Are you struggling to come up with blog topics for your next post? You’re not alone – many companies find it a constant challenge to generate new content ideas on a consistent basis.
You want to make sure you’re actively engaging your audience with useful content that attracts traffic to your website and generates leads, but how can you get there when your biggest problem is creating it?
7 Killer Ways To Generate Blog Topics and Keep Your Audience Engaged:
1. Answer Customer Questions: Perhaps the easiest way to generate useful content that attracts readership is by answering your customer’s questions. If they have these questions, it’s likely that others do too. You can also take to social media to find out what your followers are looking for. Answering common questions not only positions you as an expert in the field, but also provides a great starting point with which to create a wide range of content.
2. Research Blog Trends: If you’re just plain stuck, take to the major search engines like Google to find out what others are blogging about. Here you’ll be able to find what topics are getting the most attention, as search engines will rank blog posts with the most comments and views near the top. These posts signal to Google that they’re important and relevant to searchers. Once you’ve discovered the topic you want to write about, be sure to either expand upon other postings or provide your own spin on the topic to differentiate your company from the competition.
3. Set Up Google Alerts: If you’re trying to stay current with all the latest happenings in your industry, start receiving Google Alerts. Make sure you’re receiving content each day, specifically relating to particular keywords. Adjust your settings to ensure you’ll receive alerts as they’re published, regularly updating you about new articles. You may even discover new blogs, which will help you generate additional content ideas.
4. Look At Blog Comments: This should come as no surprise, but looking through your blog comments can actually help you generate ideas for new content. You’ll likely see a handful of questions you can answer and expand upon. You could also view comments on high-traffic blogs to generate content ideas.
5. Ask Your Readers: It never hurts to ask readers what they’re looking for or how you can provide useful content to them. This can be accomplished several different ways, including the use of a survey, poll or by asking questions on different social media platforms.
6. Pay Attention To Current Events: Another reliable way your company can generate content is by staying up-to-date on current events. Write a post about something that everyone is talking about, and relate the topic back to your industry.
7. Provide Industry Reviews: A great way to generate content is to provide a recap or preview of a product, service or tool that’s important to your industry. This allows your company to provide its own perspective on what it means to that particular industry. You could also focus on sharing how your company plans to use this tool and the results you’re receiving because of its use. For example, we recently wrote about Twitters Vine and how the tool can be used for social media marketing success.
Now that you’ve discovered 7 killer ways to generate blog topics, your business can start generating new content ideas on a consistent basis. And while there are additional ways to generate blog topics like following up on an old post, identifying mistakes you’ve made or attending networking events for ideas, you’ll be more prepared next time you’re struggling to come up with topics for your next post.
To learn even more, download our FREE tip sheet: “13 Ways To Keep Your Blog Stocked With Great Content” now!