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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Feb 22, 2020
This research article helped me to decide on the topic of my blog: https://ivypanda.com/essays/blogging-tips-guru/. But I also see much good advice here already, so I think it will be easier to decide for you.
Jul 3, 2019
It is indeed a challenging issue to identify the precise topic. To simplify this task, I used the method of bordering. Your blog, most likely, has a particular intended function. So, before identifying the topic try to list all the “must-have” options for your blog conception. For, example:
1. My blog should be the source of the best insights
2. It carries the function of education or just sharing the best practice
So, when you are ready to write about something just verify the draft of your idea with the list of criteria. You will see clearly whether a taken topic is consonant with the overall blog’s conception or it should be modified or you should find the other more suitable one.
Jun 19, 2019
I think for all content-based blogging, a little research will help you get the right answer. Determine first, who is your target audience and what is a trending topic within that target base. Your audience will always care about something happening in the real world that is impacting them and as a blogger, you should always be ready to take such opportunities to put forward content that they can relate to. This will help you connect better with your audience and allow a more engaging relationship with them.
In short, your topics should be representative of the recent trending interest within your target audience for them to trust and value your content more than that of others.
Jun 18, 2019
Start by sharing your personal experience.
For example;
If you had difficulty installing a plugin in the past, and you were finally able to install it - share this problem and how you were able to solve it.
You can go on and on doing this.
Jun 18, 2019
Hi Fouzia
First of all, congrats on your blog-venture. I have a few tips for you. Let us explore them together.
LEARN ABOUT PROBLEMS
Since your blog is about blogging, it may help to consider what your audience wants from you. This means you must research because the topic isn't going to drop on your lap. You need to find out problems people face regarding blogging and how you can solve them. Consider observing conversations of people regarding the subject. You can start off by visiting social media channels, groups, forums or Twitter chats.
READ INFLUENCER ARTICLES
Reading is of course a must for everyone but you, as a blogger, need to read the right stuff to get what you want and to save time for writing. Look at the articles on blogging by influencers of the industry. Visit their blogs and social media or read the books they have written for ideas for your own blog.
FOCUS ON KEYWORDS
Instead of creating a topic you think your readers will like, work in reverse and create from what your readers search for on search engine. Here is a small activity for you: visit a search engine and type in the phrase “how to blog” and you will see Google predict searches for you. Well, this is too basic. So use tools to help you work on long-tail keywords regarding blogging to help you derive topic ideas.
Hope these tips help you.
Cheers!
May 8, 2019
Thanks for asking. I believe that it is best to choose a topic that is close to you, in which you are best understood and you can, if anything, give advice to others. It doesn't matter what it is. After all, on any topic there is a certain demand in the network, the main thing is to really understand what you are writing about. So choose the topic that you like best and go ahead.
Mar 2, 2017
You can take multiple approaches here, none of which are mutually exclusive:
- Keyword planning. Use free analytics tools to research the popularity of keywords relevant to your niche, then build topics around high-performance keywords with which you're comfortable. Keep in mind that more popular keywords are likely to be more competitive - you're not immediately going to soar to the top of the SERPs (search engine results pages) simply because you write a great post on a super-popular topic.
- SEO tools. Use a free or paid SEO tool or backend plugin to optimize your titles. (Yoast is a popular WordPress plugin. Not an endorsement; there are plenty of others.) These tools won't generate topics for you, but they can help posts take shape if you're stuck.
- Keep a list of potential topics. The world is your topic generator. Whenever inspiration strikes, jot down a few notes so you'll remember. I personally use my email suite's reminders feature - somehow, it works. Go through your list periodically and select topics that you'll actually write about based on their perceived relevance to your audience and their alignment with your near, medium, and long-term business goals.
- Solicit feedback and input from your audience. If your readership is engaged already, ask them (via social media, your blog's comments, etc) for topics they want to read about. You'll get some off-the-wall responses, to be sure, but probably some gems too.
- Look at others. It's not a crime to research your competitors. Look for ideas on competing (or complementary) blogs and websites. Check community resources like the question-and-answer boards here - if you think you can produce better answers, submit brief answers here, then post more in-depth responses to your blog.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Jan 25, 2016
If you started a blog, you'd obviously have a theme of sorts? That theme decides the topics for your blog. Just google your theme and there you have it. There will be some other keywords that Google will suggest, using which you can come up with your own topics. Blog topics are really not all that difficult to determine. Staying abreast of industry or niche-related developments will help you choose the topics that your audience may be interested in.
Ask yourself, "What do readers of my blog want to know about?" Make a short list of such things and pretty soon you'll have a long queue of topics waiting to be written on!
If you need services of professional writers or editors, get in touch with webwrit.com. They have native-user proficiency and are affordable, at once.
Oct 18, 2015
Blog about your passion...then the topics will flow easily. If you aren't passionate about something, blogging is a pain and will usually die. Blogging is not easy...but it is much easier when you are passionate about your topic.
Create a "Content Map" which is something I use all the time with clients. It helps keep you on track and will give you some organization to what you are talking about. Focus and passion work the best...
Oct 15, 2015
I had the same question when I started my blog. I was given the following advice and it seems to work.
Even prior to picking topics ensure that you have a passion for this. Ensure that this is the direction you wish to take your business.
I was advised to focus on a major topic. Mine was Supply Chain. Then pick a sub-topic. Mine was Risks involved in Supply Chains. I researched and found there to be 20 sub-topics for me to blog about.
It will take you some time but do the research and due diligence and you will find topics to blog about on a weekly basis.
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
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 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 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 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 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 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 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
I would use this great blog topic generator:
http://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator
Good Luck!
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.
Good point. Experience counts and writing about it will make you more credible. You can write about the problems you faced and how you tackled them. Each problem and its solution can be a separate post. You can also bouquet a single blog post with a bunch of similar problems.