Newsjacking: A Guide to Leveraging Trending Topics

Last Updated March 11, 2024

Newsjacking is a powerful strategy that can help you quickly gain attention and drive traffic to your content. By piggybacking on trending topics in the news or on social media, you can add your unique perspective and commentary to the conversation.

What is Newsjacking?

Newsjacking involves leveraging current events or popular topics to create timely and relevant content. This could be in the form of a blog post, video, or social media update that ties into the trending story. The goal is to ride the wave of attention surrounding the topic and attract viewers who are already interested in it.

Benefits of Newsjacking

Quickly gain attention: By tapping into a trending topic, you can quickly capture the interest of a large audience already engaged with the subject matter.
Establish thought leadership: Adding your unique insights and analysis to a trending story can help position you as a thought leader in your industry.
Drive traffic: Newsjacking can lead to a surge in traffic to your website or social media profiles as people seek out additional information and perspectives on the topic.

How to Effectively Newsjack

Monitor trends: Keep a close eye on news outlets, social media, and industry publications to identify trending topics relevant to your niche. A great resource is Google Trends or Exploding Topics to find what is trending.
Act quickly: The key to successful newsjacking is to move fast. Create and publish your content while the topic is still hot.
Add value: Don’t just regurgitate the news. Provide your own insights, analysis, or unique angle to make your content stand out.
Optimize for search: Include relevant keywords in your content to improve its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Promote your content: Share your newsjacking content across your social media channels and email list to maximize its reach.

Long-Term Benefits of Newsjacking

While newsjacking is often seen as a short-term tactic, it can also have long-term benefits, particularly on platforms like YouTube. If you create an entertaining or informative video related to a trending topic, it may continue to attract views and engagement long after the initial buzz has died down.

Conclusion

Newsjacking is a powerful tool for bloggers and content creators looking to quickly gain attention and drive traffic. By adding your unique perspective to trending topics, you can establish yourself as a thought leader and attract a larger audience.

While newsjacking may not be a long-term strategy on its own, it can be an effective way to supplement your regular content and expand your reach.

How do I find good news stories to newsjack for my blog?

Start by checking major news sites, Google News, and social media trends each day. Tools like Google Trends and Exploding Topics help you see what people are searching for right now.

You can also build a simple routine. Spend 10 to 15 minutes each morning scanning headlines in your niche and saving ideas that connect to your audience.

If you want extra help turning trends into content ideas, you can use the Blog Post Ideas generator from RightBlogger. It can turn a trending topic into angles that fit your brand and target readers.

The key is speed and fit. Choose stories that are both fresh and clearly related to your niche, so your post feels natural and helpful, not forced.

What makes a newsjacking post different from a regular blog post?

A newsjacking post is built around a current event or hot topic, while a regular post is usually more evergreen. With newsjacking, timing is critical because you are riding a short wave of attention.

These posts often respond to a question people are already asking about the news story. You add your thoughts, tips, or expert take so readers get more value than they would from the basic news.

You still want clear structure, good headlines, and a strong call to action like in any blog post. RightBlogger's AI Article Writer can help you quickly draft newsjacking posts that stay on topic and are easy to read.

Think of newsjacking as your "fast content" that boosts reach, while your regular posts are the long term base of your blog.

How can I optimize a newsjacking article for SEO so it ranks in Google?

First, include the main keyword related to the news story in your title, first paragraph, and subheadings. Use simple, clear language that matches what people are typing into search.

Next, add a few long tail keywords that describe your angle, like "for small businesses" or "for bloggers". This helps you reach more specific searches with less competition.

You can use RightBlogger's Keyword Research tool to quickly find related terms to include. This saves time and makes your post more likely to show up in search results.

Finally, keep your content updated. If the story changes, add a quick update so your article stays accurate and useful, which also helps SEO.

How can RightBlogger help me publish newsjacking content faster?

RightBlogger can speed up every step of the newsjacking process, from idea to published post. Once you spot a trending story, you can drop a short brief into the AI Article Writer and get a clear first draft in minutes.

You can then adjust the tone, add your experience, and tighten the structure instead of starting from a blank page. This lets you publish while the topic is still hot.

After publishing, use the tips from RightBlogger's content promotion checklist to share your post on social media and with your list. The faster and wider you share, the more you can benefit from the trend.

By cutting down the time spent writing and promoting, you can react to more stories and grow your traffic without burning out.