Editor's Note: This popular post has been updated with new content and resources to help you generate blog ideas!
Knowing how to generate blog ideas is essential for your business. Not knowing how to do this can send you over the edge. Content marketing has overwhelmed the digital world, so it’s harder to produce something unique. No matter what industry you’re in, you’ll find content in every corner of the Internet, so figuring out strategies to generate blog content that stands out from the crowd can be frustrating. As unlikely as it may seem, you can develop a list of blog posts that'll get you noticed. It just takes some research and a little know-how to get started.
Try a New Spin on an Old Favorite
If you run across a great blog post, don’t automatically assume that others in your industry have already read it. While it’s tempting to scold yourself for not thinking of the topic and moving on, this could keep you from writing a post that gets just as much attention (if not more). The digital world is a huge place, and yes, maybe your target audience has read the post. But there is also a strong possibility that they haven’t – and you can bring it to them, complete with a brand-new take.
There’s nothing wrong with taking a topic and expanding on it. If you can put a new spin on an old favorite or add more perspective to a popular topic of discussion in your industry, it’s worth giving it a go. As long as you are building on, rather than copying, another blog post, you can end up with a winning piece of content. Consumers are drawn to companies that contribute meaningfully to a conversation rather than shy away.
Analyze Your Audience's Interests
Customer Surveys and Polls
One of the most effective ways to generate blog topics is by asking your audience directly through surveys or
polls. Tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms allow you to create questions about what content your audience finds valuable. You can ask about their pain points, challenges, or what they wish to learn more about. This direct feedback ensures you're addressing the specific needs of your readers, which can help you craft highly relevant blog topics that will engage them.
Let Your FAQs Help You Create Blog Topics
Does your company find itself answering the same questions over and over again? Answering the burning questions that your target consumers want to be answered is a great way to get them engaged. Looking at your frequently asked questions is a surprisingly easy way to create blog topics. By addressing the needs that the audience has already shared with your company, you are significantly upping the chances that your post will be consumed.
Another benefit to this tactic is that questions tend to change over time. In other words, a company’s FAQs tend to evolve with trends. If there’s a particular advance in technology or a new way of doing things that people in the industry are watching, they will likely ask you about it. Take advantage of this by creating blogs around these evolutions and iterations in your industry.
Leverage Online Tools for Topic Generation
Use Analytics
Website analytics, such as Google Analytics, provide valuable data about your audience’s behavior. By reviewing which blog posts have the highest page views, engagement rates, and longest average time spent, you can uncover patterns in what resonates with your audience. If a particular topic or type of content is performing well, you can create similar posts or expand on the subject matter to attract more readers and keep them coming back.
Use Google Trends
Google Trends is an invaluable tool for discovering what's currently popular in your industry. It shows how frequently specific search terms have been used over a set period, allowing you to identify emerging trends or seasonal spikes in interest. By entering relevant keywords related to your niche, you can quickly gauge the interest in a topic and create blog posts that are timely and aligned with current search behaviors.
Use Keyword Research Tools to Identify Content Gaps
Explore AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic is an excellent resource for finding real, unanswered questions people have about a specific topic. Entering a keyword generates a visual map of questions, prepositions, and comparisons based on common search queries. This tool is particularly helpful for uncovering long-tail keywords and crafting blog posts that answer specific questions your audience is actively searching for, ensuring your content is relevant and targeted.
Check Ubersuggest and Semrush
Ubersuggest and Semrush are powerful SEO tools that provide insights into search volume, competition, and keyword trends. These platforms can help you identify the most popular search queries in your niche and discover high-performing keywords. By analyzing your competitors’ content and top-ranking keywords, you can uncover content gaps or areas where you can create more targeted blog posts, ensuring you’re staying ahead of the competition.
Stay Ahead with Industry News and Trends
Monitor News and Emerging Topics
Keeping up with the latest news and emerging topics in your industry or related fields is an essential strategy
Use Social Media Trends
Social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook constantly evolve, with trending topics often shifting quickly. By monitoring trending hashtags, posts, or conversations on these platforms, you can discover real-time interests and pain points your audience is discussing. This allows you to create blog posts directly aligned with the conversations taking place, making your content more timely and relatable.
Utilize Social Media and Community Discussions
Monitor Reddit and Quora
Reddit and Quora are great for inspiration for your next blog post. By regularly checking subreddits related to your industry or searching for topics on Quora, you can uncover common questions, concerns, or discussions that people are having. These platforms are great for finding blog post titles that directly answer the real-world questions your audience is asking, ensuring your content is highly relevant and targeted.
Follow Trending Hashtags on Twitter and LinkedIn
Twitter and LinkedIn both use hashtags to help categorize trending topics. By following trending hashtags on these platforms, you can see what issues or conversations are gaining traction. This can inspire blog posts on current debates, news, or hot topics within your industry, allowing you to ride the wave of popular discussions and increase the chances of your content being shared.
Repurpose and Expand Existing Content
Perform a Content Audit
A content audit involves reviewing your existing blog posts to identify what’s performing well and what could be improved. During this process, you can find gaps in your content, such as subtopics that haven’t been fully explored or areas where your content is outdated. Additionally, you can refresh older posts to provide more value to your readers, ensuring your blog remains comprehensive.
Repurpose Top-Performing Posts
Repurposing content is an effective way to generate new content without starting from scratch. Review your most successful blog posts and think about ways to expand or update them. You might add new data, reframe the content to address a different angle, or even turn it into a video, infographic, or podcast episode. Repurposing allows you to leverage content already resonating with your audience, giving it a new life while saving you time.
Try Out Content Idea Tools and Generators
Are you still finding yourself stuck? Coming up with blog topics is an amazingly common problem. Just do a quick web search of “blog post ideas” and see what you find. You are bound to run across several idea generators designed to help you find titles your readers will be attracted to. Give one of these programs a whirl, and you might come up with some catchy titles.
Automated programs like Hubspot’s Blog Idea Generator or Portent's Content Idea Generator can help spark your creativity. However, remember that they should not be the only tools you rely on to create blog topics. Titles can range from the profound to the absurd and may be too casual or formal for your industry. You might also end up with some ideas simply by doing a traditional web search for blog post ideas and including the name or some details about your industry. Again, this may help you out of a tight spot if you are stuck, but what are the chances that these blog topic ideas have been written about so many times that the topic is irrelevant?
Stop Stressing and Focus on What Works
If you’re still running out of fresh ideas, take a deep breath and ask yourself this question: What would make me want to read a blog post? Each and every post does not need to be mind-blowing to fulfill a need. If a question is answered, a reader is entertained, or a new topic of conversation is started, a blog has likely done its job.
Ultimately, you want your blog to be a go-to spot for your target reader and a tool that establishes your company as a thought leader and a problem-solver. To create blog topics, envision your ideal audience and put yourself in their shoes. Skip any topics that would cause you to scroll on and focus on the gems that would make you want to click and read. Brainstorm, ask colleagues for ideas, and weed out the duds. Don’t be afraid to write down your thoughts if an idea comes to you while you’re in a meeting or working on another project. If blogging is a science, it’s not an exact one, so be prepared to experiment on your journey to developing solid blog topics.
We Can Help You Brainstorm Ideas
Creating compelling blog content that ranks and engages your audience takes strategy, expertise, and the right tools. At WSI, we specialize in content marketing services that help businesses generate blog ideas, optimize for search engines, and craft high-quality content that delivers value to your readers. Whether you need help with keyword research, topic generation, or a full-scale content strategy, our team has the experience to help you succeed.
Ready to create content that drives results? Contact WSI today or call us to learn more about how to generate blog ideas!
