How do I choose a blog topic?

 

One of the biggest hurdles when writing a blog post is finding the right topic to write about. How do you know what your audience is searching for? None of us want to spend our precious time writing content only for it to get no readers and no engagement, but there are so many factors in publishing a successful blog post that it can feel impossible to know where to start.

Thankfully, there are methods and tools you can use to make sure that you’re always choosing the most relevant topics and titles for your blog posts – and raise your chances of getting your posts read by the right audience.

Who are you writing for?

The first – and most important step – is to know who you want your blog post to appeal to. If you try to appeal to everyone, then you risk writing generic content to try and please everyone, and you will end up not only turning off your ideal audience, but other people, too. Trying to write for everyone, in the end, appeals to no one.

Your ‘who’ dictates the whole tone of your content. Let me give you an example here. If you were selling your web design service, you wouldn’t write the same content for a corporation with 200+ employees as you would for a tiny flower shop. Both of those audiences will require something completely different, and the language you use will need to be very different, too, in order to get your message through.

So before you even think about what to write about, think about who you’re writing for.

Is SEO important for blogging?

Sigh. SEO. It’s such an awkward topic, isn’t it? Understanding SEO can be a bit like trying to knit fog.

Short for Search Engine Optimisation, SEO is how search engines like Google look at all of the content that is published on the internet every day, and either promote it or ignore it.

That’s a very simplified way of putting it, I know, but it’s one of those subjects that people tend to get tied in knots about. It really doesn’t have to be as complicated as people think it is.

Keeping it just as simple, Google will ‘read’ through the blog posts you publish, try and determine what it’s about, and categorise it as it sees fit. So if you can use keywords and key phrases that relate to your subject well, it makes Google’s job easier, and you might get a chance to rank higher in the search results.

The first place that search engines look for keywords is in your main title and your sub-titles. So getting those right is just as important, if not more so, than the main body of your text – don’t neglect it!

Which brings us nicely back to our main subject, ‘How do I choose a blog topic’.

How to choose the right blog topic

The most important factor in writing for your blog is to write for your audience. Worry about the SEO later – your readers are always the most important factor when you’re writing any type of content.

Ask yourself this. What questions might your ideal customer ask in order to buy from you?

What information do they need to learn about your product or service? These are the things you should be blogging about.

A good blog post should entertain, be easy to read, and most importantly, educate. Your audience will find you after asking a specific question – you need to know what that question is so that you can provide the most relevant answer for them.

Luckily, there are plenty of clues online to help you find that out. Google itself will give you plenty of ideas, just by searching your subject and looking through the given results. Or you can use an online tool such as Answer the Public to get loads of subject ideas.

In summary, then:

• Tap into the mind of your ideal customer. What do they need to know?
• Search from your ideal customer's perspective. Speak their language.
• Consider SEO, but always write for your audience first.
• Use online tools to get specific insight into what your audience is searching for right now.

If you’d like to learn my specific methods for getting ideas for new blog posts, you can download my free PDF, ‘3 ways to come up with 10+ blog ideas in less than 5 minutes, for free’.

About me

Tereasa Hedges, freelance copywriter for creatives, designers and makers.

I’m a freelance copywriter who specialises in writing content for creative people, helping you to reach larger audiences through blogging, web content, email marketing, and a little bit of social media for good measure.

Want to work with me? Contact me at shirecopywriting@outlook.com