How to Generate Content Ideas Consistently

When you make the decision to become a niche leader for an online audience, part of the responsibility you’re taking on is to constantly enlighten and educate your audience so they don’t have to go out onto the Internet and gather the information they need themselves.

While there are dozens of tasks you’ll handle as an online entrepreneur – from site building to product creation, the development of ongoing content will be the core of how you communicate with your audience to convey ideas and position yourself as the go to niche leader they should follow.

There’s one major problem most Internet marketers run into when it comes to content development, besides the time it takes to create it – coming up with an endless stream of ideas.

There are several strategies you can utilize to help you churn out ideas on a regular basis, and these can be used in all of your content – including blog posts, email autoresponders, social networking posts, info products, lead magnets and more.

Start with What You Know

You picked a niche for a reason – most likely because you had a bit of knowledge, if not a lot of knowledge, about the subject matter. The very first place you want to start when you create a list of content ideas is with what’s already in your head.

Conduct a “brain dump” operation where you merely sit down and write out all of the basic topics you know you want to cover. For example, if you’re in the dog niche, you might write down things like potty training, health, grooming, nutrition, and breeds.

You can make a list and start organizing it. Don’t worry if it’s sloppy at first. The idea is not to correct yourself along the way for perfection, but rather to unload all of the information you have in your brain.

When you have a main topic, such as dog grooming, you can drill it down and keep going with what you know. With grooming, you know you’ll need to cover topics such as trimming their nails, brushing their fur, and cleaning their teeth.

Because your niche audience will be coming to you for help with problems, think of the topics in terms of problems. For example, with a dog’s fur, it can get matted, have dandruff, get sprayed by a skunk, need to be trimmed, and so on.

List all of those topics so that at some point, you can cover it for your audience. After you’ve written down as much as humanly possible and you can’t think of another thing, organize the topics into groups because you’ll want to rotate them for your blog.

You won’t want to do 15 articles in a row on dog fur or even grooming in general. You’ll want to have a nice mix of relevant content. But if you plan to release info products, you’ll want the content to be created in a logical order, starting with a topic like picking the right breed for your family, then potty training, puppy proofing your home, and so on.

See What Others Are Asking

Some of your greatest content ideas will come in the form of questions from your target audience. There are many different places they will go to ask questions. If you are established for any length of time, they will even begin to come to your email inbox directly from your followers.

But until you have followers, you can look online to see what questions people are asking so that you can create content that answers them. Even if they didn’t directly ask you, there is nothing stopping you from publishing an answer to a common question within your niche.

Keyword tools are a great place to find out what it is people want to know in your niche. If you don’t have the funds for a paid keyword tool, you can even go to Google and begin searching there for free.

For example, if you go to Google and start typing in the words, “what dog” – you will see some of the top responses people want to know. These include questions like, “What dog has the strongest bite, what dog breed lives the longest, and what dog breeds don’t shed?”

You can switch the first word and get even more content ideas. For example, change the word to which and you will see another question that says, “Which dog is the smartest?”

If you change the word to how, you get questions such as, “How to adopt a dog, how to harness a dog, and how to crate a dog.” Change the word to when and you will see other questions such as, “When to crate a dog, when to breed a dog, and when dog eats grass.”

The last one isn’t necessarily posed as a complete question, but common sense will tell you that the people typing that phrase in are wondering what to do when your dog eats grass or maybe what it means when they eat grass.

Both of these can make good topics for your content list. Basically, you are using keyword tools to look up the common questions people want to know based on starter words such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

Forums are another fantastic place to look for questions because this is where many people go to ask fellow niche audience members about things they can’t figure out. Make sure you go to both broad forums as well as narrow ones.

For example, you may go to a broad dog forum and see a question where someone is asking how to correct their dog’s aggression toward other dogs. But if you go to a forum specifically about dog care, you might see specific health questions, such as, “How can I brush my dog’s teeth if he keeps biting the toothbrush?”

Quora has long been known as a question and answer site where people can post questions and random individuals step up to answer their request. You can go to Google and type in the name Quora and the niche topic, such as dog, and you will see questions on the search engine results page such as, “What are the benefits of getting a dog as a pet?”

Social networking posts on any of the sites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more will have comments from consumers on other niche leaders’ posts that you can look at to see what concerns or questions they have.

