Quick, what are you going to write about today?
For most blog writers, that can be the most daunting question of the day.
As you sit and stare at your computer screen with nothing coming to mind, its easy to get sidetracked and on to a different task. And of course once that happens, the blog writing will completely disappear for the day.
In many cases, “what” are you going to write about isn’t the correct question. Instead, ask yourself “where” are you going to get your ideas from? The next time you have trouble coming up with an idea, give these three “cheats” a try.
1. Head to Google
One of the most powerful companies in the world can offer you a variety of ways to break your writers block.
To start, head to Google and start typing in one of your keywords, or something that relates to your industry. Here I typed in beach, and Google quickly starts filling in the content. The more you type, the more Google changes the terms based on your content. Watch what Google has to say – these are relevant key terms that are popular with users. Auto-fill terms are perfect starter recommendations and quickly give you ideas to pursue.
Once you’ve chosen a search term and clicked to see the results, scroll down to the bottom of the page to find “related searches”. Google continues to make suggestions based on the key term you’ve chosen and what other people are currently searching for.
In this case, Google shows you a variety of things related to beach wedding dresses, including informal dresses, simple dresses, and beach bridesmaid dresses. All can help you come up with new post ideas you may have never thought of exploring before. And you can assume your prospects and customers are likely searching for these ideas as well.
2. Search YouTube
Google provides a wealth of information because it was designed for searching. There is another site that offers an equal amount of information, and its easy for people to forget about its capabilities … YouTube.
YouTube is one of the most searched sites for “how-to” information. Why? You don’t have to read results; you can watch exactly how to accomplish something. Therefore YouTube works in a similar manner to Google. Head over to YouTube and type in your key terms in the same way you did Google. YouTube will also provide you with suggestions based on what other users are creating and looking for.
The other great thing about searching YouTube is you may find content perfect for your post. Look through the videos – is there anything you can share on your own site? Assuming its not a competitors video, you can find a wealth of free video content that you can copy/paste into your posts, and use to educate or entertain your own readers. Its one of the easiest ways to solve the writers block scenarios.
3. Visit Answers
If I ask you a question, it’s easy to come up with the answer. So why not find out what people are asking about your industry and the key terms you are looking for?
There are many answer sites online today. Start with Yahoo Answers, try Askville, or head over to Quora.
Once you type in your keywords, results appear either by relevance, newest, or by most answers. Browse through the questions and you’ll quickly find questions that relate to your business.
While you can use these questions as ideas and modify them to come up with your own post titles, also consider creating a post with the specific question as your post title. If people type these questions into answer sites, they are typing the same things into Google.
And when you put one of these titles exactly into Google the way it was asked, you’ll see the results show you there is only one piece of content with that exact title. Meaning you have a lot of opportunity to use that same phrase and quickly take over the number one position in Google.
By using any of these steps, you’ll quickly find a wealth of information to write about. And stop your writers block instantly in its tracks.