Since you already know how to find blog post topics for your blog, focusing on different types of content has many benefits both on a personal level and for your blog.
Publishing different types of blog posts helps you beat writer’s block, which is a genuine problem most bloggers experience when they run out of blog post ideas.
It also allows you to test the performance of different styles of content. Not every post will be a success and you never know which piece will generate massive traffic, leads, or even sales.
You also need to understand that different content types serve different goals. There is content geared towards generating traffic and another towards conversions. This ensures you have a perfect blend or mix of all the types of blog posts.
Another benefit of publishing different blog post types is that it keeps your writing interest and motivation high because you are not writing the same type of content repeatedly, which would be boring.
Types of Blog Posts to Increase Website Traffic
Now that you know the benefits of publishing different types of content, let’s have a look at the different blog post types that will definitely drive more traffic to your website.
1. Listicles
People love numbers because they grab attention and make content easy to consume. You need to understand the psychology of numbers and use it to your advantage.
According to Mike Hamers, our brains are attracted to numbers because they automatically organize information into a logical order….. A single, small odd-numbered digit, like 7 for example, is like candy for your organizational mind.
Study shows that odd numbers perform better than even numbers – it generates 20% more clicks.
Another study by Conductor shows that a higher percentage of people prefer numbered headlines compared to other types of headlines.
You can use this to increase your blog’s traffic. Create list posts and write catchy blog titles – make sure to include odd numbers in meta titles.
You should also break down the content into sections using numbers. Make it skimmable because most readers will first skim through the content to assess if it’s worth reading or not.
Making the content skimmable with numbers will increase their chances of reading – and that’s exactly what you want.
Examples of lists posts:
- 13 Effective Ways to Promote Your Blog and Get More Traffic
- 7 Reasons Why No One is Reading Your Blog
2. How-to blog posts
How-to posts or tutorials help people solve a problem, learn how to do something, or achieve a specific goal they desire.
They are a powerful type of blog post because a large percentage of online users go to the internet looking for information on how to do something.
They are oftentimes seeking solutions to specific problems – and you can target such users with tutorials or how-to guides.
You can write this type of blog post in almost any niche. If you have a cooking or recipe blog, you can create posts such as:
- How to prepare pilau
- How to make smoothies at home
- How to cook bacon in the oven
If you blog about blogging and making money online, you can create posts such as:
- How to start a blog (step-by-step guide)
- How to increase your blog’s traffic
- How to promote affiliate products
If you have a gardening blog then you can create posts such as:
- How to make a flower garden at home
- How to take care of garden plants
- How to get rid of rats in the garden
As you can see, almost every niche can do with how-to posts.
3. Resource posts
A resource post is meant to help your readers find resources they can use. They are somewhat similar to list posts with the key difference being the content of the post.
In a resource post, you are creating a list of useful resources – it could be the resources you use or recommended resources from other bloggers in your niche.
A resource post can include books, eBooks, courses, podcasts, products, or services. Examples of resource posts include:
- 100+ Top Tailwind Communities for Bloggers to Join
- 8 Resources for Special Education Teachers
- 35+ Free Blogging Resources For Beginners
4. Round-up posts
Round-up posts are posts that aggregate great content on a particular topic or opinions from experts in a specific niche.
Essentially, there are three ways to create a round-up post. The first is by aggregating already existing content on a topic of interest.
For example, you can create a weekly or monthly round-up where you highlight the best content on specific topics (content roundup). Here is a good example:
This blog post highlights the latest content on content marketing and the changes taking place.
The second type of round-up post is called expert round-up. It involves getting expert responses on a topic and compiling the responses into blog posts.
Here are a few examples:
- 15 Experts Reveal How To Explode Your Organic Facebook Reach
- How to Promote Your Blog Content: 40+ Experts Share Marketing Tips
Expert round-ups are easier to create compared to content round-ups. You only create the intro and the conclusion. The main content section is made up of expert responses, which in most cases only need minor edits.
The third type of round-up post is the one you send to your email subscribers compiling the latest or trending posts on your blog.
Identify 3-5 best-performing posts and send an email to your subscribers with links to each of the posts. Here’s an example:
5. Checklist posts
Also called To-Do posts, checklist posts help people complete tasks by highlighting every step that needs to be covered, hence ensuring nothing is forgotten.
You can create checklist posts in almost any niche. For example, if you are a travel blogger, you can create a travel checklist post that highlights things a traveler needs when planning to travel.
You can do the same for activities such as hiking, golfing, mountain climbing, etc. You can even convert the post into a downloadable PDF and share it with your email subscribers.
Check these examples of checklists posts for inspiration:
- 15 Things to Do Before You Publish a Blog Post
- What to Pack for Hiking: 44 Best Essentials for a Hike
6. Review posts
These types of blog posts highlight features, pricing, and uses of a product within your niche. If you blog about travel, you can write review posts about travel gear or services.
You can do a straight review or comparison review. Straight reviews focus on one or several products or services without directly comparing and contrasting them. Here is an example:
As you can see, each item is not compared directly to another on the list but the post is a review of blogging tools you should be using.
When it comes to comparison review posts, you are comparing two or more products or services. Here’s an example of a comparison review post:
Review posts are great for affiliate products. Identify products that are in demand and create reviews comparing them. You can then add affiliate links to earn affiliate commissions.
7. Interview (Q&A) posts
You can also do interviews and use them as new blog posts. Interview industry experts or customers and turn the information you get into a blog post.
