Oct 8, 2015
How do I choose the right blog topic wisely?
Hi everyone,
I have started my blog where I share quality & easy to follow tips, tricks regarding blogging. I'm having trouble deciding what topic to blog about.
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Oct 9, 2015
Great question! A good starting point will be to get you and your staff to write down the top 5-10 most common questions asked of your company. This will help you start to write about what your audience is wanting to learn or hear about. From there, you can get more technical by finding the search volume of the exact phrases or keywords you are thinking about writing about so you can sculpt the perfect blog topics, titles, meta-tags etc... Google Keyword Tool is a free tool to use and there are also other paid services you can use for this like Inbound Writer which we incorporate with our Content Marketing firm for our clients. Best of luck in getting everything going.
Oct 10, 2015
Hi Fouzia!
Good question!
If I'm understanding your question in context, you're asking "how do I choose blog topics about 'blogging topics'"?
You may have answered your own question.
Assuming you already have experience, think back to when you first started blogging and ask yourself these questions:
• Did you know what a blog was?
• Did you question the value of a blog?
• Did you know the difference between a blog and a traditional website?
• Did you understand how a blog automates much of the process of keeping your content organized?
• Did you know the origin of the term "blog"?
• How did you decide which blogging platform to use?
• Share any mistakes you've made along the way, and provide tips how to avoid them.
The best thing you can do, getting started, is to keep your topics VERY simple, no matter how mundane or trivial they may seem to you. You were once a beginner blogger, simply share your experiences and you'll be surprised how well it is received.
Even experienced bloggers enjoy reading (and reminiscing) about the "early days".
Not knowing what you're ultimate purpose is for your blog, it's difficult to advise you any further. Maybe that's the next step. Clearly define the mission and goals for your blog, and take incremental steps to get there.
Just dive in and make some mistakes. And be prepared to learn from them.
Good luck!
Oct 8, 2015
In addition to the good advice already given: Look at the analytics for your blog and find those posts with the most traffic. Also find the posts that get the most comments, likes and shares. These are the topics and kind of content that your audience likes best so write posts that are related to them.
Also install a free plugin like Google Custom Search that reports on the most common searches people enter into the search box when visiting your blog. If there are common and frequent searches for phrases on topics that you're not posting on, this is another way to find out the kind of content people want to learn more about when they visit your blog.
Oct 9, 2015
All the other answers are fine for general content, but if you are looking to monetize a site, you have to go beyond topics the site needs to be about for SEO and the topics your potential visitors might want to read about.
You need a content creation plan that includes the topics that answer the questions your prospective readers/customers have when they are trying to make a decision about getting what you offer.
You also need to prioritize the keyword-based topics and that content for a number of things: which keywords/phrases convert most easily, which are more profitable short-term and long-term, which are easier/cheaper to drive traffic to, etc.
You can spend a ton of time creating content that does little or nothing toward any business goals. Doing this correctly also involves paying attention to conversions, testing to improve conversions and other related topics. But learning about all those things will make you a better business person, too.
If your content isn't or doesn't convert toward your business goals, you need to take a step back and analyze your target persona(s), the content you are feeding them, your traffic sources, what you are wanting them to do, your conversions and more.
Creating content with little thought toward these considerations is like getting in a sailboat and just floating around until you finally (hopefully) arrive somewhere - where is usually not where you wanted to go - or as quickly. It's not sailing just because you are in a sailboat, but it's a lot more effective when you use the vessel as it's intended.
Content marketing and/or marketing with content requires critical thinking, logic, analytics and analytical skills, observation, testing, business acumen, etc.
Set some targets and think through how best to achieve them by applying some of the above concepts as a start. As you do that you'll probably start seeing more opportunities to use content more strategically toward business goals.
You do need to create content for the sake of having content. But to not do it in a more focused/intentional/planned way is not optimizing your time and effort (much less getting the most from it).
