If you have an idea of the general niche you are meant to be writing about, try visiting some blogs or websites of a similar theme. When you are on these sites, check out the comments left by visitors on the various posts. The more comments you notice for a particular post, the more popular or thought-provoking you know the post must have been. What is the topic of this post? What is it trying to convey? Could you take a point from this post and create an insightful article from it? Indeed, was there a certain comment that tweaked your interest – did it contain something you could write about? You see, just with this tip alone the scope is huge when it comes to unearthing those hot topics.

Are you into social media? If so, Twitter would be a great place to find some really hot topics. Out of all the social media sites available today on the internet, Twitter has to be the fastest growing of them all. It is a wonderful source of up-to-date information – so-much-so that more often than not you will learn the latest news happenings via Twitter before it makes it through to the rest of the internet or mainstream news media such as TV, radio or newspapers. To this end, on the right hand side of the Twitter screen is a “trending” box. This is where all the hottest topics currently on Twitter are located, and just this little area is a goldmine of ideas.

Finally, one of the best methods of garnering ideas for an article topic is through good-old Google. Open up a Google search page and start typing in a query (your general niche). As you type you will notice that Google starts automatically suggesting things as you go along. These lists can cover everything related to the particular niche topic you have queried. Try it – it’s fascinating to see.

These are just a couple of pointers for you and barely scratch the surface when it comes to looking for great topics to write. It does, though, give you an idea of the sort of things you can do when you are stuck for a good topic to write about.

I for one have now got off the fence and am of the opinion that, no matter how well some may have perceived the little Argentinian has played for us over the years, the team as a whole would probably be better off with Mascherano some place else. Why do I say this?

For a start, it’s pretty obvious the player hasn’t wanted to play with us since last summer’s debacle with Barcelona. Right up until Christmas time he acted like a spoilt brat throwing a tantrum, sulking his way through matches and contributing precisely nothing to the cause. When he did finally awake from hibernation after Christmas, well, it was too bloody late then! For someone who has enjoyed raucous support from the Kop over the years, this in itself was unforgivable.

But it’s not just about his attitude. His general play, in my opinion, was detrimental to the type of football Liverpool should have been playing. Obviously that’s not his fault because that’s the position he plays in; his job, after all, is to kill or stifle the opposition as they attack and, well… nothing else really. Let’s face it, he couldn’t hit a decent pass because he had no flair or vision, therefore our attacks broke down before they even started when he had the ball. He couldn’t shoot, and the one goal that I remember him scoring hit the back of the net thanks to a not-so-subtle deflection. And following on from this – did he actually score any more goals than that goal scoring machine Jamie Carragher? I don’t think he did, did he? Compare this, for example, to a great player that graced the same position in the team, Didi Hamman. Actually, you can’t compare the two because it would be like trying to compare chalk and cheese. Hamman could not only break up an opposition attack, he had the guile and vision to find a defence-splitting pass, he had a cannonball of a shot on him, and of course, he scored some cracking goals for the Reds over the years.

Here’s the punchline though – according to Opta Stats, Liverpool are actually unbeaten in the last twenty Premier League games that Javier Mascherano didn’t play in. Food for thought?

Apparently Mrs. Duffy has been charmed by the smooth-talking David Milliband over a cuppa when he “dropped in” on her on a visit to the area. According to the lady who caused a sensation at the last election, Milliband comes across as a “very intelligent and down-to-earth person, who would make a great future Prime Minister”. David can now rest happy knowing that he has the “full support” of Mrs. Duffy.

To be totally honest, I think the whole thing with Gordon Brown was blown out of all proportion by a (major) segment of the media. I can’t deny that it didn’t have a huge impact on the then Prime Minister’s credibility and standing with potential voters.

Nevertheless, that was then and this is now, and it appears that David Milliband is chuffed with the endorsement. Welcome back to the fold then, Gillian!

