How to find good ideas and content for your blog

Posted on September 10, 2007 at 9:24 am

Here’s a quick tip for bloggers trying to find new ideas and content their blogs. If you’re trying to write a blog full-time, one problem that can crop up and make you feel like quitting is the inability to find something new and interesting to write about. Of course, if you’re blogging about Politics or Personal Productivity, the content should probably be your own opinions or experiences in life, but if you’re writing about technology or something similar, it’s essential that you can find out about the latest things in your field.

I’m going to be writing this post with a slant towards technology blogs since I write about those topics myself, but you can easily port these tips over to any other genre as they are not specific to technology. If you have any other ideas or would like to add to the list, please feel free to post a comment!

So here is currently what I do to find new blog content or ideas for a blog post:

Read other blogs in your niche – First of all, find out what kind of competition exists in your niche. Since I write about technology, I’ve searched through blog directories like BlogCatalog or Blogarama, blog communities like MyBlogLog or Technorati, etc to find other blogs that relate to my topic. Once I’ve found a couple I like, I have looked over their posts and browsed through their list of sources (most bloggers will site sources at the bottom of a post). Now you can create a good list of “source” sites, blogs, forums (Yahoo Answers), etc whereby you can search through and find content. If you can add value to a post someone else has written, post it on your blog and make sure to link back to the original source. There’s no way any blogger can write about everything, so pick and choose topics that specifically relate to your blog. Also, browse through comments on popular blogs as readers will usually post alternatives to the item or solution provided in the main post. For example, a tech blogger writing about a program to help recover data from your hard drive will usually get a bunch of comments on other programs or solutions to recovering data. You could use those ideas as a topic for one of your posts.
Social Bookmarking sites – Sites like Del.icio.us, Digg, Yahoo MyWeb, StumbleUpon and many others are great ways to find new blog ideas, especially for tech bloggers. You’ll always find links to startup web sites or cool web apps, etc, etc. However, there are many different topics other than technology, so it’s definitely worth checking these sites out! You can also follow along news sites like Newsvine and Tailrank, which are community-based, but more focused on current events.
Audio and Video Podcasts - This is probably one of the best ways to find fresh relevant content for your blog. Audio and video podcasts have the advantage that you can get a lot more information across in a shorter period of time. There are literally thousands of podcasts that you can watch daily ranging from the latest tech news to animal life in the Amazon! One cool piece of software that you can use to find and watch podcasts is Miro. It’s completely free and has over 2000 channels with videos that you can download to your PC, iPod or media player. You can check out other podcast sites like Twit, TeXtra, DL.TV, Blip.tv, etc.
Google Alerts – This one might sound a little strange, but it really does work! Google Alerts is a great tool to use to find content on the web specifically related to the keywords you choose. You can easily find any mention of your keywords in the news or in blogs. So if you want to know the day a new product is being released, simply create an alert with those words and you can get the information as it happens. This reduces the time it takes to read through lots of news or blog sites trying to find the information you need.
Keyword Tools – Every serious blogger should be using keyword tools to uncover the searching habits of readers. That importance of the data that you can get from these tools is simply too great to overlook. There are several free keyword tools out there, including Google Adwords, Overture, and Keyword Discovery. The numbers may not be exactly accurate, but it’s definitely insightful and good to know when writing titles for your post, etc.

That pretty much covers it! I can’t really think of any other way to find topics other than through personal experience or networking with other people. If you have some other method, please share it with everyone!

[tags]free blog content, blog content, content for blogs, blog ideas, ideas for blogs[/tags]

» Filed Under Blogging

Comments

21 Responses to “How to find good ideas and content for your blog”

BeachBum said on : September 10th, 2007 at 10:42 am

I agree that readin other blogs and networking with social networks is a good idea. but moe importantly is passion. If you have a passion for the subject you are writing about the writing part is much easier.

BeachBum Michael

akishore said on : September 10th, 2007 at 11:11 am

Hi Michael,

I totally agree with you! There’s no way you can do blogging as a career if you’re not passionate about it. This post was specifically geared towards those who enjoy blogging, but can’t find enough info. I can tell you from experience that I really enjoy blogging and love technology, but I still need to keep reading and watching podcasts to learn about new stuff (which is part of the passion).

I wrote another post a while back about how you can really tell whether or not you have a passion for your blog by comparing it to the love you might have for your spouse.

