A blog helps you better relate with your audience, promote your business, and show your industry authority. Blogging is also a leisurely activity, letting your thoughts wander and sharing your ideas with your audience.
But whether you are managing a business or personal blog, you must post regular content to keep your audience engaged. To always have fresh ideas, here is a list of the best places to find topics for search engine optimization (SEO)–friendly blog content.
Find Great Blog Topic Ideas with Google
As reported by Digital Authority Partners, Google helps you find great blog topic ideas. This search engine gives you updated information about audience search inquiries, including the keywords they use. Try various Google tools; the best thing about these tools is that they are free to use.
- Use Google Trends. This tool finds out what people are asking and any competitors for a topic you are covering. If there is no competition for a topic, create a post about it. Find the search volume of a keyword to help you decide if it is worth creating content or not.
- Find out how people use words in search queries with Google Keyword Planner. Input a term you want to research to get a list of questions that use the word in the title. Get topic inspiration from the results you get.
- Identify keywords related to your search term with Google Suggest. Use this tool to explore topics that bring you traffic. Google Suggest is under the search box and is a list of words related to your initial search term.
- Discover more content ideas with Google Related Searches. This tool is at the bottom section of the search page. Input your search term, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and find related ideas for your content.
Utilize Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research tools will not just find the best keywords for your topic but also allow you to create blogs from topics people are looking for and better promote your business online. You can find many keyword tools online; some offer a free trial, while others are paid services. Here are the most popular:
- Answer the Public: This tool finds questions that people are asking regarding a topic. Type your subject matter, and voila! You have a list of suggestions that you can use as topics for your blog.
- Quora: Another great tool that gives you topics and questions in your industry. Type in a word or phrase in the Quora search tool to get a list of questions for a subject. You can see how many times a question has been asked regarding the topic. The subject with a high volume makes a great blog post.
- SEMrush: This tool helps you find keywords for different topics and complete keyword research. The SEMrush keyword research tool determines which terms your website can target and better understand and reach your readers.
Look at Your Website Analytics
Another way to find good blog topics is to check your website’s analytics. Look for keywords and topics that create engagement and take inspiration from them. Because your posts were about issues your customers are experiencing, your audience finds your blog helpful and relevant.
And if an issue remains engaging, make a video or an infographic about it. A recent survey found that 36% of marketers use video marketing to spread the word about their brand and attract new customers.
Check site analytics often to get fresh topic ideas for your blog. Here are some tips to make the most of your website analytics.
- Look at top-performing posts using Google Analytics. From Google Analytics, go to All Pages to check the data of your site content. Find out which of your content drives more engagement and create a variation of this content. A good idea would be to transcribe video or audio content to improve engagement.
- Use your own search bar. Find keywords that people are searching for when they arrive at your website. Use Google Analytics Search Terms to find these keywords and use these terms to improve your content or to make content that you do not have a page yet.
- Check out the Search Terms report. From Google Analytics, the Search Terms report provides a good clue as to what your visitors are looking for. Develop a list of relevant search terms to help create posts that engage your audience better.
Spy on Your Competitors
Examine competitor websites to see what topics they cover. Doing so helps you learn which topics to avoid and which to focus on. By studying competitor websites, you can learn what people like best about them and apply this knowledge to your own.
Focus on the following parts of the competitor’s website to help you find good blog topics:
- Evaluate their content. Skim through their topics, look at their pages for ideas, and check their FAQs section. Use tools like BuzzSumo to find their top-performing content and see if you can make a better post.
- Find out what tools they use. A service called Builtwith can find out what plug-ins and tools your competitors are using. See if you can also use these tools to make better blog posts.
- Examine their social media. Follow your competitors and see what posts are getting the best engagement. How often do they post, how fast do they respond to comments, and what favorite platform? TikTok has the most monthly active users (MAU) worldwide at 1.5 billion so include this short-video social platform in your list.
Turn to Social Listening
Another way to find engaging blog topics is to use a technique known as “social listening.” This means closely monitoring social media platforms where your audience gathers. It means paying attention to hashtags, shares, and comments about your products and services on different pages and social media groups.
Social media listening is an essential part of SEO content creation. Remember these tips to improve your social listening capabilities.
- Find out what you listen for. Have a clear idea of what you want to learn from the information you gather. Doing so helps you ignore the noise from actual data to create better and more engaging blogs.
- Use a social listening tool. Hootsuite and HubSpot offer easy-to-use social listening tools for finding good blog topics.
- Find relevant data using keywords. Filter conversations in your social media platforms using keywords. Input your primary keyword or brand on the search bar on social media sites to find out what people are discussing about your company, products, services, or brand.
Summing Up
Find good blog topics using Google and keyword research tools, and focus on your website analytics. Checking out the websites of competitors can also help you gather crucial information. Finally, social listening helps you discover great topics your audience is more likely to engage in. You will find a wealth of blog topics when you follow these practical strategies.
