Mixing up the types of post that you write can add interest and character to your blog, which will help to keep readers over the long haul.  There are many types of posts that you might like to use—here are 20 to start experimenting with:

• Instructional— I find that posts that contain tips or that are tutorials generally are the ones that are among my most popular.  One of the main things that people search the Web for is to find help in overcoming a problem.  Position yourself to answer these problems, and you can build a nice source of traffic over the long term.
• Informational—This is one of the more common blog post types, where a blogger simply gives information on a topic. It could be a definition post or a longer explanation of some aspect of the niche that you’re writing on.  This is the crux of successful sites like Wikipedia.
• Reviews—Another highly searched-for term on the Web is “review.”  Every time I’m considering buying a new product I head to Google and search for a review on it first—I know that I’m not alone.  Reviews come in all shapes and sizes and on virtually every product or service you can think of. 
• Lists—One of the easiest ways to write a post is to make a list.  Posts with content like, “The Top Ten ways to…,” “7 Reasons why…,” “5 Favorite…,” or “53 mistakes that bloggers make when…” are not only easy to write, but are usually very popular with readers and can be successful at getting links from other bloggers.
• Interviews—Sometimes when you’ve run out of insightful things to say it might be a good idea to let someone else do the talking in an interview. This is a great way to not only give your readers a relevant expert’s opinion, but to perhaps even learn something about the topic you’re writing yourself. 
• Case studies—Another popular type of post is the case study, where you walk readers through an example of something that you’re writing about.  These are useful posts for readers because they are real-life situations and often have practical tips associated with them.
• Profiles—Profile posts are similar to case studies but focus in on a particular person.  Pick an interesting personality in your niche and do a little research on them to present to your readers.  Point out how they’ve reached the position they are in and write about the characteristics that they have that others in your niche might like to develop to be successful.
• Link posts—The link post is a favorite form of blogging for many bloggers and is simply a matter of finding a quality post on another site or blog and linking up to it.  You would usually also include an explanation of why you’re linking up, a comment of your own take on the topic, and/or a quote from the post.  Adding your own comments makes these posts more original and useful to your readers. 
• “Problem” posts—Another term that is often searched for in Google in conjunction with product names is the word “problem” or “problems”— that is, where people are searching for help on a problem that they might have with something that they own or are trying to do.  Problem posts are similar to review posts but focus more upon the negatives of a product or service.  
• Comparison posts—Life is full of decisions between two or more options.  Write a post contrasting two products, services, or approaches that outlines the positives and negatives of each choice.  In a sense these are review posts but are a little wider in focus.  
• Rants—Get passionate, stir yourself up, say what’s on your mind, and tell it like it is.  Rants are great for starting discussion and causing a little controversy—they can also be quite fun if you do them in the right spirit.  Just be aware when you write passionately about a controversial topic that others are likely to comment in a similar way.  Rant posts lead to “flaming” in comment threads and to people saying things in the heat of the moment that they later regret, and which can impact their reputation.  Proceed with caution.
• Inspirational—On the flip side of the angry rant (and not all rants have to be angry) are inspirational and motivational posts. Tell a story of success or paint a picture of “what could be.”  People like to hear good-news stories in their niche because it motivates them to persist with what they are doing.  Find examples of success in your own experience or that of others and spread the word.
•  Research—Research posts can take a lot of time, but they can also be well worth it if you come up with interesting conclusions.  Present your findings with a nice chart and with useful statistics, and you’ll often find other bloggers in your niche will link up to you.
• Collation posts—These are a strange combination of research and link posts.  In them you pick a topic that you think your readers will find helpful and then research what others have said about it.  Once you’ve found their opinion, you bring together everyone’s ideas (often with short quotes) and tie them together with a few of your own comments to draw out the common themes that you see. 
• Prediction and review posts—We see a lot of these at the end and start of the year when people do their “year in review” posts and look at the year ahead and predict what developments might happen in their niche in the coming months.  Prediction posts will often cause interesting debate.
• Critique posts—Numerous bloggers have made a name for themselves by writing strong critiques of other people, products, or companies.  Though sometimes these border on being “attack posts” and have rant-like qualities, a good constructive critique can be an effective way of making an impression upon others.  People like to hear opinions, and though they might not always agree with them, if they are insightful, constructive, and respectfully written posts, they can lead to you growing your reputation in a niche.
• Debate—Debates do well on blogs and can be done in an organized fashion between two people, between a blogger and “all comers,” or even between a blogger and… themselves (try it—argue both for and against a topic in one post—you can end up with a pretty balanced post).  Probably the easiest way to do this is simply to ask your readers a question with two or more alternatives and see what they’ve got to say.  Be willing to share your own opinion to get things going.
• Hypothetical posts—”What if” or hypothetical posts can be quite fun. Pick something that could happen down the track in your industry and begin to unpack what the implications of it would be. “What if Google and Yahoo! merged?”  “What if Canon released an update to xyz camera?”  These posts can actually position you well in search engines if the hypothetical situation actually happens.
• Satirical posts—Well-written satire, parody, or humor can be incredibly powerful and is brilliant for generating links for your blog.  Keep in mind that sometimes these types of posts will be misinterpreted and cause people to react strongly.
• Memes and projects—A meme is an idea that spreads, an “idea virus” as Seth Godin would describe it.  In blogging this can be seen as an article or topic that gets copied from one blog to another, usually with a link back to the originator.  Write a post that somehow involves your readers and gets them to replicate it in someway.  Start a poll, an award, a competition, or ask your readers to submit a post/link or run a survey or quiz. 

This is not an exhaustive list but rather just some of the types of posts that you might like to throw into your blog’s mix. Not every one will be suitable for all blogs or bloggers, but using more than one format can definitely add a little spice and color to a blog.

No related posts.

1 – Who you are.  Tell me about your business, but also introduce me to the blog’s writers.  Share pictures.  The more information about yourself and your business that you are willing to share, the easier it will be for me as a reader to trust you.

2 – Why you are blogging.  Possibly the most important question you can answer, because it will force you to spell out your intentions to your audience.  And as always, consider your audience when answering this question, ask yourself, ‘Why would someone come to this blog, what would they be looking for?’   

3 – What will you be blogging about.  Answering the above question makes this one much easier to answer.  Will you be blogging about your business, or perhaps the lifestyles of your customers?  Spell out the content on your blog so that I know what to expect when I arrive.  And remember that this will also serve as a ‘bookmark’ for your writers to keep them focused on what the goal of your blog is.

4 – How I can leave feedback.  Tell me how I can be involved.  Can I leave comments?  Do you encourage comments?  What if I want to email you?  Spell out exactly how I can contact you, and don’t be afraid to encourage feedback, and even disagreement.  In fact this would be a good place to formally spell-out your comment policy, which again can serve as a reference tool for your writers as well.  

Here are some links with more information:

http://www.getelastic.com/writing-first-blog-post/

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/08/12/how-to-craft-a-blog-post-10-crucial-points-to-pause/

No related posts.