Struggling to come up with blog post ideas? With these easy tips, you will never run out of ideas again. You will also learn how to organize your ideas to make content creation easier.
The other day I was having coffee with some local blogger friends. The question of how many posts you should write a week came up. While this is a topic I will touch on more later it did bring up another question that I want to answer today, how do you keep coming up with blog post ideas?
I have to laugh about this question because I have more ideas than time. This is a good problem to have though. I’m never sitting around wondering what blog post I should write.
I have a system I use for coming up with ideas and then keeping those ideas organized for when I’m ready to write them. I shared a bit about this with my friends at the meeting and I wanted to fill you in as well. I also can share a lot more details here than just over a cup of coffee.
How to Always Have Blog Post Ideas
1. Read a lot about your topics
One thing that will really help you keep coming up with good ideas is to read a lot. I always have ideas come to me while reading books, magazines, blogs, and online articles. You don’t want to steal ideas but often someone else’s ideas will spark something new for you.
A post I wrote about burnout was inspired by reading an article about following your passion. I liked a lot of ideas in the articles but I felt it fell short in pointing out that just following a passion wasn’t a cure for stress and burnout.
If you want to inspire others you need to be inspired as well. Consider even re-reading some old favorites on topics you write about. You never know what may spark an idea. Just be sure to keep a notebook nearby to keep your ideas in.
2. Listen to Your Friends
Pay attention to the questions your friends are asking you. If your friends are asking these questions its likely people are searching for these answers online as well. Your friends think you are a good person to ask so there is likely a good reason for that.
My friends are always shocked to find out I don’t have a microwave. I get so many questions about how I do different tasks without a microwave. After answering these questions a lot I decided to write a blog post about it. Guess what? I do have people end up on my blog searching for how to live without a microwave.
And of course, this post was inspired by a bloggers’ coffee meeting. I will likely be getting a lot of post ideas for this blog from those meetings!
Next time a friend asks you a question think to yourself “are others likely wondering this as well?” If the answer is yes then write that post and share your knowledge.
3. Use Pinterest
I want to stress again that you shouldn’t steal ideas. That’s not nice, can get you into trouble, and doesn’t serve your audience well. However, just like reading things you see on Pinterest may spark new ideas.
I will often see a recipe and think of a similar but different idea. Or I will see an everyday craft and think of a way I can make it a Christmas related craft for my Christmas blog.
Maybe someone will share a simple quote and that will spark an idea, you really never know. Getting inspiration from other bloggers is great, just be original and authentic.
When you do get ideas from other bloggers if possible link to their post in your post. This is a great way to share some love with another blogger and let others see why that post inspired you.
Be sure to let that blogger know you linked to them and they inspired you. They may even share your post helping you spread the word of your new post. We all benefit from helping each other.
4. Do Keyword Research
A really great way to build some SEO and get ideas is to look at what keywords you are already ranking for. I use SEMRush for this but you can also use Keysearch if you need a cheaper option.
When you find the keywords you are ranking for think if you can write similar posts with similar but different keywords. For example, I was ranking well for Easy Instant Pot Dump Meals so I searched to see if there was another Instant Pot keyword I should write a post targeting. I found that Instant Pot Pork Loin Recipes was a pretty good keyword to target so I did a post on those.
I also know for my blog Retro Housewife Goes Green that I rank well for several keywords related to the 1950s. Google sees me as an expert on this topic so when I write posts about the 1950s I usually rank pretty quickly. That tells me I need to write more, plus my readers love those posts so it’s a win-win.
5. Ask Your Readers
At least once a year I survey my readers to find out what they like about my blog and what they would like to see changed. This is a great way to come up with ideas.
You can also just ask on your social media pages, I do this from time to time as well. Either way getting feedback from your readers is always important.
Organize Your Blog Post Ideas
Once you are starting to get a lot of ideas it can be overwhelming to just once one long list. My method is not fancy, it’s very simple but it works for me.
I have a word document on my computer with each category I use on my blog under each category is all of the ideas I have for posts about that topic. I will make notes if I need to. One thing I like to note is if it’s a post I think I could pitch to a brand to sponsor.
I also have a Pinterest folder with pins that have sparked ideas. I add notes to those as well so I remember what idea was sparked. That works out well when I want to be sure to link back to the blog I got inspired by.
You could also use Airtable and create a spreadsheet with your ideas if you want to be fancy and even more organized. When I know what date I want to write the blog post I do add it to my Airtable blog post spreadsheet but I have so many ideas now it would be a bit overwhelming to have them all in the spreadsheet.
You could also use a notebook if you are more of a pen and paper type of person. Just make sure to organize them by category so you can try and keep a good mix on your site.
If you try these things and still struggle to come up with ideas you may have picked the wrong niche or maybe it’s just a bit to narrow. Consider changing your niche or making it a little bit broader. See if that helps you be more creative.
You also may just be burned out and need a bit of a break. Step away for a bit and do somethings to help you reset. This may bring ideas flooding into your brain!
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