This article is a chapter from my book Blog Ideas: 131 Ideas to Kill Writer's Block, Supercharge Your Blog and Stand Out. The entire book will eventually be available on this website for free in web format, but if you prefer to read it in ebook or physical formats, you can find Blog Ideas on Amazon.com (affiliate link).
By now, your blog is set up. You’ve made all the most important decisions. It looks good and runs well. You have a consistent professional writing habit. Writer’s block creeps in for many people at this point. They might have had some great ideas for articles in the beginning. But once they wrote and published those posts, the idea well ran dry. The result is another abandoned blog. Don’t let this happen to you.
That’s where this article comes in handy. Whenever you get writer’s block, come back here and look through the ideas. This article will give you ideas for different types of blog posts, with many prompts to go with them.
I’ve divided the blog post ideas into three broad categories: introspective, current events, and research. The categories are differentiated by the type of content they relate to; however, there are dozens of different types of blog posts that don’t correspond to a specific type of content. Three of the most popular types are series posts, list posts, and link posts. You can pick any of the ideas in this article and write one of these three types of blog posts with it.
Series posts teach a huge lesson through a set of articles. You can publish the series of posts over a period of weeks, months, or even years. Series posts work well for breaking up a big topic into smaller, more readable posts. You can also use them for tracking progress for something that is ongoing. Or you can use a series to provide updates whenever you learn something new about the topic of your series.
List posts are just as the name implies. They provide lists about the topic. You can turn almost any prompt into a list post. For instance, “How to make money online” can become “7 ways to make money online.” Including a specific number in the title does a better job of grabbing a reader’s interest.
Finally, link posts are articles centered around one or more links. You might have read an interesting article online and want to share it with your readers. Or maybe you want to share a bunch of links that your readers may find helpful.
Introspective blog posts
In the early days of the internet, blogs began as personal websites. The easiest source of ideas for blog posts is to look within yourself. What are your interests? What are your favorite things? What knowledge do you have to share?
Introspective blog post topics are all about you. You don’t need to do any research to write about them because they are things you already know. To write about these subjects, draw on your experiences and opinions. Teach what you know. Tell people your thoughts. Tell stories of your memories and experiences.
Recap a mistake you made
People love hearing about other people’s blunders. More importantly, they also want to know how they can avoid the same mistakes.
Prompts: My big social blunder. The worst thing I’ve ever done. Confessions of a __________. The biggest challenge that I’ve yet to overcome. My shocking bad habit. My embarrassing work story. My marketing failures.
Tell people what you think
Sometimes, people visit your blog to get your opinions on matters. It’s easy to write your thoughts. All you have to do is find a topic and write whatever comes to mind. Writing your opinions also allows readers to get to know you better. They might find that they have a lot in common with you.
Prompts: My manifesto. The one person I couldn’t live without. The thing that scares me most. The community I love most. Who I would cast for [book you’ve read]. If I could visit anywhere in the world, I would go here. The person I most want to have lunch with. An open letter to _____. If I could travel back in time, I would go back to ____. What it feels like to be ____. If I could choose three people to coach me, I would choose ____. What I would do this week if I knew I would die on Friday. If I were a fictional character, I would be ____. The thing that drives me crazy.
Tell people about your aspirations
Telling people about your goals and aspirations on your blog creates public accountability. You will be more likely to succeed in your goals if you tell everyone about them. Consider setting big goals and telling your readers about them.
Prompts: My big goal for this year. What my vision board looks like. What I want in my eulogy when I die. Places I want to go before I die. How I’m challenging myself this month. My bucket list. I’m saving up to buy ____. My plan for the next [#] years. The biggest thing I want to change in my life. The person I most want to meet.
Tell a story
If your readers identify with you, they will be more likely to read your blog. Tell them your story. What are the most interesting experiences you’ve had in your life?
