24 Simple Ways to find Great Blog Topics for your Content Plan
“I'm driven to go out and find new things to write about” - David Baldacci
Jeez, that feeling when you sit down at your computer and you have no idea what to write a blog post on…
It really does suck!
When you first start a blog, everything is all over the place.
You’re trying to get your bearings, learn a ton of stuff and do all these things that you gotta get done.
And you’re doing it all around kids, laundry and sleep deprivation 🙁
Then comes the time when you need to sit down and write a post because, without blog posts, you have no blog!
But you don’t need to freak out lovely as by the end of this post, you’ll have plenty of inspiration and places to go to find tons of blog post ideas…
So, shall we start and find out the 24 simple ways to find great blog topics for your content…
“This post does contain affiliate links throughout and if you make a purchase using one of my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you”
Why it’s important to post on your blog regularly
First off, before we get into where you can find blog post ideas, I want to talk quickly about why you need to be posting on your blog regularly.
This is super important because the only way you’re going to grow your blog is by being consistent with publishing posts!
I want to let you in on a secret – I made this mistake MASSIVELY with this blog you’re reading now.
I purchased the domain for Blogging for Mums at the end of 2018 and didn’t start really posting (and I mean really being consistent with posting) until December 2021…
Yes, I added lots of blog posts, but they were sporadic, months apart and I wasn’t really “being there” for my blog so to speak.
This didn’t do me any good when it came to getting blog traffic either.
The point I want to make here is that consistency is KEY and without posting on your blog regularly, you’re not giving yourself (or your blog) the best chance at becoming successful.
So why is it so important to publish posts regularly:
More posts on your blog means more indexing in the search engines. The more posts you have, the further the search reach goes. Every new page you add is another page that can be indexed.
The more posts, the more opportunities you have to share your expertise and knowledge. This positions you as an “expert” in your niche which builds authority for you and your blog.
Fresh new content encourages more visitors to your blog.
Google praises websites and puts them first, if they post high-quality content on the regular!
Posting regularly gives you extra content to share on social media, which in turn helps you grow across multiple platforms. This results in more followers and fans etc…
More content = more opportunities to include affiliate links and links to showcase your products and courses.
Publishing regularly also allows you to keep your audience engaged with your blog and build trust with your readers.
More content = more traffic which means more potential subscribers and customers.
New blog posts give you more chances of ranking for new and existing keywords.
Your brand will get more visibility the more often you post.
You’ve got knowledge, you’ve got skills and you’ve got passion and the world needs to see that lovely, so get your content out there as often as you can.
So with all of the above, you can see there are plenty of reasons to be posting frequently.
You don’t have to go crazy though – once (or twice a week if you can) will be perfect!
I only post once a week, but I’m really trying to work towards getting two up on the blog each week.
As you know though, it’s all about time and as mums, there ain’t a lot of that going around…
Kids are demanding little things lol 🙂
I know, I know – you want to know how to come up with great blog topics for your content and we’re getting to that, right now…
Where to find great blog topics for your content plan
Now we’re about to get into the nitty-gritty of blog topic hunting…
I’m going to share all the ways I know to find ideas and inspiration for blog post content, which you can create a content plan around.
1 - Quora
First up is Quora – a really great place to check out for ideas…
So many people go on to Quora asking questions about anything and everything.
A bit like Google search, you can type in a question and it auto-populates things that are being asked.
You can find tons of ideas, things you may not have even thought about. That’s the beauty of Quora.
As you can see in the screenshot above, you have over 100 answers for the question I typed in, which was “What are some of the best ways to learn programming”.
You also have a whole list of “Related Questions” on the right as well, another great place to find other blog post ideas which you can either use as a post itself or include as subtopics within posts.
You can ask your own questions, answer other people’s questions and be part of communities there. It does a lot!
You really can get lost in Quora and it’s a fantastic place to generate blog post ideas for you. I highly recommend you check it out.
2 - YouTube Videos and Comments
Next up is another great (and underused) place to find ideas and that’s YouTube. YouTube is full of content and you can utilise this for your own blog posts.
Start by looking at channels within your own niche and see what they’re producing content on.
