Blog posts can come in many shapes and forms and picking the right sort of style of post can make all the difference. Here are 7 different sorts to get your cogs whirring for your next post.
How To Guides
Tutorials and how-to guides do very well. You can focus on a single subject that will help your readers solve a problem they have or you could explain a complex process or guide them through a task they need to complete. With these posts, you will need to provide step-by-step instructions which can easily be followed and your readers will love you for this. These types of posts will also give you the chance to showcase your expertise in a subject and establish a connection with a happily educated visitor.
Lists
Readers love list posts. You can give them bulleted lists, numbered lists or checklists. According to Moz, list posts will get twice as much traffic as any other type of blog post. The benefit of lists is that they tell thereader exactly what they are getting and the information is broken down so that they can focus on one part at a time or skip to what they want.
Longer lists are not always better, but a number greater than 5 will generally be seen as more complete. This does not mean that you should have a thousand items in your list. Focusing on quality is more important than quantity and you need to ensure that the subject matter is useful to your readers.
Top And The Best
When you look at commonly searched for posts,the top and the best lists are up there. The keyword best will subconsciouslymake your list appear to be better than others and will imply that you havedone research into the subject. It also tells the reader that you have done some legwork and chosen the best of the best to provide to them.
These posts also work well because of the fact that people love ratings and charts. When these posts are numbered, it will provide an order of greatness that your reader may be looking for. It is important to note that you can use top and best as a keyword to improve anypost. If you want to try something different, you could look at a ‘the worst’ list post.
Tips
Quick tips are something else that people loveand will actively search for. With these posts, you need to think of ways that you can help your readers and provide them with useful tips. These types of posts can easily be converted into a best type list which makes them more effective. You do not only have to provide tips of what people should do, but also lists of what people should not do.
Mistakes And Myths
Most people do not enjoy learning from their own mistakes and will make an effort to avoid mistakes completely. This is why mistakes to avoid blog posts are popular. To make these posts, you should think about some of the common mistakes that your clients or potential readers will make. You can then create a post that will help them avoid all of these issues.
Another effect post that you can use will be myth busting ones. Think about some of the common misconceptions surrounding your industry and write a post that busts these myths. This type of post will also position you as an expert in the field and provide you with more credibility.
Series And Follow-Ups
When you have enough content, you will be able to start grouping your posts into series based on sequence or subject matter. This is when you can create a post that references all of your other posts. A follow-up is similar, but will be where you expand more on a post that was successful. You can create a Part 2 post and link to this from the first post. Doing this is great content marketing and will benefit both posts in terms of traffic.
Trends And Predictions
Another sought-after post type will be trends and predictions because people always want to keep up with current and future trends. A side benefit of these posts is that you will be positioning yourself as an expert in the industry. To make the most of these posts, you should look at create trends for the next year posts.
There are a lot of people who are wary of these posts because they do not want to be wrong. However, you should look at this as anopportunity. If you are wrong, you can create a discussion and direct attention to your business. Controversial posts work very well at getting traffic and creating a lively discussion where you can engage with people. Additionally, if you are wrong, it will generally take years before anyone is able to point this out.