In this post, you’ll get some great sources to generate topics for content for your blog – both online and off. Ideas are everywhere and your job as a blogger is to find the content that your readers want and need and then give it to them in a way that will keep them coming back for more.
Still, some bloggers find it difficult to come up with topics to write about. Others have so many ideas that they don’t know where to begin. If you ever feel stuck, here are a few places that you can check out to get your thought process started.
Customer Generated Content
- Customer questions: This goes back to your audience – what problems do they have, what questions are you asked over and over again? Do you have an FAQ page? Can you take one of those questions and turn that into a detailed blog?
- Make your clients the heroes of your blog: Write success stories about them.
- Similar to the point above but more formal, write a case study about helping a client move to a better position, or place or taking their business to the next level.
Content Ideas Generated on Social Media
There are so many interesting conversations happening in social media. Think about those people who you follow or those who follow you. What are they talking about? Would your blog audience be interested in this topic? If so, write about it.
Google Services
Google has so many cool services that can help you to generate content ideas. Here are just a few:
- Google News – for what’s happening in your industry. Search some of your keywords and see what comes up in Google News (Also check out Google Alerts to find current opinion, information and trends in your industry). And in Google News, you can follow a topic so that you can keep your readers informed.
- Google Autocomplete – start typing a search term in Google and see what else comes up as you type. There may be some interesting content ideas there.
- Google Alerts – an oldie but a goodie. You can set a term in Google Alerts and you will be alerted to content that contains the keywords you set.
- YouTube (yes, they’re owned by Google) – search for videos with relevant information on your subject area. Embed them in your post and provide readers with additional valuable information to enrich the video.
Other Online Sources for Content Ideas
- Your LinkedIn Groups – review the many interesting discussions here that may be of interest to your target audience – make sure you add your voice or perspective in your post.
- Your industry’s authorities’ blogs – Write a response or rebuttal to something that you have read.
- Your competition – Look at three competitors’ angle and what their take is on the current environment you’re operating in. Flip their take on the head and create a response. For example, there’s a successful entrepreneur who takes the idea of “dreaming”; turns it on its head and talks about doing instead of dreaming.
- Blogging Keyword Tool – Check out Answer The Public for great idea generators. You’ll get a list of questions when you insert your terms.
Offline forums
- Your Ah-ha moments – Write down some of your light-bulb moments based on your experience.
- Professional Associations – what topics do you explore in this environment? When attending a conference or a meeting, think about how you can use topics or content to speak to your audience.
- Trade Magazines – Trade magazines often provide current events and topics that are industry specific. Ask yourself: Would my target customers be interested in this information? If so, how could this information make their life better? Blog about the topic, making sure to explain the benefits of the information.
Be Professional – Never Copy!
We always want you to come up with new, creative content. And we know that there are many other places to find it. Regardless of how you create content, this is the Golden Rule of Content Marketing: Thou Shalt Not Copy Others Content.
Remember:
For More on Blog Content, Check out:
- What content marketing is and why you should dive in
- How to create a content marketing process that works for you