Use Question-Based Keyword Research for Blog Content Ideas

Filed in Blogging, Featured by Matt McGee on April 5, 2011 5 Comments

question-notebookIf one of my clients is a blogger, I always make sure to use two “keyword question” tools to help generate ideas for new blog content. While we tend to think that almost everyone uses Google or Bing to search for short phrases (like “bike store Columbus” or “repair a bike”), the truth is that a lot of people type complete questions into search engines. So, using those questions to come up with content ideas is a no-brainer. There are two primary places you can do question-based keyword research.

Where to Find Question-Based Keywords?

Most keyword research tools work the same way: type a word or phrase, get words or phrases out. There are two that I know of (and use) that let you type in a word and, instead, give back questions that people have searched for using your keyword.

  1. Keyword Discovery — offers paid accounts, but even the free/limited trial version (which I’m linking to) includes question-based results. Scroll to the bottom of the drop-down menu on that page and look for “Question Phrases.”
  2. WordTracker Keyword Questions — also free and limited, but also very helpful for generating blogging ideas.

The idea — at least for me — isn’t to do traditional keyword research and analysis, where you compare phrases and how competitive they are and spend hours upon hours with your head buried in an Excel spreadsheet. (Boring!)

The idea is just to learn what questions people have so you can decide if you’re able to answer them via blog posts.

So, thinking back to the first post in this series and using the same local bike shop owner as our example, she might go to these tools and type “bikes” into the search box and get these results.

wt-questions-small

There are a lot of ideas right there in the free results. A few I highlighted:

  • “kids trek bikes why easy to ride” — Maybe not that exact idea, but how about a blog post such as “5 Easy-to-Ride Kids’ Bikes”? That could be good blog content.
  • “how to fix bikes” — There should plenty of ideas for blog articles related to bike repair, like how to choose a repair shop, how and when to try repairing a bike yourself, the best tools/products for fixing bikes, etc.
  • “how to remove glued on grip from dirt bikes” — or, from any bike
  • “how to size bikes for kids” — Again, lots of possible blog posts here, like “How to Choose the Right Girls Bike” (or Boys Bike)
  • etc., etc., etc.

Again, that’s several ideas just from typing in one keyword into these keyword question tools. Imagine if our bike store owner repeated the process with 10 keywords, or 20 keywords … she’d have months of blog post ideas, guaranteed.

Look for more articles soon about developing ideas for blog posts.

(question/notebook image via Shutterstock stock images)

Comments (5)

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  1. William Rose says:

    These kind of question key phrases can prove very valuable in terms of traffic if implimented correctly. I use a wide mix of question and just short key phrases in my keyword optimization. Enjoying your posts, thanks for sharing!

  2. Cindy Lavoie says:

    Cool idea, Matt. Thanks for suggesting. I’m always looking for new ideas to write about on my own blog, but more importantly, I try to help my blogging clients come up with ideas, which can be challenging when they are in specialized businesses. This should be a great help!

    I haven’t used Trellian in a while (I’ve switched to Market Samurai as my favorite keyword tool). Can you share where in the paid version of Keyword Discovery I can find the question-based results – it’s not obvious to me.

    Thanks!

  3. It should be noted that the main reason for which most users come to any blog is to find the answers to their questions. So, question-based content posted on a blog is definitely a good idea. I often apply this technique for my own blog.

  4. Kelly Dear says:

    Most small businesses solve problems for people, at least in some way – that’s how they make their money. Having small business clients blog with the questions they can answer in mind is a great idea. I never thought of it, so thanks for the tip. I’m always having to help a few of my clients out when their ideas run dry. Now I’ll know a new way to give some guidance!

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