Prompts: My hometown. My life before ____. Why I now live in ____. Nobody knows that I ____. The thing that drives my passion. The thing I do differently from everyone else. The achievement I’m most proud of. Why I do what I do. The best gift I’ve ever received. How I became ____. My first memory. The turning point in my life. How I got started doing ____. My favorite memory. What it was like when I was living in ____. The song playlist that corresponds with my life. The most difficult time in my life. How I overcame ____.
Write a how-to post
Everyone is good at something. Share whatever you’re best at with your readers. Teach them how they can start. Teach them some of the tricks that may not be obvious.
Prompts: How I use [favorite social media]. How to use [favorite app]. How to find blogging ideas. How to do my job. Getting started with [hobby]. The technique I use every day. How I do ____ differently. The technique that contributed to my success. How I got from [low point] to [high point]. The ultimate guide to ______. How to _______. A beginner’s guide to ______.
Provoke controversy
Depending on your personality and appetite for debate, you may or may not want to provoke controversy on your blog. It is one of the best ways to get a discussion going. Argue one side of a controversial debate. Rant about something you’re angry at. Play Devil’s advocate and consider why people should consider doing something that’s unpopular or even taboo.
Prompts: Why we should all [something unpopular or taboo]. Why we should not [something popular]. Is [side 1] better than [side 2]? My (conspiracy) theory about what really happened at [emotional event]. My enraging experience with [a bad experience]. Why [popular concept] is completely wrong. _____ is never a waste of time. I’m taking a stand against ____. The dark side of _____. A reality check for ____. A contrarian view on _____. What everyone is thinking (but nobody is saying) about _____. My take on [controversy/debate].
Make a prediction
People love to predict the future, though few are actually right. It’s often fun to put a prediction out there, then come back to it in the future to see if you were right.
Prompts: What will _____ be like in 100 years? The future of ____. What ____ will look like in 10 years. What will happen next year in the _____ industry? How _____ will impact _____.
Current event blog posts
People want to read about things that are relevant to them. One way to provide relevant information is to write about current events and trends. These are topics that are on everyone’s mind. Readers are proactive in seeking out more information on these issues. Everyone is talking about them.
The news is easy to find in any country with freedom of the press. Turn on the television. Read your local newspaper. Listen to the radio. Browse some news sites online. Then write about the story you found most interesting.
When the same story keeps happening repeatedly, it becomes a trend. If you read the news every day, you will begin to notice patterns. They are easy to find online. Google Trends shows the latest trends based on Google searches. Twitter also shows trending topics based on hashtags.
When writing current event blog posts, be aware that they will not be evergreen. Your content will be relevant for a limited amount of time. While it may generate a lot of traffic when you post it, the traffic fizzles fast. Your blog post will become obsolete once the topic is no longer in the news.
Write a profile
People like reading about other people, especially their role models. Every person has a story, and every story has lessons we can learn. You can profile historical figures, celebrities, or regular people. Why is the person interesting? What unique experiences did they have? What lessons can we learn from them? Profiles don’t have to be limited to people either. You can also profile businesses, cities, or other blogs.
You can get the content for a profile through research, but it is better if you can interview someone. The advantage of interviewing someone is that the information is fresh and maybe even exclusive. You can ask questions that nobody asked before.
Prompts: A day in the life of ____. The best works of ____. Lessons I learned from ____. The best quotes from ____. How ____ became a success. Who to follow on [social network].
Write about lessons learned
We learn new things every day. It is just a part of living. One of the biggest reasons why people blog is to teach others the lessons they learned. Write about the lessons you learned this past week.
Prompts: What I gained (or lost) by taking a risk. My foray into [new skill]. My biggest regret. My experience as a ____. Life advice for my kids. Things I wish I knew when I was younger. What I wish I had known before I started ____. I wouldn’t be where I am today without _____.
Write about the news
While you can’t compete with the major news outlets for the raw world news, you can report on local and niche events. You can also write about the news from a different perspective and provide a deeper analysis.
One way to identify trends is to track hashtags on social media. On Twitter, trending tags are prominently displayed next to your feed. There are also premium services that help identify trending topics, such as Hashtags.org or Trendsmap.
