Do you know how motivational speakers always say that dedication surpasses motivation? In a way, it’s the same with SEO-friendly content. You can’t just wait for inspiration to strike, you need a strategy to develop SEO content ideas.
That being said, aimlessly searching for ideas doesn’t work either. You need a proactive strategy to constantly generate content that will boost your search engine ranking.
We’ve mentioned before that the biggest SEO myth ever is that content creation doesn’t matter.
In fact, although content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing, it generates at least 3 times more leads.
Eager to start creating SEO-friendly content? Then, keep reading!
What Is SEO Friendly Content?
Essentially, SEO-friendly content is any type of content that is created to rank high in search engines.
However, your utmost priority should be creating content that your readers find helpful and engaging. You are, after all, creating content for readers, not for search engines.
Still, your business can only benefit if that content is SEO-friendly.
It is a search engine’s job to answer user intent, after all, and the best way to do that is through informative and insightful content.
That being said, writing for SEO doesn’t mean stuffing your copy with keywords or internal backlinks.
It’s more about:
- Writing valuable and insightful content
- Choosing keywords wisely
- Optimizing the meta title and the meta description
- Adding alt text to photos
- Having a solid internal linking structure
- Structuring your article well by using headings
Want to find out more about writing for search engines? Then, check out our article on creating content that ranks.
How To Come Up with SEO Friendly Content Ideas?
You already know the benefits of creating content that ranks, but how about constantly coming up with ideas for that type of content?
Well, SEO is not some kind of magic and, if you learn where to look, you’ll discover that the ideas you’ve been searching for are closer than you thought.
1. Dive into The Online World
Once you segment your audience, and define buyer personas, coming up with content ideas won’t seem like such a difficult process anymore. Not only will you understand your audience’s pain points, interests, and goals, but you will also know what to look for on online forums or sourcing platforms.
In the end, great content is useful content, so you need to be in touch with what your target audience needs.
Here are some websites that can be a goldmine for finding content ideas that suit your audience’s needs:
- Quora: the perfect place to find questions that will match your target buyer’s search intent. A questions and answers website, Quora, is a reliable source if you want to find questions to repurpose into articles. Then, you can also share your post on Quora so that you drive more traffic to your website.
Reddit: Also known as “the front page of the Internet”, this platform is very insightful if you know how to use it. No matter the topic you are looking for, chances are that it will be covered in-depth. In fact, there are more than 1.2 million subreddits. From
- finding relevant subreddits to browsing the hot topic pages, Reddit is an essential idea generator tool.
- Niche forums: Add “forum” or “forums” to your keyword to discover niche forums. This way, you can monitor the conversations that your target audience is having.
2. Conduct Research on Social Media
You probably already know that you can reach a large number of people through social media.
However, social media is not just about increasing brand awareness and humanizing your brand, it’s also useful for discovering content ideas that will match your audience’s search intent.
In essence, these platforms are pretty similar when it comes to researching content ideas. From analyzing trends or viral content to asking your followers about what they want to read more of, social media is a powerful tool for generating content ideas.
However, it is crucial to know what social media platforms your audience uses so that you know what platforms to join.
- Facebook: You can join relevant Facebook groups or like pages that are related to your niche. By doing this, you can discover the conversations that your audience has in an informal setting.
- Twitter: This social media platform is a necessary tool for always keeping up to date with what is happening in your niche.
- LinkedIn: A more in-depth approach to your niche than Twitter, LinkedIn is mainly used for professional networking. Therefore, you can use this platform to gather content ideas for more in-depth topics regarding your niche.
- Instagram: Use the “Ask me anything” feature to engage with your followers and discover what content they are interested in. You can also do some kind of A/B Testing by incorporating pools in your Instagram stories. Give your followers title options and find out what they want to be reading more of.
3. Turn to Google Autocomplete for Inspiration
It may sound too simple to be true, but Google is a great source of inspiration. Have you ever noticed how after you write your keyword in the search bar, Google automatically generates several word variations and ideas?
That’s Google Autocomplete, and it makes predictions based on factors such as popularity and similarity.
So, these search suggestions are not random. Contrary, they are a remarkable way to discover what your audience is interested in regarding your niche.
You can also look at the “People Also Ask” box, an essential feature of Google’s Search Engine Result Page (SERP), that suggests frequently asked questions.
Similarly, if you still haven’t found what you are looking for, there is also the “searches related to” your topic feature at the bottom of the page
It’s also crucial to check out competitor content. Observe the links that appear in the SERP when you search for your keyword. This way, you will gain insight into what type of content is trending.
4. Use SEO Tools
We’ve already discussed keyword research tools. However, SEO tools can also be useful for generating content ideas. With real-time analytics about keywords performances, you already know which keywords to structure your article around. The only part left is coming up with suitable title ideas.
These SEO tools are worth including in your content strategy as they will generate bountiful content ideas.
For example, Answer The Public will not only help you to research keywords but will also enable a better understanding of your visitors with consumer insight. It facilitates a deeper understanding of the way people conduct Google or Bing searches as it gathers questions and phrases people are searching for around your keyword.
Similarly, SEMrush offers the Topic Research tool. When you search for a domain or a topic, related ideas and information are generated. You can save your favorite ideas and filter them by volume, efficiency, and difficulty.
Additionally, with Ahrefs, you can use the All Keywords Ideas function to discover queries and phrases related to your keyword.
Upgrade Your Content Starting Today!
For content creators, producing content that is valuable and also ranks high in search engines is like killing two birds with one stone. However, constantly coming up with new SEO friendly content ideas can get overwhelming.
If you are tired of guessing whether your content ideas are SEO-friendly or not, you could benefit from working with an interactive digital marketing agency like CadenceSEO.
Are you still figuring out the role that SEO plays in your content strategy? Or trying to discover SEO content ideas? No matter the case, the team at CadenceSEO is here to help.
Interested? Book a free consultation with us today!
