40 Engaging Types Of Blog Posts & Content You Can Create
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, utilise a bit of creative thinking to turn the ordinary on its head.
Here are 40 different types of blog posts & content you can publish:
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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 favourite books or a list of your top bloggers to follow.
Here are two great examples of listicles:
Pro Tip: Build your lists around your main blog niche and topics to stay relevant to your audience. It’s also recommended to consider what type of lists people are searching for in Google. Check out our guide to keyword research for more help.
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.
Here’s an example from YourCreativeAura.com: How To Write A Song: Songwriting Basics, this post is broken into the 5 main sections of song creation, along with imagery and examples to make it easier for beginners to understand.
3. Video tutorials
If writing full guides on a subject seems too daunting for you, you can always create a video tutorial instead. Video is hugely popular – sometimes more popular than the written word, so utilising 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.
Pro Tip: You can share your checklists as content upgrades in the future to get more subscribers.
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 prioritise 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.
Here’s an example of a music gear review on Tone Island: Supro 1605RH Reverb Special: A Great Studio Tool.
Pro Tip: Weigh the pros and cons carefully and avoid over-promising on the benefits, so your readers can make an informed choice on the product.
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.
Here’s another example on Tone Island, where they compare tube amps and digital modellers.
15. Podcast MP3s
The podcasting industry is booming these days, with new podcasts popping up all over the place. And there are plenty of statistics to support continued growth in the future.
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.
If you use WordPress, I recommend checking out these podcasting plugins to help you.
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. Quizzes
We’re all guilty of taking part in a silly online quiz now and then. Posting a quiz on your blog can be a really fun way of engaging with your audience. Not only does it provide them with a fun, interactive activity, it can also help you learn more about your readers.
If you have a WordPress blog, there are even quiz plugins you can use to make the process of building a quiz much easier.
The Thrive Quiz Builder plugin for example, not only helps create a professional-looking quiz, but it also has options to encourage users to subscribe to your email list and share across social media with others.
21. 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.
Related Reading: What Is Content Curation? The Complete Beginner’s Guide
22. Surveys and polls
Have you ever used the poll features on Facebook and Twitter? It’s simple, isn’t it? Polls and surveys are quick ways to get the opinions of your audience and the answers you receive can be put to good use in future blog posts.
Creating a poll or a survey on your blog is easy with tools like Typeform.com available, with many of them including features to embed your survey into your blog posts.
23. Presentations and slideshows
Just like infographics, presentations and slideshows are an effective way to share insights and information in a visual format. Slideshows are easy to create with software like PowerPoint for windows and productivity office for mac.
And if you’re looking for an online tool, Adobe Express, and Canva are great places to put your presentations together for free.
For inspiration, check out SlideShare. But remember, you should keep your content high quality and informative in order to offer the best value to your readers.
Speaking of SlideShare – it’s a great platform to share your own presentations and you could even repurpose your existing content into a presentation. Just like we did with this presentation:
The result? With the help of SlideShare’s built-in audience we were able to grab an extra 12,000+ page views.
24. Contests and giveaways
A contest or giveaway may sound like hard work for a small blog or business. But the truth is, it can really give your site a boost in terms of engagement and subscribers.
Think about what your goal is for running a contest:
- Do you want more subscribers? Build a contest where people need to opt-in to your list.
- Is it to get more readers? Get readers to answer a question about a blog post.
- Do you want to boost your social presence? Ask your audience to share and retweet the contest.
Once you have your goal in mind, you can build your giveaway around this. Offer a prize your audience would appreciate and go about running the contest. Remember, the most effective giveaways don’t cost much to run.
You’ll need a tool to help you manage your giveaways, though. Be sure to check out this article on social media contest & giveaway tools over at Startup Bonsai.
Related Reading: 130+ Proven Prize Ideas For Your Next Giveaway.
25. Event summaries
Many bloggers head to events and conferences to improve their knowledge and gain insights about their field of interest. Why not share that knowledge with your audience?
Sure you could live-tweet the whole thing but you’ll get more longevity from compiling the information into a blog post. Summarise your findings and add your own commentary. You can even include pictures and videos if you took any.
26. Beginner guides
A fundamental post every blog could do with having in their archives is a beginner’s guide. Regardless of your niche, everyone is a beginner at some point in their life, so compiling a beginners guide to something in your area of interest make a whole lot of sense.
For example, we have an article on how to start a blog – it’s a complete beginner’s guide that walks people through, step-by-step:
What about a beginner’s guide to video editing, or podcasting? You could even further with a beginner’s guide to fly fishing or kite flying. The possibilities are endless.
Start off by thinking about what your audience would like to learn. If you have a good understanding of your niche, you’ll probably have some ideas already.
And, if you get stuck, you could also email your subscribers and ask them what they want to learn.