Prompts: What happened in sports yesterday. The best stock buy of the day. A recently granted patent, and what it means for the future. My take on the ____ trend. How [news event] affects [your niche]. My thoughts on ____. The emerging trend all ____ should be aware of.
Write about upcoming events
Curate upcoming events that your niche audience will be interested in. They can be local events if your readers are based primarily at one location, or they can be worldwide or online events. List conferences, product launches, annual events, or special sales. Collect event information from a website like Topend Sports Major World Sporting Events.
Prompts: Conferences every ____ should attend. Product launches we’re waiting for. [holiday] events you should go to. The hottest concerts this year. Upcoming events you should know about.
Write about the day
Center your blog around the day of the year. On Christmas, write about Christmas. On Veteran’s Day, write a post about Veteran’s Day. You can even write about some of the lesser-known special days. Did you know that the third Sunday of August is International Homeless Animals Day? Look at Days of the Year or Checkiday for inspiration.
Prompts: Did you know today is ____ Day? How I celebrate ____ Day. What you should do to observe ____ Day. My ____ Day story.
Research blog posts
Sometimes you don’t know the information you want to write about. And it’s not something new that you read about and have opinions on. You’re curious about something, so you research it. Then you report to your readers the results of your research. These are research posts.
Good content is not what you think it is. If you write a helpful post about how to run a marathon that just regurgitates the same information a more popular website put online, that is not good content. Good content is something both helpful and new. Though no information is completely new—as new information builds upon a foundation of past information—your blog posts should add at least a fresh view on the topic.
Write a product review
One way bloggers can provide useful information to the internet community is to write reviews. Writing about your best experiences can help others find the same experiences. Writing about bad experiences can help others avoid them.
You can review anything. Review books, movies, concerts, software, and any media imaginable. Review anything you spend money on, whether it’s beverages, hotels, gadgets, or utility companies.
Writing review posts is also a great way to make money through affiliate advertising. Any time you mention a product, provide an affiliate link to that product. At the very least, you can provide an affiliate link to the products you highly recommend. That way, if someone buys it from your recommendation, you will make a commission.
Prompts: Recapping the [event, conference, or course]. A review of the most useful _____. A head-to-head comparison of ____ and ____. Should you buy a ________ or a ________? What is the best ____?
Hold a contest
A fun way to gain new readers and engage with existing ones is to run a contest. Challenge your audience to come up with the best photograph, the best poetry, most insightful comment, or the funniest tweet. You can draw random winners, let other readers vote, choose for yourself, or a combination.
The first step is to have a prize ready for the winner. Then you have to establish the rules of the contest. Let everyone know about the contest and the deadlines. Collect the entries and select a winner. Then you contact the winner to get shipping information and send them the prize. Finally, announce the winner on your blog.
Many places have laws against gambling, and sometimes contests can be interpreted as a form of gambling. Some places have rules against children entering contests. Be sure to look into your local laws to make sure your contest is legal.
Prompts: Photography contest. Haiku contest. Comment on this post for a chance to win. Tweet to win ____. Send in a picture of you doing [some activity] to win!
Write a resources post
A resources post is a type of link post. You write about all the things you personally use and enjoy. Unlike review posts, these are purely recommendations. You list only the things you enjoy most and don’t mention anything you didn’t enjoy.
Prompts: The things I carry with me. Blogs I read every day. Most frequently used apps on my phone. My favorite books of all time. Free e-books for learning ____. My travel packing list. Best books for learning ____. Best blogs to follow about ____. The best movies of this year. Online resources for ____. Best podcasts for ____.
Share tips and advice
Readers might also find your tips and advice helpful. Think about the times when others have asked for your advice. What types of advice do people ask you for most often? What topics do others think you are an expert on?
Prompts: Quick tips about _____. Ways to spark your creativity. Tips for ___. Signs you should invest in _____. Productivity tips for ____. Things about ___ that your boss wants to know. Things you shouldn’t waste money on. Habits every ___ should develop.
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