Coming up with good blog topics might be one of the largest barriers to consistent blogging. It’s right up there with a lack of time and not having enough budget for content marketing.
And creating a content calendar is one of the first steps in developing a blogging strategy. This means that companies that can’t find good topics tend to give up early on blogging. Others publish a couple of blog posts and then abandon that area of their website.
How to Find Good Blog Topics (10 Places to Look)
A lack of topic ideas should not hold you back from using this crucial content marketing strategy for your business. Here are a few ideas for how to find good blog topics.
1. Track Customer Service Topics
As you talk to customers and review their pain points, keep track of recurring topics. The things that matter to a group of customers will likely matter to a larger group of customers and prospects considering your products or services.
Review your customer inquiries within your CRM or even in shared spreadsheets if that’s a better tracking method for you at the beginning of your business. Then write content that helps answer questions before your customers contact you.
2. Ask Your Customers
Do a survey or ask about what interests your customers on social media. You could even put a little line item in your next email newsletter that asks your audience to respond with topics they’d like to see in the future.
As I talk to customers and go through my daily work, I have a folder on my desktop with content ideas. I create a fresh Word Document of the content I want to cover and a few bullet points about it and set it aside for my next content planning session. Having some easy-to-reach planning document or content repository makes tracking these ideas simple. And the simpler it is to access ideas, the more likely you’ll be to constantly update your content repository.
And if you’re writing customer-centric copy in all areas of your content marketing planning, having customer insights will be incredibly helpful.
3. Look at Your Target Audience Pain Points
Go back to the personas you created for each subset of your target audience. Study the pain points that you’ve collected and why your audience has a hard time with these things. You might find some ideas for content topics from there.
4. Review Google Keyword Trends
Google Keyword Trends likely won’t tell you the full article content. But it will give you a springing-off point for topics and ideas. Even if this only gives you a couple of seasonal ideas, you’ll be off to a great start.
5. Use SEO Software
Modern SEO software includes content planning tools to help you target keywords your competitors are ranking better for and improve your overall website content.
Software uses algorithms to find this content though so this does not mean that you should write about anything and everything the software turns up. Instead, be strategic about what content you cover and the keywords that have the most promise for helping your customers find solutions to their problems.
6. Start with Case Studies
If you don’t have any great blog topics and you’re feeling overwhelmed about where to start, focus on case studies instead. As you get started with case studies, you’ll likely start to see other blog topic ideas surface.
The more time you spend focusing on your customers and their needs, the more evident potential blog topics will become for you.
7. Review What Your Competitors Are Doing and Do It Better
I’m always a little hesitant to recommend this place to find good blog post topics because sometimes my clients take a headline from their competitors word-for-word and ask me to write about it. That’s not what I’m talking about here.
Sometimes competitors have a good idea but they don’t execute it as well as they could, which means it leaves room for you to do it better. Generally, the greatest area of opportunity that your competitors are leaving behind is making their content long-form and thorough.
It’s often better to opt for publishing content less often but with greater depth than it is to churn out short content that barely scratches the surface of the topic.
8. Hire an SEO Blog Writer
The benefits of hiring a freelance copywriter are numerous. But one of the greatest benefits is that you don’t have to worry about content planning. You can allow your copywriter to do that part for you to add more time back into your day and take the stress out of blog topics. That’s not to say you have no input, but the burden isn’t entirely yours.
9. Review Social Media for Good Blog Topics to Write About
User-generated content is often an overlooked area of content marketing. Yet, it’s also one of the most powerful. So head to your social media accounts and listen to what your customers have to say. The more you know about them and their needs, the better you’ll be able to respond appropriately.
10. Check Out Reddit and Google Question Suggestions for Common Queries
Your audience is looking for answers to questions all over the place. You just need to know where they are asking questions. Head to Reddit to see what customers are asking about. Or do a search query related to your main product or service. Read the related Google questions and answers for ideas on how to reach your target audience.
For timely, reliable and strategic blog planning and management, schedule a free consultation with Bridge the Gap Communication.
More Tips for Finding Good Blog Topics
Finding high-quality blog topic ideas is one of the most important aspects of content marketing. So here’s a look at common questions related to good topics to blog about.
What Are Good Blog Topics?
The best blog topics are those that focus on your customers and their needs. But knowing what those needs are can be tough if you aren’t listening and aren’t looking in the right places for customer insights. Start listening on social media, noting common topics customer service handles and reviewing SEO software.
How Do I Find Blog Ideas?
Collaborate with your entire company in search of the most relevant blog topics. This means bringing in sales, customer service, accounting, retention, etc. Everyone is hearing different stories from your customers. You just need to capture those stories.
What Kind of Blogs Are Popular?
The most popular types of blogs are those that entertain the reader or provide the reader with valuable information. For example, readers love learning about new travel destinations and cooking recipes.