7. Intuitive navigation

Most websites also follow the same navigational framework. I’m simplifying it here, but it’s usually something along the lines of Home, About, Services or Products, Blog, Contact.

Again, websites follow this same framework because it’s familiar, intuitive and easy. There’s no learning curve and nothing that needs to be figured out. This means visitors can go straight in and find what they’re looking for easily. And, to them, that’s priceless.

8. Logical structure

To be intuitive and easy to use, a website should be logical. It should feel considered and natural.

Information should be organised and presented in a logical way, with relevant content grouped together, on the pages where visitors would expect to find it. Products should be well-organised and categorised according to how visitors might search for them.

9. Effective visuals

The visuals on your website should give your visitors confidence and help build their trust.

They should help visitors get a true sense of who they’re dealing with and what they’re buying, or buying into.

To do this, they should be high quality, relevant — and, ideally, unique to you. They should represent your brand, business, people and products professionally and authentically.

Brands using stock images to represent them can give the impression they have something to hide. Brands using poor quality or low-res images can come across as amateurish or spammy.

10. Clean and uncluttered design

The best user experience comes from simple, clean design with plenty of white space that lets the content breathe.

It wasn’t always this way. In the 90s, websites tended to be crammed with content. Most websites used a three-column format that, in retrospect, was cluttered and confusing. With everything on the page vying for attention, it was overwhelming and visitors didn’t know where to look first.

A clean and uncluttered website is designed to focus your visitors’ attention on what matters. Typically, it will have a simple, one-column format, thoughtful placement of images and no unnecessary distractions.

11. Legible text

To give the best user experience, the text on your website should be legible and easy to read on a screen. There are a couple of things to consider here.

Choose legible fonts

The legibility of your text starts with the fonts you choose.

Avoid fonts that are bold, condensed or overly fancy. These fonts never scale well and can be difficult and tiring to read.

As a guide, look for:

• Simple fonts that are evenly and consistently weighted
• Fonts with distinct letters that don’t look confusingly similar
• Fonts with clear ascenders (b, d, h) and descenders (g, p, q)
• Letters that are well- spaced and sit on a consistent baseline.

Consider your font size

Use a font size that’s easy to read and vary it for smaller screens.

Your body text should be at least 16pt on the desktop version and at least 18pt on mobile.

Use good contrast

Use contrasting colours that make the text stand out from the background. This could be dark text on a light background — like black text on white. Or light text on a dark background — like white text on black.

Use plain backgrounds

Your text should be on a plain background, or a plain portion of the background so it stands out and is legible.

If your website has responsive design — and it should — make sure the text stays legible when the background resizes to fit smaller screens.

12. Easily scannable content

A lot of people have a tendency to scan content online — especially if they’re looking for specific information. To give them the best user experience, it’s best to make that easy for them.

Clients have asked me if making their content harder to scan would force their visitors to read more, but it doesn’t work like that. Unless you’re standing over them with a cattle prod, you can’t force your visitors to do anything. Though making your content harder to scan might force them to leave your website and go to one of your competitors.

My advice? If you want your visitors to stay on your site and read your information, make it interesting and worth reading. The people who want to read it will read it. The people who want to scan it will scan it and read the bits they want to read. It’s a win-win — or as near to a win-win as you’re ever going to get.

How to make your content easily scannable

Formatting your content in a way that’s easy and pleasant to read will benefit all your visitors — the readers and the scanners.

To do this, use:

• A clear visual hierarchy with headings and subheadings
• Relevant headings to introduce each new section
• Left-aligned text as much as possible
• Short, easily digestible paragraphs
• Short line lengths.

13. Clear and obvious calls to action

Your calls to action (CTAs) are where you prompt your visitors to take an action. For the best user experience, you need to place an appropriate CTA in the most appropriate place — where your visitors are most likely to want to take action.

CTAs are generally categorised in terms of how much commitment they require.

For example:

• Soft CTA — no commitment — e.g. reading an article, browsing products or watching a video
• Intermediate CTA — low commitment — e.g. free trial, free download, subscribing for emails
• Hard CTA — most commitment — e.g. buying a product, registering for a service, making a booking.

The clearest and most obvious CTAs make it easy for visitors to take their desired action because they’re hard to scroll past and ignore. I’m talking bright, contrasting buttons, like these:

The CTA buttons should also be clearly labelled, so visitors have a reasonable expectation of what will happen when they click — and aren’t afraid to click!

14. Consistency

To give the best user experience, your website should feel ‘together’. Everything should feel like it belong sand nothing should feel incompatible or out of place.

For example, your site should have consistent:

• Fonts, colours and branding
• Page layouts and styling
• Photography and imagery
• Messaging and tone of voice.

Consistency in all these areas will mean everything is working coherently together to build your visitors’ trust and confidence. And nothing is jarring or causing them to doubt you.

15. User-first content

If you want to give the best user experience, it makes sense that your content is putting your visitors — the people who are actually using your website — first.

That means content that:

• Is created for your human audience — not for Google
• Matches visitors’ search intent
• Satisfies your visitors’ wants and needs
• Answers your visitors’ questions
• Solves your visitors’ problems
• Makes it easy for visitors to find what they need
• Gives a smooth and friction-free user experience.

16. Exceptional functionality

This might be an obvious one but, to give the best user experience, your website has to work.

To make sure your website has exceptional functionality, here are a few things to do:

• Address issues with lag or long loading times
• Check your processes are working smoothly and converting
• Use 301 redirects to avoid broken links and 404 errors
• Install a broken link checker and fix broken links quickly.

17. Anticipate what visitors want next

The best website website experience is considered and intuitive. This means giving your visitors the options to do what they want to do, when they’re ready to do it.

At each point where you’re giving your visitors options, think logically about where they’ll want to go next and what they’ll want to do next.

Be choosy and avoid giving too many options as this might confuse them or distract them from converting.

18. Security and privacy

Visitors will want to be sure your site is safe and takes their security and privacy seriously — especially where you’re asking them to give their sensitive information.

