Top Tips for Generating Content Ideas and Understanding Your Niche

If you know anything about SEO, you will know that content plays a huge role in how well a site ranks. It helps sites build authority and tells search engines what you’re all about which can help you leverage higher ranking positions. Before you get to that step and can start writing, you will need to put a plan in place. This will help you organise your efforts, effectively target your chosen keywords and get the most out of your content marketing efforts. Here in this blog, we share our top tips for generating content ideas and understanding your niche.

The SERP

Google has access to extensive data on how we search online which makes it an excellent research tool. Best of all, it’s free. Using the search bar, enter the keywords that you’re targeting as a business and see what appears on the results page. Typically, this is divided up into panels which includes a “people also ask” section. In this particular section you can learn about the questions those in your niche have and target your audience in the different stages of their customer journey.

Google Trends

Google trends is a carefully created tool that gathers search insights and compiles them to form handy reports. For businesses operating internationally, you can access data from different geographic areas and thus create content to target those further afield. The tool will also tell you the direction trends are heading in, as well as what search volume has been historically. The only drawback is that the information you draw from the tool can be quite random and not always accurate so you will need to take what you find with a pinch of salt. It provides a good starting point, and beyond that you will need to carry out your research.

Google Ads Keyword Planner

This is also free; however, you will require a Google Ads account. Once set up, you can carry out keyword research, gain recommendations and find longer tail keywords that serve as content ideas. The dataset you receive will show you whether there is an upward, steady, or downward trend in searches for those terms. There’s also data on competition, but this is more so for PPC.

Keyword Research Tools

There are many other keyword tools that you can use to gain similar insights, such as SEMrush and Ahrefs. As they are designed for SEO specifically, you will find more accurate information and “keyword difficulty” which is a common metric they all include. Depending on their functionality, you may be able to draw on examples of content that’s ranking well on the SERP as opposed to carrying out manual research.

Answer The Public

This is another one that will give you lots of ideas, especially longtail queries and questions.

Think Outside of The Box

While the above are great ways of conducting research and coming up with content ideas, they will only get you so far. As we know original content ranks well and is favoured by Google, so therefore for the best chances of getting noticed and ranking high on the SERP, you will need to think outside of the box. Have a look at what customers and users of the site have to say.

Research can be a tedious task, especially when your niche is complex. At Innermedia we can help you put a SEO strategy together and take care of your online presence. Get in touch to learn more.