26 Types of Blog Posts

It seems bloggers have a difficult time finding ideas. The question of where to find content ideas comes up frequently during the two blogging chats—#blogchat and #bloggab—I attend.

The question interests me because a lack of ideas never is my problem. My greatest issue is finding time to blog, not determining what to write. I even wrote about how Blog Ideas are Everywhere and 12 Tips for Finding Story Ideas.

Perhaps part of the reason people can’t find ideas is because they are unaware of all of the various types of blog posts they can write. There are so many options. While not every post type will work on every blog, at least some of them likely will work on yours.

26 Types of Blog Posts

1. Tutorials

A tutorial is a step-by-step explanation of how to do something. You can write a tutorial about anything you know how to do that your readers potentially don’t understand. Lifehacker is a great example of a site almost exclusively dedicated to tutorials.

2. Business updates

This type of post offers an update of a company or organization’s business activities. For example, media blogger Jim Romenesko often posts updates about the newspaper industry on his site.

3. Reviews

You can write a review of pretty much any product or service, including books, movies, technology, video games, and restaurants. This review of Jay Baer’s book YOUtility ran on the Sword and the Script public relations and marketing blog.

4. Research findings

Performing research and/or releasing research findings also is another option for a blog post. People always are interested in facts and statistics when put in the context of their daily lives. Here’s an example from PRNewser about Christmas marketing arriving earlier and earlier.

5. Personal stories

A narrative almost always works in a blog post because people love to read about other people. It helps, of course, if you have the freedom to be transparent in your writing and if you include lessons you learned from the happening. Here’s an example of a narrative post from 101 Books.

6. Quotes

I love powerful quotes. There’s just nothing better than someone who knows what they want to say and exactly how to phrase it. Quotes become blog posts when you create context and meaning about them in relation to your blog’s content theme. This quote post from A Daring Adventure made me laugh because it’s so unique.

7. Photos

Sometimes a meaningful photo may inspire a blog post. I love this one from Letters for Lucas.

8. News

There always is something in the news worth commenting on. News makes for great blog post ideas. The only downside to writing about newsworthy topics is that the content isn’t evergreen. Patrick Philips writes many news-related posts on his blog, Patrick’s Place.

9. Trends

Writing about trending topics allows you to create up-to-date content that draws in readers. The same issue arises with this content as with using news for posts. It’s not evergreen.

Here’s a great example of using the popularity of the show Breaking Bad in a unique way on Sparksheet.

10. Conversations

Talking to others helps generate blog content. Interesting conversations make equally intriguing blog posts. However, be sure to ask the person with whom you were conversing if it’s acceptable to use the conversation or keep them unidentifiable.

Here’s an example from PrTini about meeting Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black.

11. Resource lists

Writing a list of valuable resources is a good way to give back to your industry or community. Here’s an example from YouTern of a helpful resource list post.

12. Answer reader questions

Once your blog is more established, you will get reader questions via email or as comments on posts. You can answer these questions as blog posts. Chances are, if one person has a question, others have that question as well.

I often answer questions students ask frequently via blog posts. I also look for questions frequently asked during Twitter chats that I can address on my blog.

Here is an example of answering questions via blog post in Daily Tips Diary.

13. Explain your decision-making

People want to understand why others do the things they do and make the decisions they make. Sean McGinnis anticipated this when he decided to stop working full-time on his own business and take a social media position at Sears. He wrote this post to explain the move to his readers.

14. Review analytics

The post below is one I wrote nearly a year ago for students in my public relations writing class to help them with an upcoming assignment. It still is one of the most visited posts on my site. Because of its popularity, I write more things like this now.

15. Show gratitude

People love to be thanked, and showing gratitude will make you feel good. Ron Edmondson has a list of thank yous he’s posted to troops each Memorial Day.

16. Round-ups

Create a list of internal or external posts you think your readers would enjoy, like this list of weekly headlines from The Daily Muse.

17. Update old posts

I really need to update this post on my blog. I wrote it awhile ago and it still is one of the most popular posts on my site. The only problem with updating old posts is that new bloggers don’t have older content to update.

18. Goals

You can write about your goals or your blog’s goals. These make great “blog anniversary” posts. They also are good for after the new year.

19. Series

Instead of focusing on a single post, you can write a series of related posts. Many times these are identified by a special note at the top of the post or a visual made specifically for the series. Switch & Shift has a special tab at the top of their homepage for their series.

20. Need to know

Think about what your audience needs to know that they don’t know already. This becomes a perfect subject for a post. For example, Mack Collier does a prep post for some of the #blogchat sessions he hosts.

21. Want to know

Sometimes your readers don’t need to know information, but they’re still interested in it. Relationship advice like what’s provided below is a good example of information that entices our interest.

22. Q&A

Having a question and answer session with another individual is a simple way to create post content. Many of these can be done via email. Here’s an example of an author Q&A from Lissa Bryan.

23. Follow-up

Sometimes the things you write about change or develop over time. If the post was important enough to write initially, it’s probably important to follow-up that initial post with changes.

24. Regular features

It’s a good idea to have some post concepts that appear on your site on a regular rotation. This allows you to provide your readers with helpful and interesting content without constantly searching for ideas. The Three Things is a weekly feature on Gini Dietrich’s blog, Spin Sucks.

25. Invitations

A blog post is an effective way to invite your readers to attend an event or happening like the post below from The Domestic Executive, which promotes an upcoming Twitter chat.

26. Lists

Everyone loves to read a list. Even the bloggers that claim they hate list posts read and write them. Pam Moore writes a mean list post, pun not intended based on the post below.

Hopefully some of these post types and examples have given you some ideas for content on your own site. If you still can’t figure out what to write after being introduced to all of these various types of blog posts, remember that you can always take a guest post.