Guest Post by Shanna Mallon
Whether your industry is computer technology or mechanical software, you always need new topic ideas when you’re blogging regularly.
So, what do you do when you’re feeling trapped? Where can you go for fresh inspiration in the technology realm?
To empower you with resources for drumming up better business blog topics, here are eight great ideas to consider:
- Customer feedback. What are your clients emailing you about? What questions are people asking? Did someone contact you with a success story about using your product or service? All of these are great resources for new blog ideas. You could write a lengthy answer to someone’s question, for example. You might interview a client and share his or her story with your followers. When you want to reach your target audience, let them be your resource for new topic ideas.
- Old email newsletters. Scan past marketing emails and pay particular attention to open rates. Which subject lines appealed to the most followers? Are there certain types of content that get more interest? Maybe your e-commerce business sent an email blast about a sale, for example, and open rates exploded. You might not be having another sale to announce, but you could generate related ideas. Share favorites from this season’s product line, round up the top 10 best sellers right now or do a feature post on a great item that’s priced affordably.
- Social media. Being active on social media offers lots of benefits. Among them is the chance to gather inspiration for new posts. How? Scan it regularly to see what posts (yours and others) are getting engagement. Follow similar pages and see what topics they’re covering. These resources offer great inspiration for new post ideas.
- Google search. If you’ve got the beginning of an idea but aren’t sure where to go with it, let Google help. Go to the search engine, start typing your topic idea and pay attention to the dropdown terms that appear. These words or phrases are related to actual searches people are making, meaning they already have an audience looking for them. As such, they could make great, new posts.
- Google Trends. Another way to tap into the power of Google is with its trend-finding tool. Go to Google Trends, type in a word or phrase relevant to your industry and scroll down to the section marked “Related queries.” Then, click “Rising” to see what search terms are gaining interest right now. When you target those terms, you may be able to tap into the audience interested in them.
- Trade magazines. Subscribe to magazines in your industry to find fresh inspiration on a regular basis. As you flip through the latest articles and reviews, you might find yourself thinking of new angles your business could offer or perspectives you want to share.
- Other blogs. Find other blogs that are covering topics related to your industry, and subscribe to them. When you notice something that’s lacking from a particular topic’s coverage or want to expand on someone’s idea, you’ve got fodder for new posts.
- Question sites. Websites such as Yahoo! Answers or Quora allow users to post questions on all kinds of topics. When you read through these queries, you might see questions you could answer in new posts. Even better, when you write your post, you can go back to that question and respond with a line or two, as well as a link to your post for more information.
As a business with a blog, you’re always going to need more content. So, prevent future writer’s block by thinking proactively now. Get comfortable with these eight resources provided here and you will always know where to go for a steady supply of new topic ideas.
About Author
Shanna Mallon is a contributing writer for Straight North, a top Internet marketing firm in Chicago providing specialized SEO, web development and other online marketing services. She’s also been a freelance writer since 2007.
