seo search engine optimization link building agencyseo search engine optimization link building agencyseo search engine optimization link building agencyseo search engine optimization link building agency
  • BRANDS
    • PPC.co
    • DEV.co
    • Website.Design
  • SERVICES
    • Managed SEO
    • Link Building
    • White Label SEO
    • Content Writing
    • SEO Audits
    • PPC Management
  • TOOLS
    • Backlink Checker
    • Site Audit
    • Broken Link Tool
    • Robots.txt Tester
    • Sitemap Validator
    • Site Speed Tester
    • Title Tag Checker
    • AI Content Writer
    • SEO Training
  • WHY US
    • Case Studies
    • Our Process
    • Our Team
    • Our History
    • Acquisitions
    • Become a Writer!
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
LOGINGET STARTED
✕
Link Building with Directories: The Pros, Cons & Proper Strategy
Link Building with Directories: The Pros, Cons & Proper Strategy
February 9, 2022
Why Testimonials are Important for Online Marketing
The Critical Role of Testimonials in Digital Marketing
February 9, 2022

How to Find Content Topics People Want to Read

Last Updated by Sam Edwards on February 9, 2022
How to Find Content Topics People Want to Read

There’s no single secret that can lead you to a great content marketing strategy.

Your writing needs to be consistent, valuable, and in line with your brand standards and the rest of your inbound marketing strategy (such as your SEO or social media campaigns).

But the most important factor for your content marketing program’s success can be reduced to one characteristic: whether or not people want to read your material.

If people want to read your content, you’ll get:

  • more repeat visitors
  • more word of mouth promotion
  • more initial hits from your content syndication channels
  • higher volume of searchers

Some factors that influence the desirability of your content, such as the catchiness of your title and the structure of your body, can be honed through practice, but some factors—like finding the lucrative topics that attract the most readers—can be elusive.

Fortunately, there are some strategies you can adopt that make your topic-finding missions easier and more consistent:

Table of Contents

  • Analyze Which Topics Generate the Most Traffic
  • See Which Topics Generate the Most Conversations
  • Consult With Your Sales Team
  • Source Topics from a News Feed
  • Read Your Competitors’ Blogs
  • Research Search Trends
  • Check Out Industry- or Demographic-Relevant Forums
  • Browse Through Social Groups
  • Search Through Question and Answer Sites
  • Ask Your Audience Directly

Analyze Which Topics Generate the Most Traffic

Hopefully, you’ve already been writing content for some time. If that’s the case, you should have ample data that you can analyze to determine which of your topics tend to be the most successful.

We do this in several ways:

  1. Use Google Analytics to source the pages on your site that are the most popular and use content clustering to beef them up, especially if they represent your target audience’s search intent answers.
  2. Perform keyword research using Ahrefs, Moz, Spyfu and Google Analytics
  3. Use Google Trends and Google News to find topics that are important to your audience
  4. Do some basic look-alike audience targeting on Facebook to see what hits with your ideal demographic
google analytics pages topic ideas

Use Google Analytics to find which topics are already popular on your site.

Take a sampling of your top contenders, and use them as jumping-off points for future topics. You could even do a direct follow-up to some of them.

See Which Topics Generate the Most Conversations

Alternatively, you can look at more qualitative data to determine which of your blogs have been the most successful in the past.

Take a look at the type and number of comments your blogs have generated—are there any that stand out with threads of dozens of comments?

Any that have generated tons of social shares and likes?

Use these as your jumping-off points as well; even if they haven’t generated as much traffic, they’ve generated sufficient interest.

Consult With Your Sales Team

Generally speaking, the sales team of an organization is the most plugged in to the profiles and needs of your target demographics.

If your most valuable and most common types of customers are facing a common problem, your sales team knows about it.

Hold a sit-down with a few of your sales reps and ask about what types of problems your customers typically face.

Then, generate a list of topics that address those problems directly with advice or instructions.

Source Topics from a News Feed

source topic ideas from google news

Source industry-specific topic ideas from Google News.

There are many ways to aggregate your own news feed of information:

  • cultivate a list of article sources using a blog reader
  • compile a list of your most valuable news sources on social media using something like “Lists” on Twitter

Consult with your news feed on a daily basis, and take a look at what’s trending in your industry.

You should be able to pick out a handful of topics that are capturing significant attention, and spin variants of those topics on your own blog.

Read Your Competitors’ Blogs

It may seem like cheating, but it’s not.

Your competitors are trying just as hard as you are to appeal to your audience, and they may have discovered a handful of topics you’ve never even considered before.

Take a look through your top competitors’ blogs, and scout for articles that have gotten a significant amount of attention in the form of comments, likes, and shares.

Don’t lift these topics directly, but feel free to draw inspiration from them and use them as brainstorming fodder.

Research Search Trends

While keyword-specific optimization strategies are quickly becoming obsolete for SEO, you can still use research on search trends to fuel your content strategy.

Head over to Google Trends, where you’ll be able to get a glimpse or a detailed view on the topics and searches posed by the masses, over the course of a day on up to a year or more.

Viewing these trends may introduce you to a popularly searched-for topic that’s relevant to your business but as-of-yet unexplored on your blog. Check back regularly to get a pulse on rising trends and interests.

Check Out Industry- or Demographic-Relevant Forums

Forums are a perfect place to scout for potential topics because they typically feature individuals with concrete problems.

Threads are typically started by a significant question or dilemma with an invitation for community suggestions, which gives you a key opportunity to not only find potential problems faced by your key demographics, but also which problems seem to be the most common.

Keep a running tab of the most productive forums you find, and revisit them on a regular basis to get more ideas.