Blog posts are also a great place to see how your prospective customers are feeling and gauge their interest about certain topics. You can go to any competitor blog and see what kind of engagement they’re getting and read through the comments so that you can add these important topics to your list.

Learn from Your Competitors

Not only do you want to look at the engagement that is on your competitor’s website and social networking profiles, but you also want to look at the content that they create themselves.

Your goal is never to copy someone else’s work, but to simply gather more information about what kinds of topics you can cover. Start by conducting a Google search to see what niche blogs are ranking high for your topic.

Follow those links and go to the blogger’s website. Take note about the lead magnet offer topic, if they have one. Then, glance at the categories that they have for their website and mark those down.

Scroll through the blog posts themselves, as well as the pages they may have on their site, and simply jot down the topic so that you can cover it in your own way at a later date.

For example, if you go to Google and type in the words dog and blog, you will see a variety of advertisements above the first organic entry. When you follow the very first entry, which is a website called sitstay.com, you will see a mix of topics at the very top including dog gear, dog treats, wellness, and dog supplies.

Add all of those to your list and then move down the page to see what other topics they are covering, such as dog beds, broken dog nails, CBD oil for dogs, spider bites on a dog, dog diabetes, service dogs, and more.

You’ll notice that you may have listed dog nails earlier in your research as a content topic. But most people simply want to know how to trim the nails. This blog gives you a great idea about covering a problem that has occurred, which is a broken nail.

Deliver Content for News, Trends and Forecasts

Another great thing you can do to get content ideas is to type your niche into Google or another search engine and then click on the news tab. If you type the word dog, you may see articles about new laws that people need to know about owning a dog.

You may also see something about dog behavior, such as an attack that occurred. These are all topics that you want to consider as content for your blog. You can even refer to a specific event and then discuss with your audience how it should have been handled.

Going to Google and typing this in might show you topics such as traveling with your dog, adopting a dog, and keeping your dog safe. You can also find topics about raising a service animal or proper etiquette for people who encounter a service dog.

When you went to the previous dog blog, you saw the article about CBD oil being used with dogs. This is considered a trend that is rising among dog owners. You want to be able to spot certain trends within your niche and discuss them on your blog, ideally before anyone else can.

As you immerse yourself into your niche as a leader, your followers may expect you to offer your insight and forecast what is to come. For example, if you were in the dating niche, you might be able to forecast certain technology or dating etiquette that will be prevalent in the coming year.

Some of this you can find by subscribing to consumer and trade magazines that inform people about niche topics before the masses really know about them. If you go to Google and type in dog trade magazine, and then click on images, you will see the covers of many trade magazines for the topic of dogs, including one where the picture and headline that is splashed across the cover is about CBD oil for dogs.

There is another image for a trade magazine called Total Grooming Magazine. On the cover, there is a title that says, “Worldwide trends in dog grooming.” If you click on it, the magazine opens up so that you can see inside each page of this issue.

Even by just looking inside the table of contents, you can get more ideas for your content, including things such as how to deal with double coated breeds when trimming the fur of a dog.

You might start flipping through the pages and see an article that discusses the responsibilities of dog groomers. Even though your niche will be teaching dog owners, you can jot down certain topics that they cover – including ear care, microchipping, dog massage, and more.

Give a Simple Tutorial

There are many times your target audience will want a step-by-step tutorial about a certain topic. You might be able to think of some off the top of your head, writing down the simple steps that are good for your audience to know.

However, if you can’t think of any (or simply want more), go to Google and type in the words step by step along with your niche topic, such as dog. You will find that people are asking for step by step dog training, step by step dog grooming, step by step dog crate training, and more.

When you create a simple tutorial like this for your audience, you want to remember that your audience does not know as much as you know. That means you can’t gloss over any steps and assume the person understands what they’re supposed to do.

If you want to get a good understanding of how to do a simple tutorial, go to WikiHow and see how they do it. For example, you can type in WikiHow dog bath and you will see the simple steps that they share for giving a dog a bath.

While their answers may be short – very succinct – you may want to expand on yours a little bit – especially for a blog post. Instead of just talking about what to do, you may also explain why they should be doing this so that they understand a little more.

