Blogs have been a huge part of many businesses' marketing strategies for years now — however, there will come a time when you’re unsure what to write next. It could be because it’s a Friday afternoon and your brain has already started the weekend, or, it could be that you can’t figure out what you should write about, maybe you feel like “you’ve done everything”.
Oftentimes, people stick to the same blogging style for every article, forgetting that there are so many types of blog articles that can help mix things up. Not only will mixing up your blog content help conquer writer’s block, but changing things up will also keep your readers engaged, and support your marketing strategy.
We’ve included a list of our favourite blog article types below that are truly beneficial for increasing your visits and leads.
- Lists
You see these types of blogs articles all over the internet, they might sound like this:
- Top 10 Social Media Tips
- 10 Reasons Everybody is Talking About TikTok
- 5 Healthy Recipes You Have to Try
Lists are a great way to streamline information in a digestible and easy-to-share format. When people don’t have time to sit down and read a full blog article, they can easily skim a list-style article and get all of the information they need. Lists are great traffic builders and are more likely to go viral than other types of articles. Bottom line? People like reading lists! Case in point: You’re reading one right now, aren’t you?
- How-To Guides
Aside from checking Facebook and email multiple times a day, many people get online to discover how to do something. Whether it’s baking a pie or tying a tie, people are looking for solutions to their problems. If they see you have the answer they’re looking for, they’re likely click on the link to your site to read the article.
Sharing your industry knowledge and thought leadership in how-to articles shows your personas that you know what you’re talking about, which sets the stage for powerful lead generation. The more you help them, the more they’ll want from you, and the more they’ll download your content.
- Checklists/Cheat Sheets
There’s something satisfying about knowing that you’ve accomplished a task. Providing a checklist for your audience gives them a step-by-step breakdown of what they need to do to achieve a goal. This differs from how-to articles in that checklists don’t leave any room for interpretation. Checklists and cheat sheets can serve as a quick reference guide for your audience when time is limited. Provide this useful resource and your audience will probably want to consume and download more of your valuable content.
- Infographics
Although infographics aren’t the best tool for lead generation, they are a fantastic resource for driving visits to your site and raising awareness. They’re easy to digest, informative, and entertaining. Plus, infographics deliver a nice break from your average wordy blog article.
Additionally, more often than not, people will place an embed code near the infographic to make it easy for people to embed it on their site, increasing the odds of sharing and more backlinks to your site. If you create an infographic, definitely include the embed code to take advantage of the benefits. Let’s face it, who doesn’t love a good infographic?
- Interviews
Interview articles are perfect for when you want to develop a piece of content but don’t have time to research and write about a topic. Instead, pick an industry influencer, customer, or anyone relevant to your buyer personas and conduct an interview with that person. The easiest way to do this is to send that person a list of questions, have them fill out a written response, do a bit of editing and formatting, and then publish it to your blog ... voila!
This type of article has a lot of sharing potential to drive traffic to your site because there’s a good chance that the interviewee will want to share the content with their networks, too. It shows their expertise and mixes up your blogging style at the same time—it’s a win-win!
- Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is beneficial because you can deliver a fresh perspective on your industry, product, service, and more. There are multiple benefits for both you and the guest blogger.
Guest Blogging Benefits for You
- Connects you with a new audience
- Gives a fresh perspective that’s different from your own
- Increases your opportunities for networking
- Keep your content calendar on track without actually creating new content
Benefits for the Guest Blogger
- Increases exposure
- Adds to credibility
- Increases the number of inbound links driving to their site (great for SEO)
- Grows social media reach
- Increases networking opportunities
Be sure to submit blogging guidelines to your guest writer so that they have everything they need to keep with the tone of your blog. Remind your guest blogger to avoid self-promotion and focus on education.
- Newsworthy Articles
Newsworthy articles are intriguing to audiences because of their timeliness. People want to know what the buzz is all about and are more apt to click on your article when they think it’s helping them “be in the know.” If something important happened within your industry, it’s important to let your buyer personas know about it. If they see that you’re current with all of the latest trends in the industry, they’ll see you as a true expert and an authority in your field where they can go in the future for all of the latest trends and news. The more a person trusts you as an expert, the more likely they’ll buy from you.
- Personal Stories
Great storytellers can engage people no matter what the topic. The more you can connect with somebody on an emotional level, the more likely they’ll trust you, which from a business perspective could lead to them buying from you.
However, don’t get personal stories confused with self promotion. Self promotion is the last thing you want to do in a blog article at the awareness stage. The point of storytelling is to establish a human connection and strike an emotional chord with your audience while staying educational. Ask yourself this: “What does the reader gain from this content?” If it’s valuable to your audience, publish it. If not, it’s time for a rewrite.
- Case Studies
There’s a key difference between somebody telling you something and someone showing that same thing to you, which is where case studies come in.
Case study blog articles are great for lead conversion. Why? They show real-life examples of a topic that is valuable to your niche! Readers will be more apt to believe that you know what you’re talking about when they see actual examples, making them more likely to turn into customers.
Conclusion
Feeling overwhelmed by the idea of writing blogs? We get it. You’re a business owner. You don’t have time to blog. Let Good Commerce take it off your plate! Our Blog Writing process begins with a Brand Discovery meeting. This informal get together allows us to get to know each other a little better, discover what makes your brand unique, and learn what your goals are. Our aim is to ensure we’re crafting content for your audience that will resonate with them and help to drive conversions.
Interested in hearing how Good Commerce can elevate your blog writing? Contact us to book a Brand Discovery session and let’s start achieving your business goals together.