How To Come Up With Blog Content Ideas

Content marketing and search engine optimization are often viewed as two must-have forms of digital marketing for modern brands. They can help small businesses with focused blogging strategies to compete against global corporations. However, no one can get very far with business blogging campaigns without having interesting blog content ideas. Unfortunately for many marketers, coming up with those blog post topics can be a serious challenge at times.

Why You Need To Create Interesting Blog Content Ideas

Before delving into how to come up with blog post ideas, it is worth considering why doing so is important. Consumers increasingly distrust traditional forms of advertising. Blog writing, conversely, is viewed as more authentic because it provides genuine value to the audience. By reading an article, blog or watching a video, the consumer is engaging with something he or she is interested in rather than simply being shown an ad.

The best blog content strategies have diverse schedules of content featuring different media and plentiful topics that the audience is excited about. Of course, filling your schedule with blog post topics is much easier said than done.

Whether you buy blogs or try to create them in-house, you need to have a catalog of ideas to draw from. Coming up with one on the spot whenever you need a piece of content is impractical. Using the following 11 techniques (broken into three categories) will help you come up with more and better ideas for your blog content.

How To Come Up With New Blog Content Ideas

Some ideas you are inspired to create without having seen them elsewhere. These blog post topics are wholly (or at least mostly) new for your brand. Although you will likely end up repeating ideas that others have broached, all of these techniques focus on coming up with blog content ideas on your own.

1. Read Regularly

One of the best ways to come up with blog topics is to read frequently. It is a good idea to stay up to date with the latest in your industry anyway. Doing so will help you run a better business.

However, the impact on content creation is also substantial. Regular reading can help you notice blog post topics that are worth sharing with your audience. It may also inspire new topics that synthesize what you are reading with your real-world experiences.

Don’t limit yourself to just industry news. Also read advice and guidance from business experts. Even fiction can sometimes be a source of significant creative inspiration. If you make time to read every day, you will consistently inspire new blog ideas to write about.

2. Capture Your Blog Topic Ideas When You Have Them

Have you ever had a brilliant idea but forgot it by the time you could actually do something about it? This is an extremely common experience. It is so relatable that shower thoughts are a commonly discussed trope.

The best way to overcome this problem is to write down your blog content ideas when you have them and to create a list for your SEO content creation schedule. Set up a note-taking application on your phone or carry a small notepad around with you wherever you go. Having something to take notes on is one of the simplest ways to ensure that those brilliant ideas make it onto paper before you have a chance to forget them.

This is helpful for more than just blog post writing. If you suddenly think to reach out to an old associate about potentially collaborating, you can write that down. Similarly, if you meet someone new, you will never forget any information about them if you write it down. In short, note taking is a smart idea for any businessperson.

3. Review Your Notes on Meetings and Business Concerns

In a similar vein, it is a good idea to write down and later review notes on your business activities. If you have an important discussion about your business, you probably aren’t thinking about blog post ideas in the moment. However, if you take notes, you can revisit that discussion later.

By taking notes, you can mine your own work for content ideas without having to distract yourself in the moment. This can be a very fruitful source. Anytime you are working on something relevant to your audience, jot down a few notes and review them later for ideas.

For example, if you have a significant discussion about a new product release, take notes on it. You could then prepare content topics that are closely related to that release. Alternatively, you may realize that you are discussing a gap in the market that consumers may be interested in.

4. Research Keywords and Blog Post Topics

Keyword research is an essential part of search engine optimization. It can also be a valuable tool for blog content creation. Spend some time exploring the keywords that people frequently search for. This can give you a hint about what questions and concerns your audience may have.

Similarly, search engines are increasingly trying to deliver topic- and intent-based search results to their users. They want to ensure that the users’ true interests are being addressed with relevant results, regardless of what keywords they decide to enter. Taking a step back from the specific words and thinking about those search intents can help you to create impactful blog content topics.

There are numerous keyword research tools that can help you discover both the specific search terms and the search intents of your audience. Don’t just throw those keywords onto your website. Build high-value blog content around them to attract and engage potential customers. As you post keyword-specific articles consistently (perhaps with the help of our monthly SEO blog writing subscription), you can start seeing steady results.

5. Think About Your Audience

Sometimes it is helpful to sit back for a moment and try to put yourself in the shoes of your audience. This is a valuable exercise for business marketing in general. It can be useful for coming up with blog content ideas.

