Content creators need a constant flow of fresh, clickable ideas. Finding these ideas can be difficult, especially when you're just starting out. While staying on top of trends, you still want to offer an original perspective.
It is also important to ensure that non-trending topics get views! Check out these websites and methods to get inspired!
1. Ensure Success With Trending Topics
Knowing the trending topics is key to getting high-performance ideas. Having a lot of detail about these trends will help you identify unexplored angles.
You can also use it to understand why people are interested, so you can address their needs. Here are some resources to find keyword trends.
Treendly
Treendly shows you the top trending keywords across the internet. You can also enter a specific keyword to see trends related to that topic. If you click a result, you get even more detail.
It sorts the results by website, showing how popular the term is on Google, YouTube, and Amazon. It also pulls up recent forum discussions that mentioned your keyword. These conversations can show lots of detail about what people want to know.
You can also see how the keywords performed over time, and whether they'll be slowing down soon.
Ubersuggest
Neil Patel's Ubersuggest is another great way to get inspired by high-performance keywords. This site identifies keyword trends, but the real lifesaver is its Content Ideas feature.
With this feature, you can enter a keyword and view top-performing content that uses it. Ubersuggest will analyze how well the content is performing on Facebook and Pinterest, based on the total visits and backlinks. Lastly, it provides a link so you can take a closer look at the content.
Getting to see the specifics of how the content is performing, rather than only how popular the keyword is, can give you useful guidance. It shows you which trends are worth jumping on, and which you should let pass.
Keywords Everywhere
Okay, this one is technically a browser extension, but it's too useful to leave out! Keywords Everywhere is available for Google Chrome and Firefox. It analyses the content in your browser for trending keywords. It also links up with Trending Topics so you can get even richer data.
You can zoom in on specific pieces of content and analyze how well they perform. Since it's an extension, it travels with you as you browse the internet and lets you know if you're looking at an explosive content idea!
2. Try a Prompt From a Random Generator
Responding to a random prompt can be a great way to brainstorm. When you are randomly confronted with experiences, it can push your mind in directions you would not otherwise go!
This can lead to really unique concepts that break the mold and help you stand out. Additionally, it can inspire your creative side after a period of stagnation.
These websites take your keywords and use them to generate titles, concepts, and even first lines to get you thinking!
Hubspot Blog Topic Generator
Enter up to five nouns related to your topic, and Hubspot will give you a week of blog topics. Try entering some of the top-performing keywords from Treendly!
At the free level, it provides you inspiring titles. The titles are randomly generated, but not so random that they don't make sense. The more specific you are with your starting words, the better your results will be!
If you buy a premium membership, you can unlock hundreds of more ideas, plus tips on SEO-optimizing your content.
Use Topic Idea Generator
Use Topic offers an Idea Generator that will take your topic and get a blog post started for it. That's right, it not only comes up with a title but also drafts the first paragraph of your post! The takes range from product endorsements to listicles and op-eds, so it truly works for all blog styles.
Best of all, Use Topic's results encourage you to focus on creating good content. After all, trending keywords won't help in the long run, if your content isn't useful.
3. Use Your Own Experience
The longer you've been working on your topic, the more your own experience can serve as inspiration. Problems you've overcome, and skills you've gained can both be sources for content.
If you've recently solved a problem, you could share that solution with your followers. You can also explain how to avoid the problem in the first place. This works even for new creators. You can share what you learned from your getting-started process.
Similarly, you could teach yourself something new and share what you learned. What is something within your topic that you always wanted to know? Or maybe a skill that you want to get better at. Once you have found your answer or mastered your skill, make some content to share what you learned!
Reflecting on past experiences can also inspire content. For instance, what do you wish you knew when you first started in your field? There are likely some newcomers among your readers who could use that wisdom now! The words of experience are always valuable.
4. Get Inspired by the Competition
Make sure you are consuming content from other creators in your category. Follow their social media accounts, too! You need to know what the competition is doing so that you can differentiate. It also helps you stay on top of trends.
You can address a detail that others glossed over, or provide an alternative point of view. In other words, try to notice what others aren't saying—it might be a content gap that you can fill!
Read critically, take notes, and use SEO and Keyword research to analyze which bandwagons are worth jumping on.
It's also a good idea to follow topic-specific news blogs, trade journals, and magazines. These can give you specific insights on topics and techniques. A simple way to do this is to follow relevant categories and hashtags on your favorite news-reading app.
Of course, there are also web resources that can help you stay up-to-date.
Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is a great way to see all the content trending in your category. When you select a topic, Buzzsumo will show you all the related content. It prioritizes content that's been performing well in searches and engagement.
By focusing on high-performance articles, you avoid over-focusing on specific publications. It's also easier to notice gaps in content that you could fill and repetitive takes that you should differentiate from. With Buzzsumo, you'll also be able to note what type of content is doing well: video, text blog, etc.
5. Ask Your Audience
As content creators, we must focus on producing high-quality content. This means providing content that our audience would find useful. And no one knows those needs better than the audience itself. Find out what your followers want to see by polling them. You might be surprised!
Creating a poll on your social media or sending out an email survey are good ways of measuring interests. You should also pay attention to social media mentions.
You can also get hints from your own content. Do you have a high-performance piece that you could expand on or update? Looking at previous successes is a good way to get ideas.
Maintain a Fresh Content Strategy
All you need is the right resources to help you maintain a stream of fresh ideas. Inspiration can come from keyword trends, competitive content, experience, or even your own audience!
However, it's not enough to paste in a few trending keywords. Creativity is the key to keeping your ideas fresh. Keep your mind open to new ideas with creative exercises and prompts.
