Finding the perfect blog topic

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Aug 11, 2013 / by
Finding the perfect blog topic

Coming up with ideas for new blog posts week after week can become a real strain, especially if you’re busy running your business. Keeping to a regular schedule is not optional though! It’s essential for succeeding with your blog.

The trick to keeping the ideas flowing is to take some time out regularly to stock up on topics for future use. There are quite a few techniques for getting your creative juices flowing. We’ve put some in below, but the important thing is to find whatever works for you!

Brainstorming

purple lightningBrainstorming is one of the best tools ever invented for generating new and original ideas. It’s also a fantastic method for helping you consolidate all the information you know about a specific topic and highlighting areas where some additional research would be useful.

A single brainstorming session can be extremely effective in creating a long list of new blog post topics which you can subsequently refine to decide which titles are worthy of developing, and it can alleviate the pressure of constantly having to come up with new blog titles for months to come: whenever it’s time to write you can just refer to the list and pick a topic that floats your boat.

Mind mapping

Mind mapping is a great method for extracting all the information you know about a topic. It provides a graphical illustration of the connection between different related concepts through the use of branches and sub branches.

To begin, write the name of your industry, field or current focus in the middle of a large piece of paper; this is the central node from which all other ideas will stem . Alternatively, you may find it more enjoyable to draw a representative image of this central idea in order to help stimulate the imagination and create visual associations. From the central point, you can then draw branches which connect the main themes surrounding this central topic, and then sub-branches stemming from the main themes and so forth.

Try to keep the diagram as visually stimulating as possible and jot down all ideas, no matter how silly or left-field you think they might be. Aim for quantity over quality; you can always go back to refine and edit at the end of the session. Mind mapping can be done alone but is recommended as part of a group to get the maximum amount of ideas.

If you prefer working digitally, there are plenty of software packages around to do the illustration for you. It’s up to you which style you choose but this is a good place to start.

Social media

The various social media platforms available can also provide an endless source of blog content ideas. Ensure that you are connected to as many industry specialists as possible via LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Not only will these connections give you constant updates regarding key issues in your industry, reading conversations and joining discussion groups will highlight unanswered questions which can be addressed by creating a brand new blog article. But if you want even greater insights…

Conferences, exhibitions and other industry events

conference socialisingWhy not do a bit of offline networking? Industry events are full of like-minded individuals who are happy to discuss their niche subjects. Engaging in friendly, non-commercial conversations at industry events will almost certainly provide you with new insights and a multitude of original blog content ideas. If attending the event is a problem logistically, you can simply scan the list of scheduled conference talks and do further internet research if you come across a talk title that you feel might be relevant to your blog.

Internet resources

Fortunately in this day and age, there are internet resources that can help us with the free associative thinking required for generating blog post articles. Sites such as Ubersuggest and Soovle collate search engine suggestion services from various key providers and provide you with a plethora of associated suggestions for every term you key in. Have a play around with the terms you use and try adding in different question words to generate fresh results. SEOGadget’s content idea creator is also a fabulous tool for collating the latest web content pertaining to whatever subject you choose to enter.

Analyse and innovate

If you haven’t already, get familiar with Google Analytics. The statistics provided by Analytics will give vital insights regarding your most popular posts; you can use this information to continue writing posts on the same topics that you know are likely to give you a high readership. Google Analytics also provides information regarding key word searches and external links which can also be used to come to conclusions about the direction your content should be tailored to.

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