If you’re blogging for the first time you may be wondering not only what topics to write about, but also what topics will attract readers.
It’s usually a good idea to have a short list of quick sources of inspiration that can help you whenever you need to write a new blog post.
So here are 4 strategies you can use to find topics that are of interest not only to you, but also the readers who follow your blog.
1. Start Blogging with Keyword Tools
A keyword is a word or phrase that an individual types into Google, Bing or another search engine in order to find information.
For example, if someone wants to bake a cake, they’ll type in a keyword such as” how to bake a cake” or “tips on baking a cake”.
By ensuring that your blog contains posts on topics that people are searching for, you will be more likely to attract traffic from the search engines.
Some of the most popular niches to blog in are:
1. Fashion
2. Beauty
3. News
4. Health
5. Sports
6. Business
7. Politics
8. Celebrities
9. Cars
You should always ensure that you choose to write blog posts in a niche that you’re passionate about.
For example, if you like to try new hairstyles, or cosmetics, your blog can be focused within the haircare niche or another aspect of fashion and beauty.
Keyword tools are a helpful resource for bloggers in every niche. Whether you’re blogging for profit or you’re writing to educate students in a class, a keyword tool can show you what topics readers are interested in.
For example, if you have a blog on auto repairs, a keyword tool can show you that the most popular keywords are related to the following:
General repair
Oil change
Brake repair
Tire repair
Wheel alignment
Hybrid repair
It’s helpful to have a spreadsheet where you list all of the topics that you can think of, that are related to each of the major keywords.
For example, for the keyword, “oil change”, you could have blog posts with the following titles:
1. How to do a Valvoline Oil Change
2. How to do a Synthetic Oil Change
3. What should I do when the oil change light is on?
4. How often should you change your oil?
A good keyword tool can provide you with blog ideas for an entire year in under an hour.
By writing with the help of a good keyword tool you’ll also ensure that you’re meeting the needs of your readers.
Some of the popular free keyword tools that you may want to consider using to write your blog posts are:
1. Google Trends
2. Answer the Public
3. Keyword Generator
When a visitor comes to your site via Google or Bing and finds that their needs have been met, they are likely to look around your site and see what else you have available.
If you have a lot of helpful posts and tools, they will recommend the site to their friends, follow you, Tweet about your post or visit you again.
Once you gain a following, it will be easy to monetize, or earn from that traffic.
There are several ways to monetize your blog. The method that you choose to earn money on your blog depends on the amount of traffic you have and what type of products or services match your niche.
For example, if you’re in the home and hardware or DIY niche, it’s fairly easy to earn money from your blog by becoming an affiliate for a hardware store such as Lowe’s.
You could also choose to sell your own products. For example, if you have a small business that makes shovels, planter boxes or other items that are used by DIY enthusiasts, you could sell them on your site.
If you don’t, it’s easier to become an affiliate and gain a commission based on the customers that visit the store via your unique affiliate link.
You can even choose to develop a course that educates your readers. If you find that you’ve gained a large following, it’s usually a good idea to develop a course, because you can keep on selling the same course again and again.
You’ll also have the chance to go in depth on areas that the average visitor to your site may not always be interested in studying.
2. Use Social Media Tools
Social media tools can let you know which videos, images and so on have done well on social media.
The topics that do well on one platform may not do well on another. If your strategy for driving traffic to your site involves Instagram for example, you’ll want to ensure that you choose to write about topics that will interest people who like to use Instagram.
Many social media platforms, including Twitter, will show you what is trending on that platform.
You can look at the trends and choose to write about one of those topics. Chances are, you’ll get traffic immediately, especially if you post on social media about it after you publish it.
You should ensure that you use hashtags that are related to the post when you do so. You’ll also earn more money if you link to related affiliate products within the posts.
Buzzfeed is useful for understanding what is happening all over social media at any point in time. It will show you what topics are trending, so you can choose topics that you like from there.
Bear in mind that writing about trending topics will give you a surge in traffic for a time. However, once interest in a trending topic dies down, the traffic to your blog will fall. it’s good to write about a mix of trending and evergreen topics on your blog for this reason.
3. Have a Look at Similar Blogs
Car manufacturers try to ensure that their new models have all the features that are available with similar products from other manufacturers.
Your blog should never be a copy of any other. After all, there is only one you and your blog should offer something unique that attracts your own following.
Despite that, you should look at what other bloggers are writing about. You may well find that there are areas that you haven’t been covering because of your own biases.
For example, a pastry chef could write about anything from food production to hospitality.
If they have a bias towards one of these areas, they may unknowingly focus on it, to the detriment of followers who are also interested in topics related to fine dining restaurants or high volume baking.
When you’re deciding what to write about in a blog, look at what type of posts other blogs in your niche have.
Think about the areas that they have not covered. Make a list of all the topics that you think readers may want to learn more about. Write new blog posts and create videos to go along with your content every now and then.
For example, if you find that all the other pastry blogs are writing about using milk in a particular type of bread, consider the needs of people who cannot have milk. You could could then write blog posts such as:
What To Substitute for Milk in Bread
Is Almond Milk A Good Milk Substitute?
Preparing Coconut Milk for your Bread Recipes
The Best Bread Recipes for Lactose-Intolerant Bakers
4. Answer Questions from your Readers
Your readers will often have questions that indicate what they would like you to write about.
They may email these to you or leave questions in the comments of your recent posts.
While you can give a brief answer to each reader in the comments, it’s often helpful to write a post that goes into more detail on an interesting question.
Writing blog posts that are centered around the questions that your readers have can also help you to tap into new sources of traffic that other bloggers haven’t yet discovered
Thanks for reading my article, I hope you found it informative and will assist you with your blogging.
I have written hundreds of articles and reviews here on my website Wealthinflator.com. You will find all my latest posts HERE