It’s come to my attention just how many styles of blog posts there are. I normally categorise general blog articles into 3 or 4 obvious themes - Tutorials, Reviews, Rants and Lists. But if I think about it, there are far more different types of posts - most of which can actually be categorised within the aforementioned styles.

Please let me stress that this categorisation is my personal perception and creation, and surely other bloggers will see this from an entirely different angle - please feel free to comment on how you would approach this yourselves.

After some research and a few pages of scrawled notes and diagrams, I’ve broken my obvious categories into about 17 sub categories or more accurate styles, which fall under 4 main themes:

• Instructional
• Reviews / Editorial
• Opinion
• References

I’ve then arranged these different post types into a rather messy diagram:

The majority of styles are self-explanatory, however for the benefit of the doubt I will outline what I mean by each blog post type:

• Tutorials
  • Tutorials form the bulk of posts on a lot of blogs. They are a fantastic source of inbound traffic because they directly supply the users need with a solution, people often search for answers to questions and tutorials - constantly supplying high quality tutorials will guarantee both new and repeat visitors.
• Research
  • Research can actually be broken down further into research and result. These type of posts are generally when a question is asked and either a poll, survey, email request or visitors comments are used to answer the question. For example if a post asks ‘Which blogging platform do you prefer… 1) Wordpress, 2) Movable Type, 3) Expression Engine, 4) Typepad, 5) Blogger? The results are collected from the site’s visitors and displayed - research and result.
• Problem Solving
  • As opposed to writing tutorials and presenting information of your own back, replying to visitors emails, comments and even your own problems can be a good way to boost the content on your site whilst helping others out. Plenty of well-known bloggers take time out once a week or month to sum up answers to visitors questions, for example on David Airey’s site. Some blogs are built entirely on supplying answers.
• Comparisons
  • Posts contrasting 2 or more products, services, beliefs… anything. Debating the positives and negatives of something can show that you’re open minded. It also serves well for people wishing to make a decision on something. For example a comparison article on Photoshop vs Illustrator may help someone decide which program to splash out on.
• Information
  • Informational blog posts are extremely common, they’re often easy to write as usually just state hard facts but also form a major use of the internet. The term may seem vague and can often be grouped with tutorials or news but is essentially unbiased, time-independent information.
• Interviews
  • Interviews on blogs give a range of benefits. They provide a different tone of voice, provide new insight and a different angle of thought. They’re a great idea for when you can’t think of anything to write and will also help to raise the profile of your blog if you get the opportunity to interview someone with some gravitas and expertise.
• Case Studies
  • Case Studies help to get points across and are great for demonstrating how techniques can be applied to a real-life scenario or project. If you’re struggling to think of a tutorial subject, try taking something you’ve already created and walk your readers through how you did it.
• Reviews
  • Reviews are another massively used blog post style. Although sometimes non-biased, the benefit of the internet and blogging is that people’s opinions can easily sneak their way into articles. Reviews can be found in all sorts of styles - products, films, services, art, music etc. You will also find that they continue to survive for years, because usually someone will always find your review useful at some point.
• Previews & Predictions
  • These are similar to reviews but are forward-thinking. Predicting how the new version of Internet Explorer will work, what the new James Bond film will be like or how the economy will fares are examples of preview/prediction posts.
• Critique
  • Critiques are extremely opinionated, even when people like to pretend they’re not. Be careful when writing critiques; make sure you know what you’re talking about or prepare for some serious retorts. It’s important that critique posts remain objective and constructive, and don’t break down to full-blown attacks.
• General Opinion
  • I apologise for the vagueness of this title. General opinion, in some ways, encompasses reviews, rants, critique, information, predictions and more. But the central concept is that it is the writers opinion towards something. Whether it be a product or service, some news, personal events or absolutely anything at all - the article is tailored in no way to the reader but purely as an output for the bloggers expressions. General opinion is predominantly found on personal blogs and is often humorous.
• Rants
  • A personal favourite of mine. The internet is a great medium to get things off your chest. So rant away - you’ll be surprised how many people enjoy reading angry posts, and giving their own opinion on the matter.
• Debates
  • Although similar to Comparisons, Debates pit one opinion or paradigm against another, as opposed to a neutral comparison of 2 or more items. Debates do well on blogs, they are a good way of getting readers involved and building up comments. You can debate against yourself, another blogger or your readers - but be prepared for heated it can get!
• Musings & Ideas
  • Generally found on personal blogs, these are usually small posts where you simply wish to express an idea, meme or thought. It’s surprising how thought-provoking these posts can be and how much response you can receive. I often find that Jeffrey Zeldman comes up with some quaint musings.
• Links
  • Great for when ideas run dry, great for helping to promote something you like. Link posts are simply, as the name suggests, links to other articles/websites. Ensure that you don’t get into a habit of doing this for risk of your site becoming a portal and loosing it’s independence. Also include a description of where you’re linking to and why. These are also a good idea for building up relationships with other bloggers.
• Lists
  • I’m seeing more and more list posts all over the net. They’re easy to write and, providing they’re full of high quality links, act as fantastic resources. They help to build up relationships with other websites and can help to get your site noticed. It’s also nice to see what your commenters will contribute towards the lists as well.
• Collation
  • Collation posts are when you basically gather up other people’s opinions and comments on a subject and tie them all together with your own. These often require a lot of research but the benefits can be huge. You’re discussing a topic by taking views from different sources, therefore often providing quiet a deep, varied view of a topic. Readers find these posts resourceful, and will help you to build up ties with other people from whom you’ve collated your information.

Which style is for me?

There are no written rules for which blog post styles are better than others, whether you should stick to only one style or try and incorporate everything or what styles lean more towards different themes and topics. In fact, everyone you ask will have a different opinion on what works best, what they like and what they hate.

So my advice to you is to experiment, try different blog post styles. Perhaps the information above may have inspired you or presented you with options you didn’t take seriously or even consider. And see what works best for you, because every blog, every blogger and every reader is different.