Harnessing Google Predictive Search for Blog Topic Ideation

Peter Boyd is a Florida attorney who founded PaperStreet. He has helped over 1,500 law firms with their websites, content and marketing.

Within just a few years in the past, it was necessary to invest significant time and research into consumer psychology, preferences, and search behavior to identify key terms and potential writing topics. Google and other applications are now capable of predicting what a searcher might enter through predictive technology and artificial intelligence - and the efforts create unlimited blog post topic ideas. 

Google Predictive Puts AI To Work For You

Artificial intelligence is changing the marketing world - every day there is a new opportunity to explore. For many businesses it has completely changed the way business is conducted. For marketers, some of the greatest efforts have been in information sharing. If you’re willing and open to what Google algorithms and AI chatbots can do for you, the opportunities are endless. 

While there are many marketing agencies that refuse to use AI for writing services, the tools powered by AI, like Google Predictive Search, are valuable in research, planning and outlining. In these capacities, the information is generally accurate and it’s an overall acceptable use of the internet to help determine what topics are being searched, what questions are being asked, and what news is trending.

Content Creation Can Be Guided by Google AI

One of the most effective ways to take advantage of Google’s algorithms is by using it to inform the creation of your website content. When you begin typing a search query into Google there is a search bar that auto-populates with suggestions directly beneath. The search bar is essentially trying to finish or guess how you might end the sentence and it’s using its algorithm to do so. When we say “Google Predictive Search” this is what we are talking about. For writers and marketers, it is a valuable tool for brainstorming blog topic ideas.

The suggested phrases or sentences provided by Google are based on real searches made by users, making them excellent sources of inspiration for writing. When using Google's predictive search feature, it's crucial to consider what people would actually type into a search field. Take a moment to think about your audience as well. Are they more likely to use terms like "compensation" or "money"? The difference matters.

While there's no magic formula, you can start your sentences with these examples:

• How to
• Why is/are
• Where can
• When can/will
• Who can/does
• I was/did/need

For instance, if you were attacked by a dog, you might not immediately think, "I need a lawyer to help pay for my medical bills." Instead, you might simply type your situation into a search engine, something like “can a lawyer pay my medical bills?” The few phrases and sentences that populate underneath your search bar are ideal blog topic titles.

Tips for Using Google Predictive Search for Writing Prompts

Using Google’s tools and algorithms to determine writing prompts has been a long-time strategy for many marketers and writers. Before you deploy the tactic into your own brainstorming processes, consider the following: 

• Do your searches in a private tab (or clear your cached often) to avoid seeing previous searches and clicks that would muddy your results
• Use a thesaurus to expand your vocabulary and run the same search with different words that have a similar meaning
• Include slang and abbreviations in your searches, and sometimes even common misspellings. 

You Can Master Content Brainstorming with Google

Google Predictive Search is a powerful tool for generating blog topics that you can be confident are based on user search intent. By analyzing real user searches, the algorithm provides valuable insights into what topics are trending and what questions people are asking. It's a powerful tool that can help drive your content creation and planning no matter what the topic, and - hopefully - shoot to the top of that Google results page.