SEO blog posts are only as good as the topic you choose. Everything starts there. If your topic isn’t relevant to your audience or on-brand with your company, it won’t drive traffic and convert effectively. Choosing the right topic is the first step that informs the second one. Once you've identified something that resonates with your audience and aligns with your brand, you can take your next step. You’ll infuse your content with well-researched keywords that cater to what your audience is searching for and have a reasonable chance of ranking in search engines.
Focusing on creating informative, engaging, and keyword-optimized content sets the stage for increased visibility, higher engagement rates, and, ultimately, more conversions. Keep reading to learn how to choose blog topics and quick tips for writing SEO blog posts that convert.
Types of Blog Post Topics and Forms
Before we dive into how to choose blog topics, it’s important to understand the different types of article forms you can use.
Top of the Funnel Topics: To Attract
In a sales funnel, the first step is to attract your audience. The type of content that accomplishes this is:
Infographics
Guides
Listicles
Checklists
Templates
Middle of the Funnel Topics: To Engage
Once you’ve attracted your audience, you want to encourage engagement. You can do this by creating content that is relevant and interesting to them in the form of:
Case Studies
Educational Content
Newsletters
Benefits Content
Bottom of the Funnel Topics: To Convert
Once your audience has engaged with your brand and come to know, like, and trust you, it’s time to get them to take action. The type of content that accomplishes this is:
Case Studies
Educational Content
Newsletters
Benefits Content
Once you know what type of content you want to write and for what purpose, you can choose topics that fit within each category.
How To Choose Blog Topics: What Not To Do
Let’s start with a quick list of what not to do when choosing topics for your company’s blog articles.
Don't Ignore Your Audience's Interests: Selecting topics without considering what your audience actually wants to read can lead to low engagement and high bounce rates.
Avoid Overly Broad Topics: Choosing subjects that are too general can make your content less useful to readers who are seeking specific information or solutions.
Steer Clear of Irrelevant Trends: Jumping on the bandwagon of trending topics that are irrelevant to your brand or audience can dilute your blog's focus and credibility.
Don't Repeat Content: While it's okay to revisit certain themes or ideas, recycling the same content without offering new insights or value can bore your readers.
Don’t Ignore SEO: Although you shouldn't compromise quality for SEO, ignoring keyword research and SEO best practices can result in your content being lost in the depths of search engine results pages.
Don't Choose Topics Based on Personal Interest: Your blog is for your audience, not a personal diary. Ensure the topics you choose align with your audience's interests and needs, not just your own.
Avoid Neglecting Competitor Analysis: Failing to see what your competitors are doing can mean missed opportunities. Keep an eye on them to differentiate your content and capture interest in topics they haven't covered.
Avoid Being Overly Promotional: While it's important to showcase your products or services, not every post should be a sales pitch. Provide value and build trust first.
Don't Disregard Content Planning: Spontaneously choosing topics without a content strategy can lead to inconsistent posting, thematic disarray, and missed opportunities to connect topics for better SEO and user experience.
How To Choose Blog Topics: What To Do
Now, let’s dive into the details of what you should do. When choosing topics for your SEO blog posts, start with these five steps.
1. Start with Your Audience
The blog on your business website should, first and foremost, be for your audience. Not for Google or other search engines. So, when it comes to how to choose blog topics, consider what your audience wants. Ask yourself:
What does your audience care about?
What struggles does your audience have that you can solve?
What content topics or themes have performed well in the past?
What are the most common questions you get from your audience?
2. Consider Relevance and Demand
Once you have a good understanding of your audience's needs and interests, the next step is to ensure the topics you choose are relevant to them and in demand. This involves staying updated with industry trends, understanding what's currently engaging people in your field, and identifying gaps that your blog can fill. Ask yourself:
How can you identify trends within your industry?
Are there underserved topics that your audience is searching for?
How can you leverage social media and online communities to gauge interest in specific areas within your industry?
While listening to your audience is the first step, you can also use tools or resources to track the popularity and demand of potential topics. Some of the best ones are AnswerThePublic, Google Trends, and BuzzSumo.
