How to Generate Content Ideas with Arnie Kuenn

In this video interview, Internet marketing expert Arnie Kuenn offers several tips to help you come up with new content ideas.

The first step is to do keyword research, to find the words people are using to search for businesses like yours. Both Google AdWords and Bing adCenter offer free keyword research tools you can use.

One approach is to go to answer or Question and Answer (Q&A) sites. These are available on Yahoo, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Quora.com. Put in some keywords, then see the kinds of questions people are asking in your market. Jot down the questions, then create content to answer them these questions.

Another helpful tool is Open Site Explorer (www.opensiteexplorer.org) from SEOmoz. In the free version you can enter your competitor's URL to see their top ranked pages based on the number of incoming links to that page. This will show you what kind of content is working in your market -- so you can begin to produce even better content!

Gather your content ideas in a spreadsheet. Then build out a content or editorial calendar that specifies what articles or blog posts you are writing (and at what frequency) for the next 3 months, 6 months, or year. This will help you execute your plan and keep you on track.

Dr. Wilson suggests brainstorming ideas over lunch with your colleagues and keeping a notepad nearby where you can write ideas that come to you at random times.

Arnie Kuenn is the author of Accelerate! Move Your Business Forward through the Convergence of Search, Social, and Content Marketing (2011). His business is Vertical Measures (www.verticalmeasures.com), a search, social, and content marketing agency in Phoenix, Arizona. This interview was recorded August 16, 2011 at the SES Conference in San Francisco.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Arnie Kuenn
• Accelerate
• content marketing
• ideas keyword research
• AdWords
• Bing
• Q&A
• Quora
• keywords
• Open Site Explorer
• editorial calendar
• content calendar
• Ralph Wilson
• Web Marketing