With Reds boss Roy Hodgson admitting yesterday that the Spanish striker does have a “beef” with Liverpool, this indicates that if he were to move on then it would be for footballing reasons alone. In other words, Champions League football (among other things) would feature very highly on Torres’ list of “footballing reasons” (or so I’m assuming). The Liverpool number nine may well yet surprise a few people by committing his immediate future to the Reds, but personally I now somehow doubt this, especially after Hodgson’s comments yesterday.

Nevertheless, should he decide to call time on his Anfield career to seek pastures anew and a supposed future laden with trophies and accolades, do you seriously think he would choose Manchester City over, let’s say, Chelsea or Barcelona. I somehow feel the lure of Manchester City  is not quite something that will pull players for “footballing reasons” (although I’m very sure Yaya Toure will tell you he only went to City for footballing reasons – all 200k of them!) just yet. I’m not saying City won’t push for the league title this season, they probably will, but to be honest I can’t see them winning it.

But let’s get back to the now and see how City differ from Liverpool in terms of “footballing reasons”. Well, for starters, they’re in the Europa League, just like Liverpool. So no footballing reasons there then. Are Manchester City a club with pedigree and history, famed around the world? Nah, no footballing reasons there either. So what is it that City can actually offer a player? One thing, and one thing only at the moment – more wages. Does Torres strike you like a player interested in the money? Not to me he doesn’t. If he does decide to leave Liverpool then, it will be for “proper” footballing reasons – sorry City and Mancini, that rules you out of the chase.

Bearing the above in mind then, it would make sense to write an article as naturally as possible, letting it flow smoothly and allowing the reader to effortlessly devour the information contained therein. In other words, write an article that speaks directly to your audience, one that offers value in relation to the topic covered. At the end of the day, content that is deemed useful will engage the person reading it and will therefore meet their requirements (the reason for reading the article in the first place).

Surely an article writer will find it much easier to write naturally rather than write something specifically with SEO in mind? When you are looking to write a piece to be proud of, the last thing you want to be doing when the creative juices are flowing is to be stressing over keyword placements and density, and other such distractions. Any experienced article writer will tell you that they cannot produce their best work if they are weighed down with SEO related issues.

The next time you sit down to write an article for your blog or website, focus on the topic at hand and make sure you write the article for the reader – not for some search engine bot!

The first paragraph is most definitely king when it comes to your readers; it will either make or break the piece as a whole. A badly structured first paragraph will have your readers flicking the page or escaping your website in record time.

To start with (and this is extremely important), the first paragraph of any article has to very clearly state what the article is trying to convey. When it comes to articles for the online world, more often than not this will take the form of summarising what the problem at hand is, and then explaining how the article is going to describe or help with how to deal with this particular problem.

If you manage to convey this as clearly and concisely as possible in your first paragraph, then you are well on your way to completing an engaging piece of copy.

But when he came out today with the following statement when asked by journalists whether he had any update on the Torres saga:

“”No, but Christian might be able to if you got hold of him. I haven’t spoken to him for the last two days he’s been travelling back from Spain where he’s been on holiday.

“His holiday has also been taken up a lot of time by discussions with Fernando and his people, so I’m afraid the only person who can give you the type of details you require is Christian.

“It would be wrong of me to say too much.”

…the last sentence will have had the effect of filling Reds supporters with a sense of foreboding and, dare I say, dread. It is pretty obvious from this that Hodgson knows something that we, thus far, do not, and reading between the lines, it doesn’t look good. That’s not to say the “unthinkable” will definitely happen, but at the end of the day we all know that the football club is bigger than any one individual and should the Spaniard decide to fly the nest, well, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

It’s happened before and it will happen again, We’ll get good money for him which, hopefully, will be ploughed straight back into the team and Roy will be able to draft in two or three players for the money. The team are already looking much stronger than last season, and even look stronger now than the season before last when we were pipped to the title by the Mancs. I seem to remember Torres missing a large chunk of that particular season through injury as well – it didn’t hurt us too much then, and it won’t hurt us too much if he does decide to up sticks and seek pastures (Champions League football) anew this time round.