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Two ways Google can help you find content ideas

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Searching for something to write about can take almost as long as writing it, but have you tried these two nifty Google tools?

If you write regularly for a client who wants industry-specific content, we have two alternatives to Googling relevant terms again and again. One is time-honoured, while the other is a newer kid on the block.

1. Set up Google alerts

This is a feature that’s been around since 2003, and it’s really easy to do:

– Go to https://www.google.com/alerts
– Type in whatever you want to create an alert about
– Provide a Google email address (you can also select the frequency, region and language of alerts by clicking ‘Show options’)

You should now get breaking news about your chosen subject sent straight to your inbox.

2. Try Google’s Keen

Set up just last year, Keen is kind of a development of Alerts, and has been likened to Pinterest in that it curates content around chosen interests.

If you have a subject you write regularly on, you can create a Keen based on it, and Google will pull together not just blogs and news stories, but videos too, all of which can only provide you with inspiration.

Of course, it doesn’t do any harm to keep searching occasionally, but in the interests of doing more by doing less, Alerts and Keen can certainly lend a hand.