If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for new content ideas. And if you’re also like me, you don’t always have the time to come up with those ideas yourself.
That’s why I’ve put together a list of 11 websites that will help you generate endless content ideas and save you hundreds of hours in the process.
1: Socrates
If you’re looking to get to know your audience a little better and uncover some insights about what they’re thinking, then you need to check out Socrates. It’s a search engine specifically designed to help you learn more about your target audience.
You can use Socrates to find out what topics and keywords are popular with your target audience, and also to discover common problems they’re facing. This information is hugely valuable because it allows you to create content that is relevant and useful to your audience, which should lead to more clicks and engagement.
2: Quora
With over 300 million monthly users, Quora is a veritable goldmine of content ideas. And the best part is, you can easily find ideas that are relevant to your niche or industry.
To get started, simply type in a keyword or phrase into the search bar and see what questions people are asking. You can then use those questions as the basis for your own content.
3: Mailbrew
Mailbrew is a daily email digest delivering content from your favorite creators in a concise, easy-to-read format. It’s the easiest way to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and news in the creative industries without having to search through dozens of websites.
Each email includes links to the best content from your favorite sources and new and trending articles.
4: Google Trends
Google Trends is a great way to see what people are searching for on the internet. And as you might expect, the search data can be a great source of content ideas.
To get started, simply type in a keyword or phrase, and see what’s trending. You can then use those trends as the basis for your own content.
https://trends.google.com/trends/
5: Reddit
Reddit is one of the most popular websites in the world, and it’s also a great source of content ideas. Simply browse through the various subreddits (think of them as forums), and see what people are talking about.
You can then use those discussions as the basis for your own content.
6: BuzzSumo
BuzzSumo is a tool that allows you to see the most popular content on any given topic. Simply type in a keyword or phrase and see what’s trending. You can then use that data to come up with your own content ideas.
7: Google News
Google News is a great way to stay up-to-date on the latest news in your industry. And as you might expect, the news can be a great source of content ideas.
To get started, simply type in a keyword or phrase, and see what’s trending. You can then use that data to come up with your own content ideas.
8: Twitter
Twitter is a great place to find out what people are talking about in real-time. And as you might expect, those conversations can be a great source of content ideas.
To get started, simply type in a keyword or phrase, and see what people are tweeting about. You can then use those tweets as the basis for your own content.
9: YouTube
YouTube is the world’s largest video platform, and it’s also a great source of content ideas. To get started, simply type in a keyword or phrase, and see what videos are popular. You can then use those videos as the basis for your own content.
10: Pinterest
Pinterest is a social networking site where users can share and organize images and videos. Simply enter a keyword or topic into the Pinterest search bar and you’ll see a list of related pins. This is a great way to find visual content that is relevant to your audience and to come up with ideas for content that is both interesting and visually appealing.
11: The Internet Marketing Newsletter
My own favorite source of material (comes with publishing rights) is The Internet Marketing Newsletter. It saves me time researching articles, finding graphics, and sparing you from my appalling lack of design skills!
Read my review of this product here. (Affiliate link included.)
Click here to see how you can do the same
Case Study: Comments For New Content ideas and Better Ranking
Because…. comments can generate even more new content ideas for you.
If you note that I have turned off comments on my blog it’s because there were so many comments that I could hardly keep up with them.
Whether you’re trying to get more people to interact with your written content, such as your blog, or you want more people to leave comments on your videos, such as YouTube, here’s a trick that will make it happen.
Why do you want people to interact with your content?
Partly, as mentioned for new contents ideas, because it helps you build a relationship with your audience, and because it will often give you a better standing in searches. For example, part of YouTube’s algorithm is to look at how many comments your video gets. The more comments you have, the higher your video might rank in search.
And when you get your readers and viewers to interact with your content by leaving their own comment, you also increase their perceived ‘ownership’ of that content. They are more likely to share it on social media as well as view more of your content in the future.
So, how do you get comments?
The usual way is to simply ask, and that does work. “If you’ve enjoyed this video, please like and leave a comment.” Or… “Which do you prefer, chunky or smooth peanut butter? Please leave your comment below and let us know.”
Now here’s how you can take this simple technique of asking and double or even triple the number of responses you get as well as increasing the quality of those responses dramatically:
Make it into a contest.
At the end of your video or article, let them know that the BEST comment will get a free valuable gift.
Yes, this freebie might be one of your products, but it doesn’t have to be.
I was watching a YouTube video of a gal talking about a certain kind of jewelry. She was wearing one of these necklaces throughout the video, and at the end she said she would send this necklace to the person who posted the best comment.
What a great idea! This necklace is something every viewer has been looking at and admiring for the entire video, and now they’re told they can OWN it?
And it gets even better, because at the very beginning of the video she said, “Stay tuned to find out how YOU can receive THIS necklace in the mail.”
This no doubt increased the average viewing time her video received because people were sticking around to find out how to get the necklace.
And the reward was very specifically targeted to the exact audience who would want the reward, since the video was about this specific type of jewelry.
The cost to her? I doubt it was more than $10. And yet there was a true element of scarcity because in this case the necklace was vintage (approximately 50 years old) and not something people could buy at their local store.
What I love about this is that the prize would be physically mailed to the recipient. Because it was lightweight the postage wouldn’t cost much regardless of what country it would be sent to.
And scrolling through her comments it was obvious that people really were going for the gold in trying to have the most interesting, wittiest or most helpful comment of everyone there.
She uses this technique with many of her videos, which gives her an immediate bump in views from her regular audience as well as a ton of comments. Views in the first 24 hours are especially important on YouTube to help with getting your video seen by more people.
She states in the description below the video that she will choose the winner in 30 days. But since she does not show the date the video went live, she continues to get more and more comments even when her videos have been up for months. She also uses this reward system to encourage viewers to become subscribers so they know when she posts a new video, too.
New Content Ideas In Other Niches
Depending on your niche, you can get creative to make this work for you.
If you have electronic products, then the key is to offer something of high value, like a course you sell for at least a couple hundred dollars. (Digital, obviously, so it doesn’t cost you a penny to produce or deliver.)
If you teach dog training, maybe you could give away adorable handmade dog sweaters. Let your own dog be the model. If you have a book, then that could be your prize.
A gym membership – easy… give away a free guest pass and you might just get a new paying member.
Try this on your next couple of videos and watch the magic happen in the comments section.
