Starting a blog is easy, but writing high-quality content on a daily basis can be a challenge.
And the best way to promote your blog and develop an audience is to consistently execute on great blog post ideas.
Based on personal experience, the most popular types of blog posts are usually how-to tutorials or guides, lists, cheat sheets, and infographics.
The best part is that this kind of evergreen content works with all types of blogs, whether you start a fashion, food or business blog.
Combine these types of content with the blog post ideas below and you’ll start to grow your blog.
Educational Blog Post Ideas
Many readers visit blogs intent on learning new skills they can apply in their personal or professional lives. Educational blog post ideas provide useful information for free, helping you build a loyal following and a positive reputation online.
Furthermore, consistently offering your readers valuable insights and knowledge will establish you and your blog as an authority in your industry.
How-Tos. The “How-To” blog post is arguably the most successful and popular type of content you can publish. In a how-to blog post, you teach readers how to accomplish or do something. Make sure the steps are as detailed as possible and add images, screenshots or videos to make your how-to post easier to follow.
Examples: “How To Tie A Tie”, “How To Lose Weight”, “How To Get Rid of Ants”, or “How To Start A Business”.
Checklists. A “checklist” is generally used as a reminder, and is comparable to a to-do list. Checklists are actionable, easy to digest, and often preferred by readers.
Examples: “Wedding Checklist”, “Moving Checklist”, “New Baby Checklist”, or “Spring Cleaning Checklist”.
Resource Lists. Resource lists are blog posts that itemize a comprehensive list of resources on a specific topic. You should include government websites, books, eBooks, guides or tutorials provided by experts, case studies or experiments by independent research groups, etc.
Examples: “List of Best Technology Websites”, “List of Useful Government Sources”, “Top Resources For Entrepreneurs”, or “College Admissions Resources Every Student Needs”.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Most readers wonder the same things and ask similar questions. Use an FAQ page to answer common questions your fans may be asking you via email. You might even use this page to refer to a series of blog posts where you’ve already answered commonly asked questions.
Examples: “Frequently Asked Questions About How To Become A Blogger”, “FAQ – How Much Should I Contribute To My Retirement Accounts?”, “Reader Question – Which Fashion Accessory Is My Favorite?”, or “FAQs – Why I Decided To Quit My Job and Become A Stay-At-Home Mom”.
Ultimate Guides. Comprehensive guides or tutorials are the epitome of evergreen content. Pick a topic people regularly research and develop the absolute best reference guide. Bloggers will want to link to your content and share it with their readers, while other readers will share it via social media.
Examples: “The Beginner’s Guide To SEO”, “The Ultimate Guide To Home Design”, “Amber’s Fashion Guide For 2015”, or “The Best Car Buying Guide You’ll Ever Read”.
Case Studies. A “case study” invokes a sense of credibility and insight. Document a research project or experiment and present the process and results as a case study.
Examples: “My Case Study on Whey Protein – Is It Effective?”, “Case Study – How A Fashion Designer Helped Me Get A Promotion”, “How To Make Money on Fiverr – Guide and Case Study”, or “My 3 Month Experiment Without Caffeine”.
Statistics. A statistic in the title of your blog post can spark curiosity and lend integrity to your work. Maybe explore or try to disprove a statistic everyone cites, but isn’t accurately used.
Examples: “How Mobile Users Generate 30% of Facebook’s Ad Revenue” or “How I Increased My Freelance Writing Rates By 35% With A Professional Blog”.
Top 10 Lists. Audiences love “Top X Lists” because they are easy to read and absorb. Lists always spark interest and intrigue because readers are curious about who or what made the list. Numbers such as 10, 100, 101, 99 and 11 seem to be the most appealing headline figures.
Examples: “Top 10 WordPress Plugins For Your Blog”, “Top 100 Fashion Bloggers”, “99 Beautiful Places You’ll Never Visit”, or “101 Random Acts of Kindness”.
Common Mistakes Lists. No one likes making mistakes, and by highlighting common mistakes and ways to avoid or fix them, bloggers can capture the attention of their readers.
Examples: “9 Social Media Mistakes To Avoid”, “Top 5 Mistakes Made By Freelance Writers”, “The Worst Blogging Mistakes of 2014”, or “Avoid These 11 Mistakes When Starting Your Blog”.
Definitions or Glossary. A definitions or glossary page is particularly applicable to niche industries, where terms are not always straightforward and easy to understand. As an expert in your field, you can further establish your authority and lend your knowledge by explaining industry jargon.
Examples: “Car Insurance Terms and Definitions”, “Commonly Misunderstood Legal Definitions”, or “25 Essential SEO Terms Bloggers Should Know”.
Question and Answer (Q&A). Pick a day out of the week and publicly answer all the questions your readers have submitted recently.
Examples: “Question and Answer Friday”, “Q&A: Ask A Famous Entrepreneur Anything”, or “Q&A: Ask Me A Personal Question”.
Post Series. Create recurring visitors by writing a series of posts. Choose a big, popular topic that has a lot of material to work with, and create several posts addressing different aspects. End each post with a cliffhanger to the upcoming post that will encourage your readers to revisit for the next part in the series.
Examples: “Part 1: How To Effectively Advertise on Twitter – Targeting”, “How To Become A Fashion Blogger – Social Media Outreach”, or “Step 4 on How To Start A Million Dollar Blog”.
Survey Results. Conduct your own surveys about a hotly debated issue within your niche. Poll your readers and create anticipating for the day you will release the results.
Examples: “Poll – Is America Headed In The Right Direction?”, “Do You Believe Your Politician?”, “How Much Money Would It Take For You To Feel Wealthy?”, or “Would You Save Your Dog Over A Foreign Tourist?”.
Product Reviews. Review a product, service, company, or event. Research shows that people look for the opinions of other consumers online before they make a purchase. Make sure to provide an honest review of the pros and cons. A fake review to boost affiliate commissions can ruin your relationship with your audience.
Examples: “Discover Card Review”, “An Honest Review of Comcast’s Cable Services”, “TurboTax Software Review”, or “My Review of the iPhone 6”.
eBooks. Write short eBooks with content that is or isn’t found on your blog, and offer them for free, possibly in exchange for an email address to build up your subscriber list. Readers love the convenience of eBooks and PDFs because all your content is combined.
News and Current Events Blog Post Ideas
While it’s important to focus on pillar, evergreen content that will consistently earn you search engine traffic, reporting news and current events relevant to your industry may be one way to get the attention of new readers.
However, timing is everything. Break the news and your post will go viral. Hop on the band wagon a day late and you’re just another blog repeating the same commentary.
Here are a few news-related blog post ideas where timing is the key.
Trending Topics. Use hashtags, Google trends, and your Facebook feed to find news topics that are popular in the moment. Write about what’s hot early on, and don’t forget to throw in a dash of your own point of view. Do this consistently and you’ll become the “go-to” source.
Examples: “Will The Green Bay Packers Win The Super Bowl?”, “Celebrity Baby Names Revealed”, “Best Upcoming Movies of 2015”, or “Does Racism Still Exist?”
Reaction To Current Events. Don’t just be a bystander and report the news as it breaks; give your readers insight into the implications of what is happening. Maybe you can offer your prediction of future consequences and how a current event will affect your readers socially, economically, emotionally, politically, etc.
Examples: “Oil Falls To Record Low – What It Means For You”, “Is A College Education Overrated?”, “5 Ways To Protect Yourself When Banks Are Getting Hacked”, or “How To Complete Your Christmas Shopping
Polls About Current Issues. Your readers have something to say about current issues, too, so ask them what they think. Run a poll and use the results as a post, but you have to be quick and get the post up while the issue is still hot.
Examples: “Why 38% of Americans Vote Based On The Economy”, “New Study Finds 89% of Professional Bloggers Would Recommend You Start A Blog Today”, or “Do You Trust Financial Gurus?”.
Reviews. New product launches always result in a slew of product reviews. Whether it’s technology, movies, books, or TV shows, there is always something new to review and these blog posts are generally well-received because they help consumers make purchase decisions.
Examples: “Is The Apple Watch A Must-Have Device?”, “Will Star Wars: The Force Awakens Be A Box Office Hit?”, “Review: Does Toyota’s “Car of Future” Live Up To Its Name?”, or “The Best Netflix Review You’ll Ever Read”.
Analyze Research. Follow the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Pew Research Center, CDC, Gallup or Nielsen to discover the results of new studies, surveys, or polls when they are released. Curate their findings, discuss highlights, and comment on the potential effects.
Examples: “BLS Reports Women Only Paid 82% of Men’s Salaries”, “Government Workers Cost An Average of $44 Per Hour in 2014”, “President’s Job Approval Ratings Fall Below 50%”, or “America’s Obesity Problem – Food Industry Spends $2B Marketing To Children”.
Today In History. Not as urgent as the previous post ideas, but a “today in history” blog post idea can be interesting. There are plenty of people who love to read about random trivia.
Examples: “Today In History – Gone With The Wind Premiered”, “This Day in History – Walt Disney Died”, “Today Marks The Day Apple Went Public”, or “The Internet’s 50th Anniversary”.
Controversial or Editorial Blog Post Ideas
Controversial or editorial types of blog posts are best to use when exposing an injustice, taking the moral high ground on an issue, or criticizing a company/person/concept for logical and emotional reasons.
Opinions. Your blog is your voice, and readers who regularly visit your blog come because they are interested in your perspective. Don’t hesitate to voice your opinions, but make sure your thoughts and beliefs are based on concrete facts, figures, and a thorough understanding of the issues. An extreme, inaccurate viewpoint risks your credibility and other bloggers can quickly label you as ignorant.
Examples: “Will Wages Finally Rise in 2015?”, “Why You Should Always Vaccinate Your Children”, “The Best Food Blogs Online and Why”, or “The Best Smartphone of 2015”.
Make Fun. This is a sensitive area, but if you’re into satire or sarcasm, making fun of the ridiculousness of government policies, company products or services, public figures, newspaper headlines, or TV anchors can be fun. You may even want to incorporate a meme or YouTube video.
Examples: “The World’s Funniest Company Names”, “10 Ridiculous Corporate Policies That Companies Actually Enforce”, “Did The CDC Need To Remind American Not To Take Poison?”, or “Top 100 Dumbest Criminals”.
Conspiracy Theories. Most everyone loves a good conspiracy theory and enjoy the great engagement and audience interaction.
Examples: “Did America Really Land on The Moon?”, “Digital Television and Subliminal Advertising – Is It True?”, “Why Global Warning Is No Hoax”, or “Proof Secret Societies Control The World”.
Response Posts. There is a horde of bloggers with opinions, so you won’t have a difficult time finding blog posts that you can respond to. Write a response post, and leave a comment on the original post linking to your own.
Myth-Busting. Debunking popular beliefs and misconceptions can help educate your readers on a topic they wouldn’t have learned about otherwise.
Examples: “Myth-Busting Social Media Advertising”, “Why Free Blogs Aren’t Really Free”, “UK’s Crime Statistics Don’t Tell The Whole Story”, or “Eating An Apple A Day Doesn’t Keep The Doctor Away”.
Predictions. Blog posts with predictions and expectations intrigue readers. Be bold with your predictions, but stay grounded and support your ideas with facts.
Examples: “Pharmaceutical Companies Will Announce An Ebola Vaccine in 2015”, “Wireless Charging Will Become A Reality in 2016”, “My New Blog Will Reach 1,000 Visitors Per Day By 2016”, or “George Clooney Will Win An Oscar in 2015”.
Interviews and Relationships
Blogging is all about community. No blog can thrive without the support of other bloggers and loyal fans.
Interviews can be great relationship-building exercises as well as a way of showing appreciation for the bloggers who have helped you along the way.
