When you begin planning out your client’s content strategy, it’s important to find blog topics that aid in the improvement of their SEO. Unfortunately, this is one of the toughest challenges that content creators and copywriters face. You may find some topics that are tempting to write about, but unless it will benefit your client’s website, it’s best to place your efforts elsewhere. By addressing inquiries that are common among your target demographic or the general industry, you increase your reach and chances of being found by the right people. This is more likely to lead to a conversion.
Industry Research
There are things that you need to ask yourself before brainstorming blog topic ideas. The content that you create has to be relevant to your client’s consumer base and their audience as a whole. If you have not already done your own research on the client (this might be the case if your position is solely that of a copywriter or content creator) this will be the next step. Use this research to help you formulate those first ideas and inspirations.
I’ve also found that looking at competitor’s blogs can provide a lot of insight as well. See what others in the industry are writing about and see if they would apply to your client’s company as well. You can also consider writing about seasonal topics, if applicable. This will help you connect specific holidays and events with your target audience. It can also be a lifesaver if you’re coming up short for blog topics.
Harnessing The Power of Google
Google is an invaluable resource for any copywriter. It has a variety of tools and features that digital marketers from all over the world rely on. Here are the tools that you might find most helpful:
- Google Related Searches: This will show you keywords that are related to your own search query and can be found at the bottom of the search engine results page (SERP.)
- Google Trends: By searching for words that are related to your business, you can see if they garner a high search volume over time. Google Trends will reveal trending topics by highlighting search queries that have recently risen in popularity or are predicted to peak. You can even filter by geography, time, category, and search type.
- Google Suggest: The Google algorithm attempts to suggest search queries that best match your entered term. Google Suggest is a tool that supplies you with the suggested keywords which appear under the search box. For the most part, you will see 3-5 suggestions. Sometimes even ten suggestions may be displayed.
- People Also Ask: This section of the SERP lies below the featured snippet and houses suggestions for related questions
Keyword Research
Keywords are an essential part of any blog that you write. When you use keywords in your content that are popular search terms, your blog has a better chance of finding its way to the right audience. Once you decide on your blog topic, you’ll need to start building a keyword map and set specific keyword targets for each blog.
As you build your keyword map, try to add long-tail keywords. These tend to be question-based and are in line with common search queries that your audience may be interested in. If you’re able to narrow down the topic, your blog may become the most relevant answer for a specific search. By giving the potential customer what they sought out for, you bring them that much closer to converting.
Be sure to include your keywords in the title tag, headers, the body of the copy, within the URL, in the alt-tags of your images, and in the meta description. The keywords should flow naturally in the copy, as it would in regular dialogue. The overuse of them, known as keyword stuffing, will lose you points with Google and negatively impact your client’s website.
Blog Topic Examples
Stumptown Coffee Roasters, based out of Portland, is a major name in the specialty coffee industry. On their blog, they mostly post about lesser-known artists and athletes. It’s their Brew Guide that garners the most traffic. Their detailed posts on how to brew Chemex, AeroPress, French Press, and other forms of coffee often make the top 5 spots on Google’s SERP. Although they aren’t published under their blog, these guides are structured as such and are still considered content pieces. The keywords that they’ve included in these posts are what grabbed Google’s attention in the first place.
Now let’s take a look at a website such as Exterior Experts. Their blog topics contain some of the most popular searches in the home improvement industry, such as common roof types, information on solar panel installation, and guides on how to repair parts of your home. All of these blog topics answer some of the most popular searches and inquiries in their industry. Because their blogs cater to these people, they are able to garner traffic and, thus, convert leads.
The outdoor fitness company, REI, has a Co-Op Journal on their website, which is essentially a company blog that is open to external contributions. One of their top posts is one titled, “Why So Many Women Are Traveling Alone.” This is a great example of posting on seasonal topics because, as we are in the thick of summer, most people are taking off on vacation. Additionally, solo travel was named the number one travel trend in 2019, by the website Klook.
It may seem like there is a lot of work in choosing a blog topic, but the longer you are in the game, the easier it becomes. The job of a copywriter can definitely be tedious, but seeing a blog that you wrote for your client on the top of the SERP will make it all worthwhile.
Elena Goodson – I am a social media manager and content creator at New Dimension Marketing and Research.
Outside of work, I also am a stand-up comedian and run my own website, Slow Boat Library. I speak five languages (English, French, German, Italian, and Arabic) and studied marketing, communications, and journalism in more than six countries in Europe and the Middle East.
