It can be difficult to keep a steady stream of fresh ideas flowing for your blog or website, but it is absolutely vital to your success. It is always easy to tell when people are reaching for content and have not prepared for the scarcity ahead. Content needs to be gripping and as engaging as possible from beginning to end. Studies show that over two-thirds of consumers judge a company by the content on their website.

There are several ways to prepare for the times when you seem to run out of fresh ideas to help you create new content. The ones that work best for you will depend largely on the niche that you are in and the type of site you have. For instance, a folder full of stock Pinterest pictures will not be much help if you are in the men’s multivitamin niche. So, without further ado, here are several ideas to help keep you stocked full of fresh content even when you can’t seem to think of a single thing.

Keep A File

The first and most important step to take is to keep an organized file of content ideas. They can hit you at any time so when they do, write them down. You may be at home with your spouse, at lunch with a colleague or in a meeting. Use whatever system seems to work best for you. It may be an Excel file, manila folders, several different shoe boxes or files on your desktop. When you get legitimate content ideas from any source, save them for future use.

Ask

There is nothing wrong with asking for ideas if you need to. You can ask friends, colleagues and even family if necessary. When people throw decent ideas out there, use them. If they can’t be used right away for some reason, then save them for future use.

Listen

Log onto social media accounts and engage in a little social listening. See what people are talking about. What is happening that seems important to your audience? See what your competition is up to because they are probably checking on you. See what is trending in your industry and spin an idea off that. Content is everywhere if you look for it.

Repurpose Old Posts

Repurposing old posts involves more than just spinning them. Look at the history of your metrics first to see which posts performed the best. Perhaps take the top five and put them in descending order. Or catalog them by which post got the most shares, likes, views, etcetera, then decide which one to possibly repurpose.

Catalog Trending Social Media Posts

See which social media posts are getting the most buzz and group them together for an outrageous content idea. Of course, you’ll have to get a little creative but that’s the fun part. Use whichever social media platform your audience uses and do a reverse catalog. Instead of breaking apart content to come up with short snippets to use for social media posts, put content together.

Catalog Industry Infographics

Infographics are popular right now. People are intelligent, and they love to be informed. Whenever you come across a great infographic that is relevant to your industry, use it or file it for later. Collect statistics on a regular basis and when you have free time, use them to create your own custom infographics. Infographics that are customized specifically to your niche are the best kind and your audience will love them. You can create an entire post around a good infographic.

These are some of the simplest and most common ideas. Content can come from anywhere. The point is to try and get organized and prepare for the times when content may be scarce. If you do, you can avoid all the pulling your hair out trying to come up with something.