Blogging can be an excellent way to accomplish business goals, from launching your business to reaching new customers. But after the excitement that comes with the decision to start a blog comes the inevitable moment when you realize that you now have to come up with an ongoing series of post ideas. Not only that, but they have to be engaging, fresh, and relevant to your ideal audience.
So what’s the best way to come up with new ideas? First, you should use the resources available to you, like subject matter experts, customers, and team members. Then you can start delving into tools like Google and keyword generators, as well as your competitors’ content, for inspiration.
Here’s what you need to know to get started:
Tips for coming up with blog ideas
New blog post ideas can be elusive, especially if you’ve been running a blog for several years. But there are many methods you can use to continuously come up with new posts, including:
- Asking your team and internal experts for ideas
- Thinking like your ideal audience
- Researching competitor blogs
Tips for new ideas
The best way to start coming up with blog post ideas is using the resources that are available to you:
- Keep an idea file: Having a central place to keep your blog post ideas is critical here. It can help you capitalize on those random sparks of ideas that might otherwise be lost. Just be sure to keep it easily accessible.
- Ask email newsletter readers: Email newsletters and blogs can—and should—be complementary resources for your audience; email campaigns can lead to blog posts and even series. You can also use email newsletters as an opportunity to directly ask readers for blog ideas.
- Ask experts: Subject matter experts can be excellent resources for finding those post ideas that perhaps fly under the radar or go beyond the common post ideas in your niche.
- Ask your teams: Your team members are fully immersed in your blog and know the brand tone and voice, so they likely have insights into blog topics that you may not have considered. Providing a centralized way for them to contribute ideas (such as a Google Form) is key.
- Ask customers: Your customers likely have their own set of questions, opinions, or interests related to your blog that can produce unique blog post ideas. Again, the key here is providing an avenue for those ideas to come in, such as a poll embedded in your newsletter or on a social media post.
- Group brainstorming: Great ideas can come from anyone, but many of the best ideas are a combination of topics that have been arrived at by several minds. Regular brainstorming sessions are well worth the time to fill out your blog post calendar.
Tips for using existing posts
Existing posts can also unearth tons of new blog ideas. You just have to know where (and how) to look:
- Look at metrics for old posts: The relative popularity of your existing posts can help you understand what type of content your readers actually want to see. For example, that can mean discovering a type of article (think listicle, slideshow, or data-driven report, to name a few). Metrics like traffic, time on page, and social shares are good places to start your search.
- Look at comments: Again, your readers can be the best resources for blog post ideas and may even leave their insights in the comments section of your posts. Be sure to gather that data and look for patterns, such as repeated topics or keywords, to get inspiration.
- Look for gaps: Your existing blog posts paint a picture, but that doesn’t mean you should only look at what’s there—you should also look for what isn’t there. That means seeking out the content gaps, whether that involves adding a review for a new product or covering a topic related to a news story. You might also consider the assumptions you made about the reader and how you might address a slightly different subset of readers.
Tips for using Google
The internet is the ultimate resource for coming up with blog post ideas. Here are four keys to leveling up your post brainstorming and landing more organic traffic:
- Use autocomplete: Whether you’re truly stuck for ideas or you’re just casually brainstorming post ideas, Google can help. Seeing how Google autocompletes keywords related to your blog topic can help you find ideas that already have proven interest. (The same goes for the “People Also Ask” section.)
- Look at rankings: If you already have target keywords that are vital to your blog, you should keep track of the posts that are ranking on the first results page for those. After all, you may find that they touch on topics that you haven’t addressed yet or take a different approach that you can recast for your audience. Rankings also provide insight into how Google believes people are thinking about a given topic, and that isn’t always what you might think.
- Look at keyword trends: Some keywords are more relevant at certain times of year than others, and some become more popular over time. Either way, you can use keyword trends to shape your blog post ideas and gain new readers. Tools like Google Trends and Exploding Topics can help here.
- Don’t forget long-tail keywords: Once you’ve covered your bases with the most popular keywords, it’s time to consider the less common ones. After all, these can be easier to rank for, landing high-converting eyes on your post.
Tips for using competitor analysis
More than anything, your readers value your unique perspective. However, you should still look to your competitors for new blog ideas.
- Look at competitor’s blog posts: The content and form of your competitor’s blog posts can help spark ideas for your own blog. Just be sure to stay consistent with your brand voice and point of view. And, as always, look for ways to make the content better and more valuable for your readers.
- See what topics competitors are missing: The topics that your competitors haven’t covered also represent an opportunity to distinguish your blog and earn new readers. To spot these gaps, you might try something like a mind map or additional keyword research.
- Look at competitor feedback: You may not have a line into your competitor’s private feedback from readers and customers, but there’s still plenty of useful information out there on public platforms, such as social media and blog comments.
Blog ideas examples
To give you some more inspiration, here are a few blog post ideas across five popular categories:
Productivity
- X Science-Backed Ways to Be More Productive
- Interview: The Fascinating Way [Expert] Approaches Work-Life Balance
- We Talked to X High Performers—Here Are Their Top Productivity Tips
Travel
- X Easy Ways to Save on Your Next Vacation
- How to Know if Travel Insurance Is Worth the Cost
- Reviewed: What It’s Like to Stay at the New X Hotel in [Location]
Home
- The Genius Method [Person] Used to Redesign Their Bedroom
- Giveaway: How to Win Our Picks for the Best Home Goods of [Year]
- The New Interior Design Playbook: Rules to Live By (and Some to Discard)
Parenting
- A Comprehensive Guide to Co-parenting Well
- X Parenting Experts to Follow on Social Media
- How to Nail Your Kid’s Next Birthday Party
Finance
- Here’s What the Fed Rate Change Means for You
- Why Mortgage Rates Might Be Poised for a Fall in [Year]
- X Things You Might Be Getting Wrong About Credit Cards
Blog ideas FAQs
- What are some ways to come up with blog ideas? It’s best to use a wide array of sources for blog post ideas, including competitors, keywords, and your own readers and team members.
- How can you use competitor analysis to come up with blog ideas? Looking at both the content that your competitors write and the topics they don’t cover can help capture new readers and differentiate your blog.
- How can you expand on existing posts to come up with new blog ideas? Auditing your content can be a useful tactic to discover content gaps. Tools like mind maps or keyword generators can also help unearth opportunities to expand on existing blog posts.
- What are some examples of blog ideas? Blog post ideas can come in many formats, including listicles, interviews, reviews, case studies, rankings, guides, and how-to articles. For instance, you might interview an expert about a specific topic or collect advice about navigating a common problem in your niche.