How to Research Blog Topics: 6 Tools, Content Gap & Other Offbeat Ideas

Are you trying to figure out what kind of blog post topics will attract your prospects? Want to engage them with your web content but not sure how to research topics for your blog?

Remember…

Here’s one piece of advice for researching blog topics: always think about your audience first.

Sounds simple, but how do you do it, especially if you’re short on time? If you can’t do detailed keyword research for your blog posts, give professional blog writing services a go. However, if you prefer to do it yourself, I’ve got some practical tips to help you get started:

• Understand the questions and concerns of your potential customers. If you run a travel agency, you might address concerns such as How to Travel Safely with a Kid or Top Budget-Friendly Travel Destinations, and
• Address these issues directly in your blog posts. For a financial advisor, this could mean writing articles like How to Start Investing with Little Money or Understanding Your Credit Score,
• Choose a blog topic primarily on the needs and interests of your audience. A parenting blog might feature posts like Effective Ways to Manage Toddler Tantrums or Balancing Work and Parenting.
• Try to engage readers using blog topics relevant to your business expertise. As a tech company, you could write posts like The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Life or 5 Essential Cybersecurity Tips for Small Businesses.
• In the block titles use hand-picked keywords to maximize the reach of your posts (more on that below). For a gardening blog, keywords could be “sustainable gardening practices,” “indoor herb gardening,” or “seasonal planting guide.”
• Use various topic research tools to discover subjects that your readers find interesting.

Speaking of which…

The below blog topic research tools are arranged in random order.

#1: Ubersuggest

cost: free / paid
website: ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a useful tool that works with keywords from Google Suggest.

In case you’re not sure what Google Suggest is, it’s a tool created by Google that helps find phrases that match well with the main word you’re searching for. When you use Google Search and start typing something, it gives you suggestions to complete your search, just like here:

source: Google Suggest example

It might finish the word you’re typing or add more words or letters to your search. It works by looking at what other people have searched for and suggests the most common searches that start with the same letters or words you’re typing. When you type something into Google, you get some suggestions. Ubersuggest uses these suggestions.

Here’s how to research blog topics with Ubersuggest:

STEP 1: Go to the Ubersuggest website.

STEP 2: In the search bar type in a website’s address or some keywords you want to create content about.

source: Ubersuggest

Choose the language you want to write the content in and hit Search.

STEP 3: The blog topics research tool shows you all sorts of information about the keyword you’re checking out like keyword ideas, search volume, SD (SEO difficulty).

source: Ubersuggest

It also gives you keyword suggestions, related keywords…

source: Ubersuggest

questions related to your keyword that people type into Google’s search bar:

source: Ubersuggest

and product/idea comparisons, which, let’s be honest, are other great ways to research blog topics:

source: Ubersuggest

STEP 4: When you scroll down, you will see even the section titled Content Ideas that also goes with a couple of useful pieces of information: estimated monthly visits the web gets for a particular term and a number of domains linking back to the blog post optimized for the very keyword.

source: Ubersuggest

This will definitely help you think of good topics for your blog.

Please note that the free version of Ubersuggest doesn’t show everything, but it still gives you a lot of ideas for topics that your target audience might like to read about.

#2: AnswerThePublic

cost: free / paid
website: AnswerThePublic

This blog topics research tool helps you find the ready-made phrases you can use while creating content on Google, Bing and even YouTube. To see the almost never-ending list of blog topic ideas:

STEP 1: Go to the AnswerThePublic website and type the keyword related to your business. Don’t forget to choose the destined country and language you’re going to create your content in.

source: AnswerThePublic

STEP 2: Start researching the blog topics. The cool thing is that you can decide the data display format:

• wheels

source: AnswerThePublic

• lists

source: AnswerThePublic

• or tables displaying prepositions or words organized in alphabetical order that go with your keyword

source: AnswerThePublic

source: AnswerThePublic

source: AnswerThePublic

When you search for a keyword, AnswerThePublic gives you almost ready-made blog topic ideas and even blog post titles, each stemming from long-tail keyword suggestions. For instance, you might see suggestions like:

• What weight-lifting training should I do to lose weight?
• How long before you see results from weight training?
• Which weight training burns the most calories?

