When you’re fresh out of ideas for blog posts, newsletter articles, or other content, you can always head over to your favorite search engine, put in some keywords related to your field, and see what people, a.k.a. prospective clients, are searching for.
Not only will you get ideas for your next blog post or article, you can use the same search terms they use, or a variation thereof, in your title or subject.
The subjects they search for, the questions they ask, can not only provide you with subjects to write about, but search traffic to your blog or article.
You can wing it and see what comes up, or use a more methodical method:
Type a keyword in the search field, press the spacebar, type the letter “a”, and you’ll get 10 search results (on Google) in the drop-down menu. Copy these and search again using the same keyword and the letter “b”.
You can go through the entire alphabet and get more results. You can then type in keyword phrases instead of single words and go through the process again.
And then, if you want even more results, choose a different keyword (or phrase) and search again.
30 minutes of searching and you’ll have more topics than you can shake a stick at.
But there’s more. . .
On the Google search results page, look for the “People Also Ask” section. You’ll see questions related to your search term. Grab some of those questions and answer them in your next post.
Then, scroll down to the bottom of the search results page and look for the “Related Searches” section. Yep, even more ideas.
You can also use the “Google Trends” tool to find more current or newsworthy (trending) ideas.
But you’re not limited to using dusty old search engines to find ideas. Now you can use one of the many AI tools that are popping up everywhere.
This morning, I asked one of those AI Chabots, “What are some ways to get ideas for blog posts other than using google?” It gave me several suggestions:
- Look at your competitor’s blogs, “to see what topics they are covering. this can give you ideas for new topics, or inspire you to approach a topic from a different angle.”
- Ask your readers what they would like to see or see more of. Use a poll, email, social media, “or by simply asking for feedback in a blog post”.
- Peruse social media popular posts or hashtags to see what people are asking or talking about.
- Attend industry events (to learn the latest trends and news in your niche and write about those subjects).
- Use tools like BuzzSumo, Feedly, or Pocket to see what’s being covered.
And that was just a few results from asking a very general question.
You can ask these bots much more specific questions that elicit more detailed responses related to your field and your target market.
Ask it what estate planning subjects are popular with people in your area who now work from home. Ask it to tell you the questions burn victims typically ask when they’re looking for an attorney who specializes in this field. Ask it to tell you which market sectors are more likely to buy or sell commercial real estate in the next few years.
And if it doesn’t give you enough information, or specific enough information, ask follow-up questions until it does.
My favorite part: unlike simple search engines, these bots remember what you previously asked, and the answers it provided, which means you can carry on a conversation with it and get better results.
Don’t rely completely on anything it tells you, of course. Use the results you get as a starting point—ideas to research and write about.
More ideas than you could ever use.
