18 Blog Topics & Ideas That Makes Money & Drive Traffic

Learn about 18 Types Of Blog Topics That Make The Most Money & Drive Traffic.

Once you have successfully created your blog it is important to write the posts that will drive traffic to your blog and ultimately convert your blog to money making blog.

Writing the relevant content for your blog is most important, but how to choose it?

So I am going to I want to share the 18 most popular types of blog posts that drive the most traffic.

Then you can just pick a subject, a post type, and start writing.

1. The List Post

List posts are so popular because they work. People love to read them and bloggers find them easy to create.

As humans, we can’t get enough of list posts and there’s some psychology behind that.  People love lists.

• 12 Kitchen Tools That Will Take The Stress Out Of Cooking
• 7 Incredible Exercises For Back Pain
• 5 Videos Games You Have Never Heard Of But Need To Play

And you can literally make a list of anything!

2. The How To Post

More often than not, people searching Google are searching because they want to learn how to do something – and so a ‘how-to’ post is a great way to capture such traffic.

The key to getting a ‘how-to’ post right, is making sure that your content is detailed.

Cover every step of the process and provide as many relevant images as you can, which help to provide context.

• How To Change The Battery In Your Car
• How To Cook Perfect Rice Every Time
• How To Install Anti-Virus Software

3. The Guide Post

Guides are like how-to posts but on steroids.

A guide post is an ultimate resource – like how to start a blog post – on a specific topic and is somewhat broader than what you’d cover with a how-to post.

However, these types of posts take a lot of time to put together and aren’t usually best suited for people just starting out-

• The Ultimate Guide To Drones
• Everything You Need To Know About Blogging
• Choosing The Right Computer For You

4. The Case Study Post

People love to read case studies because you’re providing them with information that comes from ‘real-world experience.’

The content in a case study is somewhat more inspiring and actionable since readers get to see the actual results over their shoulders.

This kind of post isn’t suitable for every topic, but I love producing them in the blogging world and wrapping them around “How To” type content as I share my own experiences and tests.

• How To Double Your Twitter Followers
• [Case Study] 100 Pushups Per Day For 1 Month
• What Happened When I Stopped Drinking Coca Cola

5. The Interview Post

People love to read interview posts because it gives them the chance to learn the ‘secrets’ of people who are currently achieving results that they want to achieve.

The great thing about this type of post is usually the person you are interviewing will share it with their audience as well.

Make sure you ask really deep questions to extract the most value from the person you are interviewing for your readers.

• How To Build A 7 Figure Blog With Matthew Woodward
• Stunning Interview Reveals How Kim Kardashian Became Famous
• Ironman World Champion Jan Frodeno Shares His Top Race Tips

You don’t have to interview anyone famous, but find the leaders in your niche – reach out and stroke their egos a little.

6. The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Post

An FAQ post aims to answer, well…the most frequently asked questions in your niche.

You can focus these posts on different areas of your niche, or on your niche as a whole.

Finding questions to answer is really easy with Quora and AnswerThePublic.

• The 12 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Blogging
• 7 Questions Every New Diver Will Have
• These Are The 8 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Learning Spanish

7. The Review Post

When creating a review post, your aim is to take a look at popular products (or even really good but relatively unknown) products and cover the positive and negative aspects of them.

Be sure to cover all of the questions that people might have in relation to purchasing the product.

I love these types of posts because people love reading reviews and it means they are ready to buy, which can make for some easy affiliate commission.

• ENO Hammock Review – Are They Really Comfortable?
• My FitBit Review Puts The Fitness Tracker To The Test
• GoPro Review – Is It Really The Best Action Camera?

8. The Personal Story Post

People love stories and if you can talk about a time in your life where you faced a struggle that a lot of people can relate to, it’ll help connect you with your audience.

What keeps people coming back to certain blogs (aside from great content), is that they have a personal connection with the person writing the blog.

This personal connection often comes about because the blogger shared a personal aspect of their life in one of their blog posts.

• How I Dealt With Bullys At School
• 400lbs To 200lbs – How I Beat My Chocolate Addiction Once And For All
• This Is What I Did When I Couldn’t Afford To Feed My Family Anymore

9 Blog Series

Sometimes an idea is just too big for a single post.

One way to maximize the impact of a “big idea” is to break it into parts.

A series helps build anticipation for the next post and improves your SEO if you link from one post to the next in a natural, organic way.

10. Guest Posts

Getting outside experts to contribute to your blog gives you fresh content without having to write it all yourself. Sites like Social Media Examiner, Convince & Convert and Copyblogger have successfully used guest blogging to build massive audiences.

However, you can’t put your guest blogging program on autopilot. You’ll still need to set up editorial guidelines, vet the quality of the work and make sure each post is original.

Set high standards for your guest bloggers.

As you accept guest posts, keep in mind that often the guest blogger’s goal is to drive traffic from your site to theirs. But by regularly providing amazing, valuable content, your readers will keep coming back to your site for more.

11 Interviews

Interviews are a great way to take the pressure off of you to create content. Talk to industry leaders, satisfied customers, or a random guy at the coffee shop to get a fresh perspective you can share with your audience.

