Brainstorming a Year’s Worth of Blog Post Topics

September 3, 2018

Have you ever sat down at your computer to write a blog post and ended up spending most of your time banging your head against your computer screen because you were clean out of post topic ideas? Running out of blog post ideas can make blogging feel like a chore. Believe me, I’ve been there and it stinks! In an effort to help keep your forehead bruise-free this year, I’m going to share with you some tips and a series of 20 questions that will help inspire an entire year’s worth of blog posts. These post-topics brainstorming tips will fill you with the inspiration needed to start posting on your blog like a boss!

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Tip 1: Schedule Uninterrupted Time to Brainstorm

In order to have an effective brainstorming session, you need to set aside about an hour of uninterrupted time to focus on just one thing: brainstorming post topics for your blog. Growing a blog takes time and effort. You can’t grow a blog if you aren’t producing new content on a regular basis, so really take this brainstorming session seriously.

If you have children, schedule your planning session at a time when your kids are at school, napping, or with a babysitter so you can create a focused, uninterrupted environment to brainstorm. I know you’re busy, but chiseling out time to plan and brainstorm really will make all the difference in the success and growth of your blog.

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Tip 2: Just Start Writing

In The Ultimate Blog Planner, you’ll find a page specifically designed for post brainstorming called “Post Topic Brainstorming.” I recommend printing off one of these pages for each of your main blogging categories. Then spend 5-10 minutes per category brainstorming and listing as many post topics as you can think of off the top of your head.

Just start writing. Don’t worry about whether it’s a good idea or not at this point. Jot down anything and everything that comes to you. You can weed out the not-so-great ideas later.

A few ways to generate ideas:

• Use HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator to generate a list of blog topics on a given subject. All you do is enter in keywords (nouns) that you want to write about and it will spit out several post ideas that have to do with those keywords.
• Use Google Analytics to see which of your posts are the most popular. Then think of ways to can expand these posts into new posts with additional or more detailed information.
• Use Pinterest to generate ideas. View what’s trending and see if that inspires any post topics. You can also type a few keywords into the search bar for additional inspiration.

RELATED: How to Read Google Analytics

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Tip 3: Ask Yourself These 20 Questions

If you’ve finished tip 2 and you still need more ideas, ask yourself the 20 questions below. Write down the ideas that come to you as you read each question and you’ll have a year’s worth of blog posts compiled in no time.

1. Are there any past posts you could expound upon, update, or do a follow-up on?

Make sure to link those old posts within a new one for extra SEO points!

2. Are there questions you get asked often that you could write a post about?

It will not only help your visitors find what they were looking for but you will also have a link you can share when someone will ask you the same question again.

3. How could you invite your audience into your life through a blog post?

Here are some ideas:

• Behind-the-scenes
• A day in the life
• How you got started
• What you wish you would have known when…
• Tell about your process
• Share some things people don’t know about you
• Show examples of how you or your business has grown through the years
• What products, services, or tools do you use every day?

4. What areas of expertise do you have that you could teach your readers about?

Become a teacher! People love to learn new things so if you have something you can share – do so.

5. What types of how-to posts or tutorials could you share that would be beneficial to your readers?

Even better, create a tutorial that your visitors can follow to learn the skills you have.

6. What have been your most popular posts?

Use these to inspire new posts. Maybe you can write more about the topics you covered in your popular posts? Again, don’t forget to link your old content to the new post.

7. Have you reached a milestone in your blogging journey, profession or life?

Feature those milestones or achievements in a blog post. It will allow you o showcase your skills and collect all the great memories in one place.

8. Is there a blog in your niche or a professional in your field you could feature?

Promote someone else. Remember that kindness goes a long way so be nice and make sure to let the featured person know that you wrote a post about them.

9. Do you have a product or service you could highlight in a post?

If you don’t know any blogs or websites you can feature focus on the products. Maybe you bought something recently that you really like or there is something people should avoid.

10. Is there a free printable or resource you could share with your readers?

Share some freebies. You can start with our free printable library. It will not only help us grow but you will have free content. When sharing freebies or other products don’t forget to credit an author.

11. How did you come up with your blog or business name?

It will help visitors learn something more about it.

12. What interesting stories or experiences from your life could you share?

Even if your blog isn’t personal or lifestyle it is ok to write posts about you from time to time.

13. Do you have a list of posts from other bloggers that you find helpful and refer to often?

You could list a roundup of these posts as a help to your readers.

14. What have you learned along with your blogging or professional journey?

Share your successes and failures.

15. Who do you work with? Who helps make your blog successful?

You could feature the people you work within a memorable way.

16. Where do you get your inspiration for what you do?

You could write about what or who inspires you.

17. Who do you know that you could ask to do a guest post on your blog?

You could offer to do a guest post on their blog as a trade for them doing one on yours.

18. Are there products you use often and love that you could review or promote on your blog?

19. Is there a big project you’ve been working on that you could feature in a blog series?

20. Have you surveyed your audience recently?

Creating a survey will help you find out what your readers would like more of. You can then implement their ideas in future posts.

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This should help you with post-topics brainstorming for an entire year! If you have a post you are really proud of, you can share it in the comments.