Written on April 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 am by Darren Rowse
How to Come Up with Topics to Write About On Your Blog
In today’s video post I want to show you a technique that can help those of us struggling to come up with ideas to post about on our blogs to discover post ideas that are relevant to what our readers are looking for information on. In the few minutes that this video goes for I come up with 15 or so post ideas – you can too.
The size of the video above might be a little small for you to pick up all of the detail in the screen cast so for a larger version see it also at Revver and YouTube. Also – once the screen cast part of the video starts you may need to turn up your volume slightly.
The two tools mentioned in this post are 103bees and Sitemeter but you could glean the same information from virtually any web metrics tool.
72 Responses to “How to Come Up with Topics to Write About On Your Blog” - Add Yours
Mark - Creative Journey Cafe
April 2nd, 2008 12:41 am
Thanks for the tip Darren,
One way I come up with post ideas is by shooting photos of ordinary things as I journey along…
I look at the photos and ask, What does this picture have to do with my blog? It almost always triggers a post idea.
sarah
April 2nd, 2008 12:57 am
and given the consistently wide range of relevent topics you include here, none of us can doubt that this must work! :)
Learn SEO
April 2nd, 2008 2:14 am
Thats a great idea and tutorial Darren, having a close look to the organic search terms for which your readers have found your blog could/will give you ideas for new posts on those terms. This is definitively useful for me lately, and I should just apply this and the “mind mapping” more often until it becomes a real daily routine.
The Davinator-Viral Marketing Strategist
April 2nd, 2008 2:17 am
Hey, wow, that’s a very cool way of going about it Darren. I’d never heard of 103 Bees before. Definitely going to check that site out. Great, thanx!
Davin
ericabiz
April 2nd, 2008 2:54 am
Hey Darren,
Excellent post! My only feedback is that the ad banner on your sitemeter page bugged me even just watching the video. I’d recommend using an adblocker for your browser when you do videos. Other than that, excellent!
-Erica
Liz Ness
April 2nd, 2008 3:18 am
Your site ROCKS (and DPS, too)! Thanks so much for the awesome tips. This one is such a great idea and so easy to do!
Missy
April 2nd, 2008 3:41 am
Darren: I wrote a post on a myspace layout for my niche, and it gets good traffic, so i decided to create a page dedicated to layouts.
When setting up a page based off a popular post, how do we go about set-up, as far as the page title?
Should we use the same title or use a similar, but not same title?
Sean Kelly
April 2nd, 2008 3:41 am
I decided to go ahead and give 103bees a try. I just wanted to let you know that it is not 100% free, as the initial sign up is for a 30 day trial period.
It still seems like a great tool, I just thought you might want to let your readers know that it is not free, but for low traffic sites it offers a one time fee of $19, and for higher traffic sites (> 100,000 hits per month) I believe the fee is $9 per month.
Thanks for the tip, I thought it was great.
Frank Mendel
April 2nd, 2008 3:57 am
Hi Darren,
I think that´s a good idea. But maybe that will not help people starting a new blog.
Frank
Ron
April 2nd, 2008 4:05 am
Another Free tool similar to 103bees is hittail.com (free for lower traffic sites). It shows you the top keyword search results as well as longtail keywords (phrases) that people used to find your site and gives you suggestions on what you should post about.
They do offer a “Plus” service for a fee with more stats… etc.
* Miss Universe
April 2nd, 2008 4:08 am
The comments from readers can actually be the best signal of potential topics.
When a comment gets several replies – it has hit home
Especially on those blogs where others seldom acknowledge other reades and just focus on the Blogger
This blog gets a large percentage of compliments – so intelligent criticism might also be an avenue of interest to pursue because of the rarity
NewSunSEO
April 2nd, 2008 4:24 am
Darren, thanks for the tips. I do find myself struggling for some new and fresh topics every now and then. I appreciate it.
Jennifer
April 2nd, 2008 4:47 am
I like how this tip focuses on what your readers are actaully searching for.
One great way I have found to coem up with blog topics is subscribing to newsletters. I can usually come up with some good topics from these.
Kay
April 2nd, 2008 5:03 am
Very good information Darren. I learn something new here everyday!
Terra Andersen
April 2nd, 2008 5:48 am
Wonderful advice! I generally ask my readers, colleagues, or look at my site stats as well.
I also love to find topics in the news, on the radio, or from my own experiences that I’ve logged for that purpose.
