If there is one thing I want you to take away from this article it is that if you continuously increase your overall level of knowledge in your niche, you will never run out of blog content ideas.
So the main thing you want to focus on is detailed research. If you read several articles per day within your niche then you will always have fresh and new ideas for blog posts, plain and simple.
Now, I will get to the article and the 12 ways that you can come up with blog content ideas.
Coming up with new content ideas for your blog can be a challenge. A lot of times it is hard to really figure out what you need to write for your visitors.
Below I am going to give you some of the methods I currently use and some methods that I have used in the past.
12 Ways to Come Up With Content Ideas
1. Find Questions on Related Forums
This is one of my favorite ones. One day I was really struggling to come up with content ideas for my website. I really wanted to find out problems that were immediate and that people were wondering at that moment.
Luckily, I went to the Warrior Forum and saw someone asking a question that I knew the answer to. I also discovered a new way to come up with content by translating questions on the forum into blog articles.
What I recommend you do is become a member to at least one forum within your niche. While you are contributing to the forum, focus on small problems that people are having and write them down.
Sometimes I can come up with 5-10 problems and I actually use them to create blog posts. The best part is that I can see the exact keywords that people will use to ask a question.
2. Use Tips and Break Them Down
I did not know how to title this one but basically it involves making a whole blog article out of one specific tip.
For example, I have a post that is called “21 Money Saving Tips”. What I do when I run out of content ideas is I take one of the tips from the post and I break it down into an article.
It helps me create very detailed content while never really running out of ideas.
3. Ask or Survey Your Regular Visitors
One of the best things you can do is just ask your website visitors.
What I recommend trying first is offering something for free, possibly a short report, for your visitors input on what kind of content they are interested in.
For example, if you own an internet marketing blog, then see what topics interest your visitors most. Even if you only get 5-10 responses, it will help you write articles that are seriously targeted towards your traffic.
The other option you have is creating a survey. You will need a decent type of blog traffic for this one, but basically you can just give people five options for what kind of articles they might be interested in.
For example, on my blog I could give the options of Make Money, Money Tips, Small Business, Blogging, Online Marketing, Shopping & Saving etc.and then just create content based on the topic that receives the most votes.
4. Use Twitter
This has been a new one for me, but it has worked great. Once you begin to establish yourself on Twitter in your niche, you realize that you start learning a lot more.
I began to leave my Twitter open on my laptop and I use it on my phone. One of my main goals right now is to read five articles every day and to come up with fresh content ideas.
In order to find articles I have actually gone to the “Discover” tab and I look for articles that my followers either Retweet or Favorite.
This helps me avoid a lot of the spam on Twitter (yes there is a ton) and I can really get down to the articles that draw interest.
Now, the goal here is not to steal content from another blogger, but instead just to expand your knowledge.
For example, I focus on one segmented niche each day that I feel I should expand my knowledge in.
One day it might be email marketing and the next might be twitter marketing, but the ultimate goal is to really do some research.
The more knowledgeable you are, the easier it is to write.
5. Tell a Personal Experience
If you are writing about a certain niche, chances are you have some type of experience in that area. Whether you are writing about finance or hair loss or even dog training, there are definitely experiences to share.
One of the best ways to really grab people with a personal experience is to tell them about a mistake you made.
We learn best from our mistakes and your visitors can also avoid them in the future. Plus it is really easy to write when you have a personal story that is fresh in your mind.
6. Recreate Old Blog Posts
Every year I pretty much recreate some of my blog posts that I have written. For example, I have blog articles right now called “Affiliate Marketing in 2015” and “Blogging in 2015.”
What I can do then is just write a completely new article that covers this topic in the following year. People want new and useful information and it is unlikely that my old articles will rank anyway.
One issue you have to watch for is duplicate content but I literally start from scratch with these blog posts.
I don’t refer to my old ones and I don’t follow the same format either because I want to make sure that the content is unique and relevant to the time period.
You can also repurpose the title a bit so that it is a little different than the previous year, but the information in the article will be the most important thing to change.
7. Interview Someone
You have probably heard this one a thousand times, but it is one of the easiest and best ways to create content.
If you have any type of web traffic at all then many people will gladly interview with you. All you have to do is literally ask them questions and then write down their answers.
You can even email them questions and get back hundreds of words of content in just answers.
Then, create your blog post, advertise and talk up the person you are interviewing, and advertise it a bit for some traffic. Interviews can also make great press releases so focus on maximizing the reach of the interview.
8. Read 5 Articles Per Day
So I have alluded to this in other sections, but I am serious about it. People who run out of content ideas typically need to learn more about their industry, and it happens to all of us.
The reason that some bloggers can stay relevant for so long is because they keep up with trends and they are constantly informed.
If you want to carve out a niche for yourself then you better be aware of all the little details of your niche.
The best way to do this is by researching and reading articles from some of your favorite blogs.
You can set up a feed of your favorite websites or simply bookmark the blogs that you want to follow. You could also just use my tip in #12 to find all five of your articles quickly and easily.
9. Accept Guest Blog Posts
You might get to the point where you want more content but you just don’t have the ideas or the time to write it all.
There are plenty of bloggers out there who are willing to write content for several targeted backlinks and some targeted traffic.
What I recommend doing is making sure that you have clear and specific guidelines for what types of Guest Blog Posts you are willing to accept.
Then, make sure people contact you first before just writing an article that you may not accept.
There are plenty of blogs that I follow that have at least one guest article every day, and that helps them stay updated and drive more traffic. Plus, you can build relationships with other bloggers in your niche.
10. Try YouTube
For some reason, I always find new and interesting content in my niche on YouTube. I honestly attribute it to the fact that you can get more information across in a shorter period of time.
I never considered YouTube for new blog content ideas but it really helps. Once you get past the videos that are obviously just promotions, you can find very informative videos with great ideas.
There are many articles on my website that have stemmed from some YouTube research that I have done.
11. Buy & Read Recent PLR eBooks
This part is actually two-fold. First, my favorite PLR website is Master Resell Rights. They have a lot of new eBooks, videos, graphics, and software.
What I do is I go on about once a month and buy a book that interests me. I read the book and that first helps me come up with plenty of content ideas.
I then have the PLR eBook to giveaway to my readers so I use the book to drive more targeted leads.
You could also use the book to giveaway if you use the survey method above. Either way, the small price you pay for the free eBook is certainly worth it not only for content but also to use as an incentive.
12. Utilize AllTop
Alltop.com is a website that has content from all over the internet. AllTop links to a lot of other blogs and websites and they consistently have new and useful content.
For example, I just went on there and went to the “Affiliate Marketing” section and there are literally over twenty related articles.
Even the articles you read are interesting and usually well written. Therefore, AllTop is not my first choice but it is a great choice to think of new content ideas.
How To Come Up With Blog Content Ideas
So in conclusion, it is clear that research leads to knowledge, and knowledge leads to ideas. No matter what route you choose, you need to continuously expand your overall expertise in your niche.
This is why people always tell you to choose a niche that you love because you will never run out of blog article ideas.
If you have any methods that I can add to this list or that you recommend to other then please comment below.
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