Choosing a topic for your next blog post

As entrepreneurs, we can find ourselves somewhere between each extreme when it comes to choosing a topic for our next blog/vlog post, podcast episode, or infographic. Either we have NO IDEA what topics to blog about. Blank slate. Writer’s block. Or we have NO IDEA which one of our gazillion ideas we should choose first.

If you’re in the first camp and need topic ideas for your health and wellness blog, then let me give you dozens here: 60 health and wellness blog ideas.

And once you have a few (or a gazillion) ideas, how do you choose which one to create first?

Before I share my strategy for choosing a topic for your next blog post, let’s first confirm that your blog/vlog/podcast/infographic topics are all related to your niche and help your ideal clients to get to know, like, and trust you. You don’t want to be choosing totally random topics that only vaguely align with your health practice.

OK? Great!

Read on to learn the strategy I use to plan out 12 weeks of posts at a time. If you need a spreadsheet to map this out, go ahead and make a yourself a copy of my free editorial calendar here. Then, add in your 12 next publication dates (weekly? biweekly?), and fill in the topics based on the priorities I’m sharing below.

(If you’re wondering about the image above, that’s an inukshuk. It’s purposefully balanced stones that were used to help the Inuit people in Canada’s north navigate through the tundra. They help give people direction, so that’s why I chose it for this post to help give you direction on choosing the topic for your next piece of content.)

Priority #1 – Your current promotions

The first thing to think about is: what are you currently promoting?

• Are you trying to grow your email subscriber list with a certain opt-in?
• Do you have a product, program, or service that you’re currently booking?
• Are you running a contest or survey right now?

If so, that’s what your next blog post topic should be about.

NOTE: You don’t need to turn your blog post into a sales page, just provide some great content that will help your readers with the problem your current promotion solves. Don’t forget to include a link to your sales page.

If you’re not currently promoting anything, then pop over to priority #2.

Priority #1 ideas and examples

• Share a case study or client success story related to your current promotion.
• Talk about the benefits of your current offer—how does it help your clients and customers?
• What do potential clients need to know about how to best work with you?
• What kinds of things need to be in place before people see success with your current promotion? Do they need to have a few fridge/pantry/kitchen essentials? Do they need a piece of exercise equipment? Is there a mindset or level of commitment they need first? Here’s an example where I talk about the things that need to be in place to create your blog strategy. You can create a post like that for your offer.

Priority #2 – The latest hot, hot topic

If something is going down in the media and social media in your niche—weigh in with your angle while the topic is HOT.

If there isn’t a hot topic happening now, then try priority #3.

Priority #2 ideas and examples

• If you’re seeing a lot of online chatter in your area of expertise, your audience probably wants to hear your thoughts. Be sure to give it to them as I did here with eco-eating and sustainable food, this one on misinformation, or this roundup of credible information about the novel coronavirus.
• If you want to do a bit of research on your hot topic before jumping into the conversation, check out these reliable resources for health research.

Priority #3 – Special dates

Is there a special date coming up that speaks to you, your niche, and/or your ideal clients? If so, then choose a blog post topic to correspond with that date.

If you don’t have any special dates coming right up, then try priority #4.

Priority #3 ideas and examples

• Is your birthday or biz anniversary coming up soon? Talk about that (and even hint at a special gift if you have one).
• What should your audience do to prepare for the upcoming holiday?
• What health- or food-awareness date is going to be buzzing in your niche soon? For example, Heart or IBS Awareness Month, Hot/Iced Tea Month, International Self-Care Day, or National Almond Day? Not sure? Want a resource with over 400 health- and food-awareness dates listed along with the organization/location, link, and even some hashtags? You can buy my Health- and Food-Awareness Dates Calendar for inspiration. I’m committed to continually updating this to ensure it’s THE most comprehensive resource in the industry. 🙂

Priority #4 – Promotions in the near future

If you’re launching something or going all in to promote it in the next few weeks, it’s probably time to start creating content around that.

If you don’t have any promotions planned in the near future, pop over to priority #5.

Priority #4 ideas and examples

• Make sure to have a call-to-action somewhere in your blog post so readers can stay tuned to see what you’re launching soon. One of my fav ideas is an be an email opt-in to get onto your waiting list for the launch.
• And, similarly to priority #1…
• Share a case study or client success story related to your upcoming promotion.
• Talk about the benefits of your upcoming offer— how does it help your clients and customers?
• What do potential clients need to know about how to best work with you? Talk about that.
• What kinds of things need to be in place before people see success with your upcoming promotion?

Priority #5 – Strategic keywords

If you’ve done a strategic keyword report in your niche, and have a list of keywords you want to target, start creating blog posts on each one.