To reassure them, make sure your site includes:

• The latest security settings (https:// and a padlock icon)
• Data encryption, wherever necessary
• Strong authentication for making payments and accessing customer areas
• A privacy policy to explain what data is collected and how it will be used
• A cookie notice with clear options to decline cookies
• An opt-in rather than an opt-out for marketing emails
• Terms and conditions they can read and agree to
• Trust badges, like SSL secure checkout.

Use plain English, be honest about the measures you’re taking, stay true to your word and respect the choices your visitors make.

19. User-friendly forms

Visitors should be able to complete your forms successfully every time. This is important for you, too, because every form that’s abandoned counts as a conversion missed.

The highest converting forms are the clearest and simplest ones, so:

• Keep forms as short and easy-to-complete as possible
• Only collect the information you really need
• Be clear about what you’re asking for and use unambiguous language
• Break long forms into sections and use a progress bar or step count
• Confirm each section is correct as they complete it
• Use plain English error messages at the site of the error
• Confirm to your visitor their form has been submitted.

Test your forms regularly, especially after platform/plugin updates and other changes.

20. Accessibility

The best websites create the best user experience for everyone, including those with disabilities and other limitations. In many cases improving accessibility for those who need it improves the usability for all users.

Accessibility is commonly guided by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The guidelines are built around four core principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust (or POUR, if you’re partial to an acronym).

So what does this mean in practice?

Here are a few tips to make your website more accessible for all users.

Visual accessibility

This is particularly helpful for blind and visually impaired visitors, but can improve the user experience for all users.

For the best user experience, use:

• Legible fonts
• Effective colour contrast
• Appropriate font sizes — especially for body text
• Text labels on icons
• Alt text on meaningful images (skip the decorative ones).

You should also allow visitors to zoom in without crashing your layout.

Keyboard accessibility

Some visitors can’t use a computer mouse, so all your interactive elements should be keyboard operable and users should be able to tab through your content.

Motion and animation

Some visitors are affected by motion and flashing images. If you’re using video or animation on your site, keep it to a minimum, make it optional and include warnings and an opt-out if there’s a chance it could cause a seizure.

Audio and video accessibility

Some visitors could be hearing impaired. Others work in environments, where they’ll need to consume your audio and video content silently.

To give them the best user experience:

• Avoid autoplay content with the volume on
• Caption any spoken videos
• Provide transcriptions of any audio content
• Let visitors choose to have sound and control the volume.

Cognitive accessibility

Some visitors struggle to process information and can suffer from cognitive overload. For these visitors, a good user experience focuses on clarity and helps them avoid overwhelm.

To give them a better experience, be clear and:

• Keep your page layouts simple
• Use plain language, avoiding jargon wherever possible
• Break content into short, easily digestible sections.
• Use relevant headings to introduce each section
• Vary your layout with bullets, pull quotes etc
• Give simple, limited choices
• Guide them step-by-step through tasks and processes.

21. Accessible contact information

A lack of contact information is one of the most off-putting things you can see on a website. Seriously.

If your contact information is missing, or buried and difficult to find, it could make your visitors think twice about engaging with your site and brand.

Why?

Because displaying your full contact information makes you look like a credible and trustworthy business.

Because if something goes wrong, visitors will want to know they can contact you to get it resolved.

Because knowing you’re there for them, if they need you, is key to the best customer experience.

Want to make your website visitors happy?

I’m Jenny Lucas, a freelance copywriter specialising in websites, blog content, and SEO.

I’ve been writing websites since 2010 and have even built a few from scratch. This means I take a more holistic approach to website copywriting. In addition to the words, I think about things like user experience, navigation, page layouts and processes.

So if you’re looking for a website copywriter who can offer you something more, I could be the one!

To find out more about me and my work:

Visit my main website >>

Learn more about my SEO copywriting service >>

Check out my copywriting portfolio >>

Get in touch >>

You might also like…

The post How to give your website visitors the best possible user experience appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

This pick ‘n’ mix guide is packed with inspiration and ideas for your marketing efforts over the spring period, from March to May 2026.

For each month, I’ve prepared an event calendar, which might inspire a post, promotion or tie-in. I’ve included links where possible, so you’ll find all the information you need, including themes and full event details.

Please double-check the 2026 dates and that the events are still going ahead before you invest time and money on marketing.

There are also three seasonal content themes for each month, which you should be able to adapt for your brand and your audience.

Remember, your content should be about helping rather than selling, so make sure it’s customer-focused with a clear What’s In It For Me (WIIFM).

This is an evolving post that I return to and update every year. For advance notification of updates, make sure you’re following me on LinkedIn.

If you need more ideas, you’ll find plenty in my blog post:
111 Blog post ideas to benefit your business.

*Denotes events held on the same dates every year.

Content ideas for March 2026

March 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — World Autism Acceptance Month
1st* — National Bed Month (UK)
1st* — Brain Tumour Awareness Month (UK)
1st* — Endometriosis Awareness Month (UK) TBC
1st*— Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal Month (UK)
1st* — March for Migraine (UK)
1st* — Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (UK)

Weeks, fortnights etc

2nd — National Butchers’ Week (UK)
2nd — British Pie Week, TBC
2nd — National Careers Week (UK)
3rd — No More Week, against domestic abuse, TBC
6th — British Science Week
8th — World Glaucoma Week
9th — National Napping Day
9th — Healthcare Science Week
13th — The Great British Spring Clean
13th — English Tourism Week
16th — Big Walk and Wheel
16th — International Nutrition Hydration Week
16th — Debt Awareness Week (UK), TBC
16th — Neurodiversity Celebration Week (UK)
21st — National Complementary Therapy Week (UK)

