5 Types of Content To Spice Up Your Blog

blog content

marketing planMix up your content marketing strategies by using new blog content formats that keep readers interested

If you think you or your writer is getting tired of writing the same type of content again and again, consider how your readers feel. While each type of blog post can contribute to your content marketing goals, if you continually post the same type of content — whether it be a listicle, how-to article, or news post — your audience is going to grow bored of your resource library.

If your readers grow bored, they’ll stop tuning in, which could mean bad news bears for your search engine rankings. Keep things interesting by rotating not just through different topics but also, through different formats.

Below are five blog content formats that are sure to spice up your plain-Jane blog and keep people coming back for more.

1 – Checklists

Everyone loves a good checklist. Checklists not only increase productivity but also, they boost motivation. Seriously. According to science, checking items off a to-do list releases a small amount of dopamine in the brain that then fuels you to keep wanting to check more items off the list. You can appeal to the reward center in everyone’s brains by providing a simple yet helpful checklist that will guide your audience toward a desired outcome.

For example, SEO writing companies may create a checklist for creating and implementing a content marketing strategy. A gardening blogger may create a checklist that helps gardeners prepare their plots for the winter. A cleaning company may create a checklist to help readers declutter before the holidays. Whatever industry you’re in, there is a checklist idea out there waiting for you to expand on it.

2 – Resource List

From books to blogs to websites to videos, there are an abundance of resources available for order or download or viewing on the web today. While the internet has certainly made it easier than ever for people to educate themselves, it has also made finding the right resource an overwhelming endeavor. Be kind to your readers by compiling a list of the best resources on a given topic.

Don’t just post the link to the blog or article or video, though. Explain how the resource will help your audience solve X dilemma, what your experience was like with the resource, and why you’re recommending it. Though this type of post may take considerable time on your part, your audience will thank you.

3 – FAQs

This is one of the easiest types of posts to create, yet by far one of the most effective. To gather ideas for questions, go through customer communications, reviews, inquiries, comments, and other sources of data to get an idea of the questions customers have most often. Use your industry knowledge and expertise to come up with thoughtful and helpful answers.

4 – Long-Form Posts

If you regularly publish blog posts of between 300 and 500 words, switch things up with lengthy and uber-informative articles every now and then. Long-form articles appeal to both readers and the search engine bots. The proof is in the data.

According to Neil Patel, who claims to have reached 100,000 visitors in less than a year thanks to his 4,000-word posts, articles of 1,500+ words receive 68% more tweets on Twitter and 22% more likes on Facebook than posts below that word count. A HubSpot analysis found that articles with 2,000 or more words garner maximum organic traffic, social shares, and inbound links. If you’re really feeling inspired, aim for a word count of between 3,000 and 10,000 words, as articles of those lengths saw the most shares.

5 – Infographics

Your 10,000-word post is not going to appeal to everyone, and that’s okay. However, make the most of your writing efforts by identifying the most important points and sharing them in the simple and aesthetically pleasing way only an infographic can afford. In addition to being great tools for making a lot of information more digestible, infographics are always excellent ways to share data, fun facts, and step-by-step instructions.

There are so many different blog content formats out there for you to play with. In fact, you can try a new one once a day for a month and still not have gone through all your options. While it is not necessary, or even advisable, to create content in 30+ different formats in just as many days, integrating new structures here and there to breathe life back into a blog that’s gone stale. Try your hand at one of the above five formats to get started today.

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Editorial Staff

This article was written by SBMarketingTools.com editorial staff.