7 Popular Blog Post Formats

If you’re a blogger, you should also be subscribing to other people’s content– not only other bloggers in your niche but also some content aggregators like Digg, StumbleUpon or Popurls. Reading and participating in these sites is a great way of understanding what types of content readers find most interesting and worth sharing. But you don’t even have to look that far, a little bit of research into Blogging Junction’s own popular posts will give you some insight into the kind of posts that are of most value to readers.

Next time you are stuck for ideas about how to write your blog post, take inspiration from these always popular formats:

Best-of Lists

Put together a list of “best” or “top” items, products or services in your niche. This is a form of reviewing and sharing some of the best and most reliable products/services in your niche – and also helps to establish your expertise.

Example: 7 Best Ad Publishing Networks for Bloggers to Earn More Money

Resource lists

Consumers today have too much choice and too little time. Put your knowledge to use and compile a list of valuable resources (free resources are best) so that your readers can not only bookmark and refer to it but also save time trying to hunt for and compare opinions online.

Example: 5 Must-Use WordPress Plugins for a Good Blogging Experience

Showcases

The internet is a big place, and it’s often hard to find high quality examples of various types of work for learning and inspiration purposes. Putting together a showcase of other people’s good work is a great way to inspire your readers and earn good karma not only from them but from those you recommend and link to.

Example: 20 Best 404 Error Pages

Tutorials

Share your expertise with your readers and they will share your posts with their friends! Teach them how to accomplish tasks that may seem complex by breaking them down into easy-to-follow steps. This is also good for search traffic because often people look for such tutorials and guides on search engines, and can find your blog.

Example: How to Change the Dimensions of Facebook ‘Like’ Box

Answering questions

Your readers can often have specific questions about your experiences or your niche topic. Answer those questions in the form of a blog post, so that one person’s question can help others learn as well. Again, we often type questions we have into search engines like Google, and finding a match for that question is always a great relief and big help.

Example: Why did the Adsense Moderators Approve My Account?

Tips

A little obvious, yes, but tips are so popular that we couldn’t leave them off our list! Tips are common precisely because that’s what your readers often expect from you — they won’t always have questions to be answered, so it’s up to you to anticipate their needs and provide tips that can improve their routine tasks. Blogs today have evolved from individual “diaries” to resources full of learned, well-informed advice — so go ahead, give your readers what they want.

Example: Six Things You Can Do to Make Your WordPress Blog Safer

Contests

Contests also make for popular and share-worthy posts. People not only participate in contests but tell their friends about it, and it’s a great way to get your readers involved more actively in your web site and subject. It’s not about the prize; it’s about the fun of participation and a little bit of easygoing competition. Sharing with your readers doesn’t have to be limited to just words; if you are up for it, give contests a try.

Example: Win Free Web Hosting and Premium Plugins – Blogging Junction Contest

We hope these examples and formats gave you some new ideas for your next blog post. What formats do you find most interesting and successful? Tell us in the comments!

Joyce Loews is an experienced author, software analyst, and consultant. A resident of San Antonio, she is a leader in the field of ERP, including Oracle and SAP Consulting.