Interview blog posts can be in different forms including text, audio, or video depending on the most ideal form for your audience.
You can interview one expert or customer at a time or do a group interview depending on the complexity of the topic and what you wish to achieve.
To create an interview blog post, you need to do the following:
- Make a list of experts or customers you wish to interview
- Reach out and ask if they are open to participate
- Ensure to state the core topic of the interview and the reason for doing it
- If it’s a video or audio interview, schedule an interview at a time convenient for both parties
- If it’s a written-response interview then send interview questions early and agree on a time to expect their response
- Inform the interviewee(s) when the blog post goes live and send them a link they can share on their social media platforms
8. Video blog posts
Video post is another great form of content that comes with amazing benefits for your blog. A post with a video is 50 times more likely to achieve organic page ranks in Google than plain text.
On top of this, videos attract nearly three times more inbound linking domains compared to a post without any video or media. Posts with videos, images, and lists get nearly six times more inbound linking domains than plain text content.
You can turn your already existing content into videos, upload the videos on YouTube, then embed the YouTube videos on your blog posts.
Video posts increase dwell time and engagement, which helps boost organic rankings. Longer dwell times often mean users found the content useful – and that’s the kind of content search engines prefer to recommend to their users.
Create tutorials or guides in video form and add a few paragraphs of text to add extra value.
Make sure the text copy is contextually related to the video – that is to say the text should be about what the video is about.
9. Case study posts
Creating case study posts is not a walk in the park – but it’s worth every effort. A case study is an in-depth research on a subject or a comprehensive analysis of how you achieved certain results.
You have to highlight the steps involved, how the research was conducted, and everything in between.
Case studies oftentimes take several weeks or even months and can be labor and/or resource-intensive. You then document the results and make data comparisons.
Check these case study posts for inspiration:
- How AppSumo grew organic traffic 843% and revenue from organic traffic 340%
- This 5-Person Marketing Team Managed 12x More Work While Working Remotely
10. Opinion posts
Opinion posts give you the freedom to give your thoughts on any topic – whether good, bad, or even controversial. You can share what you think or give a personal perspective on a given subject.
Some topics are controversial and others are emotional. You need to be careful when writing opinion posts because it is very easy to “cross the line” and offend other people.
Either way, opinion-led blog posts will definitely create user engagements – some in support of and others against your point of view.
Here are a few examples of opinion posts:
The post on “Why You Should Forget Facebook” currently has more than 1,000 comments. That’s how engaging opinion-led blog posts can be.
11. Blog post series
A blog post series is another creative way to never run out of blog post topics. Find a major topic idea in your niche then break it down into 5-10 blog post ideas, or even more.
You can then create a single blog post for each idea on a consistent schedule – say one post every week. Benefits of a blog post series include:
- Enhancing your expertise on the topic
- Improving your blog’s SEO
- Increasing your blog’s traffic
- Creating a community of avid followers
- Increasing the chances of getting more backlinks
Consistency is key with blog post series. Make sure to stick to a consistent schedule to avoid disappointing your readers.
12. Mistakes & lessons blog posts
Mistakes made and lessons learned are two great blog post types you should be taking advantage of. You already have the meat of the post because it’s all about first-hand experiences.
You can create two blog posts – one about the mistakes you’ve made in your blogging journey and another about the lessons you’ve learned along the way.
Your readers will learn a lot because they are most likely on the same journey as you. Being genuine is key – do not just write such a post for the sake of getting views.
Being genuine helps you form a genuine bond or connection with your readers. It doesn’t matter how foolish the mistakes you made seem neither do the lessons you’ve learned.
Examples of such blog posts:
- 6 Mistakes I Have Made as a Beginner Product Manager
- 10 Things I’ve Learned from Being a Digital Marketer
13. Quotes blog posts
There are great quotes in almost any niche, and you can turn them into blog posts. Quotes blog posts tend to generate a lot of shares, which in turn lead to more referral traffic.
You can get quotes from industry leaders, famous personalities, books, or even from famous movies and TV shows.
It’s ideal to connect each quote to an element within your niche. Here are a few examples of quotes blog posts.
As you can see, each of these quotes blog posts is connected to a specific niche topic.
14. Giveaway posts
People love valuable freebies and you can use this to your advantage. Take advantage of seasons such as Black Fridays, Cyber Mondays, and the Christmas period to create seasonal content and market your blog.
If you have a course or an eBook, you can create contests and give the course to the winners free of charge as a present. The benefits of giveaway contests include:
- Creating buzz about products or services
- Increasing traffic to your website
- It helps you build an email list
- Raising brand awareness
- Providing valuable market research
- Strengthening your relationships with your readers
Tools you can use to create contests and giveaways include:
- KingSumo
- Rafflecopter
- Wishpond
15. Guest posts
There are two types of guest posts you can focus on – the ones published on your blog but written by guest bloggers and the ones published on other blogs with you as the guest blogger.
Guest posts on your blogs mean you get quality content from other bloggers without paying for them. Over time it increases your traffic and blog’s authority. Some guest bloggers will be willing to promote the posts once you publish them on your site – that’s free marketing for you.
Guest posts on other blogs earn your website referral traffic, backlinks, and an SEO boost. It also improves your author portfolio, which makes it easier to land more guest post opportunities in the future.
Final thoughts…
Although we have highlighted fifteen types of blog posts to include in your content calendar, there are a lot more you can explore and see if they fit your blog.
Either way, publishing different types of blog posts will help you identify the types that yield the best returns so that you can double down on them for faster blog growth.
