Generating blog post ideas that grab and retain attention is the golden egg of blogging. But, whether you are new to blogging or are a veteran writer, the time will come when you hit the wall.
Or even worse, you experience the dreaded writer’s block. In the words of R.L. Stine, “ There’s nothing more terrifying than the blank page.”
For any writer, coming up with ideas that your audience will love is the most challenging aspect of putting pen to paper. Or digit to keyboard.
For news blogs, coming up with ideas is relatively simple because the content is essentially provided for you. But for niche-specific blogs, it is sometimes difficult to begin a post that feels fresh and new.
However, you shouldn’t be put off by writing a similar post to someone else, as it’s almost impossible to come up with a 100% original post.
Put a Spin on Things
Given that genuinely original blog posts are challenging to write, you can nevertheless try your hardest to do so. But should you be unable to do this, you can check out what the competition is doing and put a spin on things. And no, this doesn’t mean spinning content by rewriting an article.
Instead, analyze your competitor’s post for something they are missing. Essentially, you can write an original post based on an existing post and improve it by adding more information.
This is a simple SEO technique recommended by none other than Neil Patel – SEO master.
Edit Existing Niche Posts
A truly remarkable and powerful way to keep on top of post ideas for your blog is to edit niche-specific posts you have already written. This is a tried and true technique that can boost an old post back into relevancy.
You can also utilize niche edits to incorporate a contextual link for link building, a vital component of SEO.
Editing old posts, especially ones that do well, can help boost SEO when used effectively. While you can edit any post, edits like this are best used for posts that are subject to change.
For example, your blog post on “ 8 Easy Backyard Party Ideas For The Best Outdoor Get-Togethers” could be amended with a “During the Pandemic” appendage.
Study Current Trends
Of course, the web is bursting with trending topics, and you can capitalize on this by analyzing current trends. Google Trends is an excellent platform for acquiring relevant data on a given term since you can also view historical data. This is useful for timing your blog posts around a specific trend.
For example, if you aim to write a post on Halloween masks, you can use tools like this to determine the best time to post and acquire related terms and queries for follow-up posts based on the same or similar niche. BuzzFeed, BuzzSumo, and Reddit are also excellent sources of trending information.
Write Down Any Ideas that Come to You
This might sound like an old-school approach, but you can make use of your own ideas by simply writing them down. This is very helpful since there is a good chance you will forget some of your best ideas. This is because the average person has around 12,000 to 60,0000 thoughts per day.
The vast majority are repetitive, but most are negative and overshadow ideas. Simply purchase a notepad and write down any and all ideas. Categorizing your thoughts will help when you look for something specific. Before too long, you will have a book bursting with creative ideas that you can always turn to in times of need.
Check What Your Audience is Talking About
Fortunately, it is straightforward to gauge audience sentiment and engage with them these days. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are vital for this. If you’re ever stuck for a niche-specific post idea, just browse what people are talking about in your niche. This could be your direct audience who are members of your group or a group you have joined.
For example, during the 2020’s Cyberpunk 2077 debacle, video game groups were on fire with news of this game. Therefore it was effortless to actively gauge public sentiment about the game and write blog posts accordingly.
Write Opposition Posts
You could write a post concerning what your audience is talking about, thereby establishing a voice and joining the conversation. This is an excellent way to engage. However, controversy is also a great way to get some attention.
Opposition posts are fantastic for this and couldn’t be simpler. Just gauge what people are saying about a particular topic and write about the arguments against it. Obviously, this technique isn’t meant for anything offensive, but a good example is as follows.
Taking Cyberpunk 2077 into account, almost all press was negative because of the large number of bugs. A post about what is great about the game would stand out so much more against the negativity.
Make a Niche-Specific Calendar
You can generate blog post ideas ahead of time by planning them around a calendar. You can even write some of these posts far in advance, ready to publish when required. For example, if you run a video game blog, you can stagger some of your posts to be written or released around specific video game release dates.
This kind of organization will help reduce workload and relieve the pressure of competing with another video game blog. Additionally, you could write the frame of a game review early and then fill in the details once you have played it.
Use Contributed Posts
Guest posts are ubiquitous in the blogging world, and while you may have written content for others, they can do the same for you. You don’t have to do all the work. Other bloggers are adept at coming up with ideas, and should their ideas fit into your niche, including them alleviates some of the work for you.
You could also include paid or contributed posts from SEO companies. There are SEO agencies that will pay you to include their content on your site. They won’t pay much, but money is money, and all the work is done for you.
These agencies are also very flexible and respectful of what content and links you will or will not accept.
Create a “How To” Guide
Every now and then, it is helpful to be useful. The web is full of guides and tips, but your audience will be welcoming of a guide that fits your niche.
You could even expand upon an already existing guide with more specific information or more recent updates to content similar to a niche edit.
For example, running a PC blog, you may have written a guide on how to arrange Start Menu items in WIndows 10. Well, Windows 11 is available for a select few and is soon to be released.
So a Windows 11 version of the same guide is sure to perform well with the correct information and SEO.
Respond to Keyword Data
When really stuck for an idea, you can always generate a post based on keyword research. An excellent technique for this is to play around with niche-related keywords and look for high volume, low competition data.
If you run a very high authority blog, you can use high volume queries, but for lesser established sites, competition might be too high for post success – even with good SEO.
Unfortunately, good keyword data is hard to come by.
Some of the best tools available include Jaaxy, Neil Patel’s UberSuggest, and SemRush.
All of these have free features, but they are very limited.