27. 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.
28. Expert roundups
Expert roundups are a great way to inject more personality and knowledge into your blog posts. Reach out to experts in your blog niche and ask a question your audience is desperate to have the answers for.
Compile your responses into a blog post with comments from each of the experts and you have an evergreen piece of content that’s highly shareable.
Be sure to let everyone know when it’s live and make it easy for them to share the article. Just don’t push them to share it – it’s got to be their own choice.
We’ve published these types of posts a bunch of times in the past. One example is this post on how to stand out online. It received thousands of visitors and social shares. And, at the time, it was one of our most linked-to blog posts.
Here are few tips to consider when trying these types of posts:
- Do your research up front – You need the right people to contribute. As in, actual experts!
- Ask a specific question – Something vague like “share your best content marketing tips” is too open ended. But “what 3 things do startup founders need to know about content marketing?” is a lot better.
- Make your question crystal clear – Are there two ways to interpret your question? Make it clear which one!
- Be flexible but give a deadline upfront – The people you’re contacting need to be able to prioritise and a deadline helps them do that.
- Outline your expectations – How much detail are you looking for in people’s answers? Or anything else people need to know? Be upfront about expectations so nobody wastes their time.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. Open letters
I bet there’s been a time where you’ve been firmly against an organisation or a person. Maybe their policies make you see red, or their attitude rubs you up the wrong way.
An open letter is a good way to air your frustrations and critiques.
Try not to use language that is too confrontational or insights negative action or violence, but put your concerns on the table for others to see. It might be worth getting a few people to read the post before you publish to make sure you’re not too controversial.
32. 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.
33. Recipes
Recipes don’t always have to be about cooking tasty food. When you’re stuck for inspiration, why not cook up a recipe for life to publish on your blog.
Here are a few other ideas:
- Recipes for a great blog post
- A recipe for the perfect image
- Color theory recipes
You can turn anything into a recipe. Start by listing the ingredients. For a great blog post the ingredients might be:
- An awesome headline
- Snappy subheadings
- Content idea
- Images
- Links
And then give your readers the method. Tell them how to put it all together for a great result.
34. Rants
Sometimes you just need to blow off some steam. So go ahead and rant away. It’s your blog – you can do what you want with it. Rant, in ALL CAPS, if you really want to and get the frustration out of your system.
Just remember that what you publish on the internet, stays on the internet for everyone to see. There’s a good chance you could start a troll war with your rant. So make sure someone else reads it before you hit the publish button.
35. A glossary post
Do you use a lot of complicated words and terms throughout your blog? They might be essential for the type of content you’re creating but will everyone know what they mean?
Think about how alienating this can be for a new reader that doesn’t understand them.
A glossary post is a way to combat this. Collect the terms you feel your audience will struggle with – include them in the choosing process and ask them in a poll or questionnaire. Then publish them as a glossary to demystify things.
This type of post can serve as a cornerstone article you can refer to regularly.
You could also turn a glossary into cornerstone content for your blog. This is typically a higher value piece of content that has higher potential for earning backlinks, shares, and traffic.
A good example is the conversion rate optimization Glossary from Optimizely:
36. 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.
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.
37. Memes and GIFs
Memes and GIFs are an excellent way to get people engaged and sharing your content. We all love a good meme and with access to thousands of them online, you can dedicate an entire post them.
Collect your favourite memes and GIFs that are relevant to your niche and share them with your readers. You could even make your own by using a meme generator. You never know – it might be an instant hit.
38. Charity awareness
Think about doing something for a good cause via your blog. There are loads of worthwhile charities you can help by raising awareness of them with a blog post.
Perhaps someone close to you is supported by a charity. Honour them by raising awareness of it with your followers. There may even be charities that are close to your niche you can support in this way.
Tech bloggers, for example, could write about the One Laptop Per Child charity or Computer Aid International.
39. Recycle old content
If you’ve been blogging for some time now, chances are you have a large archive of content at your disposal. Instead of letting them sit there doing very little, think about how you can recycle them into new content to publish now.
You could turn a list post into an infographic, a podcast into a written post and a blog series into a newsletter series. For more ideas on how to repurpose old content, take a look at this article.
40. Sources of inspiration
What is it that gives you inspiration on those days when you’re feeling productive? What serves as your muse? Where do you usually get your ideas from?
Maybe there’s a walk you take regularly or a blog you read often. Your source could be hilarious things your kids say or musings from your grandparents. Whatever they are, put them together in a post and let your readers in on the secrets to your inspiration.
You can even go further by asking your readers to comment with their own inspiration sources. Who knows, perhaps one of them could be your next way to get inspired.
Final thoughts
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! And be sure to check out our guide to writing blog posts that convert.
Related reading:
