A question we get often from clients is “what advice do you have on creating blog topics ideas?” We are often asked how do we get ideas for blog posts? How do you create original blog content rather than copying from others blog or websites?
At the end of the day we always respond with write stuff that people want to read and share and that you are passionate about. Keeping your blog updated each week is hard enough with other business tasks so making this a check list to do item will become boring very soon. If you are passionate about the topic it will actually be fun.
We have seen many clients start up their blog and then after a few weeks stop. That is almost worse than not having a blog at all. How often do you land on a blog and the last post was from 3 or more months ago and you decide to leave? Research shows that more people are reading blogs (over 346 million per comScore) and those blog readers expect your company to have a social media presence, and blogs influence their purchasing decisions. If you are not keeping your blog current your current and prospective customers will go elsewhere to make purchase decisions.
Before we get into our 5 Ideas To Create That Great Blog Topic we wanted to address the who part of keeping your blog content fresh. Below are 4 options you have when planning out who is going to write on your blog. Don’t feel like you have to pick just one option as you can definitely mix and match that best serves your business needs:
- Write it Yourself – If you are passionate about your blog topic this is definitely the way to go.
- Form a Partnership – Consider recruiting others who you can trust.
- Outsource or Hire a Team – making someone accountable to your blog will definitely ensure it is kept updated but of course there is extra expense to this option.
- Give Your Employees A Voice – Ask around your office and see if you have that hidden blogger ready, willing and able to share their thoughts and opinions.
After you decide who is going to maintain your blog and how often you/they are going to write you may find you need help on blog topic ideas (trust us you eventually may run into writers block).
Here are 5 ideas on how to generate blog topics that will help get the creative juices flowing for your own blog:
- Keyword Suggestion Tools – Start by checking out the most popular terms and phrases in your niche. All you need to do then is to convert these terms to great article topics. A great tool to use is Google Keyword Suggestion Tool
- Website Analytics – If you are taking advantage (and you should be) of analytic tools such as Google Analytics make sure you are checking what keywords are driving traffic to your website. An even more creative idea is to look at your site search keywords. If you’re website has a search feature on it, reviewing the keywords visitors are searching on your site is a great blog topic generator.
- Leverage RSS Feeds – We are not suggesting you copy other blog posts; however, reviewing other bloggers content can and will generate ideas. Tools such as Google Reader gives you the ability to quickly scan your favorite bloggers.
- Ask Your Customers - Simply ask your customers for their topic requests and suggestions. This is also a very creative way to generate buzz. For example, a recent blogger decided to rename her monthly newsletter and created a contest looking for suggestions not only on the newsletter name but also content for her blog.
- Opinions / Reviews – Everyday you are consuming so why not share your thoughts and opinions about your passions on your blog. Ideally write about reviews on products or services that apply to your business or your customers. For example, if you are writing a blog on sales why not write a blog post reviewing your preferred contact management software. You can also share recommendations on a recent book you read that your blog visitors would enjoy.
Share with us your thoughts on the above 5 ideas on how to generate blog topics. What other ideas do you have on how to create that great blog post that people want to read and share?
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