For example, if you run a camping supply business, empathizing with your customers may cause you to realize that there is an audience that feels cooped up at home but doesn’t yet know that camping could be an entertaining solution to their problem. Writing for that audience can be a great source of new topics.

You can apply a more rigorous and organized process for this by using personas. These are fictional characters that represent different groups of your real customers. “Greg” may be a student, while “Mercedes” may be a young professional. Creating personas is a good way to make your audience feel more human and relatable.

Borrow Blog Content Ideas From Others

Of course, you don’t always have to come up with your own blog content ideas from scratch. There are plenty of topics that have already been addressed but that you could approach with a new voice or perspective. The following three techniques will help you borrow some blog ideas from others.

6. Look at Your Competitors’ Blogs

Your competitors’ blog content is always a good source of topics. They are likely also trying to create interesting articles, videos and more to engage your shared audience. So, why not make use of their topics for your blog writing?

This may feel like plagiarism, but you don’t have to copy their ideas word for word. Instead, you can take a look at them and see what you could say differently about the same topic.

Furthermore, you don’t want to let your competitors dominate relevant blog post topics. If they have an article about the best tents for beginners, you should have one too. Otherwise, any prospective customers searching for that topic are going to go straight to your competitor.

7. Talk To Your Customers

Why not talk to your customers about blog post topics they are interested in? After all, customers are the ones who will be consuming your blog content creation. You may as well tap into their thoughts to help fill your topic catalog.

The simplest approach to this is to just outright ask your audience what they would like to know more about. If you have an engaged following on social media, try asking the question there. You can also create a form on your website to request topics for you to cover. This digital suggestion box can help you find blog content ideas you may have never thought of.

Another technique is to ask your audience which blog topics have been their favorites. This can help you delve deeper into certain ideas. Additionally, you can pitch a few ideas to your followers and ask them which they like the most. Chances are that they will come back with some ideas of their own.

Remember that this will tend to get interaction from your most loyal followers. This isn’t a good way to find topics for people who don’t already know about your brand.

8. Check Out Social Media Chatter

You can also take a look at what your audience is talking about on social media channels. For example, if you join some groups that are relevant to your field, this can be a great source of blog post topics. Perhaps people are talking about the best campsites around the country, which could make an excellent topic.

This can be both a source of inspiration and a source of specific topics. Keep in mind that you should avoid looking at groups for enthusiasts only. It is a smart idea to also examine social chatter from groups of beginners or people who have related but different interests.

Build Upon Your Best Blog Content Ideas

Finally, you have a bank of existing blog content that you have already created. You should leverage it to come up with new items to publish. Many people buy SEO articles simply to update their existing blog content catalogs. These three techniques will help you give your online library a refresh.

9. Change the Medium of a Blog Topic

Changing the medium that you use for a topic is an excellent way to turn one blog topic into two or more pieces of content. For example, you may have produced a webinar on a high-value topic. You can record this webinar and release it as a video on demand. You can also write an article summarizing the topics discussed in the webinar and video.

This can also help you to make your blog content more accessible for your audience. Some people don’t like to watch videos and would rather read. Others want to listen to their content. This is especially relevant for people with disabilities that restrict some of the content they can consume. Writing a summary can make audio content accessible to hearing-impaired audience members.

10. Revisit Old Blog Post Topics

Sometimes you can simply revisit an old topic in your SEO content creation process. For example, you may have written about the top 10 products in a category before. Chances are that they are completely different three years later. Use the same topic again but write a version for the current year.

Many topics will change between years and seasons. Additionally, you may simply have something new to say on a topic. Obviously, you shouldn’t revisit a blog post topic that you wrote about a month ago. However, after a while, you can safely go back to an old topic without overloading your audience.

11. Update Old Blog Posts

In some cases, you can simply update old blog topics. These may be pieces that you think deserve more information but that a full rewrite would be too much for.

An example of this for the hypothetical camping brand may be if concern about bear populations increased. You may want to provide your audience with new tips on how to store food in a way that won’t attract unwanted attention. You don’t need to rewrite all of your old camping tips, just add an addendum.

Even if you are simply updating a blog topic, it gives you a chance to reengage your audience. Let them know that you have added an update and invite them to learn more.

Get Help Coming Up With Blog Post Topics

The above tips will help you come up with new blog content ideas for your SEO and content marketing. However, even the best blog post ideas don’t write themselves. Whether you need help with strategy or SEO content writing, BKA Content can help. Our knowledgeable team can help you create better, more impactful content. Check out our content shop or contact us to learn more.