As you scroll down, you’ll find these suggestions listed alphabetically for easier browsing. One downside of AnswerThePublic is that in its free version, this blog topics research tool doesn’t show crucial keyword metrics. To check that, you may need tools like Keyword Planner.

#3: Keyword Planner

cost: free / to see detailed keyword metrics you need to run an ad campaign even if you don’t have any funds in your account.
website: Google Ads

Keyword Planner is a popular tool for researching blog content and is available through Google Ads.

STEP 1: To use it, log into Google Ads and select Keyword Planner from the Tools menu.

source: Google Ads

STEP 2: Once you enter a keyword, be it “calligraphy” or “photovoltaics” into the search box, the tool shows you a list of related keywords and their average monthly search volumes.

source: Google Ads

With over 1,700 suggestions, you can explore various topic ideas for your blog, such as:

• How to connect photovoltaic panels?
• Photovoltaic ground mounting
• How to clean photovoltaic panels?

That said, Keyword Planner is yet another easy-to-use blog topic research tool that helps you identify the best keywords to use in your blog post.

#4: Keyword Tool

cost: free / paid
website: Keyword Tool

Like Ubersuggest, Keyword Tool generates suggestions based on phrases that appear when you start typing a word into search bars, not just on Google, but also on YouTube, Bing, Instagram, and even Amazon.

source: Keyword Tool

This makes it a versatile tool for content idea generation across different platforms.

STEP 1: Go to Keyword Tool’s official website. Type the keyword you want to search, and select the country and language of of target audience.

source: Keyword Tool

STEP 2: If you go for the paid version, this blog topics research tool gives you information about a few crucial keyword metrics, as shown in the screenshots below:

source: Keyword Tool

Researching topics for a blog becomes super easy with this tool, as it gives you tons of inspiration and ideas. Suffice to explore the top 3 tabs: keyword suggestions, questions and prepositions

source: Keyword Tool

STEP 3: If you find that the Keyword Tool is particularly helpful in researching blog topics, you might consider using more paid features in Settings.

source: Keyword Tool

• Filter Results which allows you to focus on results that include a specific keyword.
• Negative Keywords which is useful for excluding certain words from your results. For example, if you type in “covid” as your search term, you can use this feature to see related topics without including the word “covid” in the results.

#5: SEMrush

cost: paid
website: SEMrush

This almost all-purpose SEO tool can help you research blog topics within just a few clicks.

STEP 1: Open SEMrush.

STEP 2: From the left sidebar, click Keyword Magic Tool.

STEP 3: Type a keyword that is related to your business or niche. Click Search.

STEP 4: Now you can filter the words by Precise/Broad Match or Search Intent.

source: SEMrush

However, to research blog topics, you should probably spend the most time in the Related and Questions section.

#6: ChatGPT

cost: free / paid
website: OpenAI

There are two main situations when ChatGPT can help research blog topics:

• First, if you’re trying to figure out how to choose a blog topic, like mountain bikes, but you’re not sure where to start. ChatGPT can assist you in researching blog topics and offering suggestions related to your target audience’s interest, such as off-road cycling.
• Second, if you’re exploring how to research topics for a blog because you have already used most of the keywords in your content. ChatGPT can help you find new blog topics and search terms.

When used correctly, ChatGPT can spark fresh ideas for your posts, at the same time making sure that your content remains interesting and relevant to your audience, while helping you avoid repeating the same concepts or risking duplicate content. Also, it speeds up the research topics for your blog. Moreover, you may try to use ChatGPT for keyword research, which can also be useful when you run out of blog post topic ideas.

STEP 1: Log into your ChatGPT account.

STEP 2: Ask it to give you trending blog post topics concerning [mountain bikes]. Add some basic info on your target audience to make the suggestions more relevant:

source: ChatGPT

STEP 3: You can ask it to suggest ready blog post titles, using the information it has just provided you with:

source: ChatGPT

Remember though to ALWAYS verify the information ChatGPT provides you with. You can do it, for example, by checking some of the keywords’ metrics the AI tool gives you in one of the above keyword research tools.

In short, a content gap analysis lets you understand what your market rivals write about that you don’t. For that reason, it is a great way to find new research blog topics and choose the best ones that your target audience may be looking for.

The best thing is that content gap analysis can give you even more insights than blog topic research tools. Here’s a general procedure, but if you would like to get into more details, be sure to read How to Do Content Gap Analysis.

