Do you have a blog for your business? If so, you understand the struggle of coming up with a new topic each week. In fact, brainstorming a topic can sometimes take as long as writing the post itself. And sometimes, you might feel like throwing in the blogging towel. It doesn’t have to be this way.
What if we told you that you could brainstorm enough blog topics for months to come in a short amount of time? It’s true! Read on to find out how.
Recap: Yes, Your Business Needs a Blog
Don’t have a blog for your business? You should! Here are two reasons why:
- You have a 434% higher chance of being ranked highly on search engines if you feature a blog on your website.
- Businesses who use blogs as a part of their content marketing strategy get 67% more leads than businesses who don’t.
It doesn’t matter what niche your business is in: you need a blog. You’re missing out on numerous leads and sacrificing your rank on Google by not having one. Don’t let the seemingly difficult process of brainstorming and writing your blog stop you. It’s easier than you think.
5 Tips for Brainstorming Blog Topics for Your Business
Before you get started, make sure you have a way to keep track of your ideas. We recommend creating an Excel spreadsheet or Google Doc where you can store and reference your ideas on an ongoing basis.
1. Use Your Resources
The internet is a wonderful place. There are a ton of tools and resources online you can use to generate new blog topics. Here are some of our personal favorites:
- Answer the Public: Answer the Public is a unique tool that allows you to enter a keyword and receive questions, prepositions, comparisons and more. The keyword “writing” generates questions such as “how writing leads to thinking” and prepositions such as “writing formal emails.” You can make blog topics from these results quickly.
- Quora: Quora is a question and answer platform where users can ask questions and answer questions for others. By doing a quick search of a keyword, you can see what your potential audience is asking and create blog topics from these queries.
- Hubspot’s Blog Ideas Generator: Hubspot’s free Blog Ideas Generator allows you to enter any noun and receive blog topics immediately. A keyword such as “blog writing” generates topics such as “Blog Writing: Expectations vs. Reality” and “The Next Big Thing in Blog Writing.”
These resources will help get your creative juices flowing, giving you a solid foundation to build on.
2. Give the People What They Want
Your blog content is written for your customer. So, it makes sense to simply give them what they want and need. Log into your social media accounts and see what questions your customers are asking in your comments, tweets or messages. Create blog ideas based on their concerns and queries. Or, send your email list a quick survey asking what kind of content they would love to see.
3. Use What You Already Have
Do you record a podcast for your business? Do you offer lead magnets on your website for your customers? Do you speak publicly? Do you attend networking meetings? You can generate blog ideas just from simply repurposing the content you already have!
Wondering how to actually repurpose what you have? Here are a couple ideas:
- Take each podcast episode and go deeper on a single topic you discussed. Did you cover several topics in one episode? Each topic gets its own post!
- Take a lead magnet, break it down into sections and create blog posts on each section.
In either situation, you can then link your lead magnet or podcast to your blog, generating traffic to both.
4. Look at Your Competitors
What are other businesses in your niche writing about? Review their topics to generate new ideas of your own.
WARNING: Whatever you do, don’t copy! Instead, use their ideas as inspiration.
Better yet, read the comments on their posts or see how folks commented and shared the posts on social media. Take note of how their customers are reacting and generate ideas from what works well and what doesn’t.
5. All You Need Is One Topic to Start
All it takes is one topic to generate many more. This is even true for a blog topic you’ve already created. Take your topic and ask yourself how you can dig even deeper. Ask questions such as why, how, and what. For example, for today’s blog, “How to Brainstorm Topics for Your Business Blog,” we can create more topics such as:
- Why Do You Need a Business Blog?
- How Do You Create a Business Blog?
- What Is a Business Blog?
But, don’t stop there. Take those simple blog topics a step further by adding steps or tips or hints. For example:
- 5 Reasons Why You Need a Business Blog
- 3 Super-Simple Steps to Create a Business Blog
- 10 Tips & Tricks to Use When Writing Blogs for Your Business
Now, take the other topics you’ve generated in your spreadsheet and do it all over again! Soon, you’ll have enough blog topics to keep you busy for months to come.
Are You Stumped? Reach Out to Us
Still stumped? We get it—words are hard. But, we’re here to help! For blog topic brainstorming and blog writing that fits your business and your voice, reach out to us today by calling 612-643-1824 or send us a message!
