How to Use Reddit For Content Ideation

Like the age-old metaphor of a swan gliding gracefully downstream, hiding legs kicking frantically for momentum, successful SEO strategies rely on a growing list of factors working together behind the scenes to drive traffic graphs upward.

However, coordinating technical, off-page and on-site considerations towards a common goal is complicated, expensive and tiring, which is why many resource-strapped teams revert to the comfort of content to keep their swan afloat.

Every day, 4.4 million blogs go live across the web, showing the continued importance of content to user acquisition. However, content for content’s sake doesn’t guarantee engagement, with an Ahrefs study finding that over 96% of pages generate no traffic on Google. 

Shocking? Yes. Surprising? Increasingly less so.

The uncomfortable truth is that many marketers are too rigid in their approach to content, relying on keyword volumes and third-party tools to determine what content to create. Alongside being finite, these ideas are less and less representative of an agile audience seeking answers outside the Google ecosystem. 

To truly engage with their audience, they need to create content that meaningfully addresses user questions and pain points, straight from the source. To this aim, user-generated content (UGC) is invaluable and criminally overlooked. And no one does UGC quite like Reddit.

What is Reddit? 

Launched in 2005, Reddit (a play on “I read it”) is a social media platform built around user-generated content, allowing “redditors” to submit, discuss and vote on a variety of links and content in a series of discussion categories called “subreddits”. 

Often described as “The Front Page of the Internet,” think of it as a large online forum where users can discuss topics that matter most to them, ask questions, and upvote the content and answers they value the most.

The platform has allowed users to create their own subreddits since 2008, helping Reddit grow from humble beginnings to the ninth most visited site in the world (as of February 2025), boasting over 97 million active users contributing to over 100,000 active subreddits.

Why is Reddit important for SEO?

It’s fair to say that Reddit has never been as embraced by the average internet user as more typical search engines, remaining the home of dedicated searchers with more niche questions and interests.

However, this has begun to change, with several key factors making Reddit a more essential prospect for content marketers:

• Reddit experienced a 1,328% increase in Organic visibility on Google between July 2023 and April 2024, highlighting its growing influence in search results. 
• User-generated content: Google has prioritised UGC from platforms like Reddit, enhancing its prominence in search rankings.
• Google partnership: Reddit’s partnership with Google allows its data to be used in training AI models, further cementing its role in shaping search outcomes.

Using Reddit for Content Ideation

The main benefit of Reddit as a content ideation tool is simple – it’s a platform comprised of real people exploring genuine interests and, crucially, seeking answers to actual questions and problems. 

As a marketer, there’s no better source of data from users relevant to your business. You can use the unfiltered comments of a new potential audience and refine them into a strategic content plan to drive users to your website.

For example, let’s say you’re the Head of Marketing for a small skincare brand. You know you’re competing in a difficult space against much larger companies, and likely don’t have the authority to rank for higher-volume terms.

Instead, you focus on creating more niche content where you can compete, growing your audience and authority more gradually. A quick search through skincare subreddits reveals many questions about men’s skincare, specifically highlighting pain points from men unsure of how to get started.

Straight away, you can see there’s a wealth of users who would benefit from a blog on “male skincare routines for beginners”. 

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If these men are new to skincare, they’re also likely unaware of the benefits of specific products and treatments, giving you more content opportunities to attract that particular audience.

With enough exploration, you can easily create an entire content plan around a single topic.

This is where Reddit shines as a content ideation tool. Taking the example of “men’s skincare for beginners”, Ahrefs reveals no search volume for that particular keyword, meaning it likely would have been ignored when performing traditional keyword research, costing potential traffic and conversions.

How to Find Subreddits That Matter

Given the sheer size of Reddit, knowing where to start can be daunting. But don’t worry! There are simple ways to find communities relevant to your niche.

• Use Reddit’s native search – like most sites, Reddit has its own search functionality. Simply type in commercially relevant keywords and explore the returned results to create a list of important subreddits
• Use Google – as previously mentioned, Reddit results have become more prominent in Google’s SERPs. Try searching for your keyword followed by “reddit” to see which communities pop up. You can do this more effectively by using site: operators (e.g “site:reddit.com mens skincare”)
• Use SparkToro – SparkToro is a third-party software that analyses audience affinity with platforms across the web, including Reddit. If you have a subscription, just enter your domain, go to “Social Accounts > Reddit”, and it’ll return the subreddits your users visit the most.

