5 Effective Blog Post Ideas
This is a guest post by Tom Walker of CartridgeSave.
Looking for and finding blog post ideas often seems easy when you first start blogging, but as you progress in your blogging career, you might find yourself running out of topic ideas or subject matter for posts. The more you post, the more you might find yourself scratching your head as to what to discuss next. You certainly don’t want to rehash the same old subject matter time and again, as that will likely deter return visitors and will make posting a bore for you.
So how do you come up with new and interesting ideas that will keep readership up, followers coming back, and you interested and excited about the subject matter on which you post?
Sometimes a jolt of inspiration will come to you, or a follower might suggest a topic. Other times you may stumble across an idea while searching other blogs and websites. But what if good ideas are lacking on a particular occasion and inspiration is fleeting? This is the time when a few standard title ideas can come in handy. Articles that are pretty much set in stone but with a fill-in-the-blank type style.
If you’re looking for a few of these standard issue posts, here are five title ideas that can handle inordinate amount of topics and subjects and can pretty much be used by any type of blog in just about any niche out there.
1. Tutorials & How-tos
It’s hard to go wrong with a step-by-step or ‘how-to’ title post unless you just don’t know what you are talking about when it comes to the subject matter. However, if you’ve picked a topic with which you are knowledgeable and is relevant to your blog’s subject matter, you could have a dynamite format on your hands. The great thing about these types of articles is that you can utilize them for a number of subjects, they are usually quick and easy to read, as well as to write.
2. Interview or Q&A
An interview or question and answer post could give your blog the credibility it needs to become a leader among its niche. The downside with this post category is that you will need people to interview. Moreover, while you can go out and interview any ‘Joe Blow’ on the street, if your interviews aren’t conducted with industry experts or professionals relating to your particular blog topic, you might not be successful in your efforts.
Interviewing the server at your local coffee shop regarding the hottest stock picks or commodities trading probably won’t work out too well and will likely be a waste of your time. Interview pieces are typically a bit more involved, both in time and in effort, so this category likely won’t be one that you can use to spit out a quick post in a time crunch.
3. Quick List or Top 10
The quick list or top 10 is probably the easiest idea to come up with and write, and may be one of the most popular amongst the blogging world. These lists typically don’t have to be in-depth writing. Often, a sentence or two for each point will suffice. And you can load your list with links if you’re feeling up to it. Sometimes you can even cut the workload by limiting a post to a top 5 list instead of a top 10.
4. The Megalist
This type of blog post requires a bit more work than the top 10 list, often consisting of at least 20 items, all the way up to 100 listed items or more. Certainly this kind of posts are more time consuming than the quick list or top 10, but typically more useful to your readers. The megalist can provide readers with a huge source of information and like the top 10, can be loaded up with links.
5. Review Something
The ‘review’ idea, much like the interview, might take a bit more effort than some other title subjects, however; this is largely dependent on the subject, product, or service being reviewed as well as your expertise and experience with the item. Reviews can be brief and to the point or cover a broad range of subject or product aspects and characteristics. From movies and television shows to stocks, coffees, and cleaning services, there is a huge range of topics that the review post can cover.
Conclusion:
And so, these five basic post ideas are great to keep in mind when creating articles for your blog and will help you keep creating high quality, interesting and fresh material. Feel free to mash them up and imbibe your own sense of creativity on them, as your own originality is what draws new and old readers in.
Article Written By Tom Walker
Hi, I'm Tom Walker, a writer and designer for a stockist of cartridges for HP PSC printers as well as paper and other accessories.Tom Walker has written 1 superb article(s) on this blog
March 16, 2010
3:20 pm
How to posts, reviews take up a lot of time planning the post as you’ve got to think about the possible questions that the readers may have. Also you’ve got to ensure what you’re saying is the right way to do that particular thing too.
March 25, 2010
7:05 pm
Yeah, I would agree with that. Corresponding with the interviewees can take up a lot of time, but putting them into your conventional posting sequence can really be a nice add to your blog’s posting diversity. Great post Tom.
March 16, 2010
3:20 pm
I think the Top 10 list takes a bit of research also. At least, that’s the way it is with me, with most topics. I feel like I have to give some credibility to the “Top 10″ claim, by establishing the “topness” by popularity or some other objective measurement.
