How to Generate Content Ideas (5 Useful Ways)

November 24, 2021

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Thinking of and coming up with creative and valuable content ideas is not a simple task. It’s still essential for growth in traffic and Google’s ranking.

Some ways that Google decides that your website is a significant source would be if it’s frequently updated, rising traffic if it has longer session durations, and higher click-through rates.

This is exactly why social media content highly matters, as it has the power to attract media traffic and keep them there.

However, making out ideas takes time, and you may often face a wall. Here is a strategic plan for how to generate content ideas.

How to Generate Content Ideas

Start with your audience in mind.
Create a list of keywords
Add ideas in bunches.
Ask your readers
Research your competitors
Follow trends
Start with your audience in mind.

Now, this might seem obvious, but it’s pretty essential.

Your content should ultimately depend on your audience. As one thing to keep in mind is that there is no such topic that interests everyone.

Once you know who you’re writing to, understand what they are like, how they speak, and how they communicate, it will undoubtedly be easier to address what they want to hear.

You will know what to write about and how to write about it, as great content always focuses on its target audience.

Another mistake that is repeatedly seen on the internet is egocentric content.

It’s content that plays with the creator’s interest. Content that you find interesting, in your words and your level of expertise, solving your problems and answering your questions. Now, unless you’re writing for your complete clone, this type of writing just won’t do.

You should put yourself in your viewers’ shoes and see what exactly they want. This can become easier with the help of some questions you should ask yourself.

What questions do they have for your industry or niche?
What exactly are they struggling with?
What problems can you help them solve?
What should they be aware of especially?
What exactly are their challenges?
What do they want to know on the interweb?
Are there any specific blogs or websites that they frequently visit?
Are there any groups, memberships, or forums that they’re a part of?

It’s a good idea to gather this information and structure it into one or more marketing personas you will come back to.

Create a list of keywords

Once you’ve got enough information about your niche, audience, and understanding of their user intent, then you can start building a list of keywords to come into use in your content.

Something that helps a lot with content strategy and keyword research is using a keyword planner, and keep in mind what exactly are you selling?

Add ideas in bunches

When you’re ready to sit down and brainstorm content, don’t just do it while sitting randomly, as that’s just a waste of time and ultimately inefficient.

You create long lists of potential content with the help of your keywords while researching the subjects for more ideas.

Once you’re thinking, get enough ideas for at least a month or two. And if you’re aiming for three times a week. So you should aim for at least 12 to 24 new ideas.

Sometimes you might surprise yourself by even coming up with 50 ideas at a time.

When your mind focus on one task, it becomes much, much easier to brainstorm. But, of course, you need to come up with the ideas first and perfect the names later on.

This strategy will make it easier for you to come out with content. Then, you just have to choose a topic from the list and start writing.

Ask your readers

Before turning to the technical tools, why don’t you use a little common sense and find the answer at the source, the audience?

You could simply go on your social media platform and post a pole or a question about what your readers would like to see. Like “What type of content would you like us to share,” if you already have an idea, then you can also send a poll with a couple of options so the audience can vote.

You can post it on your profile, in groups, or Instagram or Facebook stories.

Alternatively, you can post the question on your blog or your email list as well.

On a final note, don’t forget to search in places where you’re already talking with your readers. For example, go through customer service surveys, interactions on other social media, FAQs, and Q & As. Once you analyze your customer touch points systematically, you’ll be amazed at what kind of intel you can uncover.

As you’re gathering your information, consider audience intent as well because simply knowing what topics your readers are interested in will only get you so far.

Research your competitors

If you’re not sure about what to write about, then look at your competitors’ blogs. This is one of the best ideas to come up with content ideas in bunches.

Now, I’m not talking about stealing, but there is nothing wrong with looking at their titles and concepts for idea generation. I’m talking about going through your competitors’ posts and starting writing topics you haven’t covered yet.

In this method, you actually have an even better advantage because you can try to take their topic and make it even better. So, for example, if they have a post about a top ten list, you take it as inspiration and make it a whole post with 15 lists.

Besides topics, you can also look at other such aspects of their blog.

Follow trends

To make absolutely sure that you’re focusing on the right keywords on your content ideas, put a few types of variations of those keywords into Google Trends.

This will also make sure that your ideas are all up to date and help get more traffic.