What if the secret to skyrocketing your website’s traffic and revenue isn’t just what you publish, but how you plan, create, and share it? A well-structured content strategy is the difference between being heard and getting lost in the noise.
This article breaks down the three essential pillars of a dynamic content strategy—topic ideation, content production, and content distribution—and reveals the dead-simple, data-driven techniques top marketers use to generate ideas that actually connect with your audience.
Are you ready to discover proven methods to turn scattered blog posts into a powerful growth engine?
Let’s dive in.
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Three parts to a content strategy
Every content strategy should be divided into three parts: topic ideation, content production and content distribution. Each part should be considered distinct so that you can maximize its individual tasks. However, understanding how each part connects to the whole will make your content strategy much more robust.
Content Ideation
Content ideation is where you develop ideas for what content to create. Here you’ll look at your customers, competitors and other sources for topics and subjects that matter most to your stakeholders. We can’t emphasize enough that understanding your customer will help you go a long way in creating valuable content. The bulk of this article will help you find this type of content.
Content production
During the content production phase, you’ll take your content ideas generated during content ideation and turn them into articles, audio, blog posts, social media posts and videos.
If you’re looking to rank on a search engine with your content, you’ll want to check out the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) before you start creating. This will help you understand what type of content might be best. For example, while researching this article, we found videos in the SERP, which may indicate that we should create a video to complement this piece.
Content distribution
Once you’ve published your content, it’s time to distribute it. Your main goal is to get your content out as far and wide as possible. This means sharing your content with your network, posting on social media, and promoting your content through digital PR or ads.
5 ways to generate content ideas
While plenty of excellent keyword research and content-generating tools exist, the best methods are free and straightforward. So, as Occam’s razor suggests, here are 5 dead-simple ways to generate content ideas for your website.
People Also Asked (PAA)
According to SEOClarity, from February 2024 to January 2025, PAA prevalence increased by 34.7% on mobile and 37.5% on desktop in the U.S. It’s safe to say that this Google feature is here to stay, so let’s see how we can generate ideas from it.
When we search “How to generate content ideas for your website,” partway down the SERP, you will see a PAA box similar to the image. Some great topic ideas are sitting in plain sight.
While you can take these ideas and run, you can also go deeper by clicking into each question. This will expand the number of questions presented to you. Several free tools are available to help you automate the process of expanding and saving the PAA. We like alsoasked.com.
People Also Search
Similar to the PAA box, another SERP feature called People Also Search is found at the bottom of a page.
If you’ve made it to the bottom of page one, it’s likely you haven’t found what you need. Google doesn’t want you to leave, so it presents you with similar searches to help you on your journey. We SEOs can use this to our advantage to better understand our customers’ journeys and create relevant content.
Here’s what it looks like for “How to generate content ideas for your website”
It may be valuable for us to create a free content generator and provide more guidance on creating content for social media.
By the way, we used this exact strategy to triple our e-commerce client’s website traffic and increase their revenue by nearly 30% in one year. The key was discovering the need to create a calculator.
Topic Filters aka Query Refinements (the pills at the top of a SERP)
We’ve covered query refinements in detail previously, so we’ll keep this short. The “pills” you see at the top are suggestions Google makes to help you refine your search. You’ll often see these when your search is ambiguous or it’s hard to understand your intent.
Take this search, for example:
“Pool table” doesn’t provide enough detail or context for Google to understand what I want, but it provides options like “price,” “dimensions,” and “for sale” based on what other people have searched. When you click on one of the pills, your query will be refined to match that topic.
Google is mapping your customer journey for you!
Autosuggest
Autosuggest has been around for a while, which means both Google and users love it. This feature works by trying to predict and suggest searches for you to try as you type a question into the search bar. As you can imagine, it’s ripe for content ideas.
What you want to do is go to Google and type in your primary keyword, but don’t hit enter. Before hitting enter, add a space to the end of the line. This will cause autosuggest to appear.
Here’s what it looks like.
You can game this further by adding a letter or number after the space. This will give you a refined list of suggestions.
Related Questions in ChatGPT or Perplexity
We can’t leave an article about modern SEO without discussing answer engines like SearchGPT and Perplexity. The newest source for content ideas is from your favourite LLM. Whether you like ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity, this concept works in all flavours of LLMs.
There are two ways to gather content ideas. The first is similar to autosuggest.
Go to your preferred LLM and start typing in a query. You see the tool start to suggest ideas for you to search. Here’s what it looks like in Perplexity. Like Google, it’s even catching my spelling errors.
Once you start a conversation, at the bottom of the answer, you’ll see additional related questions you can ask. These are concepts that the LLM thinks are relevant to your original question and have likely been asked as follow-up questions by other users. It makes good sense to cover these ideas in your content. Here’s a look at the related questions for the search “what is the best insulation for an attic” I did in Perplexity.
Content strategy FAQs
How do you measure the success of a content strategy?
Measure the success of a content strategy by tracking key performance indicators such as organic traffic, conversion rate, bounce rate, and engagement metrics like time on page and social shares. Use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to evaluate performance and adjust based on measurable outcomes.
What role does competitor analysis play in content strategy?
Competitor analysis strengthens content strategy by identifying gaps, benchmarking performance, and uncovering successful tactics. It helps you understand what topics rank, which keywords drive traffic, and how to differentiate your content. This data-driven insight enables more targeted, effective, and competitive content creation.
How often should you update your content strategy?
Update your content strategy every 3–6 months to align with algorithm changes, audience behaviour, and business goals. Regular updates help maintain relevance, improve SEO performance, and address gaps in existing content. Monitor analytics monthly to identify trends that may trigger earlier adjustments.
What are the best ways to repurpose existing content for different channels?
Repurpose existing content by converting blog posts into videos, turning webinars into social media clips, or transforming data into infographics. Tailor each format to fit the target platform’s style and audience. This increases content lifespan, boosts reach, and maximizes return on original effort.
How can customer feedback inform your content ideation process?
Customer feedback informs content ideation by revealing pain points, questions, and interests directly from your audience. Use surveys, reviews, and support tickets to identify common themes. These insights help you create relevant, high-demand topics that improve engagement and align with user needs.
Final words on generating topic ideas
Mastering content strategy isn’t about chasing every trend—it’s about understanding your audience, leveraging the right tools, and executing each step purposefully. By applying these straightforward methods for content ideation, you can transform your website into a magnet for traffic and engagement.
If you’re ready to take your content to the next level and want expert guidance tailored to your business, reach out to an experienced SEO consultant today. Let’s turn your content into measurable results and sustainable growth.