15 of the best blog post types for beginners

So, your business needs a blog, and you’re the one charged with writing it. Now you’re looking for inspiration about how to write the darn thing and what to write about. 

I can help! Perfectly purposeful copywriting is what I do best.

I’m so happy you found me right at the start of your business blogging journey. If, later on, you find yourself looking for professional copywriting services, keep me in mind.

[If you’ve not read it yet, I suggest starting with my blog post on Blogging Strategy 101. It asks crucial questions about your business blog, which we’ll build on below.]

Get that pen and paper ready. Read on for blogging direction, inspiration, and good humour.

1. The About Post

This one’s deceptive. It’s not about you, your story, why you created your business in the first place yada, yada, yada.

It’s all about your ideal client. 

Let’s take a moment here to reiterate that everything – your website, social media, email marketing, the whole shebang – should be about your ideal client. 

Never you. 

It’s hard to hear, but it’s true. When I’m looking for IT support because my laptop is on the fritz for the third time this month, I honestly couldn’t give a hoot if you suddenly realised aged 42 while on holiday in Tunisia that your calling was fixing frazzled motherboards. I want a solution, and I want it now.

Reframe the narrative.

An ‘about’ post is all about your ideal client, the problems they face, how you can help, and why you’re the best in the business.

2. The Comparison Post

When you’re thinking about buying something, you weigh up your options. It’s true whether you’re choosing between two products or services from the same company or two distinct industry leaders (looking at you, Apple and Microsoft). 

Some people, especially serial overthinkers like me, write lists of pros and cons about specific products or services.

Help prospects make their decision by writing a detailed comparison. If two of your products appeal to the same kind of people, how and in what circumstances should they choose one over the other? If your signature product is similar to a competitor’s, what sets yours apart?

3. The Curated List Post

Have you ever fallen down one of those content rabbit holes where you’ve found a tonne of amazing blogs and articles on a subject? 

Write a blog about it! Share your favourite finds on topics that interest your ideal clients and add your spin. 

Top tip: Reach out to the writers of the articles you reference. People love to be quoted or cited as an authority. They may share your post with their networks or add a backlink to your post from their website.

4. The Demonstration Post

Marketing and Sales can talk a good game. But nothing beats seeing a product in action to help you decide if it lives up to the hype. 

It’s far harder to hide any cracks, sticky tape, and broken dreams if something is visible before your eyes.

For this reason, demonstration posts are a great trust-builder. It’s also the perfect opportunity to incorporate different media into your blog posts.

5. The Explanation Post

Your audience likely need to know the basics about their problem and your product, service or solution to understand it and learn why yours is the best in the business.

An explanation post is a starting point. It introduces a complex topic and covers the bare minimum of information they need to realise they have a problem.

Take SEO copywriting services. Many of my clients come to me because they want to be found on Google. Their site is invisible and has no web traffic to speak of. They’ve heard that blogging is a way to get site visitors but they don’t have a clue where to start.

For these people, examples of great explanation posts would include:

  • What is SEO and why does it matter for a small business?
  • How does SEO affect my website?
  • Why blogging improves SEO.
  • Writing for SEO.

Remember the content rabbit holes we spoke about earlier? 

Here, you’re writing the opening for your prospect to fall into. Once inside, you’ll take them on a journey of discovery, education, and hopefully conversion.

6. The Feature Post

The spotlight’s on you for this one. Feature one of your products or services and deep dive into the details.

For products, think about critical components, unique differentiators, fun features, and fine details that make all the difference to a client.

For services, think about what the process of working together looks like, what’s included, and what support is available should it be required.

7. The FAQ Post

Sweet FAQs. For a business blog writer, they’re the stuff that dreams are made of. 

Every business has them. Those pressing questions that prospects always ask before making a purchase or commencing your client relationship. If available on your website, these details could sweeten the pot for a prospect and help them make their purchase decision more easily.

You’ll quickly demonstrate your expertise, authority, thoughtfulness, and commitment to excellent customer service.

Kerching.

8. The How-to Post

How many times have you googled ‘how to’? If you’re anything like me, more times than you can count.

What can you show your ideal clients that will make their everyday life easier or more enjoyable? It could be directly relevant to your product or service or something more indirect. 

An example, Hubspot’s blog. They’re primarily a Sales and CRM software company. Yet their blog offers loads of information and templates on doing just about anything marketing related.

 

Another is Huel. The company that creates vegan, nutritionally complete food. Their blog details how to cook using Huel as a substitute for other ingredients and more general vegan and healthy lifestyle blog posts.

Lastly, Starling, the banking app. Their blog contains articles on their app’s functionality, common concerns like protecting yourself from fraud, and general topics of interest to their customers, like inclusivity.

9. The Interview Post

Everyone loves to feel part of the action. An interview-based blog is a great way to demonstrate the expertise of your wider team and let your audience get to know you a little better.

