Engaging, valuable content is the core, heart, and soul of your blog. If you want to start a successful blog, you must find blog post ideas that generate traffic time after time. But what to do when you’re staring at an empty screen and wasting time trying to come up with great ideas?
Well, as it turns out, there are a few simple but powerful ways to come up with hot blog post ideas even when your brain is taking a break. In this post, I’ll share with you 5 practical tips to find blog post ideas that will make your traffic explode.
By the time you finish this article, you can be sure you’ll never have to waste a single minute while trying to come up with blog post ideas – ever.
You’ll have five easy methods up your sleeve to know exactly what your readers want you to write about.
Here are a few related articles you may want to read, too:
Alright, let’s get started!
How to Find Blog Post Ideas That Generate Traffic
If you’re just starting a blog, your head is most likely just packed with great ideas for blog posts, right?
(If not, make sure you’ve chosen the right blog niche and topic!)
After a while, when you’ve written your first 10-30 articles and been blogging for about 2-4 months, you’ll hit a brick wall. You’ll feel like your creativity is gone. That’s when you’ll start to doubt if it was a good idea to start blogging after all.
Aaaaand that’s when you need to snap out of it!
Even if you feel like you’ve hit an endless rut, don’t worry. Just know that every blogger goes through a similar phase and it’s just temporary.
What you need is a solid plan to find blog post ideas time after time. Use these five methods to keep your creative juices flowing:
Tip #1: Keep a Running List
This is by far the best and most powerful way to discover and keep track of blog post ideas. In fact, it’s such an easy method that it’s often overlooked and completely underestimated.
Wherever you go, keep a journal with you. It doesn’t have to be anything too big, just a small notebook will do perfectly fine.
Often, when you’re doing something else than blog work, you’ll get a great idea you don’t want to lose, right? It might come to you when you’re in the middle of a conversation or while you’re out taking a walk.
Whenever that happens, don’t let that idea get away! Get your journal out and write it down – immediately!
Recommended tools for keeping lists:
Now, writing down ideas in a single notebook isn’t the best way to keep your blog post ideas structured, right?
Therefore, make sure you gather those ideas into one place to keep better track of them.
You can choose from various different tools, like
- A journal with tabs for individual blog categories
- A Google Doc with lists of blog post ideas
- A spreadsheet file with tabs and columns to keep your blog post ideas structured
- A Trello board with lists for each blog post category
- A Coggle mind map
Choose whatever method feels most comfortable to you. If you tend to feel overwhelmed and confused with your ideas and plans for your blog, try Coggle – it’s free! It lets you visualize your entire blog structure to get some clarity in your head.
I’ve been using Coggle a lot this year and I just love it. Below is an example of my coding blog Coggle mind map. Each blog category has its own branch, with subtopics and individual blog post topics outlined:
If you’re on the go a lot, I’d suggest you try the Trello app. It’s super easy to use and it’s 100% free. You can create boards on your phone while you’re out and then come back to them on your computer when it’s time to write a blog post.
I use Trello pretty much 24/7 to organize my thoughts and blog post ideas whenever, wherever. It just saves me tons of time when I don’t have to sync between different tools.
Read also: The Best Tools and Resources for Successful Blogging
Tip #2: Read, Read, Read!
My second go-to trick for finding blog post ideas is to read other people’s content. A lot of it.
And I don’t mean copying someone else’s content – quite the opposite. I read a lot to find out what’s missing in the posts about a specific topic.
You know, when your readers come to your blog, you need to make sure that you have more to offer to them than your competitors, right?
That said, whenever you’re short of blog post ideas, you can find inspiration in other people’s articles. Reading a blog post may inspire you with an idea about a related topic, or you may come up with intriguing questions that lead to a whole new blog post.
In short: the more you read, the more informed you’ll stay about what’s happening in your niche. You’ll take in more information and become more aware of what your target audience is missing.
What you should do next:
When you’re preparing a blog post, make sure you do enough research before you start writing it!
Why?
Because the only way to create superior, valuable content to your readers is to do a better job than your competition.
Therefore, when you get a blog post idea, the first thing you must do is to see what’s already available:
- Simply type the idea into Google and browse through the first 2-3 pages of search results.
- Pay special attention to the top search results. What makes them rank so well? More importantly: what’s missing in their articles?
- When you find a point that they’re not covering, write it down.
- Gather as many relevant ideas as possible from the top Google search results.
- Make sure your article does a perfect job with the missing bits and pieces.
This is a guaranteed way to find blog post topics that will not only attract readers but also have the chances to rank well on Google in the long run.
Read also: What to Blog About? Finding Blog Post Topics that Generate Traffic
Tip #3: Look for questions from your target audience
Starting and running a successful blog is all about helping your readers, right?
