30 Resources for Generating Blog Post Ideas

1. General Forums

Why?: General Forums are the place to find consumers, experts and just curious people in search of an answer. They’re also full of people looking to start a conversation and gain some knowledge in a particular topic.

How: Start by searching for forums that are related to the topic you’re gathering information for. For example, typing in “SEO forums” into Google will give you the top results for seo insights. Another great source for general forums is Reddit. Reddit is full of buzzing conversations and topics to choose from. You’ll be able to narrow your search to a certain topic as well.

2. HARO

Why?: HARO, or more generally known as “Help a Reporter Out,” is a great place to get the latest insight on happenings around the globe. From your backyard to across the sea, you’ll be sure to find something useful here. It’s even a great opportunity to offer up some of your own insight and well, help a reporter out.

How: First, navigate to HARO and click on the magnifying glass. Then, type in any topic your desire to find some information to write a blog post on. Try to keep your words simple and refrain from using plural tenses. This tends to manifest better results and you can get right to research!

3. Bottlenose

Why?: Bottlenose allows you to analyze and manage data to give you accurate measurements of what to expect. Bottlenose is really here to help you detect opportunities within the digital community. The capacity to analyze trends will really give you a boost too. This is a more comprehensive resource center, but well worth it for the leaders of the industry.

How: To start using Bottlenose, the best thing to do is contact them directly and learn about their pricing options for your specific needs. This will allow to learn more about how Bottlenose can help you out with your research, especially if your writing more professional and technical content.

4. Social Media

Why?: Social Media has become the face of locating resources. You can gain popular blog post ideas just by entering online group forums, searching through people you follow and locating new people to follow. There’s also the opportunity to analyze #hashtags and even look into influencers. Influencers through social media are actually a great place to learn what people are talking about, and a great opportunity for you to write a blog on.

How: View the next few steps to learn why and how you can use a variety of social media platforms!

5. Facebook

Why?: Facebook is a great place to gain inspiration and learn what consumers are saying about the topic you’re researching. Facebook’s also has an array of buzzing conversation to gain ideas for general or specific topics.

How: When it comes to Facebook, you can start just by browsing around your feed, viewing other peoples pages and jumping into groups to check out the latest conversation. Another great thing you can do is browse around photos for inspiration!

6. LinkedIn

Why?: LinkedIn is your place for professional insight that is more industry geared. This place is loaded with content, conversations, networking abilities and much more. If you’re looking to get blog post ideas that are industry specific, professional or even just totally out of the box, Linkedin is a terrific source.

How: Sign up for LinkedIn and start connecting with friends, family and colleagues or anyone in your professional world that could be of good source. Then, join some groups of interest by clicking on the “work” tab. This ensures that your feed is full of articles and insight you’re actually interested in, while also getting ideas for you next latest blog.

7.  Instagram

Why?: Instagram has a ton of the latest happenings, all expressed through instant photos, short clips and brief descriptions. Many companies will have their own Instagram and publish content based on what they think is relevant and engaging. For you, this means finding content that’s up to date with a perfect opportunity to expand upon it.

How: First, locate companies you feel may be of good value, are relevant or are inspiring to your writing needs. Check out their page and see what they’ve been posting. You can even navigate into their photo and click on their hashtags to find much more related information on the topic!

8. Pinterest

Why?: What’s great about Pinterest is that they have lists of topics for blog posts to choose from. This can be a really great starting point on a broad spectrum, then as you choose your topic, you can use other sources to narrow your search. But, what’s really fun about Pinterest is that it’s loaded with infographics. So, if you need ideas for those to go along with your blog, you can just hop into Pinterest!

How: Pinterest is best if you need a boost for a topic, or if you have one already in mind. Start by doing a broad search and typing in a specific topic, or just type in “blog post ideas.” On the scroll down, you have options to check out boards, or just pins. Boards will give you other people’s collections of a topic, while pins will be a collaboration of many.

9.  Youtube

Why?: Youtube is also an excellent place for sourcing content. The best part here is that they’re all videos, which is great if you’re trying to do a video blog. Note, Youtube is more of a valuable source when you have a solid idea for what you’re looking for. It’ll provide you with short clips, documentaries and conversational videos to get you thinking of the topic more in depth.

How: The best place to get ideas from Youtube include navigating to the “trending” tab, and viewing people’s comments. Also, typing in the topic will give you an array of videos to dive more into and learn more about you choosen topic.

10. Tweet Chats

Why? Tweet chat is an additional platform created by Twitter for hosting live chat sessions. These sessions are usually geared toward a particular topic, during a certain time for all to join. In Tweet Chats, you’ll discover the pros of live-chat with the ability to connect and learn new ideas from people around the world.