Raivyn
April 2nd, 2008 6:01 am
I agree, this is a GREAT way to come up with ideas for new posts. I have been doing the same (reviewing search terms) for the past few months, but instead using Google Analytics and FeedBurner, and it hasn’t failed yet. Once publishing a blog post about a specific search term, I’ve noticed a huge increase in traffic from related searches. So this is not only a way to come up with new ideas, but also a way to build search engine traffic.
sue Jeffels
April 2nd, 2008 6:16 am
Thanks, Darren,
I never would have thought about using these methods for post ideas – it’s a brilliant way of doing things.
Lamonte Harris
April 2nd, 2008 7:15 am
Interesting article, I’ve signed up for both those sites. This does much more then the AWStats in Cpanel when it comes to search terms and what not.
Darren Rowse
April 2nd, 2008 9:12 am
sorry about the ‘it’s free’ advice on 103bees – seems they changed their model to a free trial. Still, it’s worth it for the information that it can reveal!
Lamonte Harris
April 2nd, 2008 9:44 am
Oh, I’ve signed up, hopefully they’ll help some.
Derek
April 2nd, 2008 10:03 am
Darren, nice tips and ones that I have recently started using as well although with the help of HitTail (as another mentioned earlier).
Here is another blog topic for you, why did the volume get worse when you started the screencast? I recently did a screencast with Camtasia on my blog and the microphone I had was garbage and resulted in poor audio, was that your problem as well? How about a review or suggestion of a quality mic to use for recording during screencasts?
Homebizseo.com
April 2nd, 2008 4:49 pm
Great tip. Knowing what the favorite search terms are, is very important from a SEO point of view.
Ecko
April 2nd, 2008 6:05 pm
I’m using SiteMeter for all of my blogs, and it helps me so much.
Ecko
April 2nd, 2008 6:11 pm
I’m using SiteMeter for my blogs, and it’s very useful for me…
Our Bedtime Stories
April 2nd, 2008 10:32 pm
Just another vote for Hittail. I have using it for a while and it does a great job and sifting those search terms.
Trouble is, I now have an even longer list of things that I “haven’t done yet”. Most of my TTD lists are fast becoming the TIHDY lists.
Thanks again, Darren.
Kelly
April 3rd, 2008 1:16 am
Darren,
I’ve been using the Bees for free and recommending them to anyone for months, since you mentioned them in a post here (last fall?). They were great. Were…
Two nights ago I popped in to see how my bees were doing, and I got a “pay up or no more bees for you” message, saying my 30 day free “trial” was over. When I originally signed up it was free forever, no catch (unless over a certain volume), as you said in that post. They never sent me a hey, for all you loyal bee-users, we lied and the extortion starts soon message, they just shut me out.
I know, drifting a bit off-topic, but I thought you’d want to know they’ve changed how they work. No more word of mouth from me, and no, I’m not going to sign up. Not that it’s not worth it, but just that whatever you change for future customers, if you told past folks it’s free forever, it is. Or you’re biting the hand that sends you future customers. :(
Regards,
Kelly
Scott Marlowe
April 3rd, 2008 1:26 am
Cool. The 103bees service looks intriguing. Think I shall check it out…
WebTasticPlus
April 3rd, 2008 6:44 am
Thank you, Darren
I am always up for fresh new ideas to get out the in the blog world. Just starting out so your post is an insiration to succeed.
Thank you again,
Sean S.
Frugal Dad
April 3rd, 2008 3:29 pm
Great tips, Darren! Frequented search terms are a great starting point for building a new article, even if you have already written on the subject. There are few topics that can’t be embellished, countered or reviewed with success.
Anne H
April 3rd, 2008 4:13 pm
Good tips. I also use Google’s site search and link it with Google Analytics. It provides some nice data for story ideas. It also gives you a look at how people search as some users use quotes and have specific queries while others put in a single term. I tend to export the data so I can more easily group items to account for word order and such.
Michael
April 3rd, 2008 7:27 pm
Well thank you very much Darren, I’ve heard many people say that bloggers should look at what people have searched for before going to your site but no one has been able to explain it very well to me. I guess I should have figured it out by now (I’ve been blogging for so long) but this short little video has probably done more for my blog and me as a blogger than any of the posts or videos you have done in the past.
esvl
April 4th, 2008 1:59 am
Thanks for the screencast. I have never bothered with Sitemeter until I’ve seen the video. But the stats shows some great ideas for blog posts.
Eddie
April 4th, 2008 4:03 am
Wow. Very interesting and helpful. This method always makes is easier to find topics that I would still be passionate about. It’s not just what consumers might like but what consumers might like about what I’ve done. Excellent idea.
