If I’m honest, I’ve been struggling with blogging burnout for the past few weeks. It’s because I’ve been so tired at night and the last thing I feel like doing is working on the blog. For a while, I had a bunch of post scheduled and ready to go, but I’ve published most of those and haven’t had much time to write new content. I have lots of topic ideas and I’d love to take two or three days just to work on writing new posts, but with work and being a mom,  uninterrupted time for the blog is definitely not going to happen any time soon. One question I see often in blogging groups is, where do bloggers find inspiration for their blog posts? I’d like to share some strategies I use to generate topics for blog posts. Whether you are a new or experienced blogger, there may be an idea on this list that will help you create new content for your blog.
Categories Web
What do you blog about? Start there. Grab a pen and paper or open a blank document and make a list of possible categories. Are you a mom blogger? Your categories may be babies, toddlers, working mothers, home schooling, cleaning hacks etc. Whatever comes to mind. Don’t start thinking of your audience just yet. This is just a web of ideas. If your expertise is finance, your categories may be debt management, saving money, making money etc. If you’r a beauty blogger, you might write down makeup, skin care, beauty routines or product reviews. The possibilities are endless at this stage.
Next, you want to break those categories down even further. Since I’m a mom blogger and early childhood educator, most of my categories tie those two things together. For example, one of my broad categories is toddlers. Here are some of my toddler subcategories.
- Activities for toddlers,
- Books for toddlers,
- Toys fir toddlers,
- Toddler safety,
- Parenting a toddler.
After I’ve generated a list of subcategories, I break it down into possible topics for blog posts. Let’s break down toddler books into actual topics.
- The best touch and feel books for toddlers,
- Fall books for toddlers,
- The best books about feelings for toddlers,
- Our favorite books for toddlers.
We could go on and on as there are limitless topics for books, but you get the idea. When you are thinking of blog topics, try to think of a problem that needs solving or something that people may be searching for. Parenting may be looking for potty training strategies or must haves for their baby registry. The holiday season is coming. People will be looking for the best gifts and stocking stuffers or ways to save money over the holidays. Try to look at it as if people are coming to you with a problem.
SEO
There are a couple of ways to use SEO to find topics for your blog. If you search for keywords, you can see similar results that show what people are currently searching for. This works well in Pinterest. For example, Halloween is right around the corner, so if you search for Halloween in Pinterest, you will see what is trending. As of now, people are searching for Halloween costumes, Halloween costumes for couples, Halloween makeup, Halloween decorations and ideas for Halloween parties. Just that one search gives you a bunch of new results and or categories to help you generate topics. If you take that a step further, you can find more keywords and more topics. If you click on Halloween decorations, you will get outdoor and or indoor decorations, decorations for the yard, party decorations, diy decorations etc. Then as you are writing, you can insert those keywords to help increase the traffic to your post.
Journaling
One place where I find inspiration is through journaling. However, what I take from my journal is obviously much more personal. I use these posts to help readers get to know me or bring awareness to important issues in my life that may be effecting someone else. Sometimes, I share personal stories to make others feel less alone. You can get some great topics from your journal, but you won’t always be solving a problem for someone, so it really depends on your blogging niche and or your audience. Sometimes as a reader, I enjoy blogger’s personal posts the most. It can be nice to connect with readers and or bloggers on a deeper level.
Everyday Life
You can find inspiration for blogging anywhere. I’d suggest using notecards or your phone to jot down ideas on the go. Some places you can find inspiration are from things you read, photographs, interactions with other people, products you use, random thoughts etc. Many ideas of have come to me as I get ready for work. A great blogging idea can strike any time. If something is interesting to you, but you can’t think of a topic at the time, write it down anyway. Maybe something will come from it later. For example, if you read an interesting article, bookmark it. You may have something to say about it that would make a great blog entry! Many experiences I have with Rosebud have been the inspiration for blog posts. These were not planned, but spur of the moment things like this trip to the pet store.
Other Bloggers
Finally, there are other amazing bloggers that you can get inspiration from. Sometimes when I read another bloggers thoughts on a particular topic, I post about the same thing. Not to copy them, but maybe I have a different perspective. Maybe I use different products that I’d like to recommend. One example is gift guides. Many bloggers have them, but they are all a little different. We have a variety of tastes and thoughts about what makes a good gift. Each of us has something unique to offer which is why we blog. I’m glad to be apart of this blogging world where we can share and learn from each other. I’ll end with some fantastic lists of topic ideas written by other bloggers.
115 Fall Blog Post Ideas to Increase Your Blog Traffic by Full Circle Digital.
50 Sources of Inspiration for Lifestyle Blog Posts by the Suburban Tourist.
7 Steps To Finding Popular Blog Post Ideas Through Pinterest Keyword Research from 9ToLife.
How to Get 100 Ideas for Your Next Blog Post by Jessie Synan.
How do you find inspiration for your blog? Tell me in the comments.
One solution is taking your own photos, but unless you’re a photographer or familiar with photo editing software, you might find taking your own photos is more trouble than it is worth. Some people ask why you can’t just go on Google and take random photos you find. Well, most of those photos are copyrited and you would have to ask permission to use those images. There are heavy penalties for using copirited material, whether it be images or written content. Since I’m not a photographer, don’t feel comfortable with photo editing and don’t want to get into trouble trying to use someone else’s images, I use stock photos. I also wanted to mention that I occasionally take my own photos if it’s a product I’m showing you or an activity that I have set up for Rosebud. I never put pictures of her up here on the blog for privacy reasons which is another reason why I use stock photos. I have compiled a list of the stock photo websites that I use most frequently. There are both free and paid websites on this list, so there is something for any budget.
