11 Best Blog Topic Research Tools (Free and Paid) + Tutorial

Are you spending too much time searching for blog topic ideas?

Great blog topics are essential for success, but finding the right ideas can be challenging without the proper tools.

In this post, I’ll introduce you to the best blog topic research tools, both free and paid, based on over a decade of blogging experience.

Let’s go!

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1. Semrush (Paid)

Topic research with Semrush is an absolute pleasure since it provided me with tons of great content ideas over the years. The topics are also incredibly diverse, ranging from question-based ideas to eye-catching comparison titles. 

Let me show you how I use it.

To follow along, start by creating your free 14-day trial account if you haven’t already.

Log in to your account, select ‘Content Marketing,’ and click ‘Topic Research.’ 

Enter a broad topic or keyword that’s relevant to the content you’re trying to create. For example, if you want to produce content about fishing, enter “fishing tips” or something similar.  

Choose your target country and click ‘Get content ideas’ to complete this step.

Within seconds, Semrush will generate dozens of potential topic ideas based on your initial query. Each idea is sorted into cards, which contain the topic’s online traffic potential and headline templates you can use. 

If a particular topic catches your attention, click ‘Show more’ to reveal more useful insights. This includes additional headline ideas, the topic’s “keyword difficulty” rating, along with related questions and searches that will help readers understand your topic.

Want to get more topic ideas out of Semrush?

You can use the “Mind Map” view of the Topic Research tool to quickly discover interesting subtopics. This includes question-based topics and potential title ideas you can customize. 

To obtain topic ideas from competitors, Semrush lets you analyze their blogs for their most popular content. For this, go to ‘Organic Research’ from the main menu and enter your competitor’s domain. 

In the organic research report, you can check your competitor’s top pages and long-tail keywords. Both sections are great for discovering in-demand blog topic ideas.

Not sure how to turn long-tail keywords into blog topics? 

Here’s what I usually do. 

Let’s say I want to target the keyword “trout fishing tips.” I simply combine it with popular blog post title formats, like: 

Semrush is many things, but it’s not cheap (its entry-level plan costs $129.95 per month). The good news is, being a Master Blogging reader, you can use Semrush free for 14 days.

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2.  Mangools (Paid)

Mangools wins as my second favorite topic research tool. It offers three tools that can help you find great blog topics: SERPChecker, SiteProfiler, and KWFinder.

Looking for great topics that get high rankings?

SERPChecker by Mangools is a SERP analysis tool that evaluates popular content on Google.

To use it, log in to your Mangools account and select ‘SERPChecker’ from the main menu. 

Just enter a relevant search query, hit ‘Analyze SERP,’ and wait for SERPChecker to pull in the top-ranking results. 

In addition to popular content, SERPChecker also scrapes useful information to help you prioritize the hottest topics from the best websites, like Domain Authority (DA), total number of backlinks, featured snippets, and more. 

You can also get content topic ideas straight from competitors through SiteProfiler. This is the Mangools version of Semrush’s Organic Research tool, which can scan your competitor’s website for top-performing content ideas.

From your Mangools dashboard, click ‘SiteProfiler’ from the main menu and enter your competitor’s domain URL. 

Scroll down to the ‘Top content’ section to find your competitor’s best posts. 

Feel free to use these topics for your own blog or combine them with original ideas to create something better. 

Lastly, you may use KWFinder to obtain long-tail keyword ideas, which you can easily convert into blog post topics. Just head to ‘KWFinder’ from the main menu, enter a keyword or broad topic, and click ‘Find keywords.’ 

Within seconds, you’ll find dozens of long-tail keyword ideas you can use to create blog post topics. 

Just like Semrush, Mangools is a premium tool that requires a monthly subscription. 

Luckily, you can save almost $10 per month on a basic subscription using my 20% Mangools discount code.

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3. LowFruits.io (Paid)

Find blog topic ideas that are easy to rank using LowFruits — a keyword research tool specifically built to find easy-to-target keywords.

I used this tool to elevate the rankings of my own posts on Google’s second page, which were eventually bumped to the first page and now generate a steady stream of organic traffic.

To use LowFruits for topic research, log in to your account and head to the ‘KWFinder’ from the main dashboard. 

