Five Unique Strategies to Help You Brainstorm Ideas for Fresh Content

For many businesses, developing creative ideas for fresh content on a routine basis can quickly become a resource-consuming chore. With the sheer volume of articles, blogs and landing pages hitting the web each day, how can a startup hope to craft unique and appealing content to attract readers?

Fortunately, developing engaging ideas for content is not nearly as difficult as it would seem. By leveraging a wide range of existing tools and techniques, businesses, regardless of industry, can easily generate new ideas for articles. Below, we’ll explore five of these easy-to-use, no-cost, strategies in detail.

1. Place Keyword Research Tools in Your Content Toolbox

One of the most effective, free options for generating blog ideas is a keyword research tool. These tools deliver immediate results covering a wide range of keyword-specific data such as when, where and how often users search for specific phrases. They can also be handy to help unlock a wide range of associated topics for specific keyword strings. Get started by accessing one of the many free research tools on the market including:

• Wordtracker
• Answer the Public
• SEMrush
• Google Trends and more

2. Keep up with the Latest Trends in Your Sector

In addition to keyword research tools, be sure to scan for emerging hot topics in your industry continually. These topics can come from industry-specific blogs, online trade journals or even a competitor’s site. Use this content to spark some creative ideas or to generate your own unique take on an issue of interest. This technique can not only develop niche topics, but can also help establish your brand as an authority on a subject.

3. Scan Recent Customer Reviews to Develop Topics

Another potentially lucrative source of creative article ideas may be sitting at your very fingertips in the form of customer reviews. Consumers often use reviews as a mechanism to pose questions or deliver feedback on the quality of service or value they receive. Customers’ feedback, in this sense, could yield some incredibly pertinent, timely topics sure to resonate with other users.

4. Capitalize on Google’s Auto-Complete Search Feature

When researching potential topics for your next blog in Google search, pause before hitting the enter key. Check out the wide range of suggested phrases that appear from the autocomplete function. For example, a heating and air conditioning business owner could simply enter “heating and cooling” into the Google search window. A quick scan of the suggestions which auto-populate in the fill feature may include results related to:

• Highest rated air-conditioning systems
• Average repair costs for common malfunctions
• Recommended preventative maintenance timelines
• Optimal HVAC equipment sizing options and more

Each of these sub-topics can then be used to craft an engaging and actionable blog, article or infographic idea in no time.

5. Gain Inspiration From Social Media

The never-ending stream of posts flooding social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and others can also yield some great inspiration for blog topics. Facebook, for example, offers a myriad of group pages tailored to a spectrum of interests. Here, users often ask burning questions, highlight concerns and share high-interest content. These posts are a gold mine of fresh content ideas for businesses.

The five examples above represent just a small cross-section of a variety of techniques business owners can easily use to brainstorm new content ideas. Ultimately, developing well-written, well-researched content which piques users’ interest can help a business reach new customers and unlock opportunities to grow.