I’m going to show you an example using Neil Patel’s channel…
When you’re on the channel: select Videos > Sort by > Most Popular.
This will bring to the top the most viewed videos – so the most popular videos on that channel.
You can use this to sift through and see what people are liking and viewing the most.
This gives you great information about what you can create blog content on.
From the screenshot above, you can see some of the most popular videos include things about ways to gain more Instagram followers, how to write a blog post and SEO for beginners….
You could take these ideas and put your own take on them within a blog post! As well as just the video titles, you can check out the comments as well.
People are not scared to leave their opinions (good and bad) on YouTube videos and it can be the perfect place to pick up on some questions or information people are after.
I went through these videos quickly and found a question “Do you have a video on how to reduce bounce rate when someone gets to the landing page”. This could also be turned into another blog post.
And another question “What’s your suggestion on languages…? You could also answer this within a blog post too.
You can see how powerful YouTube can be for researching topics for your blog.
3 - Blog Comments
Blog comments can be very handy too for finding things to write about.
This can be your own blog comments or your competitors…
I went on to one of my favourite blogger sites and checked out a post of hers and there I found a comment asking a question, as you can see in the image below.
You could go through a few blogs you love and that are in your niche and check out their comments sections to see what people are wanting and needing.
All you then have to do is put together a very valuable post talking about this topic.
Can you start to see how effective this is already…
4 - Pinterest
Pinterest is an amazing way to come up with new ideas – even just by scrolling through the home feed, you can see what kinds of things people are interested in.
Desktop
On the desktop version, you have two tabs to search through on the home feed! They are the For You and Today tabs…
You can see both of these below and you can see all the inspiration that comes up.
Scroll through and see what kinds of things catch your eye within your niche!
Ideas may pop up for things, not in your niche… what kinds of things could you put a spin on for your blog.
Mobile
The mobile tabs are slightly different. You have a Browse tab and a Watch tab…
Again, you can scroll through these and see what pops out at you and make a note of the ideas.
You can also check out some of the profiles of people you’re following and see what they’re writing about for suggestions.
Pinterest Trends
Pinterest has a Trends area too, where you can see exactly what’s trending at the moment. You can see here how to get access to Pinterest Trends if you don’t already know.
If you look at the screenshot above, you can see that “easy pork chops” and “cultural comfort food recipes” are top today – so if you’re in the food niche, you could use these ideas to create new posts!
Pinterest Predicts
Something I’ve just recently found is Pinterest Predicts…
You can search by Audience or Category.
You can go through and see what kinds of things Pinterest are predicting people are going to be all over and write a post about it!
This can put you ahead of the game before something even gets on-trend.
5 - Instagram
When it comes to Instagram, scrolling through your feed and seeing what people are publishing is great for inspiration, especially as you’ll usually be following people in your niche or who are your competition!
It’s great to see what kinds of things they’re publishing, as well as the way in which they’re posting (stories, reels, carousel posts etc).
I love the “explore” tab within Instagram desktop and the “search” tab on mobile, as you can get a feel for what’s trending and the content that people are interested in more of…
It’s so easy to get lost in Instagram so I set myself a limit when I’m researching for new ideas for half an hour tops! That’s plenty of time for me to get some suggestions.
6 - Facebook Groups and Pages
Facebook Groups
I love a Facebook group and they’re super awesome for finding gazillions of blog post topics.
When people are in a group, they feel like they can ask a question and not feel silly for asking it, mainly because you have to request to join most groups and so it’s not public for everyone to see!
You can literally get the exact problems and issues people are having and use that to create content.
I love how groups have a real support network for you as well. Everyone cheers everyone on and gives support and advice when they need it and ask for it.
What I tend to do when I’m surfing the Facebook groups I’m in, is I’ll take a quick snapshot of a question if it appeals to my audience (which most of the time it will as I’m only really in groups within my niche) and then I can come back to it later.
It’s also a good idea to see what questions come up over and over again. This shows there is a pressing need for this information and would be a great idea for a blog post!
Facebook Pages
Facebook pages are also really great for getting inspiration and ideas because people love to share their opinions and ideas with others.
The creators of Facebook pages are creating content that their audience wants and needs and you can use the questions that come up within the posts to help you put together better more relevant posts.
