The Secret to Great Blog Post Topics
So, you know how important it is to generate regular content in order to drive traffic to your site, right? But coming up with a new blog topic every week, or even every month, can be daunting.
You may think you need to generate content in order to establish authority in your field, and that’s partly true. But don’t you also find that kind of intimidating?
I mean, how many topics can you possibly come up with that you feel like an absolute expert on? The thing is, you don’t have to be an expert. Because the secret to writing a great blog isn’t knowing all the answers.
The secret to a great blog post is asking the right question.
Ask as many questions as you can, actually. Because customers have questions. And yes, they hope you have the answers, but they also want you to be relatable.
They need to know that you won’t judge them. To know that you have questions, too. You just happen to be really good at finding the answers.
So, rather than sitting down to write a list of possible blog topics, think about curating a list of questions to answer. You can start with things that you yourself are curious about when it comes to your business or your field.
I mean, it’s not a coincidence that the first post for my new site here is about how to generate strong blog topics. What do you think I just did? (Sat down to write a list of topics—I mean questions—for my new blog.)
So, here’s the first question I came up with as a copywriter advising my audience on how to approach content strategy: How do you come up with great blog post topics?
But for you, it might look like this…
Let’s say you’re a parenting expert. That doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about parenting. What you do know is, kids don’t come with an instruction manual.
So, at some point, there’s going to be a new challenge, maybe even with your own kid. Because let’s face it – there are always new challenges with kids. The great news is you’re well trained and well read and you know where to go for the answers.
So, let’s say your ten-year-old is experiencing separation anxiety like they haven’t had since preschool. You’ve written definitive guides on what to do with a three-year-old who won’t let go when it’s time for nursery school drop-off. But what do you do with a ten-year-old?
So, you call your pediatrician, you call the child psychologists, you go to your favorite websites and books and scour everything you can to find the answer for your kid.
So, while you’re going down that rabbit hole finding all the answers, why not take some notes for your next blog post?
You hear people talk all the time about the importance of research-driven content. But the fact is, curiosity is the best driver of strong content. You can research all you want and regurgitate all the facts, but if you’re not curious about the subject yourself, you’re not going to be engaging.
And the way to engage your audience is to be engaged yourself.
Of course, people are drawn to content because it answers their questions. But content that answers questions with passion will captivate them. It will inspire them.
And that’s where you want your audience when they’re introduced to your services.
Inspired.
Here are a few more things you can do to discover great blog post topics:
Use Your Audience
If you’re a little further along in building your audience, you can also use their questions to curate your list.
Places you can find customer questions:
The comments section of your blog
Your Twitter feed
Your Facebook community
But what if you’re just starting out with your blog and you don’t have a following yet? You can scan competitor blogs for content gaps. What are their audience members wondering about that your competitors aren’t answering, but you could?
Scan the Competition
Whether you’re new or you’ve been at this for a decade, you should know what your competitors are talking about. There’s no shame in keeping up with topics that are trending in your field. How else are you supposed to keep current? And just because someone else has covered a topic, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
In fact, it means you should. If there’s a particular topic that people want to know about in your field, you want to make sure that you’re contributing your own unique take on it.
If you don’t already set aside some time every week to read other blogs in your field, this is a must add to your marketing plan. You can subscribe to your favorite blogs and keep them organized with a service like Feedly.
Trending Keywords
There are so many resources for finding out what topics are trending on Google and other search engines. And of course, if you’re creating strong SEO content for your blog, you want to make sure you choose topics that align with popular keywords.
One of my favorite places to take a deep dive into long-tail keywords is AnswerThePublic.com. You can type in a generic keyword like “blog topics” and generate a whole bunch of long-tail versions like this:
And you can turn any one (or many!) of those long-tail keywords into a great blog post topic.
Of course, if you really want to go pro, you can use services like the Keyword Explorer at Ahrefs.com.
Other great places to gather questions for your blog topics are:
LinkedIn groups
Or, definitely check out a resource like 103 Blog Post Ideas.
But, remember, all the SEO and research you can do can’t compare to a passionate curiosity for the subject matter. So, first and foremost do these three things:
1. Get curious about your business.
2. Make a list of questions and pick one to start answering.
3. Don’t be afraid of that PUBLISH button when you’re done!