How: To get started with Tweet Chats, you first need a Twitter account. You can do this by going directly to Twitter. If you already have an account, you can either enter in a hashtag to see if a conversation is going on, or you can check out Tweet Reports and get schedule for each chat session. After that, you can let the blog ideas come in, or even ask the world of tweeters for some help!

11.  Customer Questions

Why?: Never underestimate the power of customer questions. If you own your own business, start a drop box for consumers to provide their own feedback and comments. You never know, you’re next blog post could be sitting in their for you. Online, customer questions in forums, and review columns are also a great place to locate good blog post ideas.

How: To get started digging into customer questions, do some internal research by checking your website’s comment/chat sections. You can also check out competitor sites and see what comments/questions they’re getting. If you begin to notice a trend of comments or particular questions, aim your blog post around that!  

12. Social Media Groups

Why?: Social Media Groups can serve as a powerful tool when locating prime resources for blog content. Social Groups offer you the opportunity to dig into consumer and expert insights and see what people are talking about. What’s also great about these groups is that they can be very specific to the topic you’re searching for.

How: The best place to find Social Media Groups include Facebook and Twitter. Twitter has their own system for managing groups and chat sessions, known as Tweet Chats. To learn more about these groups, scroll down to “Tweet Chats.”  

13. Quora Questions

Why?: Quora is your supply of questions ranging from technical, industry specific, or just general life questions. If a question is really popular, it’ll get a lot of comments and feedback. This is great for blog idea seekers as you can learn more about niche topics and focus in on a particular idea.

How: First, you’ll have to go through the new account process. Then, to get started on Quora, it’s best that you have an idea of a general topic you are searching for. In addition, if you can target the topic around a question, it allows you to dive into really relevant content with ideas you can then brainstorm from.

14. Articles

Why? There are thousands of articles being released every day on nearly any given topic. Popular articles can be a great source for learning about the latest news and conversations going on around the world. In addition, reading articles is sometimes strenuous for people, so writing a short blog post helps you get a new topic and the reader get valuable information.

How: It is suggested that the best way to get articles is to start making a list of popular sites and magazine you think would be of valuable source. Depending on your topic, this collection of articles will be far and wide. But for an example, if you’re in the health industry, you may want to locate publications that release articles every week on the latest happenings. Places like Google News, The New York Times and Science are great article sources.

15. Industry Publications

Why? Industry Publications offer specific insights into everything any blogger could ever really need to know. Trade Industry Publications will usually include news of what’s going on within individual companies around the world. Our media today is full of the whole “what’s going on with who,” and you can be a participant if you seek the right industries and companies to analyze.

How: To find industry publications, you can utilize sources such as The Toy Association, Web Wire, The Balance and other related sources that can supply you with an array of insight into what’s going on within your industry.

16. SlideShare

Why? SlideShare includes a variety of slide decks for a multitude of different industries. It’s also a pretty interactive experience that keeps you engaged while you’re viewing the content. They have content in the form of presentations, documents, infographics and other forms of rich-content.

How: To narrow down your search for blog posts ideas just type in the industry you’re in and trying to brainstorm ideas for. Much of SlideShare’s content are contributions from people within the industry from students to experts. This can be a great way to hone into what people are curious to learn about, or people need simplified (which you can do in your post!).

17. Your Website

Why? Don’t underestimate the power of your own website. If haven’t already, go through your website and view every page. Each of these individual pages should have their own blog post that talks about the general topic. For example, if you have a page on web design, then you should also have a blog post that talks all about web design.

How: The best way to go about honing into your own website for blog post ideas would be to make a list of everything you think might be worth writing about based off it. You can even research topics within your website, and find general questions that people in the industry regularly have.

18. Competitors Websites

Why? The second place to look after your own website would be competitors websites. They too may have their own blog section and customer feedback area where you can gain extra ideas for you own posts. In addition, it’s a great opportunity to expand upon a topic or dive deeper into detail to better explain a particular topic.

How: To start, check out your chamber of commerce to learn more about the other competing businesses in your direct area. Writing a post that directly correlates to people locally may help you grab some attention too! Then, check to see if they have websites and build your ideas off that. In addition, type in your business service into Google Search Box to find local and far away competitor websites.

19. Webinars

Why? Online seminars are often very targeted, relevant and up to date on a specific topic. Participating in webinars gives you the opportunity to actually talk to others in the industry who can help you with ideas for blog posts. You may even discover something new and talk about your Webinar experience through a blog.

How: Many associations host webinars on a weekly to monthly basis. Depending on the industry you’re in, the best place to start would be researching the most popular associations within the industry. For example, DMA and AMA are popular associations within the marketing industry. For other industries, this will differ.

21. Google Search Box

Why?: Google Search Box offers insight into additional topics just by typing in a keyword. For example, if you’re looking to write a blog about SEO, you may type that in and find other relevant ideas for topics such as SEO for beginners, SEO for optimizing your website and so on.

