As WordPress (and blogging in general) continues to grow in popularity, there are resources for just about everything a blogger could possibly need.
From themes to images to plug-ins, you should have no trouble creating a blog that is functional and visually appealing. But good content is still the foundation of any blog, and no matter how beautiful your site may be, readers aren’t going to stay just to look at it.
As a blogger, this probably isn’t news to you. You know that the information you provide is why your readers continue to come back for more. Even so, even the most creative among us can’t always come up with topics on the spot. So what do you do when you need fresh content but are fresh out of ideas?
That’s where blog post idea generators come in handy.
How to Use Idea Generators
A quick Google search will show you that there are a quite a few options to do the trick, but this one has a simple user interface and can help get you thinking outside the box. All you have to do is enter a general topic and click “Give me an idea,” and you’ll be instantly presented with a potential title for your next post.
I used “WordPress” to test the site, and was given suggestions ranging from:
- How to Solve Your WordPress Problems
- The Worst Guidelines for WordPress, You Could Ever Give
- Who I Have to Thank for Introducing Me to WordPress
See What Already Exists
You can also hit “Google this idea” to automatically see what information already exists about the suggested topic. This is useful if you’re hoping to write something innovative that will help you stand out from competitor blogs. Not surprisingly, when I used the feature to test the title “A Few Quick Tips about WordPress,” I was shown several pages of blogs promising the same thing. It basically just confirmed what I already suspected, but could be helpful in eliminating an extra step if you aren’t sure whether or not a topic has already been discussed elsewhere.
This isn’t to say that you should discard an idea just because it’s already been written about. After all, it wouldn’t be popular with bloggers if it wasn’t popular with readers. All it means is that if you want to write about it, you’ll need to come up with a new angle. Take a look at the results and get a sense of what information is there, and more importantly, what isn’t. If you can find a knowledge gap within a popular topic, you have a sure-fire hit on your hands.
Tweak the Suggestions
Of course, the ideas you get are going to require some tweaking. Aside from the grammatical limitations of a computer-generated title, you’ll need to think about how you can deliver the content it promises. Don’t call a post “[X Number] Facts about WordPress That Will Make You Laugh” if you don’t know of any funny facts, but instead, see it as a suggestion to explore.
Maybe you could give your readers suggestions on how to effectively use humor on their blogs, or provide examples of bloggers who have a humorous take on subjects that aren’t traditionally funny. Basically, see these titles as ways to jump-start your creativity.
Think of Your Audience
You should also keep your audience in mind when using tools like this, because even if a topic is interesting to you personally, it is only useful for your blog if it will appeal to your readers. One of the dangers of idea-generating tools is that they can sometimes lead you on tangents that aren’t necessarily relevant. A computer doesn’t know your audience, but you certainly should. As fun as it might be to write about “What Beyoncé Would Say about WordPress,” you need to think about whether or not your readers would actually care.
If you take computer-generated topics for what they are – variations of popular titles that work – they can be a great way to get your creativity going. They are by no means a substitute for original, human ideas, but they might just be the tool to spark your next innovative blog post.