Using trending topics for SEO content

Trending topics can be used as part of your SEO strategy to create content that will capture the attention and interest of your audience. But what are trending topics? And what should you consider when using trending topics for SEO content?

What are trending topics?

Trending topics are popular subjects that become a key talking point online. These will be highly popular, with a lot of search traffic, but only for a certain period of time. For companies and businesses, it can be challenging to make use of trending topics as these are not often actually relevant to your business or industry area. However, when the topic is relevant, it can be very important to maximise this opportunity quickly, before the trends change.

Trending topics often emerge from online sources like social media platforms, news outlets, and even pop culture events. These often reflect the collective interest of a large audience in real-time, and as such, these can vary widely from breaking news and global events to technological advancements. This also means that the trends change quickly.

How to identify trending topics

So how can you identify trending topics to be able to use these effectively? Well, there are a number of different tools you can use, including:

Google trends- This is a valuable tool that allows you to see what’s currently popular in Google searches. You can filter trends by location and category, making it particularly useful for targeting specific demographics or regions across the UK.

Social media platforms- All social media platforms have a trending or popular section that show what people are talking about and which topics are relevant at the time. This can help you determine what your key audience are looking for and talking about, and if this is relevant to your industry, you can utilise the topic as part of your SEO content.

News websites and aggregators- Platforms like BBC, The Guardian, and news aggregators like Google News or Flipboard can help you stay updated with the latest news and popular topics.

Industry blogs and forums- Regularly monitoring industry specific blogs and forums can be very beneficial, usually more so than general news topics, as this will provide insights into emerging trends within your niche.

SEO tools- Another way to find industry specific trends, instead of general trends, is to use SEO tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and BuzzSumo. These can all help identify trending keywords and topics within your industry, offering data driven insights for improved results.

What are the benefits of using trending topics for SEO content?

So why should you go to the effort of identifying these trending topics and creating SEO content specifically for them? Well, this can actually bring a number of benefits for your business online, including:

Increasing visibility and traffic- One of the main benefits of using trending topics for SEO content is that this can boost traffic to your website, and raise the profile of your company or business. This is because content that is based on trending topics is more likely to be searched for by users, and your content can land on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). As a result, by creating specific content based around these trends, you can attract more organic traffic to your website.

Improving engagement- Another big advantage that shouldn’t be overlooked is that this type of content can improve engagement. This is because of the increase in traffic, which means that more people overall will see your content. Not only will they see your content, they are also more likely to interact with this, sharing or making comments, which boosts user engagement and helps to improve the profile of your website even further.

Boosting rankings- When creating SEO content based on trending topics, you can improve your chances of your website ranking higher on SERPs. This is because search engines like Google prioritise fresh, relevant content.

Establishing authority- Finally, regularly producing content on trending topics can position your brand as a thought leader in your industry, enhancing your credibility and authority. This is something every online business should be aiming to achieve, as it means that your future content will be more likely to rank highly.

Trending topics and the user experience

Using trends to create original content

Once any trending topics that are relevant to your company or business have been identified, the next step is to create original, high quality content based around these trends. To do this, there are a number of important factors that will need to be taken into account. These include:

Aligning trends with audience’s interests- One of the most essential factors to consider is that the trending content needs to align with the interests of your audience. It’s likely that most of the trends will not be relevant to your audience, or to your industry, so it’s essential to choose trends that are appropriate for your business, and your audience, to get the most value from your new content.

For example, for businesses in the hospitality industry, trending seasonal content related to vacations and leisure activities can be more beneficial than trends related to current news events. For technology based companies, digital innovation trends are more appropriate.

Adding value- It’s important that once you have chosen a relevant and useful topic that you ensure the content you create will actually add value. Simply echoing what others are saying about a trend won’t be enough to make your content stand out, and could actually lead to your audience being disappointed. To avoid this, it’s important to provide unique insights, in depth analysis, or a new perspective on the topic, to not only add value to the conversation, but also to ensure that your new content adds value to your website overall.

Creating various content types- One of the important factors that shouldn’t be overlooked is the type of content you should create.

Different formats can help you reach a wider audience, and deliver your content in a different type of way. Blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, and social media posts can all be used to discuss trending topics, and to boost the profile of your website with different areas of your audience. By diversifying your content types in this way, you can also keep your audience engaged, and attract different segments of your target market.

Utilising SEO best practices- Another important factor to take into account is the actual SEO practices used. As with any piece of content for your website, it’s essential that this is optimised for relevant keywords, uses the correct title tags and headers, and is otherwise completely optimised for performance. This includes both on and off page optimisation practices.

Being timely- One essential consideration for trending content is the speed at which this moves on. What is trending can quickly change on a day to day basis and it’s essential that your content is live when this trend is still relevant and being searched for, otherwise you will miss out on the momentum.

Monitoring and adapting- Finally, you should be sure to continuously monitor the performance of your content. To do this, you can make use of analytics tools to track metrics like traffic, engagement, and conversions. You should be prepared to adapt your strategy based on what’s working and what’s not.

What are the challenges and considerations when using trending topics?

When using trending topics to help determine your content, there are a number of considerations and challenges you might encounter. These include:

Rapidly changing- Trends are short-lived by nature, which means that it is crucial to act quickly. If you delay your contents you will likely miss the momentum, but it’s also important that your content is not rushed, and upholds excellent quality standards.

Relevance- Most trends will not be suitable for your brand or audience. Choosing irrelevant trends can lead to disengagement, so it’s important to choose only trends that will make sense to your audience and your industry area.

Competition- Trending topics attract a lot of content creators, leading to a high level of competition. It’s essential to create quality content that adds value to the discussions, if your company is to stand out.

For more information or advice about SEO content creation, overall SEO strategies, and website improvements, we are the team you can count on here at Pumpkin Web Design. In fact, we are Preston’s leading web design and web marketing experts. Why not get in touch today?