How: Go to Google.com and begin typing in the industry or topic you know you want to write about. Then, you will begin to see relevant options in the drop down menu right below the search box. In addition, you can press enter and find more relevant information at the bottom of the first page.

22. Customer Service Representative

Why?: The face of your company usually lies within customer service teams. They hear a lot about customer concerns and what they’re having a hard time with. Asking customer service associates that deal with customers all day will help you learn more about what people would like to hear about.

How: Other than just talking to a customer service representative, a great thing to do would be to start an email chain or chat sessions where customer service representatives are invited to share their feedback, post their comments and give you insight into what customers are saying.

23. Blog Comments

Why?: Going back into your old blogs to view comments, or viewing similar industry blogs can also help you source ideas for posts. You never know what others will have to say and this can sometimes lead to the best blogs and even more discussions.

How: The first way to get started with blog posts would be to visit your own blog, and visit other sites like WordPress to find other relevant blogs that could help you out. There are also sites like Blogger to help you hone into good content.

24. Surveys

Why?: Surveys can help you develop and brainstorm ideas just based off of people’s preferences. A good idea would be to ask people what they’re having hard time dealing with in the industry or what they’re having a great time doing. Try not to blast your followers with Survey, especially if they don’t them (which can even be a survey).

How: The best way to get started with surveys is to create your own. Survey Monkey is a powerful tool that allows you to create custom service based around whatever you’d like. They have many testing option as well which can be a great way to really narrow in your results. After you create you survey, share through email, text and social media!

25. Networking

Why?: There’s nothing quite like networking to help you gain more insight into your industry. While networking events can be boring, finding at least a few people to converse with can help you make the most out of the event. Again, it’s other who are helping you generate blog content ideas.

How: To get started networking, think about local business networking events. The chamber of commerce is a great place to locate these events. You can also utilize Google Search Box of associations you’re apart of to get started. Many associations will also have a “non-member,” so you can still jump into the networking events.

26. Group Brainstorming Session

Why?: Hosting group brainstorming sessions will certainly add a few topics to add to your blog post ideas. You can host group brainstorming sessions with co-workers or even friends and family who may have good questions that you can answer in a blog post.

How: Get a team together and start having everyone write down what they feel is popular in the industry or would make as a good blog topic. You can use a whiteboard, or even have people write down one word and put in a drop box to come back to later on.

27. Utilize Adwords Keyword Planner

Why?: Adwords has a great tool called keyword planner which helps you understand search traffic related to a specific keyword over the course of a month. This can be used to search and analyze a variety of keywords which will help you determine what keywords may lead to more searches and therefore more views of a particular blog post.

How:

1. Create a Google Adwords Account
2. Click into a specific account
3. Click the Tools Tab
4. Click the “Keyword Planner”
5. Use “Get Search Value data and trends”  
6. Start Analyzing

28. Analyze your Competitors

Why?: Analyzing competitors can always lead to learning more about ideas that you may be missing. Learn more about the products and services they offer and see if you can talk about those in a blog post.

How: You can start by viewing competitor websites, seeing what competitors are doing on forums, group sessions, and social media. You can even write a new rendition of a previous article they shared, expanding upon it and making it better.

29. News

Why?: While there is a ton of media thrown into our faces nearly every second of the day, there’s nothing like the good old news to give you the scoop of what’s happening locally. There are a variety of places for you to tune into the news station and get the full scope of what’s happening around you and within your industry.

How: Great places to get your dose of the news include NPR and local news stations on your radio or T.V like CBS and Good Morning America. You can also check within industry news and even read magazine containing valuable information and ideas.

30. Magazines

Why?: Magazines are making a comeback as studies have found people enjoy having a piece of paper in front of them read. This is a great opportunity for you to grab a magazine in your industry. Magazine often contain the most recent information happening the industry and offer great insight into possible blog posts.

How: Start by using the Google Search Box to learn about the best magazine in a specific industry. A lot of magazine and even news stations will offer their articles online, covering a wide array of industries for you to dive into.

Takeaways

With all the resources we have today, there are many great options for you to surf through when deciding on new blog post ideas. From Google Search Boxes, to live Tweet Chats and Industry Publications, there is something for everyone to utilize when finding that perfect blog post idea. Remember that it’s important to play the role of an investigator when searching for new ideas, and bring good questions to the scene. This will help you narrow your results and find a topic you can expand on. 

Remember: 

• Be an investigator
• Come with questions
• Think about your industry
• Narrow your resources
• Utilize social media group, customer service representatives and the latest news found in industry publications to get a head start

At Mack Media Group, we can even be the investigators for you. Our team of experts perform extensive research and utilize internal tools to create rich-content. Learn more how we can help your business improve through SEO, PPC and Social Media Marketing.