Anyone who owns or writes for a blog will know how important it is to make sure your site is constantly updated with new posts and exciting content. Regularly posting interesting and insightful content will result in a higher number of people sharing your content which in turn will help to drive more traffic to your site. However, if you are updating your blog on a regular basis you will soon realise that it can be difficult to come up with new exciting ideas – the exact situation I found myself in before writing this post.
So to help you overcome your writer’s block and get your creative juices flowing I’ve highlighted some of my favourite tools for blog content inspiration.
1. Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is one of my favourite digital marketing tools and something I use on a very regular basis. Simply enter a topic or URL into Buzzsumo’s search bar and it will return tons of useful information including the most shared content for that topic. Buzzsumo is a great way to ensure you are staying up to date with what is going on in your industry by showing exactly what people are interested in and the biggest talking points for a certain topic. On the other hand, Buzzsumo also highlights areas that are lacking content meaning there could be a gap in the market for new exciting ideas.
Ultimately Buzzsumo is the perfect tool for making sure you are staying up to date with the latest trends within your industry. Additionally, it can also help to flesh out any potential blog post ideas and turn them into awesome pieces of content. I have previously explained everything Buzzsumo has to offer so for a full overview be sure to check that out.
2. Google Trends
Google offers a free tool that allows users to analyse search trends and take an in-depth look into the popularity of various search terms. By searching your keyword(s) in Google Trends you are able to take a look at the search volume for these terms over a set time period. Google Trends displays data such as a regional breakdown of search volume and the popularity of your keywords. This data is extremely useful to help ensure you are creating content that not only interests your audience, but content that will pass the test of time.
3. Answer the Public
Answer the Public is another fantastic tool that I use on a fairly regular basis. Simply type in your topic and it returns a huge list of questions that the public is asking around that keyword. The site displays the data in useful webs that breakdown the searches into questions, prepositions, comparisons, and other related searches – all of which provide great detail into what your audience is searching for.
One downside for this site is that it doesn’t display search volume for the questions, so there is no way to compare one result to another to understand which is most popular. If you have a broad idea of what you want to blog about but need a more refined topic then this is the ideal tool.
4. Ubersuggest
Ubersuggest is a very simple yet effective keyword research tool that provides a range of data including search volume and competition. By simply entering your keywords into the search, this tool pulls together a wide range of related keywords alongside a SERP analysis for this search term. Ubersuggest’s keyword ideas list is really useful for individuals who are looking for inspiration for blog content as it displays both suggested and related terms. This is what makes this tool so useful as not only does it provide potential topic ideas for your keywords, but also topic ideas for closely related terms which could help to further expand the topics covered on your blog.
5. Social media
Twitter provides a quick and potentially easy way to find out what people are looking for and find the key topics within your industry. Type your topic in the search bar and look through the top tweets for that topic. Additionally, the ‘News’ tab pulls together the important headlines from your industry/topic.
Quora is a question and answer site that helps you understand exactly what ‘real people’ are asking. By searching for your key terms you can follow related topics and get inspiration for blog post content by answering the key questions your customers are asking. Additionally, Quora gives you the opportunity to answer these questions directly which in turn will help to boost your brand awareness.
LinkedIn Pulse, like Twitter, pulls together the trending news and content from channels you follow on LinkedIn and people in your network. The LinkedIn Pulse app also means you can stay up to date with the latest news at all times.
