Creating a website is all fun and games until you run out of content. This is a problem that writers/business owners all over the world struggle with. You’re not alone.

What most people don’t understand is that you can come up with so many content ideas.

Lacking ideas is like not knowing what to say when you’re having a conversation with someone.

Pretty awkward, right?

When you don’t update your website regularly, you won’t get more subscribers or make more sales. Let’s discuss some 11 ways to find content ideas for your website.

1. Look at what your competitors are posting about

There are probably hundreds of companies out there which are working around the clock to steal your clients. They’re doing all they can to be better than you.

Identify competitor companies in your niche and go through their website’s blog section. What are they posting about? Are there topics in their sites that you could add to your posts? Can you create a more detailed and interesting version of the same post?

Remember, you’re stealing the idea, not the content.

2. Find out from your audience

Doctors ask their patients a few questions before they can come up with a diagnosis. Think of your audience as patients. Find out from them what type of content they’d like to see on your website.

You can do this through social media. If it’s Facebook, use you page to ask. For Twitter, you can create surveys to find out what content your followers prefer.

Alternatively, you can send your subscribers an email asking them what they’d love to see on your website.

3. Discover your best performing posts

You can use your older posts to determine what to post about. By now, your website has many posts, that’s why you feel like you can’t find any content.

Look at the post analytics and find out which posts had more comments. If a post is popular, it means that’s a subject that the target audience likes. Think of all possible topics related to it and come up with fresh content.

As for social media, use the stats provided to see those that had more shares, likes, comments etc.

4. Follow influencers in the industry

Every industry has its influencers. I assume you follow a couple of influencers, whether it’s through social media or their mailing list.

If not, what are you waiting for?

These influencers are trusted by their audience, which also happens to be your audience. Take note of the posts they share on social media.

If it’s important to them, then you can use it to create killer content. The trick is to use what they share to create unique content that your audience will love.

5. Tell a story

If you’re a content creator, it means you can tell a story. Nothing moves the audience more than a personal story, told from the heart. It’s even better if it relates to the industry.

The beauty of using a story is the fact that not even your competitors can copy it because it’s unique. You may have gone through various experiences over the past few weeks which you can use to create content.

Remember it doesn’t have to be your own story. With permission you can tell someone else’s story on your site. Conclude it with a call to action.

6. Use YouTube Videos

YouTube, a video sharing application, has almost every topic under the sun covered. Ever wondered why someone can binge-watch YouTube the whole day without getting bored?

Type in a few search queries on its search bar and you will find lots of videos related to your field. Luckily for you, the videos come with suggestions so you can find more content ideas from them.

7. Subscribe to top industry newsletters

The more you study successful people, the more you are likely to be a success yourself. I believe you have subscribed to a few high authority newsletters in your industry.

These newsletters offer insights on what type of content you need to create. By reading them every week/month, you can write down a couple of ideas for your next posts.

8. What’s trending?

Many people use Twitter to check what’s trending at any moment. News outlets use this information to create content for their audience.

 Have you bothered to find out what’s trending in your industry?

I’ve been reading a lot about video being the future of content marketing and I’m thinking of ways to come up with videos for my audience.

Your audience is most likely interested in what’s trending so don’t let it pass. Use it to create some content for them.

9. Check your website’s comment section

What are your customers/followers saying about your posts? What questions are they asking? Take a moment to go through you blog pots comment section and answer questions.

Questions in the comment section may require more than just a one paragraph answer. Use them to come up with fresh content ideas.

You could also look at your competitors’ blog comments and ‘steal’ some ideas to write content for your blog.

10. Conduct some research

What if you could do a simple Google search on some topics you want to write about?

Identify a topic you want to write about and type in some queries on Google’s search bar. As soon as you’ve type some characters, Google shows you suggestions.

Use these suggestions to find a suitable title for a post. Alternatively, use research tools such as Buzzsumo. It allows you to find out which topics are doing better, for instance, those that have the most shares on Twitter.

11. Be active on Quora

This is another great place to find content ideas. Quora is a question and answer platform. You basically answer questions in your industry/in your topics of interest.

Once you answer many questions a specific industry, Quora identifies you as an ‘expert’ and more users direct questions to you.

For every question in your industry, you can try to come up with a title for a post. Social media groups are also great places to find suggestions for new content.

Conclusion

Finding new content doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Make it an enjoyable activity by using the above techniques. If one doesn’t work, try the other. This way, you won’t struggle to find content ideas for your website.

If you know other ways to find content ideas for your website, you can say it in the comments section.

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