JaypeeOnline » Blogging

HowTo: Find Trending Topics for Your Blog

Sarah Rexman — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:55:32 +0000

This is a guest post by Sarah Rexman. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Are you plugged in? Do you know about all the latest gadgets? Are you wearing the latest fashions before they start showing up in stores? Have you already downloaded the second album for a new artist that everyone else is just discovering? If you answered “no” like most of us, the you likely don’t already know what all the latest trending topics are. Sure, you might be familiar with Hipster Kitty, and maybe you’ve even LOL’d at some of the Texts from Hillary, but you still couldn’t tell a friend what all the latest trends are.

Tapping into these trends can help you to grow your blog readership and rank higher in search results by hosting discussions that people want to be a part of now. So how do you find out what the trends are? Here are a few ways that you can find the latest trending topics for your blog:

Twitter

Twitter plays up trending topics better than a lot of other sites, often playing like a news ticker for the latest stories and other items of interest. Hash tags identify conversations about the latest trends, making it easy to become part of the larger conversation. To check out a handy list of the latest trending topics, just click on the “Discover” tab in the top portion of your profile page. The trends will appear in the column on the left side of the page.

You can use this list of trending topics to better understand the discussion that is happening around those topics so that you can approach them from a fresh angle. Find a way to talk about the latest news in a way that others aren’t. People will find your blog when they look for the latest news about that subject, but they’ll stick around because they’ll know that you have unique, quality content to offer them.

Google Trends (http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends)

When people want information, they turn to Google. Find out what they’re looking for by using this handy tool. Browse the list of the top search terms for the day in your country, or check on the popularity of a topic by entering a term in the search box. You can get related search terms that are trending, or you can check on performance within a certain time frame.

Google Trends also updates frequently — at least every hour or more. You can often get breaking news this way because you’ll see when everyone starts searching for something all of a sudden. Bloggers who do their best to post frequently and to offer a steady stream of quality content can get a lot of ideas from Google Trends, as the top searches are constantly changing.

Google Insights (http://www.google.com/insights/search/)

Google provides multiple tools for marketers, and this is another that helps you identify trending topics. Enter a search term, a time range, and a location to get information about keyword performance and related search terms. Find out if a topic is going up or down in popularity, as well as related terms.

Google Insights is great for finding out not only what is currently trending, but what topics are expected to be trending in the near future, or by season. For example, allergies would be a trending topic in the spring. However, you can find much more detailed and nuanced lists here.

You can also look for patterns in search topics to get insights into related categories and to broaden your coverage of a topic, helping to set you apart from a competitor. There is also information about geographical searches, helping you to optimize your local search results, which Google is now emphasizing.

Forums

What better way to find out what people are talking about than to go to the places where they are talking. Popular forums and information-sharing sites like Reddit, Digg, and Stumble Upon can help you quickly identify the most popular conversations, thereby determining trending topics. You can even get information about whether a topic has gone up or down in popularity.

Take special care to look at forums within your niche, as well. While it’s a good idea to find out what’s popularity with general audiences by looking at sites like Reddit or Digg, you also need to find out what’s hot with your target audience right now.

News Sites

Trends and popular topics are what make the news. Scan the latest headlines to get a sense for what’s on people’s minds. You can get ideas for larger social conversations or even just topics about lifestyle, health, or popular culture. For example, a scan of today’s headlines might show you that people are talking about environmental issues and the upcoming election, as well as a hot new workout that mimics circus training.

The key to following the news for trending topics is to make sure you are ahead of the story. You don’t want to be the person talking about Charlie Sheen’s meltdown a week after everyone else is already tweeting #winning. Follow news sites for trending topics so you can help break news and contextualize it, offering your readers more value and setting your blog apart.

Other Blogs

Watch your competition and other blogs in your niche to make sure you’re always ahead of the news most important to your audience. Look at what other writers in your niche are talking about, and find ways to add to the conversation. Make sure you bring a unique voice to the discussion, tackling the topic from a new angle or offering a distinctive opinion. Your readers will come to know your blog for content that is both current and distinct from other sites.

Staying ahead of trending topics is key to keeping your blog content fresh and relevant to readers. It is also a great way to rank our site better, as you will have content that people are searching for right now, making your site seem more in demand for search engines.

What other sources do you use to find trending topics to write about on your blog? Tell us your ideas in the comments!

Weekend Roundup #138

Jaypee Habaradas — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 19:05:42 +0000

Hi everyone and welcome to the 138th edition of the Weekend Roundup! How did your weekend go? Hope you all had fun and enjoyed spending time with loved ones and friends. I’ll be going out to the park later today with my family and some friends so I made sure that I prepared and published this edition of the Weekend Roundup early. Lots of cool and interesting stories and articles so feel free to go over each one and share it if you want. Enjoy!

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If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or would want to share your article or any interesting story that you found in the Internet and have it featured in the next Weekend Roundup, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page.

Weekend Roundup #126

Jaypee Habaradas — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 03:52:10 +0000

How’s it goin everyone? Hope you all had a good weekend. Welcome to the 126th edition of the Weekend Roundup. It’s been a really busy weekend for me and I did my best to have this edition published just on time before the end of the weekend. Lots of really good and interesting articles and links this week so make sure to check out each one. Enjoy!

Btw, I’ll be announcing the winners of the ThemeFuse premium WordPress themes giveaway tomorrow. I’m sure those who joined it are excited and all looking forward to it. For those who missed it, don’t worry because I’ll be having several more giveaways in the coming weeks.

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Weekend Roundup #125

Jaypee Habaradas — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:52:47 +0000

Hi folks! Welcome to the 125th edition of the Weekend Roundup. I tried my best to publish it on time but failed to do so because I had to do lots of stuff yesterday and was out the whole day today. Anyways, hope you still enjoy reading the articles and links that I’ve gathered from all over the Internet.

Btw, just want to remind everyone of the on-going giveaway where I’m giving out 3 premium WordPress theme vouchers from ThemeFuse, each worth $49. Check it out if you haven’t joined yet. If you’re not into WordPress or premium WordPress themes, don’t worry because I have a few other contests/giveaways planned in the coming weeks so watch out for it.

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Weekend Roundup #123

Jaypee Habaradas — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 22:38:44 +0000

Hi folks! Welcome to the 123rd edition of the Weekend Roundup. Like always, there’s lots of useful and interesting stories and links here from all around the Internet on blogging, WordPress, SEO, social media, technology, gadgets including a recap of last week’s posts here on JaypeeOnline. Hope you enjoy reading and learn something from them. Also, feel to share these articles. Enjoy!

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