One of the most common pieces of blogging advice that you’ll see around the net is to create great content.  People always say, content is the way to get traffic.  Content is the way to get conversions.  Focus on content, not seo.

So, you get the idea, right?  Content is the key.  But what kind of content?  What kind of posts is considered good content?

Everyone has their own writing style.  Part of the key is to incorporate your personality and style into your writing.  That kind of creativity comes over time.

However, as you write, you’ll find that there are many different writing styles and different kinds of blog posts that you can add to your growing repertoire.

Here are 20 types of blog posts to catch your reader’s interest and get more traffic:

The List Post

Ironic isn’t it?  I should start a list post with the tip to write list posts.  Funny thing is, it works.  People like seeing a simple, straightforward list of tips.  They can see a number right in your heading that tells them that you have quantifiable information to share.  You tell them that they will receive an exact number, 5, 7, 10, 20.. pieces of advice that they can start using right now.

The Tutorial Post

A tutorial gives great value to your readers.  This is a post where you identify a specific problem and give a walk through on how to solve that problem.  Everybody has problems, so this can be a very popular post if you give a good solution to a problem in your niche.  In addition, this kind of post lends itself well to the use of images and screenshots and a good picture is worth a thousand words.

The Informative Post

Slightly different from a tutorial.  The informative post teaches the audience about a specific subject.  It’s not necessarily a how-to, but rather answers the question “What is…?”  This can be a short definition style post or you can spend extra time on particular topics in your niche.

The News Post

If you really need to find a quick topic to blog about, the news post is a great way to keep your readers up to date on current events.  You can quickly find a current event in your niche and write a quick report on that event.  If you find a good trending topic, this type of post can give your blog a popularity boost while that topic is hot.  A good tool for finding trending topics is Google Trends.  If you find a topic in your niche that fits into these top trends, you can get a significant traffic burst from writing about that topic.  The other place you can find good trending topics is simply by reading the newspaper.  You can find some of the most current news in your local paper or any of the popular national and international papers.

The Rant Post

I’ve read many a rant post online.  I like to stay positive on my blog, but there’s not question that controversy draws interest.  The rant is often a post about something the blogger dislikes.  The thing about these posts is that it attracts a lot of attention.  You can pick virtually any topic to rant about.  If it’s something that’s well liked in the blogosphere, people will show up to rant back at you.  If it’s something that’s hated, people will show up to voice their agreement.  Some people thrive on controversy.

The Rave Post

The rave post is the exact opposite of the rant post.  You write about something you love and rave about it.  While positivity often doesnt draw as much attention as negativity, I think these are easier posts to write.  Often, you can simply find a good blog and rave about that blog or blogger.  They will appreaciate it and when you share the love, they’ll share the love.

The Profile Post

It’s not a rant or a rave.  It’s a profile.  Pick someone in your niche and profile that person.  Give a summary about that person and what they are doing in your niche.  Tell your audience how that person got started and what they are doing to be successful in your niche.  This is a post that is generally on the positive side, but at the same time, you want to keep your tone more neutral than a complete rave.

The Interview Post

Find an expert in your field and invite them in for an interview.  You can even make this simple, by doing the interview through email.  If they agree to your interview, you can send them a list of questions that they can answer on their own time.  This makes things easy for you and easy for them.  Your audience will appreciate getting an outside point of view and hearing from an expert.  Quite often, if the interviewee has a following, you may draw in some of their audience and gain some extra readers that way.

The Social Proof Post

The social proof posts combines some elements between the informative post and the tutorial style posts.  The extra ingredient is that you add some social proof to demonstrate how your tactics work.  You can discuss some tactics that you use to draw attention and interest to your specific topic and follow that up with the actual proof that your strategy works.  For example, if you have a blog post that is extremely popular on StumbleUpon, you can write about how you got more stumbles from StumbleUpon.

The Research Post

Blogging is a process of constant learning and research.  As a blogger you are constantly studying different topics.  I often find myself researching different topics to improve my knowledge on a particular topic.  The research post takes the culmination of your research and compiling that into a report for your readers.

The Review Post

Sometimes, you have a product you’d like to recommend to your audience or perhaps warn your audience away.  It’s time for a review post.  Write a good honest review about that product or service.  If you have personal experience with the product, it’s always good to add in your anecdotal experience.

The Prediction Post

This is a good variation on a review post.  You discuss and profile a product.  Then you discuss a bit of the pros and cons.  This doesn’t have to be a full blown review, but you want to pick a couple of points that are good for discussion.  Then give a prediction on where the product is going in the future.  Weave in some of your personal insight on why you believe your prediction is correct.  You can find plenty of examples of these types of posts about Google+.  This type of post lends itself to plenty of discussion.

The Series Post

Perhaps you have a particular expertise in a subject and you have a lot to write.  You can separate your larger topic into several smaller topics and create a series.  This is a good way to build up some anticipation for your next posts.  At the end of each post, you can tell your audience the topic of the next part in your series.  It’s a bit of a teaser and if you are writing on a popular topic, it can build up a little hype for your next post.

The Video Post

Sometimes it helps to visualize your topic of discussion.  This is where a good video post can come in.  You can either create your own short video or embed a video from another source.  You can usually find a good youtube video that demonstrates your idea and then write a short summary on your impressions about the video.

The Personal Story Post

There’s nothing more unique than your own personal experiences.  The personal story gives a bit of insight about yourself.  If you tell a good story, it can also draw your audience in.  This is a good way to make a personal connection with your audience and at the same time carry your message across in your story.

The Anecdotal Post

Instead of telling a personal story, tell your audience a story about your topic.  This is a moral tale.  People have been communicating through storytelling since the beginning of time.  Your audience knows how to relate to a story.  There are many inspirational stories that you can find.  You can retell a story with your own unique insight.

The Humor Post

The humor post is where you let loose.  You can tell a funny story or write about your topic in an ironic and sarcastic manner.  This is the post that is designed to be funny.  At the same time, you want to use the humor to carry your message across.

The Inspirational Post

Write something uplifting for your audience.  We see inspiration every day.  Whether it’s in our daily lives, or through the news, or perhaps from talking to a friend.  Inspiration is all around us.  Take some of that inspiration and share it with your audience.

The Parallel Post

Take a phenomenon that is outside of your niche and compare that phenomenon to something that is inside your niche.  So for example, you can write about the popularity of Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga and how they are using the same strategies that you recommend in social media to become popular in the real world.  These posts work well when you are writing about popular real world topics and relate them back to your niche.

The Resource Post

This is a variation of a list post with some short reviews.  Compile a list of products that you use in your niche on a day to day basis.  Write a short review on each.  It can be just a couple of sentences.  This is a great way to give your readers an excellent informational style list post of tools to use in your niche.  Definitely an awesome way to give great value to your readers.

Final Thoughts

There are many more types of blog posts that you can write.  You can even invent your own style.  Be creative!  Find your own voice!  But this is a good list of styles you can turn to when you are stuck for an idea or you just want to practice and play with some different styles.  It’s good to learn how to write all different styles of blog posts.  It will add some flair and variety to your writing style.

So, here’s my list of suggestions.  Do you have any more that you want to add to this list?