The Big Fat Guru
April 4th, 2008 11:53 am
Great ideas. Thanks.
One of the things that I have found works well on my blogs is bouncing off topical issues, stories and events. This creates fresh and original content around “stale” topics which is interesting and easy to read.
Internet Marketing Strategies
April 4th, 2008 4:29 pm
One way I use to come up with new topics for my blog other than checking my stat data, I simple search for article about topics relevant to my blog categories and then see if any of those article small tips of stuff I can write a full post about…
it works, plus sometimes you can make a list of blog post ideas from one single article.
Yours truly,
Luis Galarza
W3G
April 4th, 2008 9:14 pm
Thanks for the tip! This would be very useful for us bloggers.
- W3G
Reliable Webhosting
April 4th, 2008 11:47 pm
Despite the advent of ebooks, I still read books and printed newspapers. If I read something very interesting, I blog about it.
Lulu
April 5th, 2008 4:18 am
I heard about your site only recently and have only just got around to checking out but I like what I see. I am becoming more and more interested in blogging and it is nice to see an Aussie approach to tips for blogging available.
Keep up the good work!!!
I agree with the first commenter…I also look at the photos I take to come up with blog topics! They often trigger memories or thought I had from the day which is always good. I also keep a written journal which also provides inspiration for me!
Ariel
April 5th, 2008 4:49 am
Thanks! This helped me come up with some new topics for my blog.
Graham
April 5th, 2008 1:29 pm
Thank you for the tips. 2 articles today.
Swanbros
April 5th, 2008 3:49 pm
This is very valuable tip, Darren. 300 bees is a good idea. Thanks for sharing it.
Ken
April 5th, 2008 4:05 pm
Another great way to come up w/ ideas is to check out the table of contents in books. If you have a special niche you write about, just get a book on the subject see the contents listings and it will give you some neat ideas about what to blog on.
Reginald
April 6th, 2008 1:08 am
I checked out the both sites, 103bees and Sitemeter. Of the two, I found 103bees to be simpler as for as design and layout of information provided, which I thought more people will be able to digest and utilized.
Thanks for the resources. They are definitely practical.
Swanbros
April 6th, 2008 12:14 pm
Sorry, I meant 103 bees. :D
garry
April 7th, 2008 10:14 am
I’m new to blogging and at the present time I have a wealth of ideas for articles. But it has crossed my mind what will I do when the well starts to run dry, this great article has ensured that there is a way to easily gain inspiration when things get tough.
Avinash
April 7th, 2008 1:54 pm
Nice Tip Darren.
One of my blog is about the Beijing Olympics and with all the hype happening around, I seem to have no trouble picking up something to write about.
Avinash
April 7th, 2008 2:08 pm
Sorry missed mentioning in my previous post, but the audio becomes bad from the time you move away from the camera and start talking about sitemeter. Had to really strain myself.
Mosey
April 7th, 2008 6:12 pm
Thank you for the suggestion/.tips! :D I actually found it really useful (as many did above) as google is also my #1 site traffic referrer. I do occasionally look at what people search for, but never seriously thought about taking that info and creating new posts from it (I run a fansite for a band and most people come in to the site searching for lyrics and mp3s) I will definitely be doing a bit more research though!
John Hoff - eVentureBiz
April 8th, 2008 7:14 am
First time on Problogger. Very cool, and thanks for the links. I’m heading over to Site Meter now. You can never get enough intel
Suzanne
April 8th, 2008 2:04 pm
Thanks for the ideas Darren. Here’s another resource for brainstorming ideas:
http://wiki.chainofthoughts.com/dt/en/
Type in any word and it comes up with a long list of popular related topics.
failureblogger
April 8th, 2008 3:24 pm
Simple but GENIUS!
Great post Darren
failureblogger-16 year old blogger
Sarah
April 9th, 2008 12:19 am
Hi Darren,
Thank you for the ideas…I from India and I love this site! I was having so much difficulty trying to figure out stuff…read up on SEO too right here….I had a lot of ideas initially for my blog…but with work (excuses excuses) my blog is dead…sigh…I really need a resurrection!!
Vlad
April 9th, 2008 6:43 am
Darren,
I do the same thing with Hittail… or rather Hittail does it for me. Thanks for the tip abotu 103bees, going to take a look at it after writing this comment.
Bill Stevens
April 9th, 2008 1:52 pm
Thanks Darren. Another excellent tool for my blogging arsenal. I’ve been looking at my sitemeter stats and haven’t even thought of that.
