Creating content consistently is tough.  

Daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, whatever your volume of output - coming up with fresh ideas that your readers will find interesting and engaging can be challenging.

Oftentimes, marketers stick to the same blogging style unaware that there are so many types of blog posts they can use to better reach their audiences.  Using different formats allows marketers to develop some variety in their content as well as encourage some fresh thinking in ideas and delivery methods.

Not to mention, limiting your site one type of blog format also limits your business.

For example, while all blog posts help with increasing site traffic, there are specific types of posts that can do the job better. And, if you’re looking to improve your SEO, there are also certain types of posts that are better suited to that role. Therefore, if you want to grow you business, you need to mix things up a little.

Here’s a list of 9 different types of blogs you can start using today to add variety to your website;

How-To blogs and tutorials 

“How To X” posts are the most common blogs in the world and for good reason. A majority of web users are looking for solutions to certain problems. If you can provide their solutions, then they would be happy to read your posts.

Start by identifying your audience’s problem. Often, this is something people in your industry are struggling with. The more people you can help, the better. After identifying the problem, provide the solution step-by-step.

Case studies

Nothing beats case studies when it comes to showing off your brand, product, and services. These content pieces are designed just for that – to show your audience what you are capable of.

To make your case studies even more effective, discuss just one of the three items (your brand, product, or service), narrowing down on how you overcame a series of challenges to get to where you are today.

News and curated content 

In content curation, you simply collect the important stuff other people have created and store them in a single place for your readers. Being a hub of interesting noteworthy news in your industry will quickly boost your trust and authority.  Grow Inbound have our own flavour of this in our Inbound Insights section on GrowInbound.com. 

For greater success, put quality before quantity, sharing only valuable, super-useful news pieces.

Infographics

Infographics are exactly what the name suggests – rich, visual representations of information. These are among the most effective content types out there. Humans naturally fall in love with them.

You can use infographics to communicate data, research statistics, and other numerical information. However, you need to be very creative to grab the attention of your readers. Both the information and delivery need to be top-notch.

Slides and presentations 

PowerPoint presentations are known to be one of the best ways to convey information to an audience. They are easy to scan and often contain just enough information per slide which makes digesting such information easier. One of the best examples is the LinkedIn-owned Slideshare.

To make your slides even more appealing, infuse a bit of fun in them. Nothing turns off readers more than boredom.

Reviews

You can review just about anything; a company, a product, a service and so forth. For example pick your favorite gadgets and create detailed reviews about them, educating your audience about the product.

The typical format for a review is; introduction, pros, cons, and then your verdict. If you’re reviewing a book, ensure to summarize the main points and provide a link to a website where interested reader can find the book.

List blogs 

Humans also love lists a lot, mostly because lists present a host of information in an easy to scan format. Even on search engines, list headlines such as “X Ways to...” are the most clicked.  There is a reason that most of our blogs are List blogs - easy to read and digest and generally of interest to readers.

Lists are also easy to create. Simply start with a headline, then introduce the problem, list your solutions, and conclude. As you list the solutions, take some time to discuss and justify each point. It provides additional value for the reader.

Link and tool collections 

These are special types of lists with links that point the reader to resources where they can find a solution to a problem. For example, you can create a list of blogging tools, linking each tool to that company’s website like these 20 Essential Apps for Inbound Marketing.

Just as with lists, structure your collection properly and briefly expound on each tool, even if just to make your blog easily findable on search engines.

Podcasts

Ok, strictly not a blog but providing your insights in audio format (or video) is a hugely popular way for people to digest your content while on the move. 

Aside from the fact that podcasts are packed with valuable information, they are also easy to produce and the technology is readily available. Most importantly, podcasts are very personal meaning they are much more effective at building personal relationships with your audience.

You’ll need a microphone and recording software and that’s it. Create the podcast and post it to iTunes, SoundCloud, as well as on your website.

As a foundation to your content marketing efforts, adopting any of the above blog formats is a great way to generate additional and varied traffic to your website as needed.  Pick one, test it, pick another, test it and see how your audience reacts.  You might find that your particular niche reacts best to a particular format in which case you may want to double down on that content type.