Love Your Blog Like You Love Your Wife

Let me know what you think!

Matt Wolfe said on : September 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pm

Those are some great ideas. I especially love “surfing” the net via stubleupon. It’s a great way to find inspiration and topics to blog about.

Steven Snell said on : September 16th, 2007 at 6:43 pm

Good points. I think it’s always a good idea to know what other bloggers are writing about. Thanks for the article.

Scoot said on : September 16th, 2007 at 9:12 pm

I like to write about a variety of things. A niche kind of gets stale for me. There are a lot of things that interest me and I don’t think it would be smart to have 20 blogs.

Monika @ The Writers Manifesto said on : October 28th, 2007 at 11:49 pm

Hi Aseem,

Well said and I do some similar things when I lack inspiration. I only write about this in an extensive list on my JV blog the other day. Like Beach bum said, passion is the key to success. It all starts there.

Monika

Adam said on : October 29th, 2007 at 10:59 am

I often times go to the traditional press for ideas to include reading magazines like Wired, and newspapers.

renantech said on : January 5th, 2009 at 10:34 pm

Thanks for sharing this useful information. I agree with you good content for blogs is the most important.

怎样为blog寻找好的想法和内容 | 漫步 Says:

[...] 简译自How to find good ideas and content for your blog [...]
September 16th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
漫步 » 怎样为blog寻找好的想法和内容 Says:

[...] 简译自How to find good ideas and content for your blog [...]
September 28th, 2007 at 1:33 am
Group Writing Project - The Entries | TheWritersManifestoBlog Says:

[...] Aseem Kishore: http://www.online-tech-tips.co.....your-blog/ [...]
October 21st, 2007 at 1:00 am
Here to Create » Briefly: Tutorial Contest at Writer’s Manifesto Says:

[...] How to find good ideas and content for your blog could apply to many forms of writing. Suggestions include: reading what other writers have to say on your topic, browsing social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, and Delicious for ideas, and using Google Alerts to keep track of specific topics. I use this last tip myself and have found it a great way to keep track of the news. [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:05 am
Top Tutorials From the Tutorials Group Writing Project Says:

[...] Aseem Kishore: How to Find Good Ideas and Content for Your Blog [...]
October 25th, 2007 at 2:02 am
Who Needs Tutorials? Do I Hear Everybody? Says:

[...] Out of Product Related Ad Networks Karthik: Upgrading Your Theme to Wordpress 2.3 Aseem Kishore: How to Find Good Ideas and Content for Your Blog Kyle Eslick: How to Ad Edit Buttons to Your Wordpress Theme Adam: Adding a Blog to Flickr Sumesh: [...]
October 27th, 2007 at 4:22 am
Who can’t use a couple of tutorials? Says:

[...] Out of Product Related Ad Networks Karthik: Upgrading Your Theme to Wordpress 2.3 Aseem Kishore: How to Find Good Ideas and Content for Your Blog Adam: Adding a Blog to Flickr Sumesh: How to Add Plugin Function Calls Without Breaking Your Theme [...]
October 27th, 2007 at 8:33 am
Favourite WritersManifesto group writing project entries Says:

[...] How to find good ideas for blog posts by Aseem. [...]
October 27th, 2007 at 10:04 am
My top picks for the WritersManifesto’s group writing project Says:

[...] I participated in a group writing project hosted by Monika at the WritersManifesto with my entry How to find good ideas for your blog. My favorite entries for this project are as [...]
October 27th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Blogging Tutorial Group Writing Project - My Online World Says:

[...] the increase in the number of pages for your site. Aseem Kishore has a really use post that teaches How to Find Good Ideas and Content for Your Blog. Kyle Eslick shows How to Ad Edit Buttons to Your Wordpress Theme. Adam(moi) show how to Add a Blog [...]
October 30th, 2007 at 7:07 am
Great articles that should be read | My lucky number 13 Says:

[...] How to find good ideas and content for your blog – Aseem Kishore [...]
October 31st, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Link Tips: 16 September 2007 Says:

[...] How to Find Ideas: If you are struggling to find ideas or fresh content for your blog, take a look at this article. There are some simple yet useful tips. [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 7:47 am
iTunes free podcasts - Learn more about any subject Says:

[...] are also a great way to find new content and new ideas for your blog or website, if you have [...]
October 7th, 2008 at 5:27 am