3. Analyze Competitors and Find Inspiration
Looking at your competitors’ SEO blog posts can provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn't. It's not about copying content but rather understanding the landscape of your industry's content and finding an angle or niche that hasn't been fully explored. Ask yourself:
What topics are your competitors covering?
Can you find a unique angle or provide a better depth of information on similar topics?
4. Leverage Keyword Research
Keyword research isn't just for SEO; it's a powerful tool for how to choose blog topics because it helps you understand what your potential readers are searching for online. By identifying relevant keywords and phrases, you can tailor your blog topics to match the search intent of your audience, making your content more discoverable and useful. Ask yourself:
What keywords are associated with your audience's interests and needs?
How can you integrate these keywords naturally into your blog topics?
5. Brainstorm and Validate Ideas
After gathering all the necessary information, brainstorm a list of potential blog topics. Then, validate these ideas by considering their potential interest to your audience, search volume, and competitiveness. Ask yourself:
Which topics have the highest potential for engagement and traffic?
How can you test the waters with your audience before fully committing to a topic?
Validation tools and methods can range from simple discussions with your audience (via social media polls or direct conversations) to utilizing content planning tools for more in-depth analysis.
Writing Blog Posts for SEO: Best Practices
The final thing to keep in mind when choosing topics is that writing blog posts for SEO only might help you rank, but it won’t get your audience to convert. SEO is essential for visibility in SERPs. But if someone clicks on your article and is met with boring, irrelevant content that is no different than every other article on the topic, they’ll leave your page without taking action. So, how do you avoid this? Follow these best practices when writing blog posts for SEO:
Focus on Quality Content
Always prioritize creating high-quality, valuable content that addresses your audience's needs and questions. Content that provides real value will naturally attract more readers and encourage engagement.
Understand Your Audience's Intent
Research and understand the search intent behind the keywords you're targeting. This ensures your content aligns with what your audience is actually looking for, increasing the likelihood of them staying on your page and taking action.
Incorporate Keywords Naturally
While it's important to include relevant keywords for SEO, they should fit seamlessly into your content. Overuse of keywords can make your post sound unnatural and deter readers.
Use Engaging Headlines and Meta Descriptions
Craft compelling headlines and meta descriptions that accurately reflect the content of your blog post. This not only helps with SEO but also entices users to click through to your article.
Optimize for User Experience
Ensure your blog is mobile-friendly, loads quickly, and is easy to navigate. A positive user experience can significantly reduce bounce rates and improve your rankings in SERPs.
Include Internal and External Links
Link to other relevant articles on your website to keep readers engaged and provide additional value. Also, link to authoritative external sources to boost credibility and SEO.
Update Old Content
Regularly update your older blog posts with new information, keywords, and links. This keeps your content fresh and relevant, which can positively impact your SEO efforts.
Monitor Your Performance
Use tools like Google Search Console to track how your blog posts are performing in terms of traffic, engagement, and conversions. Employ this data to refine your strategy and improve future content.
By balancing SEO best practices with a genuine understanding of your target audience's needs and preferences, you can create blog posts that not only rank well in search engines but also engage and convert your readers.
Let’s Improve Your Blog Posts and SEO
There’s no denying that blogging helps SEO. It’s one of the best on-page and off-page SEO strategies that can boost your visibility in search engine results pages, drive traffic to your site, and increase conversions when done correctly. And to do it correctly takes time. From audience research to in-depth keyword analysis to actually writing, editing, and publishing the content, you need a well-thought-out content strategy and an understanding of SEO best practices. It's a continuous process that requires monitoring and adjusting your strategies based on performance metrics and evolving SEO trends.
As an SEO freelancer, I’ll partner with you to make this process more efficient by offering a comprehensive suite of SEO services designed to enhance your website’s performance and audience engagement. Whether you want to focus solely on SEO blog posts or you’re ready for a total overhaul of your SEO strategy, I can help. Contact me today to learn more about my personalized SEO packages.