Days

1st* — Self Injury Awareness Day
1st* — St David’s Day
1st* — Zero Discrimination Day
3rd — Chinese Lantern Festival
3rd — Holi, Hindu festival of colours
3rd* — World Hearing Day
3rd —International Irish Whiskey Day
3rd* — World Wildlife Day
4th* — World Obesity Day
5th —World Book Day
5th* — St Piran’s Day
5th — Crufts (UK)
7th — Global Day of Unplugging
8th* — International Women’s Day
8th* — National Proofreading Day
11th — National No Smoking Day (UK)
11th — Young Carers’ Action Day (UK), TBC
12th — World Kidney Day
12th — International School Meals Day
12th — University Mental Health Day (UK)
13th — World Sleep Day
15th — Mother’s Day (UK)
17th* — St Patrick’s Day
18th* — Global Recycling Day
20th* — International Day of Happiness
20th* — Spring Equinox, First Day of Spring (UK)
20th* — World Oral Health Day
20th — Red Nose Day, for Comic Relief (UK)
21st* — World Down Syndrome Day
21st* —International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
21st* — International Day of Forests
21st* — World Poetry Day
21st — World Vermouth Day
22nd* — World Water Day
23rd* — World Meteorological Day
25th* — International Waffle Day
26th — Purple Day, for Epilepsy
28th — Earth Hour, switch off for an hour at 8.30pm
29th — British Summertime Begins
30th* — World Bi-Polar Day
31st* — International Transgender Day of Visibility

March 2026 content ideas

1. National Careers Week

National Careers Week runs from March 2-7, 2026.

You can use it as an opportunity to write an inspiring post about your career and how you got where you are today, or about careers and opportunities in your industry. Some of the things you can talk about include:

• What your job is like and what you do in a typical day
• How you help people
• Where you find the most job satisfaction
• What experience and qualifications you need
• What the main challenges are
• How to get started in your career.

2. Season change

In March, the season changes from winter to spring and nature starts coming back to life with new leaves, blossoms and flowers. So it’s a good time to talk about change — particularly inspirational and positive change.

Your content could inspire your audience to make a positive change by helping them:

• Solve a problem
• Make their job better or easier
• Bring about a personal change or development
• Make a change in their business
• Enjoy something new or practise something beneficial
• Improve their mood, posture, health, sleep, diet
• Style themselves, or their homes, gardens, workspaces
• Create the best seasonal dishes.

3. British Summertime begins

You could write a Countdown to Summer post looking at some of the goals your audience might want to achieve before summer arrives. Depending on your brand, they might include goals for their:

• Fitness, body
• Productivity, planning, preparation for time off
• Holidays or short breaks
• Summer wardrobe, summer fashions
• Garden projects, planting, landscaping
• Home projects, decorating conservatories, summer houses
• Summer holiday guide, summer holiday essentials
• Stay-at-home holiday ideas
• Buyer guides for BBQs, garden furniture, lighting, tents, travel essentials.

Depending on your brand and the amount of material you have, this could be one or a series of articles counting down until the summer months.

Content ideas for April 2026

April 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — Active April
1st* — World Autism Acceptance Month
1st* — Bowel Cancer Awareness Month (UK)
1st* — International Cesarean Awareness Month, TBC
1st* — IBS Awareness Month (UK)
1st* — International Parkinson’s Awareness Month
1st* — National Pet Month (UK), TBC
1st* — Stress Awareness Month (UK)

Weeks, fortnights etc

12th — Great British Beef Week, TBC
13th — International Dark Sky Week
20th — Allergy Awareness Week, TBC
20th — MS Awareness Week (UK)
20th — Stop Snoring Week, TBC
24th* — World Immunisation Week
24th — Global Intergenerational Week (UK)
26th — Preservation Week, building resilient communities, TBC

Days

1st* — April Fool’s Day
3rd — Good Friday
4th* — International Carrot Day
5th* — Start of the new tax year
5th — Easter Sunday
6th — Easter Monday
7th* — World Health Day
13th* — Songkran, Thailand
15th — National Bunion Day, TBC
16th — Wear Your Pyjamas to Work Day
20th — Lesbian Visibility Day
21st* — National Tea Day (UK)
22nd* — International Mother Earth Day
23rd* — St George’s Day
23rd* — International English Language Day
23rd* — International World Book Night
25th* — World Malaria Day
25th* — World Penguin Day
26th* — World Intellectual Property Day
26th — Drive It Day, for historic vehicles (UK)
28th* — World Day for Safety and Health at Work
28th* — International Workers’ Memorial Day
29th* — International Dance Day
29th — Stop Food Waste Day (UK)
30th* — International Jazz Day
30th — On Your Feet Britain

April 2026 content ideas

1. Stress Awareness Month

April is Stress Awareness Month. So how can your business relieve your customers’ stress?

Think about:

• A helpful offer or initiative to run throughout the month
• A productivity hack or how-to explanation
• Ideas to make things quicker and easier
• A time-saving download or idea
• Some easy money-saving strategies
• Stress-relieving activities or pursuits.

2. National Pet Month

Do you have an office pet? A dog, cat or something more unusual?

Having a pet in the office can improve the mood and reduce stress.

For National Pet Month, you could write a post on your office pet. Maybe an ‘A Day in the Life’ post with photographs.

This will give your audience a glimpse into your office life. And who doesn’t love pictures of cute and unusual pets?

3. Make time for a cuppa

National Tea Day takes place in April, so it’s a great month to have a cuppa and a chat. You could do an interview and write it up into a blog. Some ideas of who to interview or start a discussion with:

• A client or customer who’s been getting the most out of your product/service
• An expert in your industry to give insights and future predictions
• Others working in your field and talking about common challenges or sharing ideas
• A new employee to talk about what it’s like to work at your company or in your industry
• Someone from a regulatory body that oversees your industry.

4. April showers

Showers are short bursts of rain that keep the ground watered to promote new springtime growth. You could tie this into a post on other effective things that can be done in short bursts, such as:

• Cleaning, tidying and maintenance
• Exercise, fitness, muscle-building
• Preparation and planning
• Breaking down large, time-consuming tasks
• Creating short morning routines to keep on top of ongoing tasks.

