How to Generate Blog Topic Ideas
Some days writing is the biggest struggle. Other days you don’t even get that far because you have no idea what to write about. Having regular content ideas is problematic for many writers, but knowing how to generate blog topic ideas helps.
Generating Blog Topic Ideas
A person has about 6,000 thoughts in a day. That’s a lot of stuff swimming around up there in our brains. No wonder, then, that we don’t always feel creative. Some days generating blog topic ideas is challenging. That’s why you should know where and how to find ideas to build up your content calendar so you aren’t regularly dragging the bottom of your mind looking for something to write.
Understand Your Audience
It’s nearly impossible to come up with ideas if you don’t know who you’re writing to. Once you truly understand your audience — not data on paper, but who they really are — you’ll begin to recognize what they want and need from you. Then you focus on serving their information needs with your content.
What does your audience want to know? What are they likely to Google? What information are they lacking that they don’t even realize they need? Understanding your audience and answering these questions with them in mind will help generate blog post ideas.
Focus on Keywords
We know that most visitors come to your blog through search engines. In fact, more than 90% of online experiences start with search. So, you need to have a strong list of keywords to lead your ideal reader to your site.
Once you have that list, it’s about research and writing with keywords to get noticed. What’s already out there when you search those keywords? What’s missing? What can you give a creative twist that your readers will enjoy? How can you spin the keywords into unique phrases that make for appealing posts? Here come another bunch of ideas!
Brainstorm
Every blog post you write should lead you to a new idea. Look at what’s on your site, then brainstorm how you could grow each topic or what links may be helpful. I can look at the points in this post so far and come up with these ideas:
- How to research your audience
- Using data to write for real people
- Performing strong keyword research
- Using keywords to create blog post ideas
- Best sites for researching keywords
- Brainstorming blog topics
I created this list of blog topic ideas in a couple of minutes. My next step would be to see if any of them match up with the site’s keywords or if I could tweak them to fit the audience’s needs. And, of course, research what’s already written on these subjects to see how I could improve upon it.
Use Google
Google is your friend. Not only is it the place where you have all the world’s information at your fingertips, but it also can help spark a bazillion creative ideas. This little “People Also Ask” box is where you’ll find the jewels. I searched the title of this blog post, and here are the results:
Now I have other blog topic ideas. I could write about the “most popular blog topics,” or I could choose an industry and provide “the best topics for your xyz blog.”
You get one of these boxes for every search you do. They’re a treasure trove for blog ideas.
Read a Ton
Author Stephen King said:
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”
While his advice is about becoming a better writer, it also applies to generating content ideas. There is no other way to have a lot of ideas than to consume a ton of information. Read books, blogs, newspapers, websites… anything you can get your hands on. Listen to podcasts. Watch the news and even popular shows. You never know when a piece of content will spark a creative idea. Equally as important, you must know and understand what’s happening in the world (and your industry) to be an informed writer.
Watch the Competition
While we’re talking about reading, don’t forget to watch your top competitors or even the businesses that you aspire for yours to be like. What are they writing about? How could you alter those topics to best fit your niche and audience? Is there a way to take the idea to the next level? Also, don’t forget to look for gaps in content. What’s missing that your audience (and theirs) needs?
Keep a List
Never assume you’ll remember an idea. It doesn’t matter how amazing the idea is. It doesn’t matter if it’s the best blog topic you’ve ever thought up, and you have already started outlining it in your head. You won’t know what you were thinking about as soon as you sit down at your computer. Write down every idea in as much detail as you can as soon as possible. None of those one-word sticky notes! Those won’t help. If you have a master list of developed ideas, you’ll never run out of things to write about. Time will be your only limitation. Hey! That’s another blog post idea!
Be Observant
Pay attention to the world around you. View it through the eyes of your ideal reader. Show your natural curiosity. Regular life generates a lot of blog ideas. You just have to be aware enough to see them.
Listen and Learn
Your current readers are your greatest resource. Not sure what to write about? Go to where they gather. Listen to (or watch on social media) what they’re talking about. What are their pain points? What information would help them function better or make critical decisions? Engage with them. Ask them what they need from you. What do they wish they knew more about? How can you help make their lives a little bit better or easier? Write to fill those needs and solve those problems. Or tell their stories with their permission.
Update
If all else fails, update something on your site. Some days none of the ideas from your list spark your interest, but you still need to write. Take a look at what’s already posted on your site. What could use a refresh? Chances are you have some posts that could use some new life.
Tools to Generate Blog Topic Ideas
Still can’t come up with blog topic ideas, even with this advice? Maybe a content generator can help. Lots of great tools exist to help you get from being stuck to ideating.
5 tools for generating blog topic ideas are:
- HubSpots Blog Ideas Generator. Enter up to five nouns related to your industry or niche, and this tool will give you a week’s worth of ideas. Give it more information, and you can get 250 ideas.
- Buzzsumo. Type in your topic and find the most shared social media content on the subject. This tool helps you identify the most popular content in your area of expertise.
- Google Trends. Find out what terms are trending right now or how popular a topic is over time. Considering these trends can help you generate ideas.
- SEMrush Topic Research. Type in a keyword, and it shows you related keywords, questions, and subtopics.
- Portent Idea Generator. Type in the subject you write about, and it will give you headlines for blog posts on the topic.
Let Us Help!
At Content Journey, we never run out of ideas. We base our clients’ content on keyword research and SEO best practices. We don’t just write. Our SEO content writing services get your brand noticed and help you grow your business. Want to learn more about how we can help you? Book a call.