Browse Through Social Groups

Groups on social media can be powerful places.

Since all the group members have signed up because they’re interested in the central topic, they tend to be both active and passionate about discussing that core topic.

Check out Facebook groups you can get involved in, or LinkedIn Groups related to your industry.

Look for individuals who have started popular topics, and use the topics or comment threads as fuel or inspiration for your own posts.

It’s even more valuable if you get your own brand involved in the site, responding to others’ comments and igniting further discussions.

This type of social media interactions also has the ancillary benefit of improving your online reputation.

Search Through Question and Answer Sites

There are a number of “alternative” search engines out there, some of which are excellent for finding quick answers to questions.

Quora and Topsy are two great examples of this. You can perform searches for broad topics related to your industry here, and a list of subtopics, mentions, titles, and questions will appear (depending on what specific site you use).

From here, you’ll be able to get a bird’s-eye view of the kinds of questions people frequently have—and the types of answers they usually get.

This should point you in a solid direction for writing a desirable and needed piece of content.

Ask Your Audience Directly

It may seem like an obvious strategy, but it’s often neglected by content marketers.

Sometimes the best way to figure out what your audience wants to read is to ask them point-blank.

There are a number of ways to do this, based on your personal preferences.

  • conduct a survey on your social channels
  • casually ask individual followers when they approach you online
  • dedicate an entire post or thread on your website to generating ideas for future blog posts.

Most of your readers will be honest, and happily share any topics they’d like to see in the future.

Acquiring the topics that people want to read is half the battle.

Once you’ve got a sizable list, or at least enough topics to get to the next section of your editorial calendar, you can begin crafting the titles and copy that will compel your audience to keep reading your impressive material.

The more attention you can capture and keep, the more conversions and revenue you’ll be able to earn.

Want more information on content marketing? Head over to one of our comprehensive guides:

  • 101 Website Content Ideas 
  • 101 Blog Post Title Ideas
  • Content Marketing Guide 
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Sam Edwards
Sam Edwards
Chief Marketing Officer at SEO.co
In his 9+ years as a digital marketer, Sam has worked with countless small businesses and enterprise Fortune 500 companies and organizations including NASDAQ OMX, eBay, Duncan Hines, Drew Barrymore, Washington, DC based law firm Price Benowitz LLP and human rights organization Amnesty International.

He is a recurring speaker at the Search Marketing Expo conference series and a TEDx Talker. Today he works directly with high-end clients across all verticals to maximize on and off-site SEO ROI through content marketing and link building. Connect with Sam on Linkedin.
Sam Edwards
Latest posts by Sam Edwards (see all)
  • Link Reclamation: How to Reclaim Lost Backlinks - June 20, 2022
  • Lead Nurturing: How to Nurture Leads & Close Sales - June 13, 2022
  • Lead Generation with SEO: How to Use SEO to Generate Leads - June 7, 2022
Share
5
Sam Edwards
Sam Edwards
In his 9+ years as a digital marketer, Sam has worked with countless small businesses and enterprise Fortune 500 companies and organizations including NASDAQ OMX, eBay, Duncan Hines, Drew Barrymore, Washington, DC based law firm Price Benowitz LLP and human rights organization Amnesty International. He is a recurring speaker at the Search Marketing Expo conference series and a TEDx Talker. Today he works directly with high-end clients across all verticals to maximize on and off-site SEO ROI through content marketing and link building. Connect with Sam on Linkedin.

Related posts

How to Optimize for "People Also Search For" or "People Also Ask"
June 27, 2022

How to Optimize for “People Also Search For” or “People Also Ask”


Read more
Link Reclamation: How to Reclaim Lost Backlinks
June 20, 2022

Link Reclamation: How to Reclaim Lost Backlinks


Read more
Lead Nurturing: How to Nurture Leads & Close Sales
June 13, 2022

Lead Nurturing: How to Nurture Leads & Close Sales


Read more
  • Content Writing Services
  • How to Write for SEO
  • Content Writing Guide
  • Content Writing Hacks
  • Outsource Blogging
  • Write Interesting Content
  • How to Scale Content Creation
  • Improve SEO Writing
  • Blog Post Cost
  • Content on a Budget
  • Hire SEO Writers

Inc 5000 Logo

Our Services

  • SEO Services
  • Link Building Services
  • White Label SEO
  • Content Writing Services
  • Amazon SEO
  • PPC Management
  • Public Relations
  • Brand Mentions
  • SEO Site Audits

SEO Resources

  • SEO for Beginners
  • Link Building Guide
  • Local SEO
  • Online Marketing
  • Digital Marketing
  • Content Marketing
  • SEO Reseller
  • Backlink Checker
  • Keyword Research
  • Google Ranking Factors

About SEO.co

  • About Us
  • SEO Team
  • SEO Blog
  • SEO Clients
  • SEO Tools
  • Markets Served
  • Locations Served
  • Client Login
  • Contact

Contact Us

Email: info@seo.co
Call: +1 (877) 545-4769
Address: 1425 Broadway Suite 22689
Seattle, WA 98112
White Label SEO Agency
  
Outwrite. Outrank. SEO.
© 2022 SEO.co. All Rights Reserved
Privacy Policy | Sitemap
PPC.co // DEV.co // Website.Design
An Invest.net Partner
    GET STARTED
      We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of all the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
      Cookie SettingsAccept All
      Manage consent

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
      Necessary
      Always Enabled
      Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
      CookieDurationDescription
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
      viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
      Functional
      Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
      Performance
      Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
      Analytics
      Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
      Advertisement
      Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
      Others
      Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
      SAVE & ACCEPT