Content ideas for May 2026

May 2026 event calendar

Months and longer

1st* — Local and Community History Month (UK)
1st* — National Share a Story Month (UK)
1st* — No Mow May (UK)
1st* — International Skin Cancer Awareness Month
1st* — National Walking Month (UK), TBC
12th — National Smile Month, for oral health (UK), TBC
15th* — Tourettes Awareness Month

Weeks, fortnights etc

1st — Time for a Cuppa Week, for Dementia UK, TBC
4th — Deaf Awareness Week (UK)
4th — Dying Matters Awareness Week (UK)
4th — Water Saving Week (UK)
6th — Red Cross Week (UK), TBC
11th — Sun Awareness Week (UK)
11th —International Coaching Week, TBC
11th — Mental Health Awareness Week (UK)
11th — World Salt Awareness Week
11th — Foster Care Fortnight (UK)
15th — Coeliac Awareness Week (UK)
18th — Learning at Work Week (UK)
18th — Dementia Action Week (UK), TBC
18th — British Sandwich Week (UK), TBC
23rd — National Children’s Gardening Week (UK)
25th — National BBQ Week
27th — Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week (UK), TBC
30th — Welsh Wine Week, 2026 date TBC

Days

3rd — International Dawn Chorus Day, first Sunday of May
4th — World Maternal Mental Health Day
4th* — Star Wars Day
4th* —Firefighters’ Memorial Day (UK)
5th* — Cinco de Mayo, Mexico
5th* — Virtual International Day of the Midwife
5th — World Hand Hygiene Day
7th — World Asthma Day, first Tuesday of May
9th* — Europe Day
16th — National Doughnut Week, for The Children’s Trust
9th — National Mills Weekend(UK)
9th — World Fair Trade Day, second Saturday of May
10th — National Children’s Day (UK)
10th* — World Lupus Day
10th — World Poultry Day
11th* — International Eat What You Want Day
11th* — World Ego Awareness Day
12th* — International Nurses’ Day
12th* — National Limerick Day (UK)
12th* — World Fibromyalgia Day
13th — National Day for Staff Networks
13th — World Cocktail Day
17th — World Hypertension Day
17th* — International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
17th — World Whisky Day
18th*— International Museum Day
18th — London Wine Fair
19th — Wallace and Gromit’s Wrong Trousers Day (UK)
20th — International Human Resources Day
20th — National Numeracy Day
21st — Global Accessibility Awareness Day
21st* — International Tea Day
21st — Pyjamarama (UK), getting children reading, TBC
21st* — World Day for Cultural Diversity
22nd — Wear Purple for JIA, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
22nd* — World Goth Day
23rd* — World Turtle Day
25th* — International Missing Children’s Day
28th — World Hunger Day
28th — World Digestive Health Day, TBC
29th* — Oak Apple Day (UK)
31st* — World No Tobacco Day

May 2026 content ideas

1. Warmer weather

The warmer weather gives us all a good reason to get outside and do some outdoor activities. Depending on your brand and content goals, here are some ideas of things you might write about:

• Gardening: planting seeds, vegetable patch, flower tubs, borders
• Exercise: walking, running, outdoor sports
• Fashions for the warmer weather
• Outdoor photography or video
• Family activities: days out, things to do
• Outdoor projects: building, renovating, installing, furnishing.

2. Share a story

May is National Share a Story Month in the UK, so why not share a story with your audience. Here are some ideas:

• Your brand story
• A client story or case study (with the client’s permission)
• How you overcame your biggest challenge
• A valuable lesson you learned
• How you developed your best-selling product
• A big mistake you made and how you recovered from it
• How your product or service is helping customers
• A made up story or allegory to explain something complex or to illustrate an important point.

3. Spring cleaning

Can you give your customers some ideas to ‘clean up’ what they’re doing? There are lots of themes you could use here, but here are some to get you started:

• Environmental: recycling, non-polluting, energy saving
• Streamlining: automating, improving productivity
• Decluttering: storage solutions, stripping back, being more organised
• Time-saving: making better use of their time
• Improving their methods and techniques for getting things done.

Want to add an event?

My aim is to build a comprehensive calendar of UK and international events. If there’s a great event that’s missing and you’d like me to consider including it, please get in touch with the details and official website.

Other posts in this series

As many dates aren’t confirmed until close to the event, these posts will usually be updated a couple of months before each season starts. I’ll publicise them on LinkedIn when they’ve been updated.

Need quality content for your business blog?

I’m Jenny Lucas, a freelance content writer based in Leicester, UK.

If you like what you’ve read here, but don’t have the time, skills or inclination to do your own content marketing, I can help by writing it for you.

For more information, head to my content writing page, where you can find out more, or get in touch.

Need more content ideas?

Check out these other posts I’ve written.

The post Content ideas for Spring 2026 appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

That’s cool.

But you may have discovered, having a blog and knowing what to write on it are two vastly different things.

And maybe that’s how you’ve ended up here.

But worry not. I’m a pro who’s been writing blog posts for the last 16+ years and I’m going to walk you through everything you need to know about what to write on a blog. Starting with an explanation of how your blog should work, because that’s the first thing you need to understand.

What a blog should do for your business

Your blog content should perform a number of important functions for your business. It’s important to know these as they’ll help you understand what to write.

Let’s look at five of the main ones.

Generate inbound leads

Blogging is a form of inbound marketing, which means it brings your ideal customers to you.

Using SEO keyword research, you work out what your ideal customers are searching for online, then you create content that satisfies their search queries to draw them into your lair — I mean, website.

In practice, that works something like this:

1. Your ideal customer has a question or need and does an online search
2. The online search brings up some results, which include your post
3. Your ideal customer clicks on through to your post to read it
4. While they’re on your site, you engage them further.

Engage your audience

When your ideal customers arrive on your site, that’s your opportunity to engage them.

First, make sure the content they came to see gives them value they’re expecting. If it feels clickbaity or leaves them disappointed, they may not engage further with your brand.

Second, look for appropriate ways to engage them further by adding calls to action (CTAs) in your content.

For example, that might be:

• Links to other blog posts that might be of interest
• A link to sign up for marketing emails
• A valuable lead magnet to download
• A limited time offer or discount
• A free trial of your product.

Build your brand

Creating organic content is one of the best ways to build a brand.

It enables you to:

• Demonstrate your experience and expertise
• Build trust and authority in your sector
• Show your personality and approach
• Provide updates and announcements.