Therefore, one of the best ways to find blog post ideas that generate traffic is to find out what your target audience is struggling with.
Often, this method only takes a few minutes, so it’s perfect if you’re in a hurry.
What you need to do is to find out what questions your target audience is asking. They are a sure-fire way to find blog post ideas that are guaranteed to bring traffic to your blog.
Questions mean that there’s a need for information. All you have to do is to fill that need and the traffic will come by itself!
Here’s what you should do:
First, think about where you can find input and feedback from your potential readers, like:
- Discussion forums in your niche
- Other blogs and publications
- Comments sections on blogs in your field
- FAQ sections on websites related to your blog
Take a thorough look around. Has someone left a question in the comments section on one of your blog posts? It’s most likely a relevant idea for a blog post!
Is there something you’ve always wondered about your blog topic? Yep, you guessed it: write a blog post about it!
Are the discussion forums in your field packed with questions everyone’s asking? Gather them as blog post ideas before others do!
Read also: 3 Essential Blogging Tips to Help You Succeed
Tip #4: Update an Old Blog Post
Sometimes the best blog post ideas are easier to find than you’d think. One of the quickest ways to find new blog post ideas is to browse through your old posts.
Do you have any popular blog posts that you could add new, helpful points to?
Perhaps you’ve written a blog post about a current event some time ago. See if you could add a few points to make it more up-to-date.
Maybe you have a cornerstone blog article with powerful strategies and advice to your readers. Is that blog post perfect? Does it answer all questions about that topic? If not, add some new ideas and solutions to your readers’ problems to it.
Read also: Blogging 101: How to Write a Blog Post in WordPress
How to update an old blog post to attract more traffic:
Start by taking a closer look at your analytics. Look at the past 6-12 months and see what are your 3-5 top blog posts that attract the most visitors.
Then, go through each post in more detail with a critical eye. Think about how you could improve each individual post to bring even more value to your readers.
Use these helpful questions to figure out potential improvement points:
- Is the blog post up-to-date with answers and strategies for the most recent tools?
- Does it cover all relevant points your readers are interested in?
- Is the article structured in a logical way? Does it tell a story?
- Have you included helpful resources for more information?
- Can your readers sign up for your mailing list?
- Do you offer content upgrades, checklists, worksheets, or helpful PDF files to engage your audience?
Remember that it’s perfectly OK to add an update to an old blog post as an entirely new article.
If you think you can come up with even more ideas about the topic, why not make it a series? Writing a helpful series of blog posts is an incredibly powerful way to generate a steady stream of traffic to your blog.
Tip #5: When in Doubt, Ask Your Readers
This final way of coming up with blog post ideas is the last one for a good reason: you’ll need some followers, readers, and traffic to do this.
If you’ve created some traffic and followers through social networks, why not just let the ideas come to you?
Here’s the deal: your followers are your most loyal readers. They know you the best out of all your blog visitors.
That said, you can use that connection to reach out to your followers. Post a brief tweet and ask what they’re struggling with right now. Or publish a short post on Facebook to find out what they want to learn more about.
Depending on the number of followers you have, you can receive a LOT of responses – so be prepared!
No matter how many replies you get, just keep in mind that with each piece of feedback you can be sure that you have a least one interested reader.
Read also: 5 Powerful Tools for Growing Your Blog Traffic
Final Thoughts: The Best Tools for Coming Up With Blog Post Ideas Quickly
How are you feeling? Did you already try some of the methods above?
Starting a successful blog is a big deal. You’re essentially starting an online business all by yourself. You’re doing the job of an entire team, being the manager, the accountant, the marketing specialist, and the customer service agent.
Needless to say, the last thing you want to waste your time with is trying to find blog post ideas. And more importantly, trying to find blog post ideas that don’t generate traffic!
What I want you to do next is to start using these methods one by one. For example, try the first method this month, the following one next month, etc.
See which methods work the best for you. If you want to, feel free to combine two methods into one or complement some methods with best practices you like to use.
The bottom line is: Whatever method you use to find blog post ideas, it has to be based on what your audience wants and needs.
5 Steps to Find Blog Post Ideas that Attract Massive Traffic:
To sum up the best way to find blog post ideas your readers want to know more about, just follow these five steps:
- Find out where your target audience spends their time (e.g. Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, discussion forums…)
- Use those platforms to build a presence for yourself
- Find out what your potential readers need and want
- Research existing blog posts and articles to find out what’s missing
- Create superior content that solves your readers’ problems and answers their questions
Alright, fellow blogger, now it’s your turn! Head out there and see what your audience wants to read!
Here are a couple of related posts you may want to read:
If you enjoyed this post on how to find blog post ideas, don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section!
P.S. If you found this article helpful, I’d appreciate if you shared it with others, too! Thanks so much!