How to Choose Trendy Blog Topics
Keeping your nonprofit’s website current, and updating it regularly with relevant blog content are great ways to improve the performance of your Google Ad Grant and increase your SEO ranking. But adding content isn’t always so simple. Sometimes choosing a relevant and interesting topic can be challenging, and it can be even more difficult to pinpoint the specific keywords and phrases to use within the article. That’s why we’ve put together a brief guide to help you streamline this process and choose meaningful topics for your blog.
1. Understand your target audience
Most established organizations are already at least somewhat familiar with the type of individual they want to connect with. But when it comes to your website content, you should have a very detailed understanding of who you want to reach. One great way to achieve this is by identifying personas for the individuals you want to support your organization. Once you have developed your persona(s), you can then identify related topics that are likely to be of interest to each persona.
2. Research trending keywords
Including trendy keywords and phrases in your blog content can help drive traffic and engagement to nonprofits or specific articles that may be more obscure or niche. In order to find keywords that are currently trending, you can simply perform a Google search about the services offered by your nonprofit. If you have the Keywords Everywhere plugin installed, you should be able to see how often those keywords are searched, and how competitive they are. You can also look at Google’s “Searches Related To” section for additional ideas.
Cause Inspired Strategy Lead, Sarah Symoens, notes that
“Trendy keywords are important to research before you even search for a blog topic. For example, ‘National Pancake Day’ may be an upcoming holiday, but if no one is currently searching for it, or has searched for it in the past, you probably shouldn’t write a blog about it. You only want to develop blogs that either always have good search volumes, or have a seasonal search volume.”
3. Research and develop evergreen content
An evergreen blog refers to content that can be shared at any point in the year, regardless of the holiday or season. This type of content is incredibly important to have on hand because it is always relevant, and can always be shared, and even re-used if necessary. In order to develop evergreen content, simply compile all of the information that you developed about your target audience, personas, and trending topics. Here’s an example of what that should look like:
- Blog Topic: “Defining Paralysis As A Parent”
- Target Audience: Parents of People with Paralysis
- Trendy Keywords: Paralysis Definition
4. Research and develop seasonal content
Seasonal blog topics refer to content that will increase greatly in search volume during certain times of the year. These times can include traditional, nontraditional, and local holidays, as well as national and local events. Think about major holidays like Hanukkah or Veterans Day, as well as local events like an NFL game, or a concert.
In order to determine your seasonal blog topics, you can search Facebook Events, various travel sites, or any holiday and calendar website, including Timeanddate.com and Officeholidays.com. Here’s an example:
- Blog Topic: “Zero-Waste Halloween Costume Ideas”
- Target Audience: Eco-conscious parents
- Seasonal Keyword: Halloween
5. Choose your Call-To-Action (CTA)
Here at Cause Inspired, we know from experience that a blog is basically pointless without a relevant and compelling CTA. This call to action should go beyond a simple donate button and motivate the reader to complete the desired action. When determining which call to action to add to your blogs, it is important to consider your goals and the target audience that is likely to read your blog.
