Are you constantly overwhelmed by the need to create fresh and engaging blog content? You’re not alone.
The good news is, you’re probably overcomplicating it.
In this post, I’ll share my best strategies for coming up with a myriad of blog post ideas as quickly as possible.
Once you have your ideas, all you need to do is hone them with some keyword research and schedule them into your content calendar.
But coming up with the ideas in the first place does not need to be complicated!
Read on to learn my six strategies for finding blog post ideas in 30 minutes or less.
What we cover:
Strategy #1: Leverage Facebook groups for fresh insights
The first strategy is to immerse yourself in Facebook groups where your potential readers or clients have discussions.
Whether you’re mingling with fellow professionals or the very people you aim to assist, these groups are goldmines of content ideas.
It’s not about self-promotion, but more about tuning into the real questions and concerns that folks in your niche are expressing day in and day out.
Here’s how you do it:
Identify Your Audience – For instance, if you blog about celiac disease, just type “celiac” in the Facebook search bar and explore the groups that pop up.
Observe and Learn – Once you join a group, become a keen observer. It’s not mandatory to engage actively, although building rapport can be an added advantage.
Note Down Common Themes – As you browse through these groups, jot down recurring themes or questions. This could be anything from seeking advice on gluten-free products to understanding the link between celiac and other autoimmune diseases.
Use Their Language – While crafting your content, try to mirror the phrasing and terminology used in the groups. This ensures that you’re answering the exact questions in a manner that resonates with your audience.
Your Task:
Spend just five minutes scrolling through a group you’ve joined and list down 10 potential content ideas based on the questions and discussions you see.
To flesh this out, I scrolled through an actual celiac disease support group on Facebook, and here are some of the immediate content ideas that struck me:
- Tips for vegetarians with celiac disease
- Ranking the top 10 gluten-free pastas
- Guidance on replacing kitchenware post-diagnosis
- Understanding the need for gluten-free personal care products
- Exploring the connection between celiac and other autoimmune diseases
Key Takeaways:
Dive into Facebook groups with an open mind and a readiness to learn This strategy is about acknowledging and understanding the pulse of your potential audience and using those insights to craft content that hits home. It’s a treasure trove waiting to be discovered!
Strategy #2: Dive into the Depths of Quora & Reddit
Don’t love Facebook? Don’t worry, you can perform similar tactics on Quora and Reddit.
Here’s how you do it:
Join Reddit and browse niche subreddits – On Reddit, “subreddits” are similar to niche Facebook groups. They are spaces where people can congregate to discuss a common interest, but 100% anonymously.
Search for questions on Quora – Next, sign up for Quora and search for topics related to your niche. Look for commonly asked questions on that platform as well.
Identify Key Questions – Delve into these forums to find recurring questions or doubts that seem to plague your potential readers. Utilize the questions you find as a potential blueprint for your content.
Your Task:
Spend a little time on both platforms and make a list of 10 potential content ideas based on the questions and discussions you encounter.
These platforms can be a rich source of inspiration, offering insights into the exact information your potential audience is seeking.
Some potential topics, inspired by real questions I recently found on these platforms, could be:
- Understanding the pre-op diet for bariatric surgery
- Decoding the difference between whey protein and creatine
- The impact of alcohol on athletic performance
- A guide to the best snack foods for bodybuilders
Key Takeaways:
Quora and Reddit are fertile grounds for understanding exactly what your target audience is keen on learning.
These platforms not only offer a glimpse into the prevailing concerns but also the kind of language and terminology your potential readers use, which can be incredibly useful when crafting your content.
It’s all about hitting that sweet spot where you’re answering the exact questions people have in their minds, in a way that’s accessible and comprehensible.
Strategy #3: Uncover Hidden Gems in Book Index Sections
This next strategy is a fun one – using the index sections of books as goldmines for fresh content ideas.
Here’s how you do it:
Dust Off Your Books – Reach for books that align with your niche. This could be a nutrition textbook, a cookbook, or even a trending book related to your field.
Explore the Index Section – Flip to the index section at the end of the book. This area categorizes all topics covered in the book, providing you with comprehensive content ideas that you may not have explored yet.
Jot Down Potential Topics – As you browse, make a list of topics that catch your eye and seem promising for your content strategy.
Your Task:
Find a few books in your niche (or download them on your Kindle) and flip to the index.
What topics are these books covering that you haven’t yet? Add those to your idea list.
Key Takeaways
You are surrounded by a sea of ideas, just waiting to be discovered. When in doubt, return to the basics; open a book, flip through the index, and let inspiration strike.
Strategy #4: Pick Up on Trends
To create content that resonates with current trends, you should always have your finger on the pulse of what’s happening now.
Leveraging popular magazines, blogs, and hashtags can provide you with a wealth of inspiration. Let’s dive into this strategy:
Here’s how you do it:
- Subscribe to Relevant Sources – Utilize tools like Feedly to subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs and stay updated with the latest trends in your niche. If you have a budget, you can also check out Exploding Topics, which documents the latest trends in a variety of industries.