Anne Moss´s last blog ..Scary WordPress Easter Egg
March 16, 2010
6:40 pm
i love writing Top 10 lists every now and then….they are quite popular and successful for me
Tushar´s last blog ..The Only Profitable Niche- ONLINE MONEY MAKING
March 16, 2010
6:58 pm
I’m using all of post ideas to draft my blog posts, but never used doing interviews of top bloggers in our industry. Thinking of doing it, that would be qute interesting
Anil Gupta´s last blog ..How to add No-Follow Target Blank Tags to a Link
March 17, 2010
12:19 am
Ironically one of the most rehashed blog topics is “how to come up with blog topics”. LOL
You have some good stuff here though, going back to basics is never a bad idea.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..48hr Downtime – Lots Done-LOTS More To-Do!
March 17, 2010
10:13 am
These are 5 great ideas to come up with a blog post. I know that sometimes I struggle with ideas for blogging and my two that I use a lot are reviews and top 10 posts.
Tiffany @ Passive Income Opportunities´s last blog ..My February Online Passive Income Earnings
March 17, 2010
11:23 pm
Very good ideas. I often struggle in coming up with ideas as I don’t want to repeat what the other bloggers in my niche are discussing. Another tip: write about an email you may have received from someone seeking advice.
March 18, 2010
11:52 am
I think I have read such type of post at tycoon blogger. Well your said points are important to write new post, For me every time I get new idea on SEO or link building I share on my blog.
chandan@work at home jobs´s last blog ..10 Work from Home Money Makers
March 28, 2010
2:08 am
I love the idea of ‘reviewing something’ and ‘building a mega-list’. Those both are easy topic ideas. Another good idea is to search for news items related to your niche.
I’ve got a blog topic generator on my blog. Come check it out!
Chris@best blogging sites´s last undefined ..Response cached until Sun 28 @ 21:37 GMT (Refreshes in 23.97 Hours)
March 30, 2010
7:11 am
I like the idea of doing a Q&A. Perhaps doing a little survey beforehand to collect all the questions. That way you really provide some useful information for the readers. Please those questions will most likely be the search terms people type in so that will bring more traffic to your site. Great post!
Leo@Affiliate Game Plan´s last blog ..Highly Profitable Secret Campaign Revealed
March 30, 2010
11:48 pm
How To’s and Review post always bring in good traffic. and always helpful.
Great post.
John Paul@Make Money With A Blog´s last blog ..SEO Tips For Your Twitter and Facebook Page To Rank You Higher On Google
April 5, 2010
8:18 am
These are all great ideas. Having been a journalist I tend to shy away from the “listing things with bullets” or bulletpoints, and always develop everything into a story. But I do have to say that when I want to write something different I opt for a How To…
Danna Alexander´s last blog ..Article Writing, The Holy Grail of SEO… Content IS King!
April 9, 2010
9:44 am
Great stuff for starters like me. The ideas are very crisp and provide detailed knowledge about blog posting.The ideas are very reliable and I am sure that it will help others too
shilpy@passiveincome´s last blog ..SEO and Silver Bullion
April 17, 2010
5:48 pm
Thanks for the tips! Here is another tip for your readers. No idea about what to write about? You can easily write as much blog posts as you want by changing the way you put your knowledge into posts. Instead of putting every aspect of a topic in a post, you can divide it over multiple posts.
If for example you write about Photoshop you can turn it into dozens of posts by writing each post about a specific aspect. A post about shading, a post about contrast, another post about gradient etc.
Dylan From Earrings For Men´s last blog ..Mens Silver Earrings
May 25, 2010
9:35 pm
I have this problem many times and I end up with a really uninteresting post. I will try the top 10 lists you mentioned, it seems like an easy way to give out useful interesting information without having to go too in depth with details and link out to sources which can further explain it. Thanks
June 10, 2010
1:35 am
very nice information..my favourite is tutorial and quick list because it’s very easy to write..and very effective..
aleh@ buat blog percuma´s last blog ..Belajar cakap bahasa sepanyol guna google translate
July 11, 2010
12:54 pm
this is very useful, of cause after some time you will ran out of topics, with your tips we hope will come up something creativity Evey time, thanks you
thushy´s last blog ..Make Money Online – Internet Marketers Challenges with Creating Content