Lesson 1 – Blog Topic Research

The first step on the blogging journey is to develop a blogging plan, which is a list of the blog post topics or titles, and a schedule as to when we are going to post them. 

Below is a Blogging Schedule template (an excel sheet) that you can download:

Please go ahead and:

1. download the template
2. add your business name (1)
3. select the frequency of posting (2) – I recommend weekly at this stage, so that we get some momentum up.
4. List the blog topics (ie post titles) – we’ll come back to that soon.
5. Fill out the schedule.

Save this sheet.

Right, lets do some topic research and by that I mean we need to create a list of blog post titles.  But how do we know what topics to write about?  Well, from an SEO perspective we want to ensure that our website has very comprehensive information about our “Entity”. Our Entity is like our top level topic. It could be our Industry, a product or product type, a service or anything that can be defined.  So, we want to cover this  overall topic as thoroughly as possible on our website.  If we have very comprehensive information about our “Entity” then Google, the coming AI search engines, and importantly your target market, will see you as an industry leader or expert. 

Here’s an example, consider a plumber.  The Entity is “plumbing”  This main topic includes the sub topics:

General Plumbing Maintenance

1. “10 Essential Plumbing Maintenance Tips for Homeowners”
2. “How to Prevent Common Plumbing Issues in Your Home”
3. “The Ultimate Plumbing Checklist for New Homeowners”
4. “Seasonal Plumbing Maintenance: What You Need to Know”
5. “Signs Your Pipes Need Professional Attention”

DIY Plumbing

1. “Top 5 DIY Plumbing Fixes Every Homeowner Should Know”
2. “How to Unclog a Drain Without Harsh Chemicals”
3. “DIY Plumbing: When to Call a Professional”
4. “The Tools You Need for Simple Plumbing Repairs”
5. “How to Fix a Leaky Tap in 5 Easy Steps”

Plumbing Systems

1. “Understanding Your Home’s Plumbing System: A Beginner’s Guide”
2. “How to Choose the Right Pipes for Your Home”
3. “The Pros and Cons of Tankless Water Heaters”
4. “Common Plumbing Problems in Older Homes”
5. “How Hard Water Affects Your Plumbing System”

Eco-Friendly Plumbing

1. “Eco-Friendly Plumbing Solutions for Sustainable Living”
2. “How to Conserve Water with Smart Plumbing Fixtures”
3. “The Benefits of Low-Flow Toilets and Showerheads”
4. “Green Plumbing: How to Reduce Your Home’s Water Footprint”
5. “How Rainwater Harvesting Can Benefit Your Home Plumbing”

Emergency Plumbing

1. “What to Do in a Plumbing Emergency: A Step-by-Step Guide”
2. “How to Temporarily Fix a Burst Pipe”
3. “Emergency Plumbing Kit: What You Should Have on Hand”
4. “The Most Common Plumbing Emergencies and How to Handle Them”
5. “How to Turn Off Your Water Supply in an Emergency”

Professional Plumbing Services

1. “How to Choose the Right Plumber for Your Needs”
2. “What to Expect During a Professional Plumbing Inspection”
3. “The Benefits of Regular Plumbing Maintenance Services”
4. “How to Read Your Plumbing Bill: Understanding the Charges”
5. “Customer Testimonials: Why Our Clients Trust Us for Their Plumbing Needs”

Plumbing Innovations

1. “The Latest Innovations in Plumbing Technology”
2. “How Smart Home Technology is Changing Plumbing”
3. “The Future of Plumbing: Trends to Watch”
4. “Innovative Plumbing Fixtures for a Modern Home”
5. “How to Upgrade Your Plumbing System with the Latest Technology”

Plumbing and Health

1. “How Your Plumbing System Affects Your Health”
2. “The Importance of Clean Drinking Water: How Your Plumber Can Help”
3. “How to Ensure Safe Water Quality in Your Home”
4. “The Dangers of Lead Pipes and How to Replace Them”
5. “How to Prevent Mould Growth in Your Plumbing System”

That’s 40 blog posts, or a year’s worth if posted once per week.

So, you can see that these “topics” cover the “entity” “plumber” very thoroughly. What does this mean:

• If each post was 1000 words, there would be 40,000 words on the website which could be found by potential customers searching, researching and wanting answers. That’s a huge net.
• Human visitors would be impressed by the amount and quality of that useful information. Surely this company is an industry leader – great for the brand. 
• Google values the website highly as it has such comprehensive information. It ranks well and for many, many search terms.
• AI search engines have a great wealth of information to read in order to provide searches with excellent answers. 
•  and more.

OK, where do we come up with this list?  

Use this tool:

to generate a list of blog post topic ideas .

After typing “Hi” to wake up the Assistant, you’ll be prompted to input your main phrase. The tool will return a list of possible sub topics, which are designed to provide full coverage of the overall topic. I used that tool for the plumbing list above. Review your list. If you like, you can ask the AI to change the list or refine it.  Or you can copy the list out and refine it yourself. 

Either way, input your final list into your blogging schedule at #3. You may need to add more rows into the sheet to accommodate the list.  

Then plan out your blogging schedule in the “Schedule” section below, putting the topics in the order of date and putting the planned posting date scheduled in.  You may want to change the order of the posts to an order that suits you or your business. That’s fine. 

Finalise the schedule and diarise it so that you know when you need to post a new article to your blog.  And stick to it.

Next, let’s plan a blog post.