- Monitor Trends with Google Trends – Google Trends is a tool where you can gauge the popularity of different search terms and see how their popularity has changed over time.
- Keep up on social – Be vigilant about trends on social media platforms, and follow them to understand what is catching the attention of your target audience. If you get lucky and are the first to create blog content around a social trend, you could get a nice pop of traffic!
Your Task:
- Each week, browse your feeds and social media – Are you seeing any topics coming up again and again? Popular recipes of the moment? Trending industry news you should cover? Add those ideas to your list.
- Not sure which trend idea to prioritize? – Pop your ideas into Google Trends and see which ideas are experiencing rising popularity in Google search right now.
- Outsmart your competition – If you only rely on keyword research tools for blog topics, you will never be ahead of the trends. These tools experience data lags, so you’ll need to keep your finger on the pulse of your industry in order to find these trending topics and create blog content on them before everyone else.
- Consider reserving space in your content calendar for trends – The thing with trends is that they might fade and stop bringing consistent traffic over the long term. I wouldn’t spend all your time crafting blog content around trends, but it could be worth carving out time every month to cover something trending.
Key Takeaways
Trends come and go, but striking a balance between evergreen and trendy content can be the key to a vibrant and thriving blog. Supplementing your core content with trendy topics not only adds a fun element but also offers an excellent opportunity to capitalize on quick traffic gains.
Strategy #5: Utilize Research Digests
Staying informed and including the most up-to-date research findings can give your blog a big edge. Research digests can be a great source of cutting-edge information. Here’s how you can make the most of it:
Here’s how you do it:
- Subscribe to Relevant Research Digests – Services like Science Daily deliver summarized research updates via RSS on almost any topic you can imagine.
- Create Alerts on Google Scholar – Google Scholar allows you to create alerts for specific keywords relevant to your field.
- Consider Paid Services – Platforms like Examine Plus offer in-depth research digests on nutrition topics, presenting a curated collection of the most clinically relevant studies with summaries, which you can consider writing about on your blog as well.
Your task:
Once you’re subscribed to research digests, make it a habit to read through them each week to keep abreast of any industry updates.
You can then make use of this up to date research in several ways:
Content Enhancement – Use the findings from these digests to update your existing blog posts with the latest research, ensuring your content stays fresh and relevant. Once your blog is over 1 year old, I recommend dedicating about 50% of your content calendar to updating old content.
Social Media Engagement – Share interesting research snippets on your social media platforms, potentially sparking engaging discussions and attracting more followers.
Email Newsletters – Incorporate the latest research highlights in your email newsletters, offering your subscribers value-added content and encouraging them to stay subscribed.
Key Takeaways
Keeping up to date with the latest research allows you to stay ahead in your field and share the most current insights with your audience. Regularly updating your content with validated research fosters trust with your audience and builds your reputation as a reliable source of information.
Strategy #6: Use Google Itself
For our final main tip, we’re going to look at using Google itself to find blog post ideas.
Here’s how you do it:
- Google Autocomplete – As you start typing a query into Google’s search bar, you’ll see auto-complete suggestions begin to appear, based on the most popular things people are searching for right now. If you see something exciting, add it to your list!
- Other Searches – After conducting a search, scroll down to the bottom of the page. You’ll find a section titled “Others searched” or “Other searches”, providing more popular search queries related to your initial search term.
- People Also Ask – In some search results, you will find a “people also ask” box, where Google displays other common questions related to whatever you searched for. You can craft whole blog posts around these topics or include them as frequently asked questions inside a post.
- Consider Branching Out – It’s extremely common to find not only blog posts in the search results, but also long-form videos, short-form videos, images, and web stories! If you see other forms of content on a keyword you’re trying to rank for, consider branching out to nab those placements as well.
Your task:
Whenever you’re looking for more content ideas, let the current Google search results and autocomplete function lead the way.
Oftentimes, evaluating the search results for keywords you already rank for can inspire new ways to breathe life into your content, grab new spots within the search results, or update your content with frequently asked questions and rise higher in the rankings.
Key Takeaways
If you’re ever in a rut, don’t sleep on the power of Google for coming up with new ideas. Sometimes it’s as simple as covering related topics or expanding into new forms of media for topics you’ve already covered.
Bonus Strategy: Leverage ChatGPT for Even More Ideas
If you haven’t dabbled with AI for content creation yet, this is a fun one.
Here’s how you do it:
Brainstorm Topic Categories – Log into ChatGPT and ask it, “What topics should a blog that teaches _____ (your niche) cover?” Use the suggestions to brainstorm topic clusters to cover on your site.
Find Commonly Asked Questions – Ask ChatGPT, “What are some common questions people have about _____ (your niche)?” Add any topics you might not have thought of to your list.
Reveal Related Topics – Ask ChatGPT, “What are some semantically related keywords I should include on a blog about _______ (your niche)?” Add any topics you’ve missed to your list.
