Are you struggling to come up with new and exciting blogging ideas for your guest blogging campaign? Don’t be ashamed. We’ve all been there. Churning out quality content frequently and consistently relies on continuously coming up with new ideas. At some point, all of us find our creativity wells running a bit dry.
Luckily, breaking through the barrier can be as easy as shaking up your methods. You likely already have access to most of these tools, and the rest is pretty easy and cheap to do.
Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help from the Pro’s
Especially if you’re a small business, the problem might be that you simply don’t have time to research, pitch, and write guest content on top of your own. In this case, a guest posting service might help you take advantage of guest posting without the hassle.
And, of course, they can also help you come up with guest posting opportunities and topics.
Coming up with blogging ideas isn’t the only step that matters. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have to make sure that you produce an excellent piece of guest content.
Guest posting agency Luckyposting has come up with a recipe for what makes a Michelin-star guest post.
Keyword Research
Ah, good old keyword research. This is the one tool no self-styled SEO expert can go without. No matter which one of these methods end up working for you, you will need some keyword knowledge to know where to start or focus your search.
However, if you are hitting a block with your usual shorttail keywords, you should have some fun with longtail keywords. Longtail keywords are usually 4+ word combinations of other keywords. Getting longtail keywords can be as easy as typing keywords in Google search and seeing what Google Autocomplete comes up with.
You can also combine keywords, brainstorm phrases from your keywords, or use keyword research tools like SEMRush or Google Adwords Keyword Planner.
Added advantages of longtail keywords are that they aren’t as competitive and they carry more user intent.
Write for Different Guest Posting Platforms
How can this possibly help you come up with new ideas? Isn’t trying to pitch and land guest posting opportunities at different sites just going to cause more work?
Hear us out. Each guest posting platform has a slightly different niche, audience, library of content, or editorial policy. You would write a different article about the same subject depending on whether you write for an individual, small business, or large corporation. An article on sourcing goods, for example, will also be different depending on the industry you target, like food or furniture.
Researching an appropriate article to write for any given platform is already a must for a successful guest post strategy. However, you can also use it to help you put a new spin on an old topic. Simply looking at what content is needed on a platform, either because it doesn’t exist or is outdated, is another great way to find valuable content ideas.
Use a Content Discovery Tool
If you are still struggling to come up with an idea after doing your keyword research, a content discovery tool may provide the answer.
These tools can help you search the web, and social media, for content using a number of filters or data. For example, you can search by topic and/or date to find the latest published content. Although this won’t be brand new ideas, it may point you in the right direction or suggest fresh topics that haven’t been overwritten yet.
BuzzSumo, PostPlanner, Feedly, and Scoop.it are all great tools for different platforms, content types, and niches. Of course, using this method to come up with guest posting ideas can also show you where what type of content trends most.
Do a Little Competitive Spying
This is the easiest bit of corporate espionage you’ll ever do. The majority of everyone’s content is publicly available on the internet. There is no shame in looking at your competitors for new ideas. Everyone does it from time to time, and it’s a superb indicator of industry trends.
Of course, you can look at the latest content on your competitor’s own blogs. If you know their writers or where else they publish, you can also check their guest content for some juicy blogging ideas.
You can even research competing guest posting platforms of the one you plan on writing for. Some of the same content discovery tools can help you identify competitor content.
Still, Have Writer’s Block? Don’t Keep Banging your Head against the Wall
If you’re still out of blogging ideas, don’t give up! If you’ve created great content before, it’s only a matter of time before you will do it again. Writing is a creative process; if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun or interesting.
Maybe all you need to do is take a rest day or two. Get out of the house. Go lounge at your favorite coffee shop. Hang out with friends. Staring at a blank Word document in frustration will only make things worse.
Hang in there, and the topics will roll on once more.