So, you’re a content writer? Congratulations! You’re going to need to do some research before you can start writing about your topic. One of the hard parts of content writing is doing research, and it’s important that you do it right or else your new article will be meh at best.
You have to consider what people might be looking for, what type of language they use to search for content and the like without some in-depth knowledge. You don’t want a bunch of boring articles that are just words on a page without any substance.

The good news is that there are plenty of ways to do research that will be easy as pie and not take up too much time on your end. Here are some of some steps that will help you research your topic that I’ve found most effective.
Before we get started….
let’s talk about brainstorming and how it can help you with your research.
Brainstorming is a way to get new ideas for your research. Brainstorming is something you should do in order to get the title and body of your article written. It can be difficult to come up with good research topics because you have so many options that it can be hard to narrow down your options.
You can brainstorm using basic prompts like, “I want to write about , what should I write about?”, “I want to write about , what should I write about?”, etc. Be careful though as these prompts can sometimes be very vague. For example, if someone’s trying to brainstorm about their trip to the zoo, a prompt like “I want to write about my trip to the zoo, what should I write about?” is very vague. You could be thinking about a topic like “my food” or “the rides”.
Another way to brainstorm your idea is using the Tree of Life concept. This is a great way to brainstorm your topic and research it as well. You start by drawing a tree, then you write down your topic on the top of the tree. Then you start subdividing sections off the sides of the trees by writing in smaller trees. This is a great way to brainstorm because it will help bring out small details that might not have been so apparent before.
Now let’s get into some ideas on how to do research for content writing:
Idea 1: Read about your topic
Read what has already been written about your subject matter. This will give you an idea of what others have already tried to write about the subject, and it will give you a better chance of making something that stands out. You can find a lot of quality writing from other people on the internet.
Idea 2: Use some keyword research tools
Do some keyword research. Figure out what words people are searching for in order to find your kind of content, and make sure that you use those keywords in your writing. Read other similar writings to see what keywords people search for on a regular basis.
Idea 3: Use Google Trends
Use tools like Google Trends to see what is popular or what people are actively searching. This will give you an idea if people are interested in a certain topic or help you find trending topics. This can form a baseline for further discovery.
Idea 4:: Research how people behave online
Do some research to learn about how people behave online. Look up the common mistakes that you can learn from, what types of writing others gravitate toward on sites like YouTube or Google Plus. Learn what types of users they tend to be, so that you can include those in your writing and attract them as readers.
Idea 5: Read other posts on your topic
Do some research about what common topics that you can write about. Read some sample posts and figure out what people want to read about. What are their interests? What sort of things do they tend to blog about? You don’t have to tell people what to think, but in order for them to read your content on the subject, you have to learn as much as possible.
Idea 6: Understand the language of your topic
Do some research on how other people have used language in their writing in the past. What is it that you can do better than they have done? How have you seen other writers make rival posts? Use these tips to your advantage.
Idea 7: Use online forms to search for your topic
Look at some of the online forums relating to the subject that you are writing about. See what people are saying, and use this information to determine how you can create content that’s going to get a lot of attention in the future.
The Wrap
Some will argue that research is the hardest part of content writing and could possibly be a reason why some writers aren’t making enough money online. The thing is that you want to spend your time doing research on topics that aren’t going to bomb because they have been done before or are just boring.
You’re going to want to make sure that you come up with a unique angle or perspective in order to get people’s attention within the first sentence. It will help you out in the long run.
Remember, it’s important to do your research before you write an article in order to be successful, but there are plenty of tools out there that are going to make it a lot easier. This is how you can make sure that your articles stand out and the readers want more.