Provide an information repository

Your main web pages should be laser-focused on converting the people who have done their research and are ready to buy. Clogging them up with basic information will just make your prospects lose interest and dilute your sales message.

Your blog is where you should be educating the leads who are still doing their research and still have questions. It’s also a good place to answer some of the practical questions your prospects might have about working with you.

Creating links from your main-page content to your blog content will help to tie everything together.

How your blog should be structured

Your blog should make it easy for visitors to find what they want to read, so it’s best to divide your posts into categories. Content creators call these your content pillars.

Having content pillars in place makes it easier to plan content that’s appropriate for your brand and targeted for your audience. And it helps prevent you from going rogue and writing on subjects that aren’t useful or relevant.

Technically, you can have as many content pillars as your platform will allow. But, as a rule, 8-10 is a good and manageable number. You can plan your categories in advance, but you’ll usually introduce each new category as you add articles to it.

How to attract your ideal customers

To draw your ideal customers to your website, you should be writing the kind of blog content your audience is actively looking for when they search online. This is how they’ll find you.

The Venn diagram below explains this simply.

The content you should be writing is in the sweet spot between what your ideal customers are looking up online and what your brand/business can credibly help with.

But how do you know what your ideal customers are looking for?

Here are some things to think about.

What questions are your ideal customers asking?

Your ideal customers have questions and you have the answers.

What are the questions your leads, prospects or customers often ask you? This could give you some clues about the kinds of questions people are asking when they open a search engine or log into AI.

Providing the answers to these questions

Some people will have their questions answered by the AI summary and won’t feel the need to search beyond that. What you should be aiming for is the people who want more. If you make sure your article gives more value than the AI summary, this will give them somewhere else to go.

What information do your ideal customers need?

Your ideal customers need information and you have that information.

People who need information will be doing searches with informational intent.

For example:

• Pros and cons of electric cars
• How to plan a household budget
• Ways to save time and work faster
• Renting vs buying
• Ideas for a more balanced diet.

Giving them the information they’re searching for is helping them build the knowledge they need to make a decision. If you do this well, they’ll come to see you as a trusted expert, consuming more of your content and knowing who to turn to when they finally make their decision.

What do your ideal customers need explaining?

Your ideal customers want to understand something and you can explain it to them.

This is called explainer content and it helps ideal customers who might feel lost or confused get the clarity they need.

Examples of explainer content might include:

• A glossary to explain unfamiliar terminology
• A simplified version of something complex
• A dissection of how something is made
• A breakdown of how a process works.

Explainer content will help to keep your audience engaged and in the loop. And it will show that you understand them, what they need to know, and how they need it explained to them.

What ideas do your ideal customers need?

Your ideal customers need ideas and inspiration — and that’s where you come in.

People need ideas for all kinds of things.

For example:

• Where to go on holiday
• How to decorate their kitchen
• What to wear for a job interview
• How to plan a child’s birthday party
• What to write on a blog — see what I did there?

If you have related products or services, you can introduce these along with the other ideas you’re putting forward.

What problems are your ideal customers having?

Your ideal customers are having problems and you have the solutions.

People with problems will be doing problem-based searches.

For example:

• How to extend my laptop battery life
• Best way to remove mould from my shower
• Reasons why my website traffic is dropping
• Proven ways to stop procrastinating
• How to improve sleep without medication.

To attract these people, you need to write content that gives them solutions. Not just your solution — because that would be a sales pitch rather than a piece of content — but you can include your solution among the other options. And if your solution is the best one for that person, you might even make a sale.

What kind of brand are your ideal customers looking for?

Your ideal customers are specifically looking for a brand that shares their values or vision — and that brand is yours.

This is where brand-based content can help you.

For example, with content that talks about your:

• Green values and commitment to sustainability
• Career opportunities for disadvantaged people
• Future plans, ideas and innovations
• Ethics and fairness.

Additional content

Some so-called experts put all their eggs in the SEO basket. They’ll tell you anything that doesn’t rank is useless and should be deleted.

As a content strategist, I disagree. Because there’s value in writing content for other audiences. Like the people who are already on your website and your existing customers. This kind of content can be informative for them and save you time, so it’s still working for your business, but in a slightly different way.

Here are some things you might think about writing for your other audiences.

Giving specific information

When your ideal customer is on your website, they may want more information that only applies to you or your brand. This might be information you can’t optimise for, but is still necessary.

For example this kind of content can:

• Answer common questions, specific to you
• Explore your process approach and style
• Talk about your terms and pricing.

Addressing specific concerns

Some of your ideal customers will have specific concerns about working with, or buying from, you. Writing content that addresses these concerns will help them make the right decision, whether that’s a yes or a no. And it will help filter out any bad-fit customers you don’t want to work with.

For example, you might include content that:

• Addresses common concerns they might have
• Provides transparency and manages expectations
• Explains whether you’re a good fit for their needs.

Guiding your customers

Ideal customers who’ve become paying customers can still have questions and need further support.

You might choose not to have this content on your blog. But, if you do, it can give your ideal customers more insight into what it’s like to work with you.

For your existing customers, you might write content that:

• Outlines how to get the best results with you
• Guides them through parts of your process
• Explains the terminology you’re using.

Final thoughts

The people who read your content want two main things from you:

Write content that satisfies them

I’m talking genuinely valuable content that matches their search intent, satisfies their needs and, if possible, exceeds their expectations. Because anything else is just clickbait — and nobody likes clickbait.

Write content that’s objective

Remember, people have come to read a piece of content — not a sales pitch.

Your content needs to be objective and useful, with expert answers, information, and ideas. The goal is to help your ideal customers understand what’s best for them and make an informed decision.

That might be your product or service, or it might be something else. The best content gives them the information and empowers them to make a free choice.

Do you need content ideas for your blog?

Maybe I can help.

I’m Jenny Lucas, a content strategist with more than 16 years’ experience of writing content that ranks and converts website visitors into customers.

I’ve refined my content services to provide just the support you need. From strategy, ideas and SEO to a fully done-for-you package that includes everything you need for successful blogging.

