There will always be a time during your blogging journey when you just don’t know what to write about.
Whether it’s writer’s block rearing its ugly head, or you’re simply out of ideas, it can be hard to get out of that funk.
Instead of pushing through with the same old blog post, utilize a bit of creative thinking to turn the ordinary on its head.
Here are 25 different types of content you can publish:
Content types to change up your blogging
1. Listicles
Everybody loves a list. They’re easy to scan, have digestible information and they’re super popular for social media sharing.
You can create lists on almost any subject. It could be your favorite books or a list of your top bloggers to follow.
2. Written tutorials and how to’s
Tutorials and how-to guides are a great way to engage your audience and educate them in a single blog post. Plus, they’re easy to work on too since you’re already familiar with the topic.
The key thing to remember when writing how-to guides is to break things down into small actionable steps. This makes it easier for readers to follow your instructions. Including step-by-step screenshots further aids in this, especially for visual learners.
Marketing bloggers could write tutorials on how to use different social media platforms. Beauty bloggers can guide their readers through makeup applications. It all depends on your target audience and what they want to read.
3. Video tutorials
If writing full guides on a subject seem too daunting for you, you can always create a video tutorial instead. Video is hugely popular – sometimes more popular than the written word, so utilizing it in your blog makes a lot of sense.
Your options for video tutorials include:
- Filming yourself explaining things
- Filming a screencast of you performing the tutorial steps
- Filming a screencast with a voice-over explaining as you go through the steps.
When posting your tutorial to your blog, you can either host the video directly on your website by uploading it. Or, you could upload it to a video hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo and embed it in a blog post on your site.
4. Checklists
A checklist is one of the simplest types of content you can publish. We’ve all written a check-list or to-do list before and they work because they’re short, easy to digest and allow the ability to cross items off as you complete them.
Translating this into a blog post is the same thing. Simply post your checklist with some supporting information.
Gardening bloggers could post a checklist for planting in the spring or getting your garden ready for winter. On the other hand, interior bloggers can create a spring cleaning checklist.
5. Industry news
What do you do when you get up in the morning? You’ll likely grab a tea or coffee and browse the latest news. This is a habit you could include in your daily blogging activities too.
Why not scour various news sources for the latest in your blogging niche or industry. Put together some of the best pieces into a blog post and add your own critique and commentary alongside it.
A regular feature like this has the potential to be something your readers return regularly to read. Here is a great example of this in practice.
6. Infographics
Infographics don’t have to be those long professionally made images you see all over Pinterest. An infographic can be an image of any size or shape and about any type of information.
Creating infographics for your blog is an effective way to provide valuable information while encouraging people to share something visually appealing. They could be charts, statistics, step-by-step instructions an even fun facts.
The higher the quality these infographics are, the better. Tools like Canva and Venngage make it especially easy to make your own imagery with their pre-built templates and free icons.
7. Current events
Similar to industry news, writing about current events is even easier. The key benefit of writing about what’s happening now is that people are already searching for more information about events as they happen, making your blog post a prime reading option.
Think of things that interest you and stories that stand out. Maybe they’re controversial, or especially interesting. Cover it in your own way to generate more interest from your readers. Even better, find a topic that already links to your niche.
8. Case studies
Case studies are an excellent way to generate social proof and they’re easy to write too. People love success stories, so writing a case study about someone who has used your product/service or advice to great success, can do wonders for your blog.
Get in touch with your audience and if you sell a product, contact your customer and start a conversation about how they’ve used your product and how it’s improved their life or business. Then include them in a case study published on your blog.
Here’s an example of a Thrive Themes case study where a tiny email list of fewer than 1,000 subscribers was turned into $100,000+ in sales.
9. Inspirational stories
Why not step away from the same old content and share some good news? Write about a new milestone your blog has reached. Or, share an inspirational story of how you got started in your industry. What happened to get you to the point you’re at today?
People love inspirational stories because it makes them want to experience that success too. This is why stories filled with hope and inspiration do so well on social media.
We’re all striving for something better from our lives – your success story will help your readers to continue to reach for their goals too.
10. Interviews
Interviews are always a good way to drive interest amongst your readers. People are always eager to hear what the people they look up to have to say. Try publishing an interview with an important figure in your blog niche and area of interest.
During the interview, you can discuss important events in your industry, get expert advice and even business insights.
The key is to keep the topic of your interview central to things your audience is interested in.
You could position your interviews as video or audio. Alternatively a written interview like this one with Ryan Biddulph over at ProfitBlitz:
11. Video blogs (vlogs)
Video blogs or Vlogs, call them what you will, but with the rise in popularity of blogging on YouTube, video blogs are the new in-thing. Updating your blog in video format can have many benefits for your site.
Videos are shorter
You personally and visually connect with your audience
They’re popular sharing fodder
Many social networks prioritize video over written content
And even better, embedding your YouTube vlogs on your website, provides more places for people to view your content. Try the trend to see if it works for you.
12. Funny posts
A few days ago I read an article on 15 reasons to quit blogging.
You might think it contained the benefits of staying away from the blogging industry, but instead, it had 15 reasons to quit blogging written in negatives that highlighted all the great things blogging can do for your life.
A funny blog post like this doesn’t always have to be related to your blog topic – it’s for fun – a way to make your readers chortle into their morning cuppa.
Your post could be pure sarcasm or irony. Consider adding amusing GIFs for greater effect. The idea is to mix things up with a funny spin on things, that could be an instant hit.