Enter a “seed keyword,” which is any phrase or word relevant to the topic you want to research, and click ‘Find keywords.’ 

Once the initial research is complete, click the ‘Access’ button to reveal potential topic ideas around your seed keyword.

LowFruits starts you off with a list of topic ideas that can be baked straight into your headlines. For example, the seed keyword “fishing tips” will get you the following: 

LowFruits also helps evaluate the popularity of topics by tracking important metrics, such as their estimated monthly search volume, average word count, and Cost Per Click (CPC). The analysis also explores the topic’s “weak spots” or topics that are easy to dominate in search engine results. 

To run a topic analysis, select the check boxes of the topics you want and click the ‘SERP Extract and Analyze’ button in the bottom toolbar. 

Content topics are automatically sorted by LowFruits based on the number of “weak spots” in search engine results. These pertain to content with low-medium DA, forum threads, or social media posts — all of which don’t prioritize SEO. 

In other words, these are topics where you can easily outrank your competitors. Prioritize these topics and create content with SEO in mind to gain rankings.  

To find other low-competition topics, you can filter out topics that websites with a low DA rank for. Just click ‘DA < 10’ or ‘DA <20’ in the filters toolbar. 

To find topics that align with your target audience’s objectives (make a purchase, compare products, etc.), use the search intent filter. Choose between high-intent, pre-purchase, post-purchase, and comparison to find the right topics for your goal.

For even more topics, expand on your current topic and find subtopics by checking the ‘Suggestions’ and ‘Questions’ tabs. 

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4. Surfer (Paid)

Surfer lets you combine topic research and content optimization into a single, seamless workflow. I’m particularly impressed with its powerful AI writing assistant, which is capable of instantly generating ideas for content sections, headings, and keywords for content.

To find topics with Surfer, go to ‘Keyword Research’ from the main menu. 

Enter a seed keyword and click ‘Create Keyword Research’ to generate relevant topic clusters (groups of posts about subtopics linked to a “pillar page,” which is about the main topic).

Let’s say your seed keyword is “WordAI.” Here are some of the topic ideas you can obtain from Surfer.

As an added bonus, Surfer also includes useful metrics like the topic’s monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and audience intent. These metrics will help you handpick topics that have the most traffic potential. 

My favorite Surfer feature is the “Content Editor,” which is accessible directly from Google Docs via a browser add-on. This lets you access most of its useful features for content creation, including suggested keywords, heading ideas, and the AI writing assistant. 

Surfer also lets you find topics that perform well in SEO through “SERP Analyzer.” This will help you find more topics based on common phrases, questions, and — of course — the Google search results.

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5. Reddit (Free)

Reddit is a goldmine of community-driven topic ideas. My approach is to use specific search operators on Google. 

First, look for a subreddit related to your niche. Simply use the search bar, enter your main topic, and look for communities from the suggestions.

Once you find a relevant subreddit, copy its URL. 

On Google use the “site:” search operator, paste the subreddit’s URL, and enter keywords to quickly find topic ideas. 

For example, use the search query below to find topic ideas from the “r/Fishing” subreddit:

Find various topic ideas by experimenting with different keywords. Don’t forget to visit the actual Reddit post to gain insights on the kind of information readers want to see. 

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6. AnswerThePublic (Free)

AnswerThePublic is a unique topic research tool that focuses on finding question-based content ideas. 

All I have to do is launch AnswerThePublic, enter 1-2 words, pick a target country, set a language, and click ‘Search.’ 

AnswerThePublic extracts all the relevant questions asked by users around the specified topic. You can then easily convert these questions into articles that provide the answers. 

By default, AnswerThePublic suggestions appear using mind map visualizations. If I want to know more about the topic, I simply click a question to load the search results and take inspiration from the top pages. 

For example, if I click “how to get better at fishing,” Google will take me straight to these results:

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7. AlsoAsked (Free)

AlsoAsked is a good alternative to AnswerThePublic for topic research. It scans Google for “People Also Ask” questions and compiles them into a single list—making it easier to choose relevant blog topics. 

You can go deeper by clicking the ‘Plus’ icon next to any question. For example, let’s click the ‘Plus’ button next to “How do you catch big fish?”

This prompts AlsoAsked to collect more related questions, which you can use as topics for your blog. 

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8. Twitter (Free)

To find trending topic ideas, I occasionally tap into the latest discussions on Twitter — now rebranded as “X.”

After creating an account, run a search using a keyword or hashtag to start looking for topic ideas. Scroll down the results to find popular topics or switch to the ‘Latest’ tab to find trends you can cover in your blog. 

Twitter is perfect for finding newsworthy topics that can capture your target audience’s attention. But if you’re looking for more “evergreen” topics, consider attaching informational keywords like “tutorial,” “tips,” or “guide” to your search query. 

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9. Quora (Free)

For question-based topic ideas, one of the best places to scan would be Quora. Its advanced search feature automatically pulls up topic and question recommendations while you type.

To identify popular topics on Quora, look for posts with more “upvotes” than other results. 

It also helps to inspect posts with a high number of comments to discover ideas, tools, resources, and valuable insights from the community. 

Also Read: How To Get Traffic To Your Blog From Quora?

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10. Search Response (Free)

Search Response features a collection of tools built for topic research and SEO content planning. 

Let me ask you a question, have you seen “People Also Ask” and “People Also Searched For” sections in Google search results?

I’m talking about these:

These are the topic ideas that Search Response extracts.

Just pick the right tool from Search Response’s homepage. For example, if you want to obtain topics from “People Also Ask” suggestions, click ‘Go To PAA Tool.’

From there, just enter a seed keyword like “fishing tips” and click the magnifying glass icon. 

Search Response will provide you with a list of questions you can use as blog topics.

To help you choose topics, Search Response includes useful metrics like monthly search volume, CPC, and search volume trend. 

To analyze topic ideas in bulk, Search Response lets you export results as CSV files. Or, just click on the column headers to quickly sort topics based on a specific metric. 

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11. QuestionDB (Free)

QuestionDB is another topic research tool that focuses on questions that internet users ask. I have recently discovered this tool, but I’m already impressed by its ability to generate tons of topic ideas and simple, clutter-free interface. 

To conduct topic research with QuestionDB, enter a seed keyword or phrase and click ‘Generate.’ 

You should get enough questions to fuel your content ideation process for weeks. 

Although QuestionDB works fast and provides a ton of topic ideas, you need the paid version to unlock the search volume and difficulty metrics. These pieces of data are crucial for determining the best topics to cover for getting more traffic or attaining higher search engine rankings

As a workaround, I use it alongside a standalone keyword research tool like Ubersuggest or Keyword Magic Tool by Semrush. This way, I don’t have to miss out on QuestionDB’s compelling topic ideas and Semrush’s content research capabilities.

Here’s what I do…

On QuestionDB’s results page, click ‘Download’ to save a copy of the question ideas.

Open the downloaded file using a spreadsheet app (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.) and copy the entire first column. This is the column that contains your question-based topics.

Moving on to Semrush, go to ‘Keyword Manager’ from the main menu and click ‘create a regular list’ to continue.

Give your keyword list a name and click ‘Create list.’ When done, click ‘Add keywords’ in the top-right corner.

This will open a pop-up window where you can manually add your question ideas.

Next, paste your QuestionDB results into the keyword field.

Lastly, click ‘Add keywords’ and wait for Keyword Manager to pull in the data. Your new report should now have valuable metrics that will help you find profitable topics for your blog.

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Final Words

There are tons of ways to uncover great topic ideas for your blog. And, in most cases, it’s all about using the right tools. 

The list above contains my go-to topic research tools for bloggers. It keeps me supplied with fresh, attention-grabbing topics that not only get traffic, but also provide my audience with valuable information. 

Overall, I highly recommend choosing at least one paid tool like Semrush, Mangools, and Surfer for topic research. 

You can start today without spending a single cent using Semrush’s 14-day free trial offer.

Using a paid topic research tool will also uncover metrics that help you pick profitable ideas for your blog. This includes search volume, keyword difficulty, and search intent. 

Of course, you can use as many free topic research tools as you want. However, as I demonstrated with QuestionDB, it’s still a good idea to combine free tools with a paid one for effective topic research.