Your task:
Sign up for ChatGPT and start playing around with prompts! (It is worth paying $20/month for ChatGPT4 – the outputs are noticeably better.)
The more specific you can get with your prompts, the better your results will be. If you want to learn more about prompting ChatGPT, there is a whole field emerging, called prompt engineering, that you can look into.
Key Takeaways
ChatGPT (and other AI tools) are excellent for brainstorming topic ideas quickly. Try some of the prompts suggested above and then start making your own riffs!
How to Refine Your Content Ideas
Congrats! You’ve now created a bank of at least 30 potential content ideas in just about half an hour. Next, let’s delve into how you can refine these concepts to create content that will perform well in Google.
Identifying the Perfect Medium for Your Ideas
Start by segregating the topics from your brain dump based on the medium they are best suited for— be it blog posts, YouTube videos, newsletters, or social media content. Since I teach SEO, we’re going to focus on finding keywords that will help us rank on Google.
Delving into Keyword Research
Before you commit to any of your ideas, it is critical to first perform keyword research and see whether you have any shot at ranking on the first page of Google for these topics.
Most likely, you will find that you have lots of good ideas written down, but not all of them will make good blog posts.
We need to use keyword research tools like Keysearch or Semrush to find high-volume, low-difficulty keywords that relate to our ideas so that the content we create actually has a shot at ranking at the top of the Google search results.
If you target keywords that are too difficult or that no one is searching for, you won’t get the results you’re hoping for.
For instance, if you specialize in prenatal nutrition and want to write about the topic “prenatal vitamins,” input this keyword into your tool of choice. This will generate a list of keywords related to the topic of prenatal vitamins.
Refine these results based on search volume and difficulty level to cherry-pick the best keywords to write blog posts on.
Exploring Alternate Avenues
Sometimes you might stumble upon topics that are dominated by huge authority websites, reducing your chances of ranking high on Google for those ideas.
Don’t be disheartened; these topics can still make great lead magnets on your website or be used in other content formats like emails or social media posts.
If you’re open to experimenting with YouTube, you can also conduct keyword research specifically for YouTube search to identify potential video topics.
Even though I’m more adept at SEO for Google, YouTube is also an amazing way to get discovered organically and grow your audience. In fact, I recently launched a channel, if you want to subscribe!
Don’t Lose Sight of the Bigger Picture
Remember, the main reason your website exists is to serve your ideal reader/customer, sometimes even at the expense of high search rankings.
If a topic is critical for your niche, go ahead and create that cornerstone content anyway. You can share these core pieces of content with your customers or audience even if you won’t realistically rank for that topic in Google.
Structuring Your Content Calendar
Once you’ve identified the promising candidates for your blog posts, slot them into your content calendar based on their SEO potential. Schedule the creation of other content forms likewise, giving you a clear roadmap for the coming weeks or months.
Breathe a sigh of relief as you tick off this substantial task from your list. You now have a reservoir of well-researched ideas at your disposal, ready to be crafted into engaging content pieces, all systematically scheduled to ease your mental load.
SEO Made Simple Course
As a next step, I invite you to explore my SEO Made Simple course.
The course teaches you step-by-step, everything from setting up your website, to tracking your stats and progress, doing keyword research, writing blog posts that will rank, becoming a trustworthy source in the eyes of Google, and all the techy stuff involved in creating a well-functioning website that will enhance your online business’s reach.
Celebrate and Share Your Success
As we wrap up, here’s a bonus tip: don’t hold back from sharing the positive feedback you receive from readers and customers.
Sometimes we get so caught up in creating educational content, that we forget about sharing the nice things that people are saying about us, our content, our programs, and most importantly, the wins that our paying customers are getting.
Obviously, this depends on your niche as well. If you are doing insurance-based MNT, then obviously this isn’t going to apply. But if it makes sense for your business model, you should always make sure to share the love.
Screenshot the love that people are giving you and share it with permission.
Because it’s one thing for people to see you always talking about how great your offerings are, but it’s another to see other people vouching for your offers. And if your product or service really is great, there will be no shortage of people telling you that.
So if someone tweets at you a really nice compliment or posts about you in their Instagram stories, et cetera, retweet that, repost that on your Instagram story, et cetera, to show that you’re really helping people and making an awesome difference in this world.
It will help build confidence in what you do, who you are, and what you offer people. It provides a little bit of that social proof, that there are people out there who buy from you and see value in what you do. So just a good reminder to share the good things as well.
Final Thoughts
Now that you understand exactly how to come up with 30+ blog post ideas in 30 minutes or less, get out there and do it!
Brain dump your ideas in one document, refine them through keyword research, and slot them into your content calendar. Then show up each week and create that content.
As always, if you want support and guidance on implementing these things in your business, click here to learn more about my course, SEO Made Simple.
Erica Julson is a registered dietitian turned digital marketing pro. She has over 12 years of experience blogging and building online businesses and has taught over 900 wellness professionals inside her signature program, SEO Made Simple.