13. Product reviews
As a freelance writer, I’m no stranger to product reviews – I’ve written more than I can count – and can confirm that they work really well as an addition to your other blog posts.
People generally look to product reviews before making online purchases, to be sure they’re getting a good deal and that the item lives up to expectations. So reviewing a product that relates to your area of interest can work well for an audience already interested in it.
14. Comparison posts
Somewhat similar to reviews, comparison posts are all about comparing one thing to another. Once you’ve written a review, you can follow it up with an alternative product.
Spend time comparing the two and jotting down the pros and cons of both. Then, put it all together in a blog post, explaining the differences and similarities.
Unlike reviews, where you have to be really specific about the details, comparisons allow room for further thoughts and opinions.
15. Podcast MP3s
The podcasting industry is booming these days, with new podcasts popping up all over the place. An alternative to being on screen, podcasting can develop into full online shows that gain popularity over time.
One of the easiest ways to begin is to upload the MP3 of your podcast and publish it on your blog with a written transcription. As your audio presence grows, you can branch out to platforms like iTunes and Stitcher to publish your podcast too.
Cross-posting on other platforms provides more places for people to subscribe and tune-in.
16. Resources
Sometimes we just want to find out the best way to do something quickly and effectively. A resource post is a perfect opportunity to do this for your readers.
You can compile resource posts on all kinds of things in the form of:
Books
Videos
Toolsets
Websites
Social influencers
And many more. The key thing to remember here is to not just post a bunch of links. Take the time to explain why you should check out this book, visit that website or use that tool. Have you used it in the past? What was your experience? Explain why you’re recommending it.
17. Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
FAQs work well as blog posts because the content is likely something your readers have already been searching for answers to.
You can build this type of post as a long list of questions and answers which would make for good sharing material, but I’d recommend splitting it into a blog series. This spreads the content out over time, giving you more mileage for the content.
More importantly, this form of content is often evergreen, meaning the information will be relevant to people for a long time into the future.
18. Problems and solutions
Think back to any news you’ve heard recently. Chances are it wasn’t good news, or it was about something going completely wrong. That’s because conflicts sell more. People are drawn to problems because there’s a certain sense of excitement to them.
You can easily utilise this concept in a blog post by highlighting problems related to your area of interest, but also providing solutions to them.
Here’s an example of how we combined a problem/solution into a guide on vetting guest bloggers in this article: The 2 Approaches I Use To Vet Guest Bloggers (And Stop Wasting Time).
19. Behind the scenes
As well as flocking to your site to consume valuable content, your blog audience wants to get to know you too. What better way to do this than to provide them with a behind the scenes blog post.
Building a personal connection with your audience is a great way to keep them engaged. Why not show them what a day in your life behind the scenes looks like?
You could post a gallery of photos with your office setup followed by some of the processes you use to maintain your blog. Or even better, create a behind the scenes video showing how you work.
20. Content curation
Why should you sit scratching your head when trying to come up with new blog post ideas, when there is already a heap of content out there? A smart move is, employing the fine art of content curation.
Take some time to browse social media, relevant blogs and other news sources. Cherry-pick the content you feel will resonate most with your audience and present this as a collection of recent discussions.
Try to include different media types in your post to make things interesting. A collection of images, links, descriptions, social embeds and quotes will work beautifully.
21. Guest posts
What do you do if you’re stepping away from your blog for a week or two to take a well-earned break? How are you going to come up with blog ideas to fill in that gap and schedule ahead of time?
Step in guest bloggers. Reach out to other bloggers and people of interest in your niche and invite them to post on your site while you’re away.
Keep the posts relevant to your blog and organise it all well ahead of time and your site will have interesting new content, while you sip martinis on a beach somewhere.
22. Monthly stats & progress updates
Have you ever thought about letting your readers in on the metrics for your blog? I’m talking about figures like earnings, audience insights and subscriber growth.
This type of transparency is popular on blogs that have high earnings and large audiences, but even smaller blogs can use this practice to fill a gap in your content calendar.
You don’t even have to go into earnings at all – you could simply focus on your goals, what you achieved, what you didn’t, etc.
23. Preview posts
Think about giving your audience a glimpse of the future. What plans do you have for your blog further down the line? What are thoughts on the direction of your content?
A preview post like this can work wonders for helping you readers to feel closer and more connected to you. This is because you’re trusting them with this information. If you don’t deliver on your promises, they can question you and hold you accountable.
24. Galleries and photo albums
‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ might be an overused adage but it still rings true in many situations.
When you’re stuck for what to write, a blog post of imagery with some captions can get your message across just as effectively as writing your thoughts.
Take GIFs and memes for example. More often than not they need no explanation. Use this in your blog to give yourself some breathing room.
25. Blog aspirations
What does the future look like? Are you planning to expand your blog or break into a new market?
Share these aspirations with your audience – tell them where you’d like to be in a few years time with your blog.
Final Thinking
Perhaps there’s a subscriber goal or an earnings threshold you’d like to reach. Including your readers fosters a greater sense of trust and community. They’re in on your plans and aspirations.
Every blogger finds themselves with a lack of ideas at some time or another. Not knowing what to write about is frustrating when you’re trying to stay consistent.
The truth is, there is the inspiration for creating new blog posts all around you. From expert comment roundups to charity awareness – there’s always a way to generate new content that’s relevant to your blog.
Use some of the ideas above and you might find you have more ideas than you know what to do with!
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