Crowdsourced Post. Ask 10, 25, or 50 influencers to answer a single question. Each will provide their thoughts and opinions, and you can compile their answers into one powerful, authoritative blog post.
Once you’ve published the post, reach out to the influencers you featured and ask them to share the post with their own readers. The result is a ridiculous influx of traffic, links and shares. After all, how often do dozens of industry experts come together in one place?
Examples: “50 SEO Experts Share Their Top Link Building Strategies”, “25 Top Chefs Admit Their Favorite Secret Ingredient”, “10 Internet Millionaires Who Made A Fortune After The Recession”, or “100 Social Medial Influencers Explain Their Prominence”.
Interviews. Get in touch with experts and influential individuals and invite them for interviews. Interviews with experts lend credibility to your blog, while leveraging the interviewees fan base to grow your own readership.
The interview can be presented in text, video, or podcast, although most interviewees prefer mediums that don’t require them to write more. If you do turn an interview into a podcast or video, make sure to include a transcript for SEO purposes.
Examples: “Neil Patel of QuickSprout Shares Insights on Content Marketing”, “How To Dominate Amazon Affiliate Sales With Morgan”, or “Business Pitfalls To Avoid Revealed By Former Venture Capitalist”.
Influential People Lists. Write about influential or popular bloggers in your field and put them together in a list. Link to their blogs then reach out to them via email or Twitter asking them to share the post. Being recognized as a top blogger solidifies their authority in a niche and simultaneously helps you grow your online presence.
Examples: “Top Fashion Bloggers of 2015”, “100 Entrepreneurs To Check Out”, or “Top 50 Freelance Writers To Work With”.
Link Roundup. Aggregate, link to and describe the best blog posts of the week or month. The focus can be industry-wide or a different topic each week. Remember to notify the authors to expand the reach of the article.
Examples: “Link Roundup For April 2014”, “Best Blogging Guides of 2015”, or “Top Cyber Monday Deals of 2015”.
Guest Posts or Contributions. Get free, high quality content by asking bloggers to share their knowledge with your audience. Make sure to express your writing guidelines and reserve the right to edit or outright decline sub-par writing.
Personal Blog Post Ideas
One of the best ways to connect with your visitors is to humanize your blog. By sharing personal beliefs and experiences and allowing your personality to shine through, you can build a deeper connection with your readers.
Photos and Videos. Share pictures and videos of yourself, your family, vacations, DIY home projects, etc. This makes it easier for people to relate to you. Don’t forget to write a short description to give context.
Examples: “Creating Art For Your Walls”, “DIY Home Renovation 101”, “My Family Vacation To Hawaii”, or “How A Road Trip With My Kids Made Me A Better Blogger”.
Be Inspirational. Everyone needs to feel inspired every once in a while. Write about how you or someone else you know has overcome obstacles or achieved goals, no matter how big or small.
Write about personal and professionals failures and how you learned from them. Be humble and make sure your fans know how much you appreciate them.
Examples: “How A Trip To The Grocery Store Made Me A Millionaire”, “How Cooking Lessons Made Me A Better Person”, “101 Famous Inspirational Quotes”, or “Why I’m Thankful For My Near Death Experience”.
Share A Story or Anecdote. If you can tap into your creative writing side, write a short personal story. Your readers may welcome the change.
Examples: “How A Frustrating Day At Work Forced Me To Start This Blog”, “What I’ve Learned After 5 Years of Blogging”, “The Daily Life of A Freelance Writer”, or “The Student Who Reminded Me Why I Became A Teacher”.
Life Lessons. Write about the important things you’ve learned in life, whether recently or deep in your past. Explain how you’ve become the person you are today.
Examples: “45 Life Lessons Written By A 65 Year Old Woman”, “30 of Life’s Most Powerful Lessons”, “Hidden Life Lessons In Today’s Gossip Magazines”, or “15 Life Lessons You Don’t Learn In School”.
Memorials. Think about the people you respect, and write a blog post honoring them. Memorials are a great way to create an empathetic connection with your readers.
