Blogs thrive on new content, and without it you’ll lose your audience entirely. If your blog is gathering dust or you’re worried that you’ll run out of ideas soon, never fear! The key to keeping your blog interesting is having tons of ways to overcome writer’s block. Here are ten ways to find new ideas that you can use to engage and inform your audience.
1. Read other blogs in your niche.
Other blogs in your niche can help inspire similar topics. Plus you’ll have a place to post comments and build up your reputation within that niche. Use a blog reader (like Google Reader) to subscribe to 5 to 10 quality blogs in your niche. Scan the headlines for new ideas.
2. Look for questions in your niche.
Simply look up your topic and the word “FAQ” and you’ll hit a goldmine of potential blog topics. Since answering questions makes your blog appear informative and valuable, you should try to answer questions as much as possible. FAQs are a great location for potential questions.
3. Search through article directories.
Article directories contain thousands of articles on every topic imaginable. It would be hard to not be inspired while looking through the titles and summaries of the articles.
4. Read niche forums.
Niche forums are a goldmine for ideas. On forums people regularly post questions, tips and suggestions for other members of their niche. These can be great idea starters for your blog.
5. Sign up for Google Alerts.
You can stay on top of blog posts, forum posts, news and videos on your topic by using Google alerts, which is a free service. Log in to http://alerts.google.com/ and set up your keyword terms. You can get new messages every day, each week or as the news happens.
6. Look at your website stats.
If your blog has been active for a while, you know which topics are getting the most traffic. Use this list to develop more content on the same topics for even more traffic.
7. Ask your Twitter followers.
You should be building a Twitter list for your blog already – and if you aren’t, you need to get on it! Ask your Twitter followers what they’d like to read and respond accordingly. You can feature Twitter followers on your blog as well. For example, ask a question and collect their answers in a blog post.
8. Connect something outside of your niche to your topic.
Making connection between two very different topics can lead to very insightful blog posts. Look for inspiration in everything and see if you can connect it to your niche topic. You’ll be surprised by what you come up with.
9. Take a controversial view.
By taking a controversial view on a popular topic, you’ll be sure to ruffle some feathers and get lots of traffic. Just make sure you can back up your opinion!
10. Write a list post.
As you can see by this post, writing lists is a great way to create a blog post that is helpful and informative. There are several different types of lists you can use for your niche topic.