You may have caught our video on 5 Things Missing from Your Content Strategy and in tip #3 we talk about the fallacies of ideating content and number one mistake of just scheduling a brainstorm session. We go onto to say that content ideation should come from data first and while we shared some great resources we are here to give you 5 tools specifically to support your content ideation efforts. The tools mentioned range from free to free-trial-to-start to monthly subscription. They are tools we use daily and we’re happy to answer specific questions you may have before you buy. Just send us a note at up@97thfloor.com.

#1: Google Keyword Planner

First stop is, and you probably already guessed this, keyword research! And the tool we recommend, use and love to the fullest extent is Google Keyword Planner.

Google says, “Keyword Planner is like a workshop for building new Search Network campaigns or expanding existing ones. You can search for keyword and ad group ideas, get historical statistics, see how a list of keywords might perform, and even create a new keyword list by multiplying several lists of keywords together.”

If you’re not sure how to use Keyword Planner hop over to our Advanced Keyword Research webinar with Director of Marketing Operations Paxton Gray. He walks you through each step in gathering the data and provides the template and formulas to organize that data into potential topics and titles while also knowing what kind of engagement you can expect before you get started. That’s a huge win.

#2: Ahrefs

Ahrefs provides a suite of tools and one in particular allows you to pull your competition's best URLs, from product pages to blog posts.

And you may be wondering, why would I want to see my competitors URLs? It’s a good way to examine opportunities and gaps in the marketplace, and engagement (or lack of engagement) is a good indication that you are on the right path with your content ideas and will do wonders for refining topics and titles or removing them from your lineup altogether.

#3: BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is another awesome tool for searching any topic or competitor and gathering the content that performs best across your digital landscape.

If I were to type in Company Culture for example, I’d see a list of websites and their top articles on that topic along with engagement and backlinks. You can filter by date, location and even content type.

Once again, it’s a great resource for gathering and vetting ideas based on data.

#4: SpyFu

We’ve looked at tools that will help you search and gather insights and ideas on topics. Now let’s look at a tool that will do that same thing but on a keyword level. For this we recommend SpyFu will allow you to “Search any domain and see every place [your competition] shows up on Google: every keyword, every organic rank and every ad variation in the last 11 years.

If you’re focused on getting your content to outrank everyone in your space, this is the place to gather your best insights.

#5: Reddit

Reddit, otherwise known as the front page of the internet. Reddit is “a social news aggregation, web content rating and discussion website” and there is a subreddit for every topic out there. Literally every topic [insert crazy topic].

Now there are some rules of engagement, basically, don’t sell or market. Instead, share something you’re working on, ask questions and gain feedback. You’ll get some honest and probably hilarious feedback that will serve your content ideation immediately and immensely. This is a huge tool we use on a daily basis and it’s another free platform so sign up today!

That’s it, the 5 tools to support your content ideation. Until next time!