How to Generate Effective Blog Topics

Individuals who blog to promote their business or simply blog to make money on the side often have little trouble coming up with blog posts in the first six months of launching a blog. This is what I like to call the "honeymoon phase" of blogging. After all, you wouldn't have started a blog in the first place if you didn't have plenty of ideas to write about for starters.

However, after those first six months, the ideas are often much more difficult to come by, and many bloggers are left grasping at straws for blog ideas. Even more frustrating is the fact that it usually takes a minimum of six months to establish a blog presence and to get a bit of a following going, so around the six-month to one-year mark is the time to really start writing your best blogs because there will actually be people reading them. To help you combat blogger's block and come up with effective blog topics, here are some pointers:

1.) Research your own burning questions.
Let's say for example you're running a health blog that features content on natural living, exercise and eating right. You've read certain articles saying soy is a great source of protein for vegetarian diets and others that say it is harmful if consumed on a regular basis. Do some research on this, looking for authoritative articles on the topic. If necessary, contact a local nutritionist and ask for their take on soy. Come to a conclusion in your blog, quoting and attributing the information you find and linking to any relevant articles.

Or let's say you run a tech blog, and you've been dying to know whether you should invest in the new iPhone 4 or go with an Android. Do online research and reach out to people you know who own one or the other or have used both. Interview these people and come to a conclusion in your blog based on what you learn.

The key here is to find the answers to those burning questions you've had and use them as material for your blogs.

2.) Go with something seasonal.
Effective bloggers always seem to have great seasonal content. Sometimes it's related to a holiday, the most recent of which was Valentine's Day and the one coming up the soonest is St. Patrick's Day. If your blog promotes a business that you own, you can let your readers in on a special deal on a product or service on that particular holiday, such as a Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day special. If you run a food blog, consider doing a seasonal blog entry on great recipes for spring. Somehow, try to find a way to incorporate upcoming seasons or holidays into your blog. This will help your blog appear fresh and current.

3.) Provide your take on current events in your industry or hot discussions in blogs similar to yours.
Many bloggers subscribe to Google alerts for keywords related to their industry and receive news updates in their email inbox regularly. Let's say you run a business blog. You likely also subscribe to industry newsletters, a professional association of some sort and keep on top of news related to your field. Link to relevant news articles you glean from these sources and share your opinion and experience on the matters with your readers. I've seen this done effectively in attorneys' blogs. For example, if an attorney handles cases of elder abuse, they link to news stories pertaining to elder abuse and discuss how their services can help bring justice to the oppressor and restitution to the victims and their families.

In the same vein, if a hot discussion crops up on a blog that features similar content to yours, you may want to link to it and weigh in on the discussion. Just be careful not to regurgitate what has already been written.

4.) Ask your readers.
Last but not least, reach out to your readers and ask about the topics they'd most likely enjoy reading about. If you have a loyal following, you're sure to get one or two solid suggestions to keep you busy for a while.

By-line:
This guest contribution was submitted by Jamie Davis, who specializes in writing about masters degree. Questions and comments can be sent to: davis.jamie17@gmail.com.