6 Great Blog Content Sources
These 6 blog content sources are great when you’re looking for fresh, new content.
If you have a blog, then you have, at some point or another, wondered where the inspiration for your next great article was going to come from. You’re not alone. Bloggers are always looking for great, new blog content sources. These six great resources should help you find the inspiration you need next time you hit a wall when deciding what you should write about.
Mashable
With everything from mainstream news stories to viral campaigns, Mashable has a ton of great content that can lead to inspiration for a new article. Every section on Mashable’s seemingly endless website has the potential to provide you with the content you need to get started on that next blog post.
Alltop
Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop is an aggregator of the best kind. The site brings together all of the top stories (hence, Alltop) from around the web to provide people with all the information they need and want to know in one location. For bloggers, the site is a great resource to find trending topics that people want to read about.
Scoop.It
This content curation tool is perfect for finding interesting articles and information. By following a targeted group of users, you can be sure to find plenty of great content filling your stream on a regular basis. Again, all it takes is time before you see the title or read the article that leads to you writing your next great article.
Quora
Quora is not only a great place to tout your expertise by answering questions related to your field, but it is also a source for inspiration. Look through the questions being asked in your industry and determine what people are talking about. This could give you a great idea for a post that answers the most popular questions, and could help drive traffic.
Your Social Feeds
Do not underestimate the value of your social feeds. If you take a few minutes to watch shared content fill your news feed on Facebook, your Twitter feed, or any other one of your social networks, you will see a great deal of content that might prove to be a source for your next article. Sure, social media is about being social with friends, but it is also about sharing what interests you. Pay attention to what your friends and followers find interesting, and you just might get a great idea for a blog.
Social Bookmarking Sites
Sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, and Delicious are fantastic resources for great content (and for passing the time, too). Anything in the world wide web that someone finds interesting can easily be bookmarked and found by others. Sift through the content on these social bookmarking sites and it will not be long before you find that piece of content you can use for your next article.
What others ways are using finding content for your blog? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!
Great tips – I’ll have to take a look at Scoop.it – it’s just one of those platforms I never really saw the value in, but this is a great idea! I am a big fan of the Quora approach and will often write a blog post to answer someone’s question, rather than posting directly on Quora, if it’s not a quick answer. I also really like doing reaction posts and sharing infographics, which I discuss in my own blog post on the topic: http://www.meltwater.com/social-media-blog/brainstorm-blog-topic-ideas/. It’s always cool to see how others are inspired, though – thanks for sharing!
Glad you found the article helpful, Jen!
Hm, didn’t expect what i saw… Don’t you think it’s better to use some sources which are specific to YOUR audience? the list you have suggested is great if you run a news-like type of blog and post daily or few times per day – then it’s ok to reproduce news items and what’s hot. However, if you run a blog which presumably has somekind of niche and topics around which the audience gathers – well, none of the above (except maybe your SMM feed) is good source. It’s way better to interact in comments with your audience, take into account their questions, email reach out, etc,. – those are greater sources of topic ideas, i think 🙂
Thanks for the post anyway – you just gave me an idea about a post for my blog so thanks!