No strategic keyword research report? Then try priority #6.

Priority #5 ideas and examples

• Take the best keyword from your list (highest monthly searches and lowest competition) and create an epic post for it.
• Remember to optimize your post by including your keyword a few times to be sure that search engines like Google know exactly what your post is about (i.e., what keyword you’re targeting).

Priority #6 – Help your audience

Be helpful. Be educational. Give value.

While this is priority #6 for your very next post, it should actually be woven into most of your blog posts. Some would give it the 80/20 rule where you’re giving value 80% of the time, and promoting just 20% of the time.

If you have no ideas now on what topic would really help your audience and none of the previous priorities apply, try moving on to priority #7.

Priority #6 ideas and examples

• Do your audience and clients ask you a few key questions? Answer those.
• Do they want tips or a tutorial on how to do something? Create that.
• What advice would serve them most: Your routine? Grocery list? Recipes? Share those.
• What does your audience need to know about: How to upgrade their habits? Why they should start (or stop) with a certain food/drink? The little known (but proven) benefits of a certain diet, supplement, or exercise?

Priority #7 – What inspires you right now

Personally, I would (almost) always prioritize strategy over inspiration, but I definitely make exceptions.

(Referring to the image above, am I the only one inspired by the resilience of trees? Some of them grow out of cracks in rocks, on slopes, or in minimal soil. I think they’re amazing. I took this pic in Niagara Falls in the summer of 2021.)

Priority #7 ideas and examples

• Is there something you just have to get off your chest? Write it up (or record it). For example, I keep seeing health pros trying to *start* their online businesses by creating low-cost scalable content (like products or group programs) and nobody’s told them the immense value of starting off with a high-cost one-on-one model first. So, I creating this video on how to deliver and price health programs for them.
• Another example is from a couple of years ago when I got pretty frustrated and HAD to interrupt my “regularly scheduled programming” to respond to being inundated with emails. These emails were from random strangers on the internet asking me for a backlink or feedback on their post. And, I started getting asked by fellow wellness professionals what they should do about this frustrating phenomenon because they weren’t sure what to do. I was inspired to create a video response to this poor quality outreach.
• Are you doing some cool “behind the scenes” stuff? Share it.
• Have you won an award or will you be featured on another blog, vlog or podcast? Talk about that.
• Did you come across an awesome article or recipe (or two) this week? Share those.
• Want to share something more personal—about your education, a recent insight, or even a guilty pleasure? Go for it.
• Do you have a blog post that’s over 12 months old and can be updated or repurposed? Why not do that?

Still stuck on choosing a topic for your next health blog post?

I’ve created a few things that can help you.

Here’s that health blog editorial calendar you can make yourself a copy of and download for free—no email required!

Second, here is the very comprehensive list of health and wellness blog ideas if you’re stuck on finding ideas what topics to create content about.

Third, here is the link to that health- and food-awareness dates calendar with over 400 entries on special days, weeks, and months that touch virtually every health niche there could possibly be.

Fourth, if you have NO TIME to create content from scratch, you can purchase a niche-specific, researched, pre-written done-for-you health article and customize it for your brand, voice, and audience. If that’s not your jam, there are two other sources of content you can use (here’s the full list of all four: create yourself, invite guests, hire a writer, customize DFY articles).

Have you now chosen a topic for your next health blog post?

If so, YAY YOU!

If not, then maybe it’s time to create a plan so you don’t need to scramble on choosing topics for your next few months of blog posts!

What do you need?

First, document your content marketing goals.

Second, fill out your copy of my health blog editorial calendar using these seven priorities. I generally don’t go more than 3-4 months out as stuff can change.

Third, have fun creating your newest piece of content (blog post, video, podcast episode, infographic) that will market your business. Feel free to link it in the comments below, telling us which strategy/priority you used to choose it!

Conclusion

The content that you regularly create and publish is the main way to build your “know, like, and trust” factor with your audience. By strategically choosing topics and calls-to-action, your content will market your health practice.

Signing off and toasting: To strategically choosing topics for your next great piece of content.

Over to you

What do you think? Do you have exactly zero blog topic ideas or a gazillion? How do you choose which to post next? Do you have any strategic ideas to add?

I’d love to know (in the comments below)!

Don’t want to DIY this strategic plan?

Let me help you plan out your next 12 blog posts. And as a BONUS, I’ll give you a bunch of niche-specific, researched, pre-written done-for-you health articles, so you don’t even have to create them all from scratch! Together we can plan and document your content strategy and editorial calendar in advance, so you know what topic you’re going to post about Every. Single. Time!

Originally published Feb 2018. Updated with even more awesomeness Mar 2019 and Aug 2021.