Make sure you include notes or a transcript of audio and video interviews to improve your search engine visibility.

When you put your post together, you can provide the interview as text, audio, or video, depending on which option best fits your (and your audience’s) needs.

And hey, your interviewee may choose to share the post with his or her audience once it goes live.

12. Videos

If you’re creating videos and posting them on YouTube, that’s great! You’re taking advantage of the second-largest search engine, gaining access to over a billion people who watch YouTube videos every month, and building rapport with the people who watch your video.

But why stop there? You can reap even bigger rewards by embedding your videos in an article on your own blog.

I’ve got a face for radio, and a voice for newspapers.

Surround your video with related contextual copy, or just include a transcript of the video to create a valuable blog post. Either way, you’ll be getting more views for your video and increasing the time visitors spend on your blog.

13. Podcasts

The business case for podcasts has been made many times before and rightfully so. They’re a great way to build a passionate audience for your product or service.
Podcast show notes give your podcasts a wider reach.

As a bonus, behind every great podcast, are the show notes, which you can publish as a blog post. You can use a full transcript of the show or just highlight the main themes.

Publishing podcast show notes not only gives additional information to your listeners, but it also introduces your podcast to your readers. It’s also the type of post you can easily outsource to a transcription service, virtual assistant, or co-worker.

14. Infographics

I can’t count the number of times an infographic has bailed me out of writer’s block. They’re easy to find and interesting to read.

You can find an infographic by searching on a certain topic, like “dog infographic” or “restaurant infographic.”

Everyone loves a good infographic, and they’re so easy to find.

When you find one you like or you think will appeal to your readers, there’s usually some code that you use to easily embed it into your post. Then it’s just a matter of adding a paragraph or two to provide context for your readers.

People love sharing infographics and easy-to-digest statistics, so it’s a good bet they’ll share your post with their audience.

15. Controversial Posts

If you want interaction, take a controversial stance on a subject your audience is passionate about.
I really rumpled some feathers with this post. The kicker was that the post was on my responsive website!
One of the first posts I ever wrote for the Marketing Agents blog was the case against responsive web design, the popular approach to mobile-friendly design. To this day, it’s one of the most shared and commented-on posts I’ve ever written.

But I have to warn you if you do write a controversial post, be prepared for some angry comments from the other side. If you don’t have thick skin or an excellent therapist, this post type may not be for you.

16. Cheat Sheets, Checklists, and To-do’s

Often what your audience seeks from you is direction. If they have a question, they want someone to answer it—or at least get them on the right track.

While not too different from a how-to, these posts tend to focus on how to do something more efficiently and ensure nothing is forgotten.

Don’t forget to pack the kids!

As a bonus for your readers, you could add a printable PDF. It’s up to you whether you want to brand that PDF with your company information or put it behind an email registration.

17. Resources or Link Lists

Very similar to, if not overlapping with, the last post is the resource post. The difference is that resource posts curate other people’s content (albeit usually in a list format).

Resource and list posts are perfect if you’re just learning about a category. You’re probably gathering resources for yourself, so why not share them with your readers?

Don’t have the time to research? Resource posts are an easy type of post you can hand off to your intern or virtual assistant to do the research for you!

Always consider adding your own blog or resource to any “best-of” list.

Alternatively, you could ask experts in your field for a tip, then curate those answers into a new blog post, like 29 Social Media Tools Recommended by the Pros or 13 Podcasting Tips From the Experts.

Many times when you share a list of tips from experts, they’ll promote your post for you.

18. Lists & Tutorials

List posts streamline information into a numbered list that’s easy for your readers to read, share and put into action. They speak to our desire to find the best information in the shortest amount of time.
List posts are attractive to readers because they offer the promise of the best results in less time.

Some bloggers hate list posts because they feel it’s been done to death, but there’s no denying it’s effective.

All you need to do is visit any newsstand and check out the cover stories of popular magazines: 10 Exercises for Tighter Abs, 101 Ways to Save for College, or The 5 Best Family SUVs.

Today task

Pick one of the post types above and brainstorm ideas using Quora or AnswerThePublic.

I suggest starting with a simple 5 part list post because they are really easy to research and write.

Depending on your blog’s topics that could be something like-

• 5 Essential Tools Every Cyclist Must Carry
• 5 Foods That Help To Build Explosive Muscle
• The 5 Types Of Knife Every Chef Needs At Home

You can also do some Google searches to find similar posts to give you some inspiration.

You should write a short intro, 200 words about each thing in the list, and a summary.  Don’t forget to include images where relevant!

Once you have written and published your first list post, feel free to reply to this email with the post’s address and I will check it out for you!

Final Words

No, of course not. There are other types of posts. Case studies. Stats. Reports. Weekly or daily roundups. Breaking news. Personal stories. The list goes on, and each type probably has several subcategories.

The takeaway here is this: By understanding the main blog post archetypes, you can quickly move past the blogger’s block and start creating valuable content for your audience.

So next time you have a juicy piece of valuable content you want to share with your audience, but you’re not sure how to begin, pull up this list of ideas and find the one that best fits your content and editorial goals.

It’ll be like having your own Bat utility belt, but for blogging.