STEP 1: Define your competitors and look for other blogs or websites that are popular in your niche.

STEP 2: Look at your competitor’s web content to check what they write about. See which topics help bring in visitors.

STEP 3: Try to identify the keywords these pieces of content are optimized for. Also, use SEO tools to find out which keywords make your competitors’ blogs popular.

STEP 4: See what’s missing by comparing your blog with your competitors. Find topics they talk about that you don’t. These are your content gaps.

STEP 5: Pick topics from these gaps that match what your blog is about and what your readers may like. This is a key part of researching blog topics.

STEP 6: Create blog posts that cover these new topics. Try to offer something different or more detailed than your competitors. Don’t forget to give a new perspective to the discussed topic, and show your expertise and experience to win those extra points for E-E-A-T.

In addition to blog topics research tools and content gap analysis, there are at least five other online places where you can research engaging blog topic ideas.

1. Comments: Read the comments on your blog and your competitors’ blogs. Your readers might suggest topics or ask questions that can inspire new posts.
2. Social media groups: Platforms like Facebook are great for seeing what people are talking about. Join groups related to your business and observe the discussions. This can guide you on how to choose a blog topic that resonates with your audience.
3. Customer inquiries: If you notice recurring questions from customers or users, these can form the basis of informative blog posts. Addressing these questions directly can be a key part of how to research topics for your blog.
4. Current events: Stay updated with your industry news. Current events can provide timely and relevant topics for your blog.
5. Online forums: Forums related to your industry can be goldmines for content ideas. Look for frequently discussed topics and think about how you can add value and expertise to these conversations in your blog.

By getting inspiration from the above online places with the insights provided by blog topics research tools, it will become way easier for you to research blog topics. This way you not just follow trends, but also uncover unique problems that your target audience has and ideas that will make your blog stand out.

When you have your keywords and blog post ideas ready, you also need to know how to write content that ranks high. This involves using your keywords effectively and making your posts both interesting and useful for your readers.

Good content is easy to read and more likely to show up in search engine results. Below, you’ll find a table with straightforward SEO tips. These tips are key to writing content that not only engages your audience but also performs well in search engine rankings.

When you handle basic SEO optimization, there is another pretty important thing – actually two things – related to technical SEO that influences the discoverability of your blog content. I’m talking about Categories and Tags.

Categories and tags on the blog help organize your content and make it easier for readers to find what they’re interested in. Also, it helps bots understand what the content is about. Think of them like labels or chapters in a book:

• Categories: They are like the big chapters of your blog. Each category groups together posts on a similar topic. For example, on a cooking blog, you might have categories like “Desserts,” “Vegan Recipes,” or “Quick Meals.” They help readers quickly find the type of posts they’re looking for.
• Tags: Tags are more specific than categories. They’re like the index at the back of a book. Tags highlight specific things mentioned in your posts, like “chocolate,” “30-minute meals,” or “gluten-free.” They help readers find posts that mention specific items or themes they’re interested in.

Using categories and tags makes your blog more SEO- and user-friendly. Readers can easily browse through related posts or find specific topics they’re interested in, which makes them more likely to stay on your website longer and explore more of your content.

That was a massive dump of practical information, wasn’t it? Let’s distill the essence so that it’s easier for you to memorize the most important information on how to research blog topics:

? TAKEAWAY #1: Don’t hesitate to play with a variety of blog topics research tools, like Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, and Keywordtool.io. Each tool offers unique features that can help you find different long-tail keywords that you can later use in your blog posts.

? TAKEAWAY #2: While keywords are essential, understanding the context around them, such as current trends and competitor content, can provide a more comprehensive approach to topic selection.

? TAKEAWAY #3: Listening to your audience, through comments, social media, and direct inquiries, is worth its weight in gold. These interactions often reveal what your readers are genuinely interested in and can guide your blog topic choice.

?️ TAKEAWAY #4: Using technical SEO, such as proper keyword placement and creating a proper header structure increases your chances of being found by your target audience.

? TAKEAWAY #5: Running a content gap analysis helps you identify areas you might have overlooked, offering you a great opportunity to create unique and valuable content that stands out in your niche.

This is an update of the article published on September, 2020.