Within any subreddit, you can filter by “hot” to find popular posts that have received a lot of engagement. However, be careful! As with any other social media platform, engagement doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a valid topic for your site, with many posts being humorous or satirical. 

How to Find Content Ideas Within Subreddits

Once you have a list of relevant communities, it’s time to start ideating! To make the most of the platform, consider the following to ensure you source the best ideas that translate to the strongest content for your audience.

Look for Repetition

The more people mention a topic, the better. Repeated interest reveals a larger potential audience, which is especially important for topics that reflect less volume in traditional SEO tools like Ahrefs or Semrush.

Pay Attention to Phrasing

It’s easy to make assumptions as marketers, but it’s good to keep an open mind when planning content based on UGC. The tone will be more conversational, and subreddits can often reveal terminology you may have been unaware of. Weaving these terms into your content helps bridge the gap between business and consumer, creating more engaging titles and meta descriptions.

Find Problems to Solve

Given the hyper-focused nature of subreddits, it’s likely you’ll find users providing great solutions to each other’s problems. But there’s generally a wealth of conversations within subreddits where no one has provided an adequate answer.

If your business can answer these questions with a strong piece of content, you’ll have filled a content gap you might not have found using traditional keyword research methods. This has the added benefit of improving awareness and trust towards your brand. 

Play Devil’s Advocate

Subreddits are, at their heart, discussions, meaning you will find a variety of conflicting viewpoints on any given topic. If you see a more controversial take on a subject you think you can skillfully navigate, it can provide a great opportunity for thought-leadership articles on your website.

Tips for Faster Content Ideation

The process of ‘mining’ Reddit for content ideas can feel overwhelming and manual, but there are ways to speed up the process. 

Gummy Search

One great way to search for topics at scale is with Gummy Search. 

Gummy Search is a software that lets you create audiences from multiple subreddits and search them at scale for your chosen topics and keywords. It also compiles hot and emerging topics within your audience automatically, allowing you to search Reddit more efficiently.

The best part? You can sign up for a free subscription and explore the platform with 50 keyword searches without having to pay.

Reddit Scraping Using Python

Another way to scrape subreddits at scale is to use Reddit’s API and Python. Using your account credentials alongside Python’s Pandas and PRAW (Python Reddit API Wrapper) libraries allows you to create scraping scripts that can be customised for different subreddits and search terms.

This process is naturally more complicated than using third-party software, but it rewards you with a first-party tool that isn’t hidden behind paywalls and service fees. Also, AI programmes like ChatGPT and Gemini are great for helping you “vibe code” tools, even if you have no development experience.

Hallam’s talented Organic Search Lead, Radina Ivanova, recently created a Reddit Scraper as part of our efforts to support clients with Total Search strategies. There are many guides online that will help you do the same.

Things to Avoid When Sourcing Reddit Content Ideas

• Don’t take comments at face value – remember that all social media platforms carry an inherent risk of false information and harmful content. Before using a comment as the basis for your content, be sure to consider if the topic is useful to your audience and ensure it doesn’t contain anything that could harm your customers or your brand. Some comments may be made for humorous, if not harmful, purposes.
• Be specific with your choice of communities – if you select subreddits that are too broad, you may find yourself getting frustrated and uncovering little that feels relevant. Too niche, and the topics may lack widespread appeal. Taking the time to discover the right ones will save you time overall.
• Don’t overuse jargon – remain open-minded when searching through communities, and remember that people will likely use a more conversational tone than your business would in its communications. You don’t want to miss out on solid ideas because you were searching for terms nobody was using. 

Content Ideation and Reddit – A Step-By-Step Guide

1. Define your topic and keywords – these will likely be the same terms you want to rank for organically
2. Decide upon 3 – 5 relevant subreddits – using Reddit’s native search, Google site operators, or third-party software like SparkToro
3. Search these communities, filtering by engagement – remember to focus on “hot” and “new” topics within these communities, and explore software like Gummy Search to speed up the process
4. Extract common themes and topics – look for repeating questions and pain points, unsolved problems, and new viewpoints from Reddit users
5. Turn these topics into a content plan – map each content idea to its most relevant format, whether that’s a blog, guide or service page. Where possible, validate the content idea through traditional keyword research and SERP analysis. AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini can help format your ideas into a fully-fledged content plan.

Looking to take your content strategy to the next level? Get in touch with Hallam’s SEO experts today!