4 Ways to Find Your Next Blog Topic
What should I write about?!
It’s a question I get a lot and it’s something we are all Google-ing (trust me, I checked) – what should my next blog be about? Where can I find topics to write about?
Listen, I used to do the same thing. It’s hella frustrating when you’re trying your very best to create content that is going to be valuable, helpful and engaging to your audience and you end up staring at the cursor on your screen as it taunts you and your empty brain.
Fear not, my friend, I got you.
These are my 4 favorite ways to research and nail down many weeks worth of great blog content in a hour or so.
(And btw, you for sure need a blog)
1. Answer some questions
Whether you have a service based business or you produce a product, clients and customers come to you looking for information, solutions to problems and answers to questions.
So start answering them!
Take some time to think about any question you’ve been asked, any issue that has come up for your clients, any problems you’ve solved and make a list. Do you see any repeats? Any themes around issues or problems they’ve had? Which solutions are the best fix? What next steps are you always recommending?
Let that guide you in creating topics to really dig into and write super valuable blog posts about.
If you’re really struggling to find good questions to answer, try a keyword generator or data gathering site to drive your content research. My favorite is answerthepublic.com, give it a try.
2. Look at industry trends
For many of us, our industry is an ever changing landscape of new information, new trends and new ways of doing things – use allllll of that.
A little bit of online searching will produce lots of information about changes happening in your industry and how that may affect not only your business but your client’s experience. Learn all you can and continue to be your client’s #1 source of industry info.
Follow trade publications, websites and newsletters and let what’s happening in your wider industry guide your content creation.
3. Pull apart your other content
You might be surprised that a lot of what you’ve already written or produced is brimming with additional content!
Go back through some of your longer, more in depth blog posts and pull our smaller topics that you can expand on. Or take what was just a simple Instagram post and go into further detail in a blog article.
Maybe you wrote 1500 words about the different types of bird feeders your clients can buy. Take each type of feeder and turn that into it’s own blog post – go into deeper detail, provide more information, links and resources.
When pulling from a bigger post (a pillar post), make sure you link back to that original article in the new one and keep your readers engaged in all of your great content!
4. Take a peek at your peers
Now listen, DO NOT go ripping anybody off – seriously, don’t do it, it’s smarmy and gross.
But, pay a bit of attention to what other people in your industry or niche are doing. Then, put your own unique perspective on topics being covered.
How would you approach a certain issue? How do you go about solving a particular problem? What is your take on a common problem your ideal customer faces?
This is an awesome opportunity, also, to truly define what is different about the way you approach your work. When you can confidently speak on that, use it as the basis for addressing some of the topics your peers are talking about.
As a writer and content creator, I know the struggle that comes with finding your next great blog topic, your next great social media post, but we don’t have to struggle through the creation process!
Inspiration can come from everywhere, but knowing some good places to look helps too!
Also, I’m a huge fan of Trello to keep track of all my best blog post topics. Give yourself an hour and see how many solid blog topics you can come up with!
Write on!