Oct 12, 2015
Hi Fouzia,
I visited your website and you started doing it right. Just selecting topics and providing quality content and tips as you said - keep on that. Deciding on what topic to blog about, however, besides the great comments you already got, it is something that you have to do it more personal. You have to embrace your words with the beauty, sound and color they deserve and give live to the content you are about to share; and not only that, you have to find topics that are market targeted, inviting, and up to date. Most of the time people get so overwhelmed on what to blog about, or how frequently to do it, that they lose track of the reality and nature of the article... because it is not just about blogging as per se but about writing because you have a passion and knowledge that you cannot wait to tell others and potentials .
What is your intention?, what do you feel you know pretty well about and others will enjoy reading?, what purpose do you have for each article or post? There are different reasons we create blog post today: to entertain, building common ground, empower others, to share a experience, to sell, and to 'more things'. Just to give you hints on how to keep on track initially in order to free yourself, get comfortable, and let your hands express that what you want.
When we write while focusing on words counts, keywords & seo, and few statistical things, we then get so blocked and that doesn't translate nicely at the end. Let it go. Seat down and write with 2-3 words in mind depending on the purpose of your post. You don't have to necessarily replicate and do what others are doing, but to practice, write, learn and improve by time until you find a persona or style you know means you and your expertise. It takes time, but it is meaningful. Don't try to fit all people styles and writing formats, you will lose your passion easily.
One thing is a post with a bunch of keywords that maximize website hits and probably ranking, but the most important one is knowing that real visitors are reading your content. And people do read good content - and hire or buy from those writers.
Success to you.
Sol.
Oct 8, 2015
what are the topics that are would be of interest to your customers?
You want your content to achieve something. You want to increase your conversions – to put a direct value on the time invested in blogging.
The best way to find conversion-optimized topics is to consider your audience’s pain points:
What issues are they experiencing?
What do they want out of life that they haven’t achieved yet?
What do they think is holding them back?
Oct 8, 2015
Fouzia: Check out this article: http://techmasi.com/2015/08/08/most-popular-blog-topics/.
I also suggest looking at Facebook, Twitter, and search "trending now" topics for topics that have caught the public's interest at the moment.
Oct 8, 2015
I would use this great blog topic generator:
http://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator
Good Luck!
Oct 14, 2015
Isn't that a blog topic in and of itself?
I have always found it helpful to keep a running a list of topics as they come to me and then just take off the top when I'm feeling uninspired. Or brainstorm off of current trending topics -- this might create the added benefit of newsjacking if you come up with something good quickly.
Oct 14, 2015
A couple of things - what are you experiencing as top issues? The questions that are asked of you the most? Then what topics or tips do you see that are needed to be noted and explained? Who are you targeting?
You see, if you are targeting the small business entrepreneur, what is the age range you are targeting and from there - what are some of the things you have noticed that they are asking about or discussing?
Actually, I have a blog that is business tips and info for those out there - and frankly I put up all types of things that I find very interesting and beneficial - I have done several concerning colors - and images - and I do infographics - as that is a huge plus for many - yes, they can scroll on down and read the info that is below the infographic but the infographic is a tool that either gets them interested to learn more or not
I also use other bloggers infographics and promote them on my website - it is a win win as I don't have to create all of the content - but others are creating great content
So I would ask the purpose of your blog or site? And really just stick with that - the interesting thing is that I really promote quality and images - sometimes a video or two as well - and this gets people interested - I also have people email me and ask if they can post their infographic and info on my blog and I absolutely say yes.
I totally believe in promoting others and letting people know that I did not create this content but found this great info by xyz and link to their website, blog, Facebook or any other network that they would like me to.
For me personally, I go with what I find to be useful and beneficial - I am not trying to work within a certain target audience - that is only for this blog - my digital magazine and anything I do with that? That is targeted to the 16-25 year old - but my business blog isn't.
Hope this helps
Thank you Mr. Scott for sharing an informative link.