How Do You Come Up With Engaging Blog Topics Regularly?

Struggling to keep your blog fresh and captivating? We’ve gathered insights from fifteen prolific content creators, including copywriters and SEO specialists, to reveal their secrets. From mining online communities to researching trends and current events, discover how these experts come up with engaging blog topics regularly.

• Mine Online Communities for Topics
• Leverage Customer Research and Development
• Analyze Competitors’ High-Engagement Posts
• Observe Trends and Audience Motivations
• Scan Comments for Content Ideas
• Utilize Brainstorming and Audience Research
• Conduct Keyword Research for Topic Generation
• Find Viral Questions on Reddit
• Turn Customer Feedback Into Posts
• Address Basic Questions From Clients
• Create Content From Social Media Polls
• Immerse in Niche Social Media Groups
• Subscribe to Newsletters and Attend Webinars
• Monitor Audience Pain Points and Interests
• Research Trends and Current Events

Mine Online Communities for Topics

Mine online communities for topics that are relevant, interesting, and in demand. Reddit, Facebook groups, Slack channels, and review sites are great for this. Check in once a week around a broad topic or conversation, and write down a list of interesting tidbits, a trend, or even a great answer to a question you could post on your blog. Come back to your list when you’re ready to start your blog, and watch the ideas flow.

Caroline Voaden, B2B Copywriter, STORY. Copywriting

Leverage Customer Research and Development

Ongoing customer research and professional development always get my mind churning. Webinars, podcasts, industry trends, contrarian points of view, reviewing support tickets if possible, and/or talking to the support and sales teams are part of the process. Tools like SparkToro are useful for digging into audience research. Refining the Jobs-to-Be-Done for each ICP helps better target the motivations and concerns of the prospect. It’s all about focusing on the buyer and their motivations. There are always additional nuances you can explore.

 Jennifer Phillips April, Copywriter and Content Strategist , Write Words Marketing

Analyze Competitors’ High-Engagement Posts

If you’re finding it challenging to generate new content ideas for your blog, a useful strategy is to review recent posts from your competitors. This doesn’t mean you should duplicate your competitor’s entire blog post; rather, let their topics inspire you to create your own unique content. Adding your distinct perspective or brand’s voice makes your posts more impactful and original.

Tools like Ahrefs can further enhance this process by providing data on the content that drives the most organic traffic or clicks to your competitor’s sites. Simply search their domain and look at their top pages. This will give you a clear understanding of which topics resonate most with their audience. Focus on the articles that have high engagement, whether it’s through comments, shares, or views.

High-performing pages indicate strong interest from readers, and you can leverage this by crafting your own content on similar subjects. Remember to add value by providing additional insights, updates, or unique perspectives that differentiate your blog from theirs.

Tristan Harris, Demand Generation Senior Marketing Manager, Thrive Digital Marketing Agency

Observe Trends and Audience Motivations

Be a keen listener and observer. Pay attention to what people discuss on social media and in everyday settings like grocery stores or concerts. Watch the trends: what are they spending money on, where do they hang out, and what hobbies are they into? Understanding their interests and emotional motivations will enhance your blog topics and engagement.

Use tools like Google Trends, social media analytics, and keyword research to identify popular and emerging topics. Understanding your audience’s interests and emotional motivations, combined with data-driven insights, will boost your blog content and engagement.

Amanda Catarzi Hengst, Copywriter, Inkery Co.

Scan Comments for Content Ideas

I have a pretty simple strategy for this: I join Facebook groups that cover the topic of websites, I follow creators on YouTube from the same topical space, then regularly scan comments and discussions. This is a gem, as you can literally find 10 good content ideas to cover in less than 15 minutes. Somebody will surely ask a good question, or comment on one with an interesting angle. For me, this has worked very well in the tech-guides niche lately, but I have also used this for a travel blog with good success.

Ionut-Alexandru Popa, Editor in Chief and CEO, BinaryFork

Utilize Brainstorming and Audience Research

Coming up with engaging blog topics can be challenging, but I’ve found several strategies to keep my content fresh and interesting. Here are some ideas:

• Unconventional Brainstorming – I use mind maps, free writing, or even play word association games to spark new ideas.
• Trending Topics – I research current events and hot topics in my niche.
• Personal Experiences – I share my own successes, failures, and insights.
• Competitor Analysis – I look at what topics my competitors are covering and find new angles.
• Audience Research – I conduct surveys, polls, or ask my readers directly what they want to read.

Nikhil Sharma, SEO Specialist, Wavel AI

Conduct Keyword Research for Topic Generation

Coming up with engaging blog topics is easy if you know how to use search engine optimization tools. My team and I often do keyword research related to my industry to help in the idea-generation process. After I have a general topic in mind, I use tools like SEM Rush or SE Ranking to check search volume and keyword research to make sure that my topics are worth writing about.

This helps give me the “bones” of the article and helps me understand what people are interested in learning, so I can fully form my idea. Some ideas are more difficult to implement than others, but if I see “low-hanging fruit” with low competition, I’m sure to focus on those articles first. I keep a running spreadsheet of keyword research and always have plenty of articles I can write at any time that inspiration strikes.

