At Least 15 Blog Topic Ideas for Business Bloggers

By Brandon Cornett
© 2011. All rights reserved

"So we put a new business blog online last week, because we heard it's the thing to do. We've identified a person to write blog posts for our company. But now we're stuck. We're having a hard time coming up with topic ideas for our blog posts. Can you help?"

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this from a client, or a would-be client. In most cases, it's a situation where the company has put the cart ahead of the horse. They have figured out the technical side of things. They've installed a blogging program and figured out how to use it. But they failed to develop a strategy for their blog. They forgot to put a content plan on paper.

The end result is always the same. Somewhere, there's a writer staring at a blank screen, wracking his brain to come up with blog topic ideas. Here, the writer becomes a victim to the blog -- instead of using it like the tool that it is. Not to worry. By the time you finish reading this lesson, you'll have ideas aplenty!

Business Blog Ideas to Fuel Your Blogging

Below, you'll find at least 15 ideas for blog topics. What do I mean by "at least" 15 ideas? Some of these tips can be used in multiple ways, based on your business model and your marketing goals. So in reality, there is unlimited blogging potential within this list.

1. Blog about industry news and related developments. What's going on in your industry or niche right now? How has the industry changed over the last few years? What does your intended reader need to know about these developments? Answer these questions, and you have an endless series of blog post ideas. There will always be changes within your field. Use them for blogging ideas.
2. Create how-to articles related to your products or services. Go beyond basic instructions. Think about the way people use your product. How does it help them in their daily lives? How can they get better results when using it? Now broaden the scope a little. What are some other topics that relate to your products or services? You could pull in additional traffic by writing blog posts around these "collateral" topics. You could generate dozens of ideas with this kind of brainstorming.
3. Use questions from current and prospective customers as blog topic ideas. This is an excellent strategy, because it gives your readers information they can use. Do you have customer service reps in your company? If so, you should have an endless source of blogging ideas. Ask them to write down some of the frequently asked questions they receive, day in and day out. You could even use some of their previous emails as starter content. Just expand on it as needed, and you've got a new blog post. That content is just sitting there in the person's "sent" folder. You might as well use it!
4. Get philosophical ... to an extent. Do you have a customer service philosophy? Share it with your readers, using real-world examples. Talk about a time when one of you customers needed help with a specific problem, and what you and your team did to help them. This could become an ongoing source of blog topics.
5. Write about the people who work in your company. Better yet, let them share their own stories through the company blog. People will be more inclined to trust your company if they can learn about the people behind it. The days of corporate secrecy are over. You need to pull back the curtain once in a while. Business blogging is a great way to do that.
6. Talk about your process. Does your company provide certain products? How do you create those products? How do you make them better? What goes into the planning process? How do people use them? If you provide services (instead of tangible products), you can describe that process as well. Tell people how your services work, and how they can benefit from using them. Obviously, you don't want to reveal any trade secrets in your blog posts. But you do need to help people understand the value of your products or services. You can do this by describing the process through which they are created. You could probably generate a handful of blog post ideas from this one strategy alone.
7. Just start writing. Professional writers have long known that the act of creation spurs creativity. This is why painters often start "doodling" before they've even identified a subject. It's why writers often start writing random thoughts and sentences, before they have a topic in mind. The act of creating stimulates the creative part of the brain. It wakes up the neurons and fires up the synapses (neurons talking to each other). It gets the ideas flowing. This process starts at a young age but continues throughout our lives.
8. Drink a cup of coffee. If you don't drink coffee, I'm not suggesting that you start. Coffee has positive and negative health effects on the body. So you shouldn't take up the habit just to fuel your blogging. But if you are a regular java drinker, you should do it in conjunction with blogging. Coffee has been scientifically (and anecdotally) proven to increase concentration and mental clarity. I write blog topic ideas into a notepad while I'm drinking coffee in the morning. I jot down headlines, problems and solutions, questions, and anything else that comes to mind. I can fill up an entire page in this fashion. And buried in there somewhere, there's bound to be a good idea for my next blog post. Give it a try!
9. Share a testimonial. Do you receive testimonials from your customers on a regular basis? If so, you could use them as blogging material. You could expand on this by offering some information on the product or service mentioned in the testimonial. Just make sure you get permission before using someone's full name on your blog. But do use their name, if they'll allow it -- this makes the testimonial more credible.
10. Blog about related topics. You don't always have to blog about your products and services directly. You could write about other topics that relate to your audience in some way. For instance, a software company could publish articles about productivity, computer hardware, or anything else that ties back to their products in some way. You can find new customers with this strategy, as long as your blog posts relate back to your company in some way. Broaden your scope. Sit down with a piece of paper and start jotting down some ideas that branch out from your products or services. Better yet, get your key team members together for a joint brainstorming session.
11. Examine your analytics. Do you have a website analytics program installed on your site? If so, you can mine the data for blog post ideas. Just look at the keywords people are using to find your site. Chances are, you'll find some keywords that aren't fully developed on your site. By building content around these topics, you can pull in even more traffic for those searches. And speaking of keywords...
12. Use keyword tools. Search engine optimization (SEO) companies use keyword-research tools to generate content ideas for their clients. And you can do the same thing for yourself. Start by using the free version of WordTracker, a popular tool for keyword research. If you like the free one, you can always sign up for the full program. Google has a helpful tool that will make additional suggestions, aside from the exact phrase you start with. It's an excellent way to generate blog post topics. It also tells you which phrases have the most traffic potential.
13. Participate in forums. These days, you can find Internet forums dedicated to every topic imaginable. So there's bound to be at least one that caters to your industry or niche. By participating in such forums, you'll be actively engaged in a variety of discussions related to your industry. Aside from the obvious networking benefits, you'll also enjoy a steady stream of blogging ideas.
14. Read industry journals and websites. You should subscribe to relevant magazines, newsletters and blogs anyway, to keep up with your field. It's great for professional development. But it will also help you come up with topic ideas for the company blog. What's happening in your industry or niche right now? How can you put your own personal stamp on this information? What do your readers need to know about it?
15. Request a content plan. Need help coming up with blogging ideas? Brandon's your man! He can help you develop a detailed content plan, based on your audience and your marketing goals. Please contact us for pricing and details.

As you can see, there are many more than 15 blog topic ideas in this article. Some of the items on this list could be used to generate an entire series of posts. There's really no limit to what you can publish. And remember -- the more content you put onto your website, the more ways people have to find you through the search engines.

Next lesson: How to write a blog for marketing purposes

About the Author
This article was written by Brandon Cornett. Brandon is a full-time blogger and marketing consultant. He is one of the most widely published authorities on business blogging and Internet marketing. He specializes in helping small business owners attract more customers online.