Coming up with the right blog post ideas isn't easy. You can Google "blog post ideas" and end up with hundreds of them -- but which one do you use? You can find yourself scrolling through search engines and social media for hours, finding hundreds of ideas -- and not writing a single thing. But what if you could just generate your own blog post ideas in just a few minutes?
Writing blog posts requires deep knowledge of your target market. It requires an understanding of what catches attention and what doesn't. It requires an understanding of what your market already knows and what they want to learn.
Here's how to generate your own blog post ideas that create buzz.
Look for Specific Questions to Answer
Join groups where your target market hangs out to discuss their topic. Look for posts in which they ask specific questions about your topic. Your blog post idea is the answer to each of those questions that can be applied to more than just that one member of your market.
For example, let's say your audience is print-on-demand product sellers. One specific question might be which shopping cart they should install so they can sell their printables right on their own website. It's a very specific question, but it applies to all print-on-demand sellers.
These questions work very well because often people have never read an article addressing those specific questions, but a lot of them will still gain necessary information (that they might not have realized they needed) from reading the answer to such questions.
Browse Google
Yes, I told you that I am going to help you save time. I'm doing that by telling you NOT to search for "blog topic ideas." You'll get thousands and you'll waste precious time sifting through tired, generic ideas. Instead, you're going to think about what terms your market would use to find the products or services offered on your website.
You'll want to use terms that include keywords and phrases like "how to," "tips," "mistakes," and "top tips." This will help you find topics that will help your audience solve a problem they are experiencing.
For example, as a teacher eight years ago, I knew that Halloween was often a lame duck day. Kids were in no mood to learn and were often called out of class for costume contests. So I thought it would be a good idea to find some Halloween appropriate short stories for them. I browsed Google and realized that I was going to have to spend a lot of time hunting for ideas since no one had created a list of scary short stories that I could teach in middle school for Halloween. Realizing that what I needed was what other teachers might need, too, I wrote a blog post with that title: "21 Scary Halloween Short Stories for Middle School." It was a hit and I've had as many as 15,000 unique visitors on my website on that blog post on Halloween day, all looking for short stories to teach.
Also, consider what is happening in the news and how this can connect to your market. For example, Russia recently shut off access to Instagram and other social media platforms, cutting off entrepreneurs from their businesses. So, I wrote a blog post about why you should build your own website.
Check your competition
Who else in your niche is doing the same thing you are? Get to know who these businesses are and then keep an eye on what they're writing on their blogs. No, you are not going to copy them -- but you are going to see what topics they are writing about that you know your market needs, too.
Let's say you own a landscaping company and your competitor writes a blog post about what their customers need to hire them to do in the spring. You could then write your own blog post -- but put your own spin on it. What specific services do you offer that they don't? What knowledge do you have that they don't? You could even write a series? For example, if your competitor writes that the spring is the best time to plant certain bushes, you could be more specific and write about the best rose bushes to plant in central Oklahoma considering our climate and the composition of the soil in specific areas.
Write Attention-Catching Titles
Once you have a specific topic that you want to write about, you need to write a title that catches attention and generates buzz. But how?
There are a few different ways to do this.
The "X Tips" formula is tried and proven and works in just about every industry. For example, "17 tips for improving your self esteem" would work very well for the self-improvement market.
A cautionary or warning tale can also get a lot of attention. For example, "How to Renew Your Business Name without Getting Scammed" would instantly grab any new business owner's attention.
You can use the most shocking or attention-catching part of a story in the article title. For example, "His Customers Paid In Pennies, But When He Counted His Tips ..."
Finally, if you have a really great topic, you can just use a straightforward description of the topic. For example, as discussed before, "How to Know When to Replace Your Apple Pencil Tips" would likely work quite well as an blog post topic.
You can also download several more ideas for eye-catching headlines here: 25 Ideas You Can Steal from Our Headline Swipe File!
If you have both a good topic and a well-written title that can catch and keep attention, you'll have a successful blog post.
Need Help with Your Copywriting?
Finding clients and customers may seem like a mystery right now. But with these fill-in-the-blank templates and swipe files for headlines, closings, call to action, benefits, motivating phrases, and more, you'll have the words you need to convince your ideal customers to buy from you.
