5 Practical Steps to Consistently Brainstorm Blog Topic Ideas
By: Moss Clement
Tags: Writing, Writing Tips, Freelance Writing, Content Marketing, Blogging Tips

5 Practical Steps to Consistently Brainstorm Blog Topic Ideas

A laptop, teacup, a smartphone, and a pen & notepad. Via Unsplash

Being able to come up with blog topic ideas to write about regularly is exciting and fun; it is the love of every blogger. But at some point, you find yourself struggling to come up with unique blog topic ideas or blog content ideas for your post.

It is at this stage of your blogging journey that you can see how frustrating blogging is sometimes. It is no surprise why many bloggers complain of writer’s block.

I have been there before — the same situation where I spend the day staring at my computer screen trying to figure out some blog content ideas for my next post. The good news is that, after many trials and errors, I finally found the easiest ways to generate a list of quick blog post ideas.

I discovered how to find topics your readers will love to read quickly. But before we continue with this topic, let us understand why you need a blog in the first place.

Why is a blog important to your business?

Many experts studies have proved the importance and benefits of having a business blog. For example, a report compiled by HubSpot of 120 Marketing Statistics revealed these findings:

A blog is an element of inbound marketing that is helping business owners to convert visitors to leads and paying customers. It also points out that 57% of companies have acquired customers through blogging.

Blog frequency impacts customer acquisition

Your blog can influence your ideal reader’s buying decision.

Each month, B2C businesses that blog regularly produce over 85% more leads than companies that do not blog.

B2B companies that blog regularly are generating over 65% more leads per month than their counterparts who do not blog.

Companies with blogs have 55% more website engagement and visitors than those without blogs.

As you can see, having a business blog is essential if you want to grow your business faster. It will help you expand your brand, convert blog readers to leads, and buying customers. Now that you know why you need a blog for your business let us head over to tips for generating unique blog topic ideas.

In this post, I will show you the exact steps I use to consistently come up with blog post ideas for my blog and my freelance writing clients.

Let’s move ahead:

1: Use Google Suggest to Find What Your Ideal Reader Want to Read

To help you find topics your ideal reader want to read, ask yourself the following questions:

What are some pressing problems your target readers want to solve?

Which blog topics do my readers find most interesting?

What type of content is most challenging to them?

The list of question to consider goes on and on, but you have to start somewhere. For example, if your blog or website is about parenting, it is obvious your readers are parents who are continually searching for advice on how to raise responsible kids, how to be a good parent, how to better discipline their child, etc.

Thus, how do you get blog post ideas to cover those subjects? That is where Google Suggest come to play. Pick up your keyword — parenting, as in the case of your niche and go to Google and type it into the search box.

Google search result. Via Google

The search result page will give you a list of excellent blog post ideas for your blog. From the screenshot above, you can see the suggestion of topic ideas made by Google for similar themes people are searching. That’s not all, scroll down to the “Searches related to parenting” section at the bottom of your Google search result.

Screenshot from Google search

From the “Searches related to parenting” section, you’ll discover more subjects or themes to fill up your content calendar.

Use KWFinder

If you want, even more, that is, if Google search is limited, head over to another free tool, KWFinder and enter your search query.

Illustrated image from KWFinder

All you have to do is, create your free account with the option of upgrading to a premium. Plugin your keyword, and this tool will give you a list of blog post ideas for your next post. Interestingly, now you have more than enough blog topic ideas that will last you for over a month.

Utilize Ubersuggest

You can as well use Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest. The tool works incredibly well, and you don’t need to create an account to use the software. Here is what to do; open the software, and enter your desired keyword. That’s it. You get tons of keywords and themes suggestions.

Search result via Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest

Moreover, like KWFinder, Ubersuggest will not only show you related keywords and topic ideas, but it will reveal your competitors who are ranking for the same keywords.

*Important* These free tools will limit your search queries. Therefore, for an in-depth list of topic ideas, I advise you to use or upgrade to a premium package.

2: Get Blog Topic Ideas from Pinterest

Pinterest is an inspirational powerhouse for theme ideas because, with Pinterest, you will never run out of blog topic ideas to write. Like Buzzsumo, The social media and search engine site lets you see first-hand what your niche market is reading or what’s popular in your industry.

Just enter the search terms you want to write about, and, boom! The search engine will present you with a list of relevant subjects for your blog. Nevertheless, once you open Pinterest, you’re greeted with streams of blog topic ideas even before you place your search query.

However, I advise you to enter your niche into Pinterest’s search box as it will open up a flood of post ideas in your niche with the most popular pins at the top. Even if the topics have been covered many times over, you have not created an article on the subject.

Thus, use it as an inspiration for a more in-depth blog post by filling any loopholes from already published posts. As a result, you will create an epic blog post in a unique voice or language your audience will love to read.

3: Use Amazon’s “Look Inside” to Find Blog Topic Ideas

Many bloggers and freelance writers might not be familiar with this tool. The Amazon’s look inside feature is breathtaking, hands down. I haven’t seen anything like it when it comes to discovering new blog post ideas.

Hence, if you are a blogger or social media marketer who is struggling to come up with content ideas for your next post, the Amazon look inside got you covered. Or, you are a freelance writer who is finding it difficult to brainstorm content ideas for your clients; you have nothing to worry because “Amazon look inside” is your best bet.