You can also look at their instructions, such as gathering the necessary supplies, and expand on those concepts with very detailed instructions about what supplies they need. This may include a towel, dog shampoo, etc.

Sometimes, you’ll be able to use a multimedia approach for your tutorials that you provide for your audience. You can do this with pictures, like WikiHow does. Or you can do it by creating a video of the lesson to accompany the text steps.

Keep an eye on your comments and notice if anyone has a question that you didn’t cover. You can always update and republish your blog post so that it includes the necessary detail that you may have left out.

You can also take the feedback that you get for these tutorials and turn them into additional blog posts. For example, if you created a step-by-step tutorial about how to give a dog a bath and someone commented that their dog constantly escapes the bathtub, that would be your cue to create a blog post specifically to help them solve that problem.

For example, you might talk about using a suction silicone mat that attaches to the wall of the bathtub where you can put peanut butter on it so that the dog is distracted by the treat while they are receiving their bath.

Create a Profit Pulling Product Review

While getting how to information is one of the top reasons your audience will be turning to you as a niche leader, they also want to know how to best spend their money. No matter which niche you are in, the consumer will have questions about which products or courses are the best investment.

First, find out what types of products people want to buy. Start on Google and type in the words best dog and it will reveal that consumers want to know the best dog toothpaste, dog shower attachment, dog soap, dog ear cleaner, dog food, etc.

But you can also type in dog Amazon bestseller and go to the first result, which is bestsellers in dog supplies. You will see the categories on the left-hand side, such as food, treats, apparel, bedding, etc.

But you can also see what is ranking best overall, such as dog feces bags, puppy pads, interactive puzzle games for dogs, chew toys, dental sticks, dog coats, dog crates, training collars, and more.

You can use these reviews on products to get an idea about what types of concerns your consumer has that you can address. When you are writing reviews, you can either approach it in a way where you review one product per blog post or pit certain products against one another.

Keep in mind that your reader is looking to you for solid information. If every single review that you put on your website is a glowing review in hopes that you’ll earn a commission, you will come off as phony and unethical.

It’s okay for you to have a negative review about a certain product. You’re probably wondering how you can monetize something if what you are saying about it is not positive.

It depends on what you have to say. For example, your negative bulletpoint maybe that the price is too high. The person who landed on your site may not care about that. Or, you might have a complaint about a missing feature that they didn’t want in the first place.

So go ahead and be honest with your audience about what you think about the product. You also have the opportunity at the end of the blog post review to give a recommendation for what you do suggest they look into.

Pull the Curtain Back and Reveal Truths

Another great content idea is to reveal truths that are not often discussed in your niche industry. For example, you might be discussing dog food for your niche and talk about the health hazards associated with many of the top selling dog food brands.

You might reveal certain things that your audience finds shocking or disgusting. If there is a recall about a product in your niche, you can discuss this and talk about how the problem occurs, whether or not there was a cover up, etc.

For example, there are many articles about certain dog food brands that have caused the death of many family pets. You might discuss this problem so that your target audience can be aware of it.

Whenever you are revealing something disturbing to your audience, always make sure that you also include a solution or silver lining that they can feel better about. You don’t want to leave them feeling hopeless and lost when they leave your blog.

Sometimes, the truth is not disturbing at all and instead is something wonderful. You may find out that a certain brand of dog care products is donating a percentage of their earnings to dogs that had to be rehomed or given up for adoption because of domestic abuse situations.

It’s always good to shine a light on little known topics in your niche or industry, whether they are good or bad. Many consumers do not have time to go dig up this information, and they rely on leaders such as yourself to mention it to them so that they can stay informed.

This kind of content is a great way to have your message shared across a variety of social media platforms. So even if you put the content on your blog, make sure you have your social sharing buttons there.

Then, go to your own social networking profiles and share your blog post on those platforms. That way, you have even more potential for your content to go viral and attract more traffic to your website.

Make sure when you are discussing truths and any kind of negative story in general, that you are not slandering a person or business without cause. You don’t want to get into any sort of legal trouble by discussing something that may be untrue.

Use the Power of Lists

Lists are another great form of content that your readers will appreciate. You have probably seen this done with product reviews. Instead of one item being reviewed, or even one being pitted against another, the affiliate may conduct a top ten list of the best products in their niche.

