Ever felt like the creative well was running dry? You need an idea for a blog and suddenly you’re at a complete loss for an interesting topic?
I can’t relate. All of us who’re in the business of creating great content (or even just blogging casually) experience the occasional case of writer’s block. There are loads of great articles dedicated to helping folks get over the creativity hump (I’ve included links to my favorites at the end of this post), but one suggestion in particular caught my eye over the weekend:
Blogging Tip: Identify your most popular Twitter posts and write more on those topics
— Jennifer Bourn (@jenniferbourn) November 16, 2012
Take Your Most Popular Tweet and Shove It (into your next blog…)
An interesting Twitter stream is a natural source of ideas for blog posts, but I liked Jennifer’s suggestion of looking to my own tweets to help inspire deeper discussion on popular topics. Simple concept, but it makes sense!
I liked this so much I wanted to implement it immediately, which brought me to the question of well, “How do I find my most popular tweets?”
Step 1: Use these tools to find your most popular tweets:
A little Googling around revealed a load of (free!) Twitter Analytics tools. I’m listing three that are specifically designed to help you ferret out your tweets that got the most attention.
Step 2: Turn those tweets into ideas for a blog!
After using the tools above, you should see some common tweets emerge as your “popular tweets” (it feels so good to be popular!). Make note of these potential topics for your next blog post (or two), do a little research, and start writing!
A Quick Housekeeping Tip
A lot of Twitter Analytics tools require authorization from your Twitter account. That’s not scary in and of itself, but it is a good idea to periodically go through and de-authorize apps from your Twitter account that are no longer in use.
Let the (Idea) River Flow
Still need ideas for a blog topic? Here are some great articles:
- The Only Blog Post Idea List You’ll Ever Need
- 21 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue
- 7 Effortless Ways to Find New Ideas for Your Blog
What inspires your writing? How do you pick the next topic for your post? Have a different tool you love for Twitter analytics? Leave a comment and tell!
Interesting read, Carrie. The “OMG what the hell do I blog about today?” theme is one of those never-ending sources of potential posts, similar to the “SEO is dead because…” theme. In this case, it helps if you’re most popular tweet was, in fact, actually popular.
I tried checking my most popular tweet on Twitsprout and it turned out to be a RT of someone else’s tweet. 🙁
Carrie – Hey thanks for the shout out! Blogging consistently for long periods of time can be tough and coming up with new topics, even tougher! So happy one of my tips helped!
Hey Jennifer, thanks for stopping by. I always enjoy your blogging tip tweets!
Great idea! I’ve been using Buffer (the free version) and noticed my Top Tweets were directly tied with my most popular posts and visa versa. Will definitely take advantage of this. Thanks for the resources.
Oops, wanted to make this suggestions too but can’t edit my previous comment. I was going to say that for tutorial based blog posts, at least for development, I like to hang out on support forums and sites, and see the most asked questions or issues people are having. I definitely take advantage of those unanswered questions lingering around or even ones where the answer was given, but not explained how or why it works. Or if I answer a question and the person seems to be really happy with my explanation, I’ll bring that over to my blog as well.
I recommend hanging around the WordPress Stack Exchange for WordPress tutorial bloggers. Never know what you’ll find. 🙂
Hey Rachel – YES, forums are fantastic fodder for tutorial style posts and might just be the inspiration behind some posts on this site. 🙂
Hey Carrie, I have been following your blog for quite some time and I must tell you, your blog is interesting to read. You can visit analytics.twitter.com to find out your popular tweet. Give it a try.
And good luck with your 2016 goals you mentioned in your annual review blog post.
Thanks Maria! Beyond seeing what topics net the most engagement, have you found other actionable items result from reviewing Twitter analytics?