10 tricks and tools for developing blog content ideas

Blogs have been around for 30 years. Originally an online diary, the blog is now a professional tool for building brand awareness, converting leads, engaging customers, and increasing SEO results. Nine out of 10 content marketers rely on blogs, and more than two million blog entries are posted every day. Where do all of those blog content ideas come from?

Many ideas sprout from SEO keywords, the language that Google uses to rank search results. Brainstorming blog content ideas should take keywords into account in order to drive organic traffic to your website. After all, a clever or original idea isn’t useful if no one finds it. On the flip side, an idea that checks all of the analytical boxes but lacks purpose will fall flat.

Whether you’re writing blogs in-house or collaborating with an inbound marketing team, you’ll need regular inspiration to feed the blog beast. These analytical and creative resources will jumpstart the process. 

Unearth a goldmine of techniques for generating your next blog topic with an AI-powered tool that brainstorms angles on a provided topic. AI resources for content marketing range from basic title generators to sophisticated article writers. 

Often, title generation is free, and further services, including writing and advanced SEO statistics, are offered to premium subscribers. Here are a few easy-to-use blog title generators.

• Hubspot: Provides five blog titles and keywords, and many reworded options for each title.
• Hootsuite: Suggests three blog titles for free and additional titles for a charge. Available in six languages.
• SemRush: Offers dozens of titles according to geographic location and separates suggestions by blog type, such as how-to’s, question-and-answer, and listicles. 
• Portent: Gives unlimited titles with a quirky, catchy attitude and breaks it down strategically. It’s simple, fun and educational. 
• Answer the Public: Uses a fun graphic interface to suggest specific questions users are asking about a given topic, with extra metrics like search volume and cost per click.

Keyword research finds the most popular search terms about a given topic. By forming blog content ideas around top keywords, you’re prioritizing what people want to know over what you want to talk about.

Keyword analysis can be complex and Google is constantly tweaking its ranking algorithm, but in general, a good keyword has these characteristics:

• A healthy monthly search volume (MSV): A good rule of thumb is 500 to 1,000 keyword searches per month
• Low difficulty score: This metric gauges the competition for ranking highly on search engine results pages (SERPs) for the given keyword. Choose one with a low to moderate difficulty score.
• Regional interest: If you rely on local customers, filter the keyword research by location.
• Search intent: Google factors the searcher’s assumed intent into its ranking results, considering each search term navigational, informational, commercial, and/or transactional. A buying guide (a shopping angle) should use a commercial keyword. Product news (educational) should include an informational term.

Structuring blog ideas around popular keywords ensures the blog post matches top Google searches and boosts your search-result ranking as a result. Use keywords as a starting point for ideation, or to focus a broad topic on specific terms that your target audience is searching for.

Content marketers rely on these go-to keyword finders:

• Google Trends: Shows the popularity of any keyword over time, provides related search terms, compares the popularity of two keywords, and narrows a search by region.
• Semrush Keyword Magic Tool: Analyzes the best keywords for your specific domain name and provides advanced metrics.
• Google search: A standard Google search includes a list of related search terms at the bottom of the first page. Those terms can provide direction for a blog idea.

All’s fair in business and blogging. Researching your biggest competition’s high-performing topics provides valuable marketing insight. 

Using a competition keyword analyzer, type in a website and you’ll see the keywords for which the site ranks highly and you don’t—also called a keyword or content gap. Then you can build blog content ideas around those keywords.

Moz, Semrush, and Ahrefs are well-regarded SEO tools that include competitor keyword analyzers. Some data are free, while extensive reports are available for purchase. 

Prefer a less analytical brainstorming method? Mind mapping is a structured technique for organizing free-flowing ideas and information around a central topic. 

The technique can be used solo or in a small group setting, with one person assigned as the mapper.

To give it a try, start with your last few blog topics and create a mind map around each one. Try a mind-mapping tool like FreeMind or MindMup.

Artificial intelligence bots are dramatically redefining content marketing strategy. Two-thirds of small businesses and marketers are using AI writing tools, and 45 percent of them turn to it for generating blog content ideas. Here are a few ways you can tap into AI tools for marketing tools, like ChatGPT or Jasper, to generate blog content ideas.

• Ask for a blog post title on a topic, like “inground versus above-ground pools”
• Request a way to link unrelated keywords, like “financial advice” and “seniors” 
• Have the AI write a full article on a topic and use a piece of it for inspiration. 
• Continue any of the conversations above by asking for an unusual or creative way to address the topic.

Audiences love video clips, and they work—82% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a video. Hubspot reports that video content will see the most growth in marketing in 2024. 

You can build a blog post around an embedded Youtube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Vimeo, or TikTok video that you post on your business’s channel. Where to get ideas for video content? Search your favorite video platform for examples of these common and creative approaches:

• Day in the life at your business
• Product tutorial
• Unboxing
• Customer testimonial
• Solve a common customer problem
• Blog post recap (a written post summarized in video form)
• List of tips
• User-generated content

Look at your own performance history. Can a popular post be updated or expanded? Can you springboard off a comment and continue the conversation with your customers, or answer the frequently asked questions in the comments? 

Use keywords and topics from your highest-performing posts to generate similar content blog ideas with a new twist. You might simply update the information and links, change the headline and target keyword with fresh SEO data, and rephrase some copy. Or you might write a new post on the latest iteration of that same topic. 

Webby Awards recognize the gold standard of digital content. Browse the winners of the Business Blog Websites category to see what the best of the best are doing with their branded content.

Red Bull, Dove, and Nike all have leading-edge blogs worth perusing for inspiration. Yes, they have big budgets, but blog content ideas like the review of the latest podcast episode or brand-sponsored events are scalable to small businesses, too.

What are your customers talking about? That’s what they will be Googling.

To become a fly on the wall to hot topics, dip into social media. Join or monitor a conversation to see what’s on people’s minds. Look for accounts from these niches of your industry.

• Professional associations
• Industry publications and journalists
• Influencers
• Major conferences and events
• Customer affinity groups

The buyer’s journey is a three-step process that customers subconsciously go through before making a purchase. The steps are awareness, consideration, and decision.

Each stage can inspire a blog content idea. 

• Awareness encompasses product news, tutorials, thought leadership, and common problems a customer is trying to solve.
• Consideration touches on educational topics, like how the product is used, competitive edges, and comparison guides.
• Decision targets convincing factors, like a promotion, free shipping, and testimonials. 

Let’s brainstorm together

Whether you’re using a blog to establish expertise, build brand awareness, or connect with customers, TBH Creative can help with innovative, data-backed solutions to align your content with your goals. We look forward to optimizing the power of your blog to boost your marketing strategy.