Matt Wilson, CEO, Under30Experiences

Find Viral Questions on Reddit

I use Reddit to see what’s viral and trending since it has a massive user base. I look for popular questions with a lot of engagement related to my niche and use them to find topics and content for my blog posts. By answering these questions, I can craft relevant content. With so many questions being asked on Reddit, it’s hard to run out of things to write about.

AL Tran, Realtor, Blogger, Author, DS Inspire

Turn Customer Feedback Into Posts

One of the ways we come up with content is by analyzing the questions and feedback we receive from our customers through emails, onboarding interviews, or social media comments. We turn the most frequently asked questions or common concerns into blog posts.

The other way we get content ideas is by using Google’s search features. The “People Also Ask” section and, recently, the “Things to Know” section have related queries that can easily help you become a topical authority. Don’t forget the autofill suggestions. When you look closely, you’ll find some content gems.

Online communities like Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn Groups are also great sources of our content ideas. We follow the discussions and questions being asked, then create blog content that addresses these interests.

Elsie Achieng, Director of Paid Media, Reactionpower

Address Basic Questions From Clients

As a freelance writer and blogger, I get my blog topics from questions asked by my clients or other writers. Having been in my niche for over eight years, it’s easy to forget what I didn’t know when I started my career. Things like writing, SEO, digital marketing, and branding come easily to me, but these are tough topics for others, especially new entrepreneurs or clients who don’t deal with digital marketing on a daily basis like I do.

My advice: no topic is too basic or mundane to cover. Content should help and inspire others, so never take for granted all the little nuggets of wisdom and facts you’ve collected over the years.

Alli Hill, Founder and Director, Fleurish Freelance

Create Content From Social Media Polls

What we have been doing lately is posting polls on our social media handles, where our clients and followers can pick their answers, and with that data, we create content surrounding it. This interactive approach not only helps us understand what our audience is interested in but also encourages engagement and fosters a sense of community. By analyzing the poll results, we can prioritize topics that are relevant and timely, ensuring our content resonates well with our readers. This method also provides endless inspiration, as our audience’s preferences and interests constantly evolve, giving us fresh ideas to explore and develop.

David Rubie-Todd, Co-Founder & Marketing Head, Sticker It

Immerse in Niche Social Media Groups

As a filmmaker, creative writer, blogger, and YouTuber, my best tip for content creators is simply to immerse yourself in the world of the topic that you create content on. I belong to several Facebook groups for writers and filmmakers, and I follow current trends on YouTube and social media.

I pay attention to the questions that people are asking on these social media channels, as this is such a fantastic way to find content ideas! If people have these questions on social media, that usually means they can’t find a great answer yet on Google or on the blogs they follow. Staying current with trends and interacting with beginners in my niche are my best tips for finding ideas for new content.

Neil Chase, Writer & Filmmaker, Neil Chase Film

Subscribe to Newsletters and Attend Webinars

Subscribing to industry-specific newsletters and attending webinars or conferences keeps me updated on the latest trends and developments. For example, a recent webinar on AI in e-commerce sparked an idea for a blog series on the integration of AI in customer service.

Direct interaction with clients and audience feedback from previous blog posts also play a vital role. If multiple clients express concerns about a particular topic, it signals a need for a deeper exploration through a dedicated blog post.

Additionally, using analytical tools to monitor which content performs best helps in refining future topics. For instance, a high engagement rate on a post about optimizing checkout processes might lead me to explore related subtopics, such as payment security or reducing cart abandonment. Regularly setting aside time for creative breaks and brainstorming with my team ensures a continuous flow of fresh, relevant content ideas.

Valentin Radu, CEO & Founder, Blogger, Speaker, Podcaster, Omniconvert

Monitor Audience Pain Points and Interests

I stay hyper-tuned into our audience’s pain points, questions, and interests through monitoring blog comments, social media conversations, keyword research, and analytics data on our most popular existing posts. I also deploy surveys and directly poll our readers about the finance and career topics they most want us to cover. This constant feedback loop ensures we’re creating content with built-in demand.

Additionally, I make it a priority to immerse myself in the latest industry news, trends, and research studies. This allows me to spot timely angles to cover breaking personal finance stories from a unique perspective tailored for millennials. Capitalizing on viral moments and tying our expertise back to trending topics is a powerful way to attract new readers. By combining audience insights with opportunistic newsjacking, I’m able to develop an editorial calendar stocked with engaging, traffic-worthy blog concepts.

Brian Meiggs, Founder, My Millennial Guide

Research Trends and Current Events

To regularly come up with engaging blog topics, we focus on researching both long-term trends and current events. Exploring long-term trends, such as creating helpful resources, ensures we deliver valuable and evergreen content. Simultaneously, staying on top of current events and industry-relevant stories that are already attracting attention keeps our content timely and interesting.

Enhancing the brainstorming process involves categorizing potential topics into various themes, including services, features, industry insights, demographic-focused content, common problems and their solutions, alternatives, and comparisons of different tools and approaches. Additionally, sharing findings from relevant studies, explaining industry terminology, and compiling resource packs can provide depth and variety to our content. This structured yet flexible approach ensures we consistently generate fresh, relevant, and engaging topics that resonate with our audience.

Ryan Meghdies, Founder, Tastic Marketing