Don’t stress out because Amazon Look Inside got your back. Here is how the Amazon Look Inside feature works. Go to Amazon and enter your keyword, (we are using “social media marketing” as your niche keyword) into Amazon’s search bar and hit the search button.

Search result via Amazon

The search result page will show you a long list of books on social media marketing. After selecting your preferred text, click the book cover or the “look inside” logo to have a preview of what is inside the book.

*Important* Before selecting your book of choice, hover your mouse over the book cover to make sure the book has a “Look Inside” logo at the top of it. See the screenshot below. By hovering your mouse over the cover, if the book has a look inside, it will appear at the top right corner.

But if it doesn’t, it will not appear; meaning that you cannot see what’s inside the book, such as “the table of content.”

The look inside feature. Via Amazon

More on Amazon’s look Inside feature

When you’ve open the book, scroll down to the Table of Content section. There you will find loads of blog post ideas that will last you for as long as you can imagine. This step is, in fact, my #1 tip for content ideas. Why? Because the authors of these books are experts in the industry who already know the formula.

Table of content from “the look inside.” Via Amazon

They understand the pattern because they have already done the necessary research work involve and can:

Pinpoint topics their target audience (who are also your buyer persona) want to read.

Find the problems they want to solve.

Identify frequently asked questions (FAQ) your ideal reader is always asking.

Etc.

Should you read the book? No! All you need is the Table of Content that will supply you with unlimited information for creating blog content that will connect with your readers.

*Quick Note* This strategy does not work on your smartphone if you’re using your Android smartphone to browse and do research on the “Amazon look inside” techniques. I tried it on my Android, and it didn’t work. I don’t know about iOS and the iPhone.

4: Use Quora to Find Blog Post Ideas

Quora is a social media question and answer site that is guaranteed to give you practical ideas for a blog post to wow your audience. Quora is a community of people comprising your target market, experts in your industry, and others.

On Quora, people are busy asking reasonable questions on different topics and getting the answers they need. However, you may be wondering:

Who are asking the questions?

Who are providing the answers to the questions?

Your target audience and others in various niches are asking the questions. And those with comprehensive knowledge of the subject are providing the answers.

So, follow conversations you’re interested in, contribute to answers. Go through the stream and find questions and answers that’ll add value to your buyer persona. Use the information to create epic blog posts that will make your readers keep coming back for more.

Still On Quora

Here is the easiest way to find topic ideas for your blog on Quora.

Open the software, and you’ll see the search tab above; click to open it.

Image illustration: Quora

Then enter your keyword. Here, I searched for blog post ideas on freelance writing jobs. So my keyword is freelance writing jobs. See the screenshots in this section.

Search result page. Via Quora

Next, Quora will present more than enough content suggestions for your blog and clients. And as you scroll down, you will discover more related materials to your search query. You can also filter your result as desired.

The options you have for filtering your search are many, but because you’re looking for blog post ideas, your best option is the “Question” tab. From there, you will get both relevant questions and answers to those inquiries.

As you can see from the visual above, each inquiry has some answers associated with it. In consequence, armed with such massive data, you have unlimited blog topic ideas for your blog and your freelance writing clients. So, use Quora to find real questions from your target audience.

5: Ask Your Ideal Reader What He Wants to Read Next

The truth is, although you try as much as possible to figure out what your target audience wants to read by conducting various research and brainstorming other sites, you can never fully understand what they want if you do not ask them.

Nobody can tell you more about your buyer persona, their issues, pains, and struggles than your target market. Why? Because he is the one who is wearing the shoes and knows where it hurts. So, speak to your readership and ask them what they want to read or what they need help with the most.

Facebook is one of the best places to start talking to and asking your blog readers what they want from you. It means joining relevant Facebook groups and other helpful groups on different marketing channels. That is if you do not have one and haven’t joined any already.

These are the two that crossed my mind at the time of updating this post. I will add more to the list over time. However, these groups are an excellent community for bloggers to interact with other bloggers and get help by asking relevant questions.

You can start from there; and while you’re there, search for other related groups and join them as well. It is also an avenue where you can create a poll to survey your target audience to pinpoint the type of post they love to read.

For instance, Darren conducted a survey where he asked readers what they need help with the most. Respondents came up with different pain problems, including:

How to get more readers for my blog post

How to come up with blog post ideas

How to start a profitable blog

How to get more blog traffic

Etc.

Still on your ideal readership

As you can see, these are powerful blog content ideas that are guaranteed to drive massive traffic to your site. That is because your audience said those are the themes they want you to develop.

Darren posted the result of the survey on the Problogger Community page. But unfortunately, I lost the screenshot. When I saw it, I took advantage of it and immediately wrote on the first one with the highest percentage, “how to get more readers for your blog.”

The concept here is to talk to people; don’t be afraid to ask. You can use survey templates to make it easier for you. Here’s how to post polls and surveys on the social media giant — Facebook, and what type of polls and reviews you can post on the platform.

So, join relevant Facebook groups and please be active for about two weeks before conducting a survey.

*Important note* The groups you join are not yours, so before you do any poll or survey, seek permission from the group’s owner or moderator.

Wrapping It Up

It is worthwhile endeavor to know how to consistently come up with blog topic ideas your audience will love to read, as it will help you in creating content regularly, and save you precious time.

In fact, you can confidently say bye-bye to writer’s block because you have a strategy that will give you more than a year’s worth of content ideas for your blog, business blog, and your clients as well. Apply these tips and tell me about it in the comments section.

This article originally appeared at https://www.mossmedia.biz