Do you run an amateur or professional blog? Are you finding yourself slowly running out of ideas, or finding it harder to get rid of the dreaded writer's block? If so, then you are not alone, and there are a number of tactics you can learn to overcome this phase.

You no longer have to sit staring blankly at the screen. Below, we give you our must-know guide on how to come up with inventive and engaging blog ideas.

Store Your Ideas For Your Blog

To assume that inspiration will appear as soon as you sit down at a keyboard is a little presumptuous. Inspiration occurs when we least expect it, and if we do not document it, that moment can quickly vanish. This makes it vital that you store your ideas.

Find a way to store ideas as they quickly appear. This can either be in a small notebook that you carry on your person, or in the notes of your mobile phone. That way, no ideas will be forgotten.

Once you are in a more secure place, such as at your computer, document all of these on a spreadsheet. This makes it easy to mark it as done once you have completed a blog idea.

If you are really SEO savvy, you can even create a large keyword list. When you come up with a blog idea, try to match it to the keywords on your list. If it does not fit with any, then simply do a search to find one that may be applicable.

Look at Content That Is Already Popular

If you already have content on your website, then it makes it easier to work out what your audience already likes. Take a look at your top 20 most-read posts. Brainstorm the common themes, and what makes them popular.

Are they based on lists? Are they providing information in helpful guides? Are they breaking news?

Once you have this theme and know what your audience wants, then get to work. Brainstorm again and determine how you can elaborate on the theme. Type the word into search engines and see what variations or linked articles come up.

If you are selling a product, a variation on this is to actually ask your customers about the content that they want to see. They may have common problems or questions. Once you know this, you can make blog posts that answer the questions or help them out.

Research Keywords

Keywords are the terms that people type into Google when searching. They can be short words or longer ones known as long-tail keywords. If you include them in your article, then it has more of a chance of being read when people type the term into a search engine.

Keywords are a wealth of information on what you should write articles about, even going so far as to actually give you the titles in some instances. Some keywords will be harder to rank for than others, meaning they have a lot of competition from big websites. Ideally, you want to target keywords that have a good amount of people searching for them per month, but with minimal competition.

Once you have the keyword, you can embed it in your blog. Ideally, you should aim to include the keyword in the first and last 100 words of the blog, in its title, and at least one subheading.

There are numerous keyword finders to help you. However, if you want enhanced features, such as finding out how much competition each one has, you may need to pay for a subscription to some services.

Check on Trends

There are a number of ways to check what is popular and current online. If you can do this, and work quickly, you can create blog articles to supplement the desire people have for news or information.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to check Twitter. Look at the hashtags that people are discussing. Once you click on them, you will get insight into everything they are talking about, feeling, and questions they want to answer.

A great free tool to do this is Google Trends. This allows you to track the popularity of topics over time, telling you how popular they have been and are now. A great feature is that it also gives you related terms, so you can quickly have a wealth of blog ideas with just one search.

The only downfall with writing about trending topics is they may not be evergreen. This is a term used to denote content that stays relevant whatever and whenever it is published.

For example, an article on fixing faucets would be evergreen, as people will always need that information. However, an article on what Kim Kardashian wore to last night's award ceremony would not be, as in a week or two, it will be old news.

Repurpose Old Blog Ideas

Old articles themselves can be a great source of inspiration. Take a look at your most successful articles and think about how they can be repurposed or expanded. Could they be turned into a list-style article, or could you repurpose them as a handy guide?

Don't feel that once you have written on a topic, you can not visit it again. As long as you have a slightly different take on it, it will actually benefit your website. It will give search engines a better indication of what the site is about.

There are a whole host of other ways you can also present existing content. Videos, lists, slideshows, and infographics are all amazing ways one piece of content can seem fresh and new.

Write What You Love

Finally, the best blog ideas come from what you love. In a world filled with automated content and corporate copy, articles from the heart resonate more than ever. Stay ahead of the game by becoming an expert in your passions, and others will soon follow.

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