7 - Email Lists you're subscribed to
Those amazing email lists you’re subscribed to are a goldmine for ideas.
You can check out the headlines on them as well as the content to see what they’re sharing.
DO NOT COPY… don’t ever copy anyone else’s work, but you can easily get inspired by the emails you receive on the daily…
What are they talking about and sharing within their emails – take a note of anything which sparks an idea or you think could be great for your own audience.
Just always make sure you put your own spin on an idea and make it your own.
8 - Email Replies
Following on from the emails you’re subscribed to, what about the email replies you get from your own subscribers.
Are they asking for something in particular? Does something keep coming up again and again that you could address in a blog post!
This would not only help that one person who has asked the question, but it would benefit all of your audience too…
9 - Look at your most Popular posts and Repurpose
Check out your analytics and see what posts are the most popular!
Which ones are getting the most shares, comments and likes…
This shows that it’s a subject people are wanting to know about, so you can create more content around that area.
Pick out some of the subheadings within the post and write a brand new post with a different take, or create a blog series around some of the main points within the post.
There’s endless ways you can put new content out there, by repurposing existing content that you know is already a big hit with your readers…
10 - Other Blogs and their Freebies
You could just go and browse around other blogs in your niche and see what posts they’re writing.
A lot of them have a “Most Popular Posts” section or widget somewhere, so you can check those out.
If you look at a few blogs, you may see a theme or pattern of topics that are being written about often and you can then write something even better on these subjects…
Also, check out what kinds of free opt-ins these blogs are offering.
A lot of time and effort goes into researching for freebies, so by seeing what things other blogs are offering – you could use these for blog topic ideas too.
11 - Google Search Console
Google Search Console is also another place you can check out and see what your highest performing pages are.
In the two screenshots below you can see I’ve looked at my Top Queries and Top Pages.
This gives you an idea of what people are looking at the most when they come to your site.
To learn more, you can check out this ultimate guide from HubSpot about how to use Google Search Console.
12 - Social Media Analytics
Having a business account for all your social media platforms is a MUST! You don’t have to pay for it, you just have to make sure you have the right accounts set up if you’re going to be using it for your blog/business!
With the business accounts come analytics. This is how you’ll be able to gauge what your audience and followers are liking, so you can create more of it.
Social media is a fab gateway to getting people to see what you’re about on your platforms so that you can hopefully drive some of that traffic to your blog content.
All the platforms you’re on can work together (hopefully) driving traffic back and forth between your blog and your social media.
13 - Research your Blog Categories
If you’re stuck for ideas, take a look at your blog categories and see if anything jumps out at you.
From your analytics, maybe you have a really popular category on your blog, so you can create more content on things within that category.
You could also check out other niche blogs categories and see what their main subjects are. You can then delve a little deeper into their categories and see what insights you get!
14 - Events such as Seasonal and Current
There’s nothing like the hype of an event to create content around.
Whether it’s Black Friday, Christmas, Easter or International Women’s Day – these kinds of events are ideal for pushing “trending” content out there.
You really want to make the most of seasonal events and add them to your content calendar.
Depending on your niche, it could be a perfect time to promote a product or course and get extra traffic and sales…
Also, when you have events coming up – maybe the launch of a new course or a challenge, this can create new content for you as well. You could even create a series of posts leading up to your launch or challenge…
15 - Survey your Audience
You could send a survey out to your email list or ask your social media followers what they want to know within a post…
Ask them exactly what problems they’re having, what pain points they’re being faced with and how you can help them…
Once the replies start coming in, create content around those answers and don’t forget to thank the people who’ve responded and let them know you’ll be creating a blog post/video/podcast episode on what they’ve asked.
16 - Books and Magazines
If you have books at home within your niche – then check out the contents pages and see what the chapters cover… Is there something there that triggers a blog post idea?
Magazines are incredibly popular and come in all genres…
So whatever you’re blogging in, you can probably find a magazine you can buy for it.
Magazines have to stay on trend and write articles people want to read! The competition is so fierce when it comes to magazine editorials that they have to stay on their game.
