Forgive my lack of patience here, but there simply isn’t any excuse for not finding blog topics to write about.
You’re reading this post via the largest repository of information ever known to mankind (and womankind too). And every bit, or byte, of that information is accessible within seconds.
And you can’t find something to write about?!
Yes, You Actually Can Find Blog Topics
Of course, it might seem like you can’t find blog topics, but it’s not because they aren’t there. You, like most other people, hate writing blogs.
But it’s really a vicious circle. One of the reasons people hate writing blog posts is because they feel it’s too difficult to find topics to write about.
So let’s break the circle right now, once and for all, and have no more of that “can’t find blog topics” shite! Your digital marketing program will reward you handsomely.
The Places Where You Can Find Blog Topics
- Read the Blogs of Other Businesses in Your Sector. Blogging can be like a conversation. Something your competition blogs about can trigger your ideas, either in response, or something entirely different. In any case, getting a feel for the blogging ’vibe’ in your sector will help with topics. And help you find a direction for your blog.
- Setup Google Alerts. Yes, there are virtually endless amounts of information at our fingertips. But how do you filter through it all? Google Alerts lets you enter a keyword(s) and automatically get notified (daily, weekly, whatever) when information relating to that keyword appears on the web. So you can literally get all the information related to your business, profession, industry, or anything else, that ever shows up on Google.
- Use a Content Aggregator. Similar to Google Alerts, content aggregators collect web content based on keywords or search terms you enter, and present them to you. Each aggregator has its own unique characteristics and you’ll need to check out different ones to find which one fits you best. Here are three that work for me: Flipboard – Offers more journalistic content, as opposed to blog and social media posts. Medium – Considered a publishing platform, Medium gets better every day as a place to find more opinion-based information from writers of all stripes. When you feel your blog is up to scratch, you can publish it on Medium. Reddit – Wikipedia calls Reddit a “social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website.” Reddit calls itself “the front page of the internet”.
- Find What’s Most Topical. That ‘content rating’ aspect in Reddit, and many of the other information sources you’ll use, helps you spot the most popular posts/subjects for each of the topics you research. Getting in on trending topics and conversations can improve your post’s chances of being read and shared. Buzzsumo is a good place to not only find topics based keywords you enter. It also gives lots of information on the popularity of the topic, including social shares, engagement and links.
- Read Your Customers’ Blogs. Hey, what’s more important to you than what’s important to your customers? For B2B businesses, reading your customers’ blogs can tell you what they are interested in. And give you ideas for relevant blog topics.
- Check the News. Again, being topical is a good way to get your posts read. To find out about what’s in the news relating to your business, enter a search term in google as usual. But, instead of doing a regular search choose the “News” option that appears below the search term entry field. You’ll get results from some of the more mainstream news media. Trade publications are also get source of topical, newsworthy ideas relating to your business.
- Get Social. Social media, including Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, are great places to quickly find information and blog topics. The info often up-to-the-minute. Short social posts, linking to the broader content, also lets you quickly scan lots of sources. And don’t forget to check the numbers of shares, likes, retweets, etc., to spot the most buzz-worthy topics.
- Your Own Blog Posts. Presumably you were able to write a few initial blog posts using the low hanging fruit of topics. Check each post and chances are you’ll find at least a few points or paragraphs you can expand upon in a new post. If I look back at this post, I can write a post at least on every numbered point above. One post, eight new topics to write about.
I’m going to leave it there. Hopefully the info above at least gives you an idea of the incredible number of ways that you can find topics to blog about. If you’re still stuck, hit me up and I’ll help you out.