To find out more:

Visit my main website >>

Learn about my content services >>

Read further blog articles >>

See examples of my work >>

You might also like…

The post What to write on a blog appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

You have a website and it’s getting traffic, but it’s not making sales — and you can’t understand why.

What you really need to do is put yourself in your visitors’ shoes and look at the site objectively. But if you’ve been heavily involved with the design and build of your site, this can be difficult.

When prospects come to me with this problem, they’re often too close to their websites to see what’s wrong. And they’re often missing something obvious.

Why your website isn’t making sales

When a website isn’t selling, there could be a number of reasons. Here are some of the ones I’ve found and what I suggested to fix them.

Your SEO is attracting the wrong audience

A prospect contacted me because they were receiving the wrong kind of calls. Their enquiries were coming from people who thought their private sound-proofing business was the noise complaints department at the local council.

Huh? What the hell? How did that happen?

Because no fewer than four SEO agencies had optimised their website for the wrong keywords. These keywords were attracting ordinary members of the public who had issues with factory noise. But they should have been attracting factories that wanted to minimise their noise pollution.

If your website is attracting an audience of people who don’t understand what you do and are never going to buy from you, it won’t be making sales.

How to attract the right audience

To attract your ideal customers, you need to optimise your site for what your ideal customers are searching for. With keywords that are relevant to their searches and match their search intent.

This is where an SEO copywriter, like me, can help you.

Your copy makes too many wrong presumptions

A client had created a business offering something they’d needed themselves, but hadn’t been able to find. And, though their business had wide appeal, they wanted their copy to focus solely on prospects who were just like them. People who wanted what they’d wanted and who’d had the same frustrations trying to find it.

The resulting copy was exclusionary. In solely targeting the business owners whose pain points and experiences mirrored their own, the client was making a lot of highly specific presumptions. But most of these presumptions didn’t apply to the vast majority of their ideal customers.

As a result, the words didn’t resonate, the messages didn’t land and the copy didn’t sell.

Use presumptions with care

Making some presumptions about your audience can be a powerful way to connect with them. But if you get your presumptions wrong, you could end up alienating them instead. You have to remember, not all of your ideal customers will be coming from the same place.

The safest way to approach this is to keep your presumptions more general. When I do customer research, I look for the most common pain points and experiences. If there are more specific situations to tap into, you can still include them, but balance them

Lack of clear calls to action

Your calls to action (CTAs) are what prompt your website visitors to buy. The most common CTA for making sales is a Buy Now or Add to Basket button.

But if your CTAs aren’t obvious, clear and well-placed, visitors can scroll past them or miss them all together.

I’ve seen two websites that weren’t selling because of issues with the CTAs.

The first website had its CTAs hidden in the main website copy as text links. Visitors may have been looking for them, but just didn’t see them.

The second website did have a Buy Now button, but there was only one and it was placed right at the end of quite a long page. Visitors who didn’t scroll to the bottom would never have found it.

Make your CTAs count

As I said above, your CTAs need to be obvious, clear and well-placed.

Obvious —> The most effective CTAs are buttons in bold, contrasting colours, because they stand out and they’re harder to miss.

Clear —> The function of the CTA needs to be clear so visitors know exactly what to expect when they click it. Buy Now and Add to Basket buttons are common and familiar so everyone knows what they mean

Well-placed —> You should place your CTAs where you anticipate your customer will be ready to buy. But bear in mind, some will be ready sooner than others. If you have a long page, you might have a number of CTAs spaced at intervals down the page.

No products available to buy

A prospect had built a website selling craft items. They told me they’d had thousands of visitors to the site, but not a single sale.

My first thought was, there was probably an issue with the buying process. But when I landed on the site, I found the problem was actually much simpler. There was nothing for sale.

Most of the product galleries were empty. On the galleries that did have products, they were all showing as sold out and unavailable.

Step into your customers’ shoes

If your website isn’t making sales and you’re trying to figure out why, start by eliminating anything obvious, like this. Visit the site as if you were a new customer. If you feel you’re too close to your website and you find this too hard, ask a friend or relative who you trust to be honest with you.

Consider the following questions:

• How easy is it to search the site and find what you’re looking for?
• How many steps does it take to buy a product — could there be fewer?
• Could the site be easier to use/navigate and, if so, how?

Important product information is missing

I was looking for a breathable mat we could keep near the back door to put our muddy wellies on — and I thought I’d found the perfect one. But I didn’t buy it.

Why?

We only had a small space for the mat. The mat I’d found didn’t have dimensions in the product description, so I couldn’t be sure it would fit.

Missing product information happens more often than you might think and it can stop people buying from you.

Give all the information your buyers need

Your website needs to give your visitors all the information they need to make a purchasing decision. If you’re not sure what information that is:

• Think about the questions your prospects have asked
• Look at the information provided by the manufacturer
• Read the questions people are asking about similar products on Amazon
• Imagine you were going to buy it yourself — what would you need to know?

Issues with the product photography

A prospect had a business making handmade jewellery. But the DIY website they’d built hadn’t sold anything.

The website had been created on a budget and featured their own product photography. Most photos were stretched beyond their natural dimensions and had become pixelated, so you couldn’t see the products properly. And this, without doubt, was one of the reasons they weren’t selling.

Use quality product photography

If you’re selling products online, it’s worth investing in a product photographer.

It’s best to use:

• Hi-res photos, compressed to load quickly
• Photographs of the product in situation to show its size
• Lighting that shows the colours and fine details of the product
• Backgrounds that complement the products and make them pop.

Your website doesn’t seem trustworthy

A business’s DIY website wasn’t selling. There’s a pattern here, isn’t there?

I visited the site with the mindset of a consumer and found a number of red flags that would make me think twice about buying from it. The prospect was surprised, because they hadn’t seen those things as issues.

Show you’re a legitimate business

If you want your prospects to trust you, they need to believe you’re a genuine and serious business.