Brick Marketing
April 11th, 2008 6:33 am
Great tools! That’s half the battle of a blog — not only writing good content but finding what the hell to write about on a daily/weekly basis!
Diana
April 11th, 2008 11:41 pm
Wow, that’s a great video and I did learn something from there. Now I know what topic to start off without wrecking my brains!
Kevin
April 11th, 2008 11:53 pm
My blog is not yet established so there is little traffic to it to pick up ideas.
So question can I find out what questions people are asking to get to similar websites/blogs like I’m trying to build.
At the moment I’m trying to build one aimed at the Irish in America and I’m having difficulty figuring out what it is they are reading – any suggestions?
Raja Devanathan
April 12th, 2008 3:44 am
Interesting way to post on your blog. Will give it a go, although my blog posts are feedback related. May not work.
pk
April 12th, 2008 10:44 am
Great tips keep it up man. I really like the new way to present you blog. good luck to you and hopefully we all will keep on getting tips in future.
Susanna
April 12th, 2008 9:53 pm
Great stuff. I will be making better use of my stats from now on. And how pleasing it is to hear a real voice (without one of those funny accents you hear now nowadays) a voice that doesn’t YELL at me :)
Good on you
funnyguy
April 12th, 2008 10:46 pm
brilliant! I never thought about that way! keep up good work dude
Luis Gross
April 13th, 2008 4:04 am
That was very helpful, as my blog grows it is becoming more and more difficult to come up with a good new topic every day. Thanks Darren!
Joe
April 13th, 2008 7:12 am
Darren, why don’t you just embed youtube movie straight into your post. The screen would be bigger and it won’t put too much load on your server.
Rick Wilson
April 13th, 2008 9:49 am
GREAT Tips, Darren!
I would never have really thought of that. Thanks for showng some of the tools you’ve used to get the juices flowing for posting ideas.
Super valuable info!
Rick Wilson aka CorpRebel
Lars Hilse
April 13th, 2008 10:27 pm
Hi Darren,
thanks for the scoop there. The 103bees.com was really valuable – will check that out.
Regarding the search terms you’ve mentioned: why do you not use Google Analytics to monitor your incoming searches etc? Just a brain fart there… but I use it to determine – not only the search terms being used – but also to monitor traffic etc.
All the best from Germany
Dianne (Moondreamer)
April 14th, 2008 1:04 am
More excellent advice … thank you Darren!
Have just subscribed to Twitter and wanted to say thank you for the fab Fuentes quote you posted on there and respond to your influential book question. But am such a newbie I don’t know if it worked, much better here as am an old hand at blogging! lol been loving it for three months now!
Have been subscribed to your RSS feed for a while and while am here, thank you for all the really useful info and tips, you’re a star!
:o)
KushMoney
April 15th, 2008 2:01 pm
Thanks for the tips, I am a new reader of your blog but I like what I see.
Joe Maddalone
April 16th, 2008 9:38 am
The site meter is what I use all the time in order to come up with new ideas. In addition to simply reading the comments left. Great post.
Reginald
April 17th, 2008 7:06 am
I thought I would add a resource that could be of practical use to someone.
If you are not quite at the level of SEO firm outsourcing and would like to get informed about the whole online concept, try http://www.realmoneyshow.com.
Individuals interested in self-employment are often deterred, discouraged, and overwhelmed by scams, schemes, or vague information.
This is because it is no longer a secret that self-employment opens the door to a lifestyle of financial security and is being seriously considered by more and more people each year. As a result, credibility and valuable information are becoming more and more difficult to find.
However, reputable journalist and TV host, John Daly, filled this much needed information niche with an online resource called ‘The Real Money Show’. His expertise is evident in a series of interviews designed to answer the questions people genuinely interested in online business opportunities have.
The credibility of this online resource is reinforced by the fact that ‘The Real Money Show’ does not endorse anyone or any particular program.
These five to ten minute interviews allow people to read, watch, listen, and make an educated decision.
Jamshid
April 17th, 2008 9:02 pm
I like your blog, its great.
Reginald
April 17th, 2008 10:12 pm
This is why it is important for anyone considering starting a blog to consider what type of information they intend to include in their blog.
If it is lined with the content of passion that is source from the individual blog owner, finding content on a daily or weekly basis may not be as heart wrenching as some bloggers describe it.
Reginald
April 26th, 2008 12:39 am
Just had a peak at Suzanne’s suggested link. I’m a bit abash to admit that I could not figure out how to navigate my way to the place you described. I couldn’t even find the concept you described.
It is also possible the I just didn’t get it.
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