The great thing about magazines is that they are current and up to date (if you’re reading current ones that is) so you know that the content is new, fresh and what people want to read about…
Again, don’t copy or plagiarise other people’s work. All of these places I’m suggesting are simply to help inspire and motivate you to think up ideas and put your own twists on things that are already popular.
17 - Google Autocomplete
Google autocomplete is fab for finding topic ideas.
You simply just go to Google and start typing in something such as “how to grow…” and see what comes up!
Type things that you would search for in your niche and see what comes up.
You could also use Google Autocomplete another way and that’s with something that’s known as “Alphabet Soup”…
You basically start with the letter A after your “how-to” or whatever it is you’ve typed in, and continue with each letter thereafter for as long as you want and then see what comes up.
18 - People Also Ask
The “People Also Search” section within Google is AMAZING!!!
I love using this part of Google myself all the time and you can find so many topics from here.
From the image above, I typed in “How to grow hair faster”…
You can see all the other “related” items that have shown up in regards to growing hair faster…
How can I speed up hair growth?
Which oil grows hair fastest?
What is the secret of hair growth?
These would all be great points to write separate blog posts on or to include as subheadings within a post.
19 - What do "you" type in to Google?
You know when you’re carrying out research for your posts or just looking for something in general on Google… Are these things on which you can write a blog post on?
I can bet that some of the things you’re searching for yourself are bound to be something your readers would want to know also!
20 - Your own Ideas
After all the places mentioned in this post, don’t forget to use your own ideas.
We all have ideas that appear in our heads (usually at the most annoying times like when we’re in the shower) but it’s really important to include these in your content strategy.
99% of the time, it’s ALL about writing for your audience and sharing information and knowledge for what they want and need, but that other 1% of the time can be used to share a post here and there on something you want to write about – within reason and the scope of your blog niche!
You have great ideas and you should share them with your readers.
21 - Review a Product or Service
Another way you can create great blog posts is to review products and services you use (notice how I said you use – you don’t want to review something you haven’t used yourself).
People want to save time and you can help someone massively if you’re sharing how to use something.
This also gives you an opportunity to promote the product or service as well (if you’re an affiliate)…
I’ve shared a few in-depth posts on my blog, a couple of them being how to use Canva and also how to set up and use the Divi theme.
They really help lots of people and give tons of value.
22 - Simplify a Process
If you can take something complicated, something really techie say, and break it down into an easy, step-by-step process, this can be an incredible post to put together.
I know for me personally, I’ve read a lot of process posts, because I sometimes need to be shown exactly how to do something.
I gain a lot from these kinds of posts and if you write them too, your readers will gain a lot from them too.
If you can walk your readers through (or show them via video tutorials) a task, then create posts like this in whatever processes you can.
23 - Podcasts
There’s a podcast for everything now, so whatever topic you’re blogging in, you can find a podcast in that niche.
I LOVE listening to podcasts and you can see a few of the ones I love to listen to below.
They can be a fab place to look for blog post ideas and you can check out the show notes and get an idea of what the episode is about, check out the title of the episode and also take an actual listen and see what you can get from it.
I’ve had so many aha moments and golden nuggets of information from podcasts and they’ve been a great inspiration for some of my own posts.
TIP: They also inspire me for social media posts too…
24 - Use a Blog Topic Ideas Generator
The last thing I want to mention that can help you think up blog topic ideas is a Blog Topic Idea Generator tool.
They all work pretty similarly in the fact you enter in a word for an idea, say for example “gardening” and see what comes up…
They can certainly bash out some weird and wonderful ideas, that’s for sure and can make you think about things you wouldn’t normally!
A few of the generators you could use are:
Keep a Swipe file
This isn’t one of the 24 ways to come up with blog topics, but I wanted to share that when you do come up with some ideas, create a swipe file to store them in.
This could be in somewhere like a cloud drive, such as Google Drive or OneDrive or it could simply be a folder on your desktop with a notes doc in…
Whatever is easy and simple for you to keep track of ideas, go with what works for you!
So there you have it – 24 simple ways to find great blog topics for your content plan.
If you check out even just a handful of these places, you’ll have blog posts for months…
I know it isn’t always easy to find inspiration, but you need to be inspired to enable the motivation to write.