To convince them, you could:

• Display your business address and landline number, if you have one
• Provide a number of ways to contact you — prospects get nervous if there’s just a contact form
• Get a Google Business Profile — it shows your business has been verified by Google
• Make sure your website is GDPR-compliant
• Include photos of your business premises and staff
• Have links to your social media channels
• Display your accreditations with logos and links.

Issues with the product reviews

Shopping online can be a risk. I’m sure most of us have bought at least one item and been disappointed because what we received didn’t live up to what was presented on the website.

Experiences like this make us more cautious and discerning. Research shows, 95% of consumers read online reviews before they make a decision.

We go to the reviews because we want to be sure about a purchase. We want to know the people who’ve already bought it received what they were expecting and were satisfied with it.

If a product or business has no reviews, prospects will have nothing to go on. If the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but seem sketchy and non-specific, prospects might perceive them as fake. If a product has bad reviews and the company hasn’t responded to counter them, those reviews will stand.

Reviews that are non-existent or give cause for concern could be stopping your website making sales.

Make your reviews work in your favour

Good, honest reviews will help you sell.

Here are some tips to make them count:

• Always respond to bad reviews — here’s how
• Encourage customers to leave a product review
• Make it easy for customers to review your products with a direct link and writing prompts
• If there are recurrent issues with a product, take them up with the manufacturer
• Never — and I mean never — pay for reviews.

Your website gives a poor user experience

A prospect asked me to look over their website and give them an honest opinion.

The structure of the site didn’t make sense. It was difficult to navigate and find information. An irritating pop-up appeared every time you scrolled down the page.

It felt like whole pages were missing — and they were. When I relayed this to the prospect, they pointed me to several other pages. The links to them were all on the site, but it wasn’t obvious they were links.

The pages were all long and crammed with information. Huge walls of text that no one was going to read. And no calls to action, so visitors didn’t know what to do next.

No wonder it wasn’t selling.

Give your visitors the best experience

To give the best user experience:

• Keep your design clean and uncluttered
• Use familiar cues they don’t have to decipher
• Avoid annoying pop-ups and other irritations
• Space out your copy and use relevant headings
• Make users feel confident in their actions.

Broken sales process

A prospect came to me because their website wasn’t selling.

It was a curious case. The site looked amazing, the products were stunning, and it was getting good traffic, but it wasn’t converting.

After a bit of digging, I found the issue. People were shopping, but when they got to the checkout and tried to create an account, they got one error message after another. Nothing they entered was valid. And after a couple of attempts, they abandoned their carts and left without buying anything.

For the prospect, this was incredibly frustrating. They couldn’t fathom how much money they must have lost. And there was no way to contact the visitors because they hadn’t been able to enter their email addresses.

Check your sales process

Check out your checkout routinely. Your online space is change all the time. A Google update here, a website plugin update there. Changes like this can sometimes upset your site and its processes. Your website might stop processing visitors’ account information or stop sending your contact form.

Issues at the checkout

Broken sales processes aren’t the only reason why baskets and carts are abandoned.

Sometimes the checkout process has a nasty surprise that makes visitors think twice about parting with their money.

Maybe they find their product is incomplete and won’t work without appendages they need to buy separately. Or perhaps the delivery charge seems extortionate.

Avoid issues like these and make the sale

To avoid losing visitors at the checkout, be more upfront and:

• Tell them what appendages they need in advance
• Avoid adding fees at the last minute and with no warning
• Explain the delivery times and requirements in advance
• Make sure the checkout process is secure and feels secure
• Ensure your visitors know in advance how they can pay you.

Is your website not selling?

Need some help to figure out why and fix it?

I’m Jenny Lucas, an SEO copywriter and website specialist with more than 16 years’ experience.

If you’d like my help, it’s easy to get in touch >>

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The post Why your website isn’t selling and how to fix it appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.

You’re a service provider, working with clients. Your website is generating enquiries and you’re getting work. But something feels off and you’ve been going from one bad client relationship to another.

So what’s the problem?

It could be that you’re trying to appeal to everyone. And you’ve been focused on maximising your enquiries rather than attracting the best prospects for what you have to offer.

Truth is, you don’t need more enquiries — you need better ones.

There is a way to filter out these bad-fit clients before they even pick up the phone or start filling in your contact form. And it’s called repelling content.

Repelling content is like creating an exclusion zone around you. Like the picture above, but without the caution signs and razor wire.

What you really want are ideal clients

With an ideal client, everything clicks.

You’re aligned on everything, from your pricing to your process, and your values to your vision. And there’s mutual trust and respect.

I like to think of it like this:

A perfectly balanced scale with both parties getting exactly what they need from the working relationship.

Even if there’s some give and take in certain areas, the overall balance and relationship can still be good.

Most of the content I write for my clients is designed to attract ideal clients.

But not all clients are ideal

On the flip-side of your ideal client is the wrong client.

In this case, the scale doesn’t balance and either you or your client ends up losing out.

Maybe the client isn’t right for you. Perhaps they’re making unfeasible or unreasonable demands. Or they’re not respecting your expertise and insisting you work on their terms.

Maybe you’re not right for your client. Perhaps their project isn’t a good fit for your skills. Or what you’re offering isn’t suitable for their needs.

In either case, selling your services to a bad-fit prospect is a bad idea. You’ll find it comes with unwelcome challenges and stress. Your client won’t get what they want or need. Neither of you will be happy with the outcome and they might even give you a bad review.

Website content should work like a magnet

The content on your website should attract the good-fit prospects, who match with you and your services, and repel the bad-fit ones who don’t.

But it’s not as simple as good and bad

Some prospects aren’t so much a bad fit as they are uninformed. Educational and explainer content could change this.

For example, a prospect might automatically think your service is overpriced if it’s more than they want to pay. But the right content could educate them on the value you offer, so they can see how that justifies the price.

A prospect who doesn’t understand how your service works might try to bulldoze you into doing things their way. But a blog post that details your process and why it works so well could convince them your way is better.

What is repelling content?

Repelling content is created to pre-qualify your leads. Its purpose is to deter bad-fit prospects from contacting you or taking up your offers.

This might sound negative, but it’s more about clarity, transparency and alignment than outright telling your bad-fit prospects to go away. With messaging that defines your ideal balance and sets clear expectations and boundaries.

