How to Use Data Analytics in Content Ideation

The SECRET to Coming up with ENDLESS Content Ideas - How Analytics Holds the KEY 

Coming up with fresh content ideas daily can feel impossible. You rack your brain but nothing seems interesting. You feel stuck in a rut, uninspired, and worried your audience is losing interest.

But what if I told you there was a tool that could give you endless content ideas? Analytics can analyze your audience and tell you EXACTLY what they want to see.

Analytics may not sound sexy, but it could unlock never-ending content if used properly. This article reveals how top brands use analytics to generate viral hits.

By the end, you'll know the ONE thing to do to access proven audience-pleasing topics. Never struggle for ideas again!

Ready to uncover the secret? Let's begin!

The Problem with "Going with Your Gut"

For a long time, many content creators relied solely on their own instincts when coming up with new topics. They thought things like "this interests me, so it must interest my audience too!" But we all know how well that usually works out...

Spoiler alert: not great! Your interests don't always align with what your specific audience truly wants.

It's like trying to build a house without blueprints - you may end up with four walls and a roof, but it likely won't be structured or appealing in the way you intended. You run the risk of wasting time and resources on things that don't resonate.

The same is true for content. You can put hours of effort into a topic that flops because it didn't actually meet any real needs or interests for your readers.

That's why you need to start looking beyond your own intuition and opinions when ideating. You need to turn to the one source that knows your audience better than anyone - your analytics!

The Power of Analytics for Ideation

If you've ever looked at your analytics, you know they reveal a wealth of insights about your audience. Things like: 

  • Demographics - Who are they in terms of age, gender, location etc. This shapes the types of topics and framing that will appeal most.
  • Engagement signals - What content and topics inspire them to like, comment and share the most? These are proven audience pleasers.
  • Search patterns - What keywords and questions are they using to find your content? These uncover hidden interests and information needs.
  • Behavioral data - How do people interact with and flow through your site and content? This shows cognitive and emotional responses.
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The Secret Ideation Process Fueled by Analytics

Now that you know WHY analytics is crucial for ideation, the next step is understanding HOW to leverage it properly. Here is the step-by-step secret process for turning your data into a never-ending stream of great content ideas:

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1. Audit Your Analytics

Regularly review your analytics dashboard to stay on top of any changes in your audience or traffic patterns. Pay close attention to metrics like:

- Top performing posts/pages
- Popular topics/keywords
- Demographic trends
- Behavioral data on site usage
- Shares, comments and other engagement signals

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2. Identify Interest Pillars

Look for common threads or "interest pillars" across your highest performing content and audience data. These interest pillars will represent topics that have proven to strongly resonate with your target audience time and time again.

To identify these topics, you'll want to analyze the content that consistently generates the best engagement metrics, like views, shares, comments and time spent. Look for overarching themes that tie together these top performing pieces of content.


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3. Brainstorm Extension Ideas

Once you've identified the core interest pillars that consistently resonate with your audience, take the time to brainstorm thoughtful expansions within each area.

Thoroughly exploring related subtopics, angles, formats and information needs will allow you to tap into audience interests at a deeper level and create an extensive web of highly relevant content.

You'll also want to format content in varied styles, from quick tips to in-depth guides.

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4. Prioritize Opportunities

Now that you've extensively brainstormed potential extensions within each established interest pillar, it's time to carefully evaluate these ideas.

Start narrowing the wide-ranging lists down to the most high-potential concepts. Circle those subtopics, problem-solving angles or information formats that seem uniquely positioned to satisfy real interests or needs your users have directly communicated. While maintaining diverse appeal, focus first on refinements most clearly aligned with proven popular topics.

A/B testing

5. Create A/B Test Content

Now develop test versions of your most promising content ideas in order to evaluate what resonates strongest with your audience. For each prioritized concept within the top interest pillars, craft drafts in a variety of formats. This could include blog articles, social media posts, email newsletters, infographics, how-to videos and more. Make sure to represent a diversity of lengths, tones and styles.

Once you have drafts completed, systematically A/B test content pairs across channels to gather comparison data. For instance, rotate two versions of an article between visitors on your website.

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6. Analyze and Refine

Take each variant you A/B tested and analyze the metrics side by side to identify any notable outperformers. Look for variations that significantly exceeded counterparts in key indicators like time spent, completion rates or shares. These proven wins provide valuable insight into improvements that truly resonated with your audience.

If a particular article angle or tone haa much higher engagement, prioritize developing new content embracing that successful approach.

Continuously test these revised and new creations to gather further comparison data. As your testing cadence continues, performance benchmarks will progressively elevate as you zero in on the precise combinations that satisfy audience needs and desires.

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How to Get Started With Google Analytics

I know you're struggling to come up with fresh blog post ideas non-stop. It feels IMPOSSIBLE to keep churning out engaging topics, right?

Well before I reveal the magic solution, I have one BIG question...

Have you set up Google Analytics for your site yet?!

I know, I know - it sounds like a chore. But hear me out because Analytics holds the key to unlocking a stream of your readers' favorite topics.

It's a FREE tool that tracks every move visitors make on your pages. Analytics collects all their deepest interests, struggles and what topics will engage them.

Here's the STEP-BY-STEP process to get it going:

01.

Create a Google Analytics account. Or, sign in to your current account.

02.

Add the name, URL, and industry of the website you want to track.

03.

Add a Data Stream to your property.

04.

Add your tracking code directly after the head tag of your site. 

05.

Visit your GA portal and verify the code is working.

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Once it's set up, follow these steps to use Google Analytics in content ideation:

01.

Go to Engagement > Pages. Take a look at the most visited pages from the past month.

02.

Look for common themes in these popular posts. For example, you may notice the popular posts are all how-to guides, listicles, or articles on a specific topic. Identify the themes, formats, types of content, subjects, or categories that your readers have engaged with the most.

03.

Think of related ideas you could write about. For each popular page, come up with 2-3 new angles to try. For example, if a post on "10 Ways to Increase Productivity" ranks highly, you could write new posts on "5 Tools to Improve Your Productivity", "A Week of Productivity Hacks" or "The Best Productivity Tips from Successful Entrepreneurs".

04.

Make an outline and write your new article. Publish it and check back in Analytics later to see how this new piece of content performs compared to your other recent posts.

05.

Analyze how your new article impacts your website traffic and engagement. Look at what's working and not working to constantly improve your content creation process. Use the lessons you learn to optimize future articles. Rinse and repeat!

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In Conclusion - Analytics is Your New BFF for Ideation

I hope I've convinced you that relying solely on gut feelings is a risky way to ideate in the modern content landscape. Audiences are complex, and their true interests can differ from your assumptions.

Luckily, analytics gives you a window into the specific motivations and desires of your actual community. It's the one source of audience truth that can guide you to proven winners time after time.

By making analytics a regular part of your ideation process, you'll gain access to an exponential growth of engaging topics tailored perfectly for your readers. You'll never find yourself creatively stuck again!

The secret is out - so start leveraging this powerful tool to its fullest. With analytics as your BFF, the ideas will keep flowing endlessly and your content success will skyrocket. You've got all the material you need to thrive, so what are you waiting for?

Get analyzing and get ideating! I can't wait to see what amazing content you come up with. Let me know if you have any other questions - I'm always here to help unlock your analytics superpowers. Now go and ideate to your heart's content!

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