Finding Blog Topics – 6 Questions to Help You Write Amazing Posts

Struggling to write for your blog? Finding blog topics can be daunting, but here are some tips to help you wow your readers with awesome posts.

You will also like How to Start a Blog Today: A Step-By-Step Guide and How to Find a Niche for Your Blog – 4 Things You Need to Know

Tricky Business

You’re sitting in front of your computer with a blank document open. The cursor is blinking. You try to write the introduction of a new blog post, but your mind is empty. Despite having a ton of zest for your blog, you can’t escape the inevitable question: “What do I even write about?” When you first find yourself starting a brand new blog, it can be hard to know where to start. Translating your passion and know-how into an article is tougher than it seems. So how do you figure out what your posts should cover? Today I want to share with you the key questions you need to ask yourself to help you with finding blog topics that will impress your readers.

Finding Blog Topics

If you’re finding yourself stumped, ask yourself these questions to identify some good post ideas. Keep a list of all your post ideas in your bullet journal, Trello, digital planner, or some other note-taking software so you don’t forget any ideas you cook up for inspiration.

What is Your Blog Niche?

The first thing you need to identify is what your blog is all about and focus on that topic. You might be tempted to write about a lot of different topics when you’re first getting started, but as I talk about in my blog niche post, that’s not such a good idea. If your blog is mainly focused on home organization, then write about that. Writing about something different, like technology or fashion, might confuse your readers. Be predictable in your blog topic but unexpected in the knowledge and content you share.

What Do You Want Your Reader to Take Away?

Are you hoping to teach your audience a new technique or piece of information? Are you wanting to share your opinion on a subject? Or do you simply want to entertain your readers? You need to figure out the goal of your post. You don’t want to ramble on and on about a topic with no goal in mind. Think about how your post will enrich the lives of your readers and aim your topic toward that.

What Do You Wish You Knew Back Then?

When you’re finding blog post ideas and topics to write about, this one question can always help guide the way. When you were a beginner, think about the problems you faced. What obstacles frustrated you? What took you a long time to figure out? These past problems make for excellent blog post topics. There are always going to be beginners, so help them out by answering their burning questions. After you cover the basics, you can begin to write about more advanced topics.

This tactic has worked particularly well for me. One of my most successful blog posts of all time happens to be one of the very first I ever wrote: 30 Fun and Effective Ways to Use a Notebook. I had always struggled with collecting journals and then never using them. So when I was thinking up potential blog topics, I figured it would be a good problem to solve since my audience has likely experienced the same issue. Lo and behold, that post has received over 1 million page views since it was posted. So when you’re struggling with finding blog topics, it’s always worth asking how you solved your old problems.

What Does Your Audience Want to See From You?

There is no better way to find blog post topics than simply asking your readers. If you already have an email list (and you really should get on that soon if you want to make money blogging, I use Convertkit, you can check out their free trial here), then send out an email blast asking them what problems they face. For me, I ask about bullet journaling, water coloring, and lettering. And guess what? People will respond! Your readers will love the opportunity to share what obstacle they are facing. These responses will help you figure out what problems you need to solve with your writing. If you don’t have an email list, use social media. Just give people a chance to communicate and they often will.

If you’re struggling to grow your email list, check out how I built a list of 50K+ subscribers.

What SEO Keywords Can I Snag?

One excellent way to brainstorm blog post topics is by finding relevant SEO keywords. These are keywords that have people have been searching on Google. If people are looking it up on Google, then you want to be the one to provide the answer. Find keywords that are attainable and start writing posts tailored to that keyword. My favorite tool for SEO is Mangools. This easy to use suite has everything you need to get started improving your SEO and it’s much more affordable than most other services.

What Do You Want to Write About?

Writing for your audience is wonderful. Writing for Google is smart. But at the end of the day, you still gotta write about stuff you enjoy. I went through a whole period — over a year, in fact — where I exclusively wrote with SEO in mind. My Google rankings went through the roof, but my passion for blogging began to suffer. After a while, I got caught in a nasty cycle of writing only what I thought my audience would want to see and I lost myself a bit. I realized that the balance was off and I had to get it back. So I spent the next six months focusing as much as I could on covering whatever topics I enjoyed most, and it has helped me regain my love for this job and come up with some great content ideas.

Sometimes there isn’t a great keyword for the topic you have in mind. That’s fine. Go ahead and write the post anyway! I often see those oddball posts going viral on social media because people didn’t know they wanted an article on that topic until they happened upon it. My advice would be to mix in SEO keyword posts with posts that you simply enjoy writing for a good balance of practicality and fun.

You’re The Expert – Find Your Blog Topics

At the end of the day, you are the one running the show. You don’t need the perfect lineup of posts when you’re just getting started. Some posts may not do very well while others might go viral unexpectedly. Do your best to provide something interesting for your readers, enjoy your work, and be yourself. You’ll figure it out, I promise!

If you’re ready to start your blog, you should check out my favorite web host for beginners: DreamHost. Dreamhost is an affordable host that does not sacrifice quality or customer service. And you know the best part? For as low as $2.59 a month, you can get hosting, a FREE domain, and Wordpress pre-installed on your site so you can start creating today. Head over to Dreamhost to get started!