How to Find Topics for Hubs
To generate ideas for hubs, I first consider my passions. The subjects that I am most passionate about are mental health, education/homeschooling, parenting, art therapy, and the visual arts. If I have had something on my mind like a strong opinion, I may start with that.
The best hubs are passionate and informative ones. When a writer writes about topics that she is passionate about, I can feel that energy when I read the hub. Often, it does not matter if I agree with the writer or not. Either way, I appreciate the insight and perspective that she shared.
My How I Raised an Obama and Why Complex PTSD Should Remain a Fictional Diagnosis hubs are examples of my opinionated pieces that arose from passion about the subjects. In both cases, I love getting comments on the hubs. Even if I don’t agree with the comments, I approve them. I feel that with such an opinionated piece, I can respect others’ opinions and want readers to be able to see other perspectives as well. I love this ability to foster some critical thought and learning.
My informative hubs on mental illness are on topics that are important to me. To narrow my ideas to a very specific topic, I often consult the free keyword search on Wordtracker. This not only helps me get more traffic to my hubs by showing me some related keywords to use, but it helps generate ideas too. I also use this free keyword search for my websites like PTSDcentral.com and Path from Poverty.
Some people may criticize my use of keywords when writing about topics that are important to me. I could recognize that point of view as valid if my motive and method for writing the hubs was to include as many keywords as possible in the hub. This is not the case. I am very selective in the keywords that I use. I only use keywords that are integral to the topic. Many times, consulting a list of keywords helps me see other perspectives and topics to include in the hub that I am writing.
The reason that I use keywords is not only to boost my Google Adsense dollars, but to help people find my information. It’s a win-win situation. Writing about PTSD, anxiety disorders, and depression is cathartic for me. Knowing that I am helping others by providing information on my illnesses helps me to cope with the effects that these illnesses have had on my life. That’s why I started PTSD Central and why I write hubs on those topics.