You will notice that many consumers are drawn in by list content. The next time you are at the grocery store, look at the magazines at the checkout lane and see how many of them are using lists for articles.

For example, if you type in Woman’s World Magazine, and look at the images on Google, you will find things such as, “3 Hunger Cures.” Look at a magazine called Health & Fitness and you will see articles such as, “5 harmful habits you need to ditch now,” and “8 running habits you need to break.”

If you can’t find any on the magazine covers, simply type in a number, the word ways, and your niche topic. For example, you might type in 5 ways fitness and you will see topics such as, “5 ways fitness can impact your life,” “5 of the best exercises you can ever do,” and “5 ways exercise is great for your mental health.”

Change the number to any other number you like. If you change the number to 17, you will see things like, “17 ways to stay committed to your fitness resolutions,” “17 ways to be more productive at the gym,” and “17 ways to transform yourself this year.”

These are all great content ideas. Don’t copy these articles or their exact slant. Just make note of the types of content being covered, and come up with your own list. For example, instead of 17 ways to be more productive at the gym, you might make a list of 10 pieces of exercise equipment that help you burn the most calories in the shortest amount of time.

Spend a Day Creating a Content Schedule

Once you have a huge list of content topic ideas, you need to sit down and spend an entire day just brainstorming complete article ideas for your content schedule. For example, if you wrote down the words fitness resolutions, you want to expand on that and write down as many fitness resolutions as you can think of.

That might include things like drinking more water, being consistent in the gym, and losing a certain number of pounds or percentage of body fat. You want to cover all of these topics, whether they are in one blog post or several.

But you need to put them on a schedule that will work in conjunction with all of the other tasks you have to do as an online marketer. You won’t just be sitting and creating content 24/7.

You have other tasks that you have to do as a business owner, from administrative ones to networking, and more. So content creation has to fit into your schedule, whether you are creating it yourself or outsourcing it to someone else and then reviewing it and editing it before it is being published to represent your brand and business online.

Make sure that you rotate the topics that you are publishing. If your blog is all about dogs in general, then you want to rotate between broad topics such as dog care, dog training, etc.

It may help if you create a spreadsheet so that you can keep track of what topics you have covered, and which day, month, and year they were covered. From time to time, you may end up circling back around to the same topic, but covering it in a different way.

You can create a publishing schedule that is built into your WordPress site if you want to keep track of it that way. Don’t schedule more than you can handle. It’s okay if you can only publish once per week or three times per week.

Tips for Every Kind of Content

All of the above content ideas will be placed on a variety of platforms where you are building your brand. From your own blog to your newsletter, products that you create, lead magnets that you entice subscribers with, to social networking posts on sites owned by others – you need to have strategic content that engages your audience, showcases your expertise, and makes them want more from you.

When you are writing blog posts, you own the domain that this is shared on. You are not restricted by certain rules, such as placing an affiliate link on your domain. This is your home on the ‘net, so you want to personalize it as much as possible.

There’s no set length for a good blog post. Make it as long as it needs to be to convey the right message. With email autoresponders, although this is being created and sent from your brand, you do have to abide by the rules set by the companies involved.

For example, you may have certain spam rules that you have to abide by in terms of topics that are discussed in your email autoresponder. If you are working as an affiliate, you need to be aware of rules that may eliminate your commission, such as not being allowed to email an Amazon affiliate link.

People also don’t want to read a 2,000 word email that is coming to their inbox. Instead of sending a lengthy email, you might send a teaser email that leads back to your blog where they can read it in its entirety.

If you are creating info products based on your content research, then you want to make sure that you are thorough, yet planning for future product creations so that you can have an entire line of info products representing your brand.

If you are using the content ideas to create lead magnets, make sure you go above and beyond in serving your audience so that they stay on your list because they are so impressed with what you are giving away for free.

With social posts, make sure you research the best way to attract an audience with good content on each platform. For example, you will find out that images that are posted along with text on Facebook get more attention in someone’s feed than a text only post does.

Don’t forget that for every content idea you create, you can repurpose it to be used in different media formats and across a variety of platforms. Post it to your blog, then record the transcript as a video for YouTube, for example – allowing you to make the most out of every piece of content you come up with.