Whether you write your own blog or are responsible for your company’s website, finding fresh content can sometimes be a challenge. On those days when you just cannot find anything intriguing enough to write about, turning to social media for inspiration can open you up to a treasure trove of ideas to integrate into your site.

An often overlooked resource is the search function on social media websites. Rather than relying on main stream media for writing ideas, sourcing out your own stories via social media search can become a successful way to grow your site.

Not only are you able to stumble upon intriguing ideas that you otherwise might have missed, you are also able to potentially integrate the story idea originators into your own social media network.

To explore the story ideas waiting for you within social search, check out the following options for potential content creation opportunities.

YouTube Search

No matter what your website is about, chances are good that YouTube has a video or two on your topic of choice. Referencing an interesting video in a blog post or website article can have a two-fold effect.

Not only does the YouTube video give you an article idea that you might not otherwise have had, commenting on the video with a link to your article gives you the opportunity to drive viewers to your site.

If you embed the YouTube video player directly within your story, you not only keep readers on your site longer but you also help to reduce your bounce rate.

Connecting with a like-minded YouTube poster not only helps you to build your network, it can also help to establish your online reputation on your subject matter. As social signals become increasingly important in search engine results, being perceived as a go-to resource on your topic can become a valuable feather in your cap.

If by chance you cannot find videos on YouTube that you feel worthy of linking to, this is a perfect opportunity to create your own. YouTube is the second largest search engine, directly behind its parent company Google. Ranking for keywords on YouTube is far less competitive than on Google.

This provides a forward thinking blog owner or website author with a prime opportunity to grow their readership through the use of video. Even simple still images woven together in an interesting way can create a video that is capable of driving an interested viewer to your website article.

Search Facebook for Story Ideas

While many individuals and companies use Facebook for both personal and business uses, the Facebook search box can be an invaluable tool for finding interesting content ideas. In the same way that you can mine YouTube for story ideas, the same theory holds true for Facebook.

If your website is about wine, you can search Facebook for interesting posts about wines and then use those posts as your inspiration for an article. If your blog is about a particular travel destination, searching Facebook for posts regarding your location of choice can provide you with all sorts of intriguing information.

Not only can you find article inspiration, you can also build your network by linking back to your social media muse. By using the Facebook share button, you can post a link to the original article on your own Facebook page and then expand on the shared link by discussing your newly written content.

Chances are good that the person or business that first inspired you to write your article will also link to your new article on their Facebook page. This can bring fresh eyes to your content. Finding what they like, they just might become regular followers of your content.

Tap Twitter and Reddit for Tips

The same course of action that you utilize with Facebook and YouTube can also be used on social media sites like Twitter and Reddit. If you regularly peruse these exploding social media powerhouses, you can stumble upon an incredible array of article ideas. Speaking of which, Stumble Upon is yet another social media site that can be mined for content creation ideas.

Social media sites do not have to be time wasters. They can be the modern day equivalent of a personalized news feed. Simply use the search function on each of these websites to find all sorts of interesting information to write about. You will likely be amazed at the impact that using existing socially shared data can have on the visibility of your writing.

If you factor in niche social sites like Pinterest, Polyvore, and WeHeartIt, the array of story ideas that are just waiting to be written will leave you amazed at the writing opportunities you have been overlooking. There is no need to keep racking your own brain trying to come up with creative content ideas for your website or blog. Thanks to social media search, the ideas are all laid out before you. Chances are good that you will find more story ideas than you could have ever imagined possible.

Tiff

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