Are you struggling to come up with ideas for blog posts? This is a common problem, and it can have a major effect on the success of your content marketing efforts. The more blog posts companies publish on their websites, the more traffic they get, so running out of ideas for blog posts is a big problem.
To continue attracting visitors to your small business’ website, you need to post new blog posts regularly. This means you can’t run out of ideas. Coming up with ideas can be challenging, but there are many places you can go to get inspiration. Here are 10 places to get inspiration for your next blog post.
1. Customer Inquiries
You probably get a lot of inquiries from customers, and these inquiries are an easy source of inspiration for your company’s blog posts. Track the inquiries your business receives through all channels—email, social media, web forms, and in-person—and look for patterns. You’ll notice that some questions or problems are common, and these are good topics to write about.
2. Competitors’ Blogs
Unless you’re in a very niche industry, you have competitors, and some of those competitors have company blogs. These blogs are another source of ideas. Of course, you can’t just copy your competitors’ ideas. Instead, read their posts, and look for gaps in their content. Did they leave some important questions unanswered? Were their examples confusing? Write blog posts that fill in these content gaps before your competitors can.
3. Your Past Posts
If you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ve covered a lot of topics. Some of the information you covered may have become stale or out-of-date since you originally posted it. Check your old posts to see if anything needs to be updated. Revisit these posts and include the newest statistics and examples. Remember to cover the original post from a new angle so you’re providing new, valuable content to your audience.
4. Your Popular Posts
Some of the posts on your company’s blog are more popular than others. Your most popular posts are about topics your audience likes, so revisiting those topics is an easy way to create new content for your blog. Check your Google Analytics data to figure out which posts got the most views. Once you’ve identified your most popular posts, write new content on those same topics.
5. The Internet’s Popular Posts
The internet’s most popular blog posts are popular for a reason. You can use their success as inspiration for your own blog posts. Using a tool like BuzzSumo, you can see a list of the most shared posts for various keywords. The headlines of these posts may jump start your creativity, but if not, read the posts and look for gaps in the content. Even the most popular posts can leave questions unanswered, and answering these questions is a great way to come up with content ideas.
6. Question & Answer Sites
If inquiries from your customers aren’t giving you any new content ideas, check out question and answer sites like Quora or Yahoo! Answers. Type in a topic or keyword, and you’ll see a list of related questions that people have asked. Some of these questions will be ones that your audience also wants to know the answers to.
7. Forums
Forums are another ideal place to get ideas for business blog posts. Visit forums that are relevant to the products or services your business sells. For example, a business that offers fitness classes would want to visit forums dedicated to weight loss or exercise. Browse the forums to see what kinds of questions people are asking and what topics are frequently discussed. These questions and topics can give you ideas for relevant blog posts.
8. Social Media
Social media isn’t just for promoting your business; it’s also a place to find an endless source of blog post ideas. On social media, look to see what influencers in your business’ niche are talking about and what posts they’re sharing. These hot topics may be something that you want to discuss in your blog posts.
9. The News
Getting blog post ideas from the news is known as newsjacking, and it can work well if you’re careful. Look for news stories that are directly related to your industry, and use those stories as inspiration. You can also use light, pop culture news (like awards shows or major sporting events) as a jumping off point for your blog posts.
10. Blog Topic Generators
If you’re really stuck, try using a blog topic generator to come up with some title ideas. Companies like HubSpot and Portent have free blog topic generators on their websites. You enter your keywords or topics into the generator, and it creates a list of blog post ideas for you. Keep refreshing the tool as much as you want until you see a topic that sparks your interest.
Coming up with blog posts doesn’t have to be a struggle. With the right sources of inspiration, you’ll always be able to find something to write about on your company’s blog. Are there any other places where you get ideas for blog posts? Please share your inspiration sources in the comments.
Jennifer Mitchell
Jennifer Mitchell is a business writer based in Canada. She specializes in content marketing, blogging, and social media marketing, and has a passion for helping businesses succeed.
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