Obviously, repelling content isn’t foolproof, because you’re relying on your prospects finding it and reading it. But once you have the content, there are other ways you can use it. And I’ll get to those later.

How does repelling content work?

Repelling content works by showing bad-fit prospects how you won’t be a good match and explaining why not. The why not is important, because if they’re uninformed, it could help change their minds.

Even if what you’re offering isn’t for them, most prospects will appreciate your openness. It will save them the time and effort they might have spent contacting you. And it could even point them in a better direction for their needs.

It also shows you’re selective about who you choose to work with, which will make you more desirable to the good-fit prospects and less so to the bad-fit ones.

Practically, the content can do this in a number of ways.

For example by:

• Profiling the prospects who won’t benefit from working with you and why
• Being transparent and answering FAQs about your pricing
• Managing expectations by being upfront about what’s realistic
• Explaining why they might not be ready for what you’re offering
• Showing why your service won’t work for prospects like them.

How content writers write repelling content

So how do we create content that will turn those bad-fit prospects away?

We start by getting really clear on who you don’t want to work with. For this, you’ll need to revisit your past client traumas and recount everything that went wrong. Think of it like therapy. Or an exorcism.

Try to reconnect with the feelings you had at the time and be honest with yourself about your role in what went wrong. Could you have done things differently and might that have changed the outcome?

For example, did your client make you feel like a hired help rather than a trusted partner? If so, why do you think that was?

Some questions to think about

When you think about the wrong clients you’ve had, most of the issues will relate back to the weights on the ideal client balance I talked about at the beginning. So here are some questions you might think about to help redress that balance in the future.

Your pricing vs. client’s budget

Ask yourself these questions if you’ve had money misunderstandings or issues with price shoppers:

• What kinds of clients have pushed back on your pricing or asked for discounts?
• Did those projects end up feeling undervalued or draining? Why?
• What should prospects understand about your pricing before they contact you?
• How can you communicate your pricing and value more clearly and transparently?

Your offering vs. client’s expectations

Think about these questions if you’ve had issues with scope creep, or clients who’ve made incorrect assumptions about what you can do for them:

• Where have clients expected things outside your offer?
• What deliverables or results did they assume were included, but weren’t?
• What do you wish they’d understood before they worked with you?
• How can you manage your prospects’ expectations more effectively?

Your availability vs. client’s deadlines

Consider these questions if you’ve had clients wanting work completed in an impossibly short amount of time:

• Which projects have been stressful because of unrealistic deadlines or urgency?
• Why did the client assume their project could be completed in the given timeframe?
• Where might you have to cut corners to deliver a rushed project on time?
• How can you communicate the importance of allowing enough time?

Your skillset vs. client’s project

Ask yourself these questions if you took on a project outside your skillset and ended up out of your depth:

• Did you take on the project for your own reasons rather than your client’s?
• Did the client persuade you to take the project against your better judgement?
• What, in particular, made the project difficult or unfeasible for you?
• Is it possible your client felt they had to take back control of the project?
• Is there a more effective way to filter enquiries like this and avoid temptation?

Your process vs. client’s participation

Consider these questions if you’ve had clients who were difficult to work with and didn’t respect your process:

• What kind of clients made the process feel easy and collaborative?
• Which ones resisted, micromanaged, or ghosted on feedback?
• What behaviours signal that a client won’t follow your process?
• What boundaries or expectations could you make explicit in your marketing?

Your values vs. client’s approach

Ponder on these questions if you’ve had clients who weren’t aligned with your values and this caused problems in your working relationship:

• What attitudes or behaviours have clashed with your values?
• What do your best clients believe in or care about that makes working with them easy?
• What kind of approach or attitude do you never want to deal with again?
• How can you communicate your values clearly, so like-minded people contact you and misaligned ones don’t?

Bonus: your client’s readiness and fit

Think about your answers to these questions if you’ve worked with clients who weren’t ready* or gave you red flags from the start:

• What qualifies a prospect as ready to work with you? What do they need to have in place and why?
• Did you ignore any red flags or gut feelings in the beginning? What were they?

*For example, if they weren’t clear on what they wanted, didn’t have the budget, or couldn’t make the necessary commitment.

Using your answers

When you’ve completed this exercise, we can discuss your answers and think about our next steps.

Your main website messaging

We could start with the content on your main web pages and see how we can adapt your existing messaging to be more polarising. Prospects are more likely to read this than your blog posts, so it’s important to make sure it’s aligning and repelling effectively.

Blog content

Some repelling content works better as blog articles.

Using your answers, I’ll be able to generate some ideas for repelling content that will work to deter the clients you don’t want to work with.

We can discuss these ideas and decide which ones we want to use. I’ll then write the content so you can approve it.

How to use the content

Once you have the content, the first thing to do is publish it on your blog. This will give the article its own URL, so you can share it and link to it as you wish.

Where to share the content

As I said at the start, just having the repelling content on your blog isn’t foolproof. Because you can’t rely on your prospects looking for it, finding it, and reading it. Here are some other ways to share it.

Email list and socials

Some repelling content can be shared with your email marketing list and social media followers. For example, if you have an article that outlines the ideal conditions for working with you, that could be something these audiences will find useful.

Enquiries

If prospects contact you with enquiries, they’ll often have questions for you. The content will give them more full answers, with reasoning, so they can make an informed decision on whether you’re right for them.

On your website

You can place links to relevant content on your main website pages. For example, I have links to articles on my process and pricing just above my contact form. So prospects can go and check them out before they contact me.

Want to stop attracting the wrong clients?

I’m Jenny, I’m a freelance copywriter — and I’m a huge believer in the power of repelling content.

It’s cut my bad-fit enquiries to almost none, while attracting more of the clients I work with best.

And, with my help, it could do the same for you.

Want to create some repelling content together?

It’s easy to get in touch!

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I’ve sneaked in some of my own repelling content here. Can you spot it?

The post How to stop attracting the wrong clients with repelling content appeared first on Jenny Lucas Copywriting.