subject: Generating New Content Ideas [print this page] There is no doubt that generating ideas for new topics is a challenge for every blogger. How can you keep reader interest and make sure they will come back for more? For a select few, this isn't hard, their personality and entertaining writing style is enough to create buzz in the blogosphere. Coming up with the right mix in blogging is second nature to them. For the majority though, generating new content ideas involves time, research, and ingenuity. Fortunately, there are now several online tools and websites that make this easier.
YouTube.com
If you're pressed for ideas, going to YouTube is a sure-fire way to have a new topic. Write about the popular videos right now, whether it is informative, entertaining, funny, or serious. The website lists the videos according to "today's most discussed", "today's most popular", and "favorites".
Meme Trackers
What are people talking about today? Meme trackers will let you in on their conversation. TailRank and TechMeme are noted for their effectiveness in highlighting recent postings. Even the World Bank has launched the BuzzMonitor. This is an open source program that enables anyone to form their own meme tracker.
Social Bookmarking Sites
Get a closer look into the things that interest people. A visit to social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon and Digg lets you know what people are interested in today. This technique has an added benefit in that you are actually looking at the sites that "influencers" prefer.
Visit Competing Websites
The leaders in your niche are successful for a reason. Visit several blogs in your market to figure out the competitors' strategy, techniques, and formula. You can learn a thing or two from them. It is also a good idea to find out who is linking to them and the reasons why people are talking about them. Soon, you'll be one of the bloggers readers talk about.
This takes time. The trick is to be constant and overtime it will pay off.
There are also a lot of plugins that can be added to your blog to maximise your time and automate lots of different areas of your blog, such as adding to twitter, facebook and other social media sites.
Just go to your wordpress blog admin control panel to search for the available plugins. You will also be able to automatically install them in just a click.
This is one of the great advantages of using wordpress for your blog.
