Running a blog isn’t easy, and perhaps one of the hardest parts of maintaining a successful and ongoing blog is continually coming up with exciting and unique ideas to blog about.
Being creative on the spot is challenging, and even more so when the ideas must fit certain criteria in order to be relevant and popular. It’s no secret that coming up with blog topics can be a challenge, but fortunately there are some tips and tricks that can be used to make the process easier.
All bloggers should have a blog topic brainstorming process, according to Neil Patel. Creative ideas must be stimulated in some way, and having a brainstorming process is one of the best ways to do this. For those who can’t afford to wait for their next great idea, using brainstorming techniques can be an effective way of coming up with creative ideas on-demand.
It’s important to establish a formal and structured brainstorming process for moments lacking inspiration. You must be able to consciously consider what your customers and readers want from you, and you must be able to come up with ideas that are unique and now.
There are a number of structured brainstorming activities that can be done in order to stimulate creativity. One of the most popular is setting a timer, and writing down as many potential blog topics as possible before the timer runs out. This can be done with the team, and is an effective way to stimulate creativity in a short period of time.
Once the topics have been written down during the exercise, it’s time for the team to decide which ideas are valuable, and which can be passed on. The potential blog topics should be ranked from poor to excellent, and those in the excellent column should be pursued first.
It’s important to narrow down to the top 10 ideas that were listed, which can be done by answering some basic questions:
- Does your post solve a problem, and if so which one? Also, does the post answer a question, and if so which one?
- From what perspective would this post be written?
- What are some potential headlines that could work with this post?
Coming up with good blog topics only happens after you understand the key indicators for strong blog topics. You must first understand what makes a good blog topic so good, before you can begin to come up with other ideas that rival it. Strong blog topics share similar characteristics:
- Unique
- Fits the audience’s interests
- Fits within your expertise
- Can be done better than anyone else by you
You must be able to write about a strong blog topic better than anyone else in your field in order to stand out from the rest. If you’re working in a team, it can be relatively simple to determine which blog topics our best, however those working alone will face their own roadblocks.
Those working alone will need to alter their creative process a little bit. Because you are not relying on the input of others, you must be able to look at your ideas from an objective and critical perspective in order to truly put your best foot forward. It can be tempting to believe that all of your ideas are the best ideas, but some objective insight they show that some of your ideas are far better than others.
Whether you are working alone or on a team, there are some tips that everyone can Implement when practicing their own creative brainstorming process:
- It’s important not to overthink about your topic propositions. Just say whatever comes to your mind first, and criticize it at a later stage. It may be better than you first believed.
- Come up with as many ideas as possible first, and narrow them down to the true gems of the group. Quality is more important than quantity in the end, however it’s important to get a large number of initial ideas in order to come up with the best final product.
- Track the progress of your brainstorming process. Keep a calendar that shows milestones you may have made, as well as any growth you may see after utilizing this process. If it looks like it is working, continue using the process as long as it does its job.
- Learn to accept that not all of your ideas are the best ideas. While you may have been proud about a certain idea or another, there is no reason to get upset or take it personally if your ideas are not chosen as part of the final decision.
Part of creating good content for a blog is creating content that will rank highly in search engines such as Google. While you may have the expertise to write a novel in one field or another, there is no need to blog about this if no one is searching for it. It’s important to write about content people are searching for in your niche, therefor keyword research prior to completing any brainstorming process is absolutely necessary.
Learn what your customers are looking for when they visit your site. Discover what it is that they want to leave with after they have visited your site. Answer any questions it looks like they may have from your keyword searches, and offer insight into any other searches that are being made.
Essentially, the idea is to keep your content on point with what people are searching for. Keep it relevant to the theme and niche of your blog, but also tailor it to the interests of your audience.