Talk to your founder, heads of department, front line staff, even ask a client to talk about their experience. Share industry insights, a compelling story, achievements – you get the idea.

Talk to people and see where your conversation takes you. Just remember to record your conversation so you can focus on listening rather than scribbling furiously.

10. The Listicle Post

A listicle is a hybrid between a list and an article. ‘Our top ten favourite tools for X’, ‘5 ways to boost your sales’ – even ‘15 of the best blog post types for beginners’!

The beauty of this one is in its simplicity and versatility. You can turn nearly every kind of blog into a listicle:

  • ‘Do I need a business blog?’ becomes ‘5 reasons you need a business blog’
  • ‘How to write better for your business’ becomes ‘10 top tips for clearer writing’
  • ‘What is SEO?’ becomes ‘3 things you need to know about SEO’

 

One important caveat – don’t create clickbait. Make sure your blog post answers the question it sets out to, and ensure you deliver on the promised goods.

11. The Newsjack Post

What’s a newsjack? It’s when a business or a brand adds its unique spin to a breaking news story to gain media coverage and increased visibility. Newsjacking is a great way to be more visible in a media storm. 

Approach with caution. Don’t piggyback negative or controversial topics without thinking it through. Only offer comments if you have something of value to add to a discussion. Doing so without a legitimate connection can backfire in anger, accusations of jumping on the bandwagon, and reputational backlash. 

They say all publicity’s good publicity, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be Cheerios’ marketing department following Prince’s death in 2016. They tweeted ‘Rest in Peace’ with a cheerio dotting the i. Prince fans turned on them, accusing them of trying to sell cereal off the back of his death. They quickly deleted the tweet!

 12. The Objection Overcome Post

A close relative of the FAQ post, an objection overcome post addresses every prospect’s niggles about whether to pursue a purchase or not. They’re especially important for high-ticket items and services.

In this type of blog post, your job is to identify those objections and vanquish them, showing the reader why your product, service, or solution is the best answer to their pressing problem.

It’s a hard nut to crack, but it pays dividends when you get it right. 

Need some ideas about the kinds of objections people had before purchasing? Think back to your initial meetings with prospects. What questions did they ask? Which details were they particularly interested in? 

Talk to existing clients and ask what reservations they had before you began working together. Your clients are a gold mine of information because they’ve already successfully transitioned from prospect to client.

13. The Relatability Post

Pain sells – there’s no getting around it. It’s pain, frustration, and irritation that sends most of us to good old Google to find the solution to a problem.

A blog post that demonstrates that you understand another person’s pain point can be powerful and inspire people to buy. 

Ensure your post’s focus is to help that person make the best choice for their needs, not yours. Always give your prospect all the necessary information they need and sufficient time to make an informed decision. Never manipulate or pressure someone to buy when it’s not in their best interests.

Oh, and don’t overdo the theatrics with overbearing countdown timers, never-ending ‘one time only’ offers and so on. You’ll look like a d***.

14. The Solution Post

A follow-on from the comparison and how-to posts above, a solution post is a thorough exploration of a specific problem or issue experienced by your ideal client, followed by your neatly packaged solution.

Effectively a sales blog post, it’s your opportunity to showcase your knowledge, insight, and expertise and to demonstrate your product or service in all its glory.

Remember to talk about benefits as well as features. People buy the end result, not the process of achieving it. They want the perfectly hung portrait on the living room wall, not the hammer and nails they used to get it there.

15. The Wow-What-a-Difference Post

You can tell everyone how great your business is until you’re blue in the face and no one pays much attention. But when a client does it, it’s a whole different thing. 

Why? It shows you’re great at what you do, and you walk the talk.

Social proof is a massively important part of any marketing strategy and a ‘wow what a difference’ post demonstrates the transformation your product or service has had for a real-life client.

Like a case study, you begin by painting a picture of your client’s life before the product or service, highlighting the pain points and frustrations they felt. Then move into your solution to the problem and how you guided them to the solution they needed.

Always make sure you have your client’s permission before sharing their story, and best practice dictates that you allow them to sign off anything you write about them and their business before publishing.

You made it! That’s a wrap.

There you have it. Fifteen flipping marvellous blog post types to get you started with your business blog. 

Hopefully, you’re inspired. Fingers crossed you’re feeling calm, collected, and confident to begin your business blogging journey.

The experience may have had the opposite effect, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and wondering how you’ll find the time or energy to fit all this into your already full-to-bursting schedule.

Whichever category you fall into, know I’m here to help. 

One of my copywriting retainer packages may be the answer to your prayers. For a monthly fee, I’ll write your business blog, email marketing, and social media content for you.

It’s a win-win. 

You get the intensely satisfying feeling of crossing content creation off your to-do list, freeing you up to run or rule the world (whichever, you do you).

And I get to do what I do best: perfectly purposeful copywriting for problem solvers, solution finders, and change-makers.

Book a call to see how we might work together. 

I’d love to hear from you.

Vicki XOFeature

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