Perhaps one of the Internet marketing advices you see most often online is the need for people who own websites to provide great content for their readers. It is a tried and tested theory that great content drives traffic. So clearly, content is key to getting Internet marketing right.

But do you think that just because you got grammatically correct posts on your website and the information you provide is well-researched, your readers will come back to you again and again? This is not necessary.

Consider a blog that whenever you go on it, day in and day out, all you see is “how to” articles or product reviews. Obviously, the people will remember you as a thought leader when it comes to good information but they will definitely not come to your website for some light reading and or just to read your personal thoughts on a certain area of your niche market, because they know all you ever write about is how to get things done or what’s good and bad about products you market.

The point here is pretty simple. Good content is key if you want to drive traffic to your website because for a start, if your content is crap, you won’t even make it to the search results of the search engines. However, the type of content you provide is also quite important. If you write your own articles, which most of the internet marketers out there don’t do, you would know that every individual has a different style of writing and the key when maintaining a blog is incorporating your personality and style into your writing while varying how you present useful information to your readers.

The 12 most popular styles of writing a blog post

1. The list post

A list post is easy to write. This post is a list post and I can tell you that I am not straining at all to write. The other good thing about list posts is that in addition to being easy to create, list posts are also much appreciated by people who browse the web for information because whether you believe it or not, people like simple, straightforward lists of tips or steps to problems they might have.

2. The tutorial post

Tutorial posts are very popular with Internet surfers because they give a great deal of information. By definition, a tutorial post is a post where you identify a specific problem and you go on to give a step-by-step set of instructions for people to be able to solve the problem. Everybody has problems, so writing in this style will be very much appreciated by your readers, especially if you give good solutions to problems.

3. The informative post

Slightly different from a tutorial, an informative post is meant to teach its audience about a specific subject. It’s not absolutely necessary for the article to be a how-to article, but rather it can simply answer questions on various topics in your niche.

4. The news post

If you really need something to write about for your blog and you don’t have much time to do research or come up with something original and unique, then a news post can be a great way to keep your readers up to date on the current events happening in your niche market. By browsing the Internet, you can quickly find a current event in your niche and write a quick post about it. If you find a good trendy topic then this type of post can give your blog a popularity boost.

5. The rant post

If you randomly browse through the most popular blogs online, you will come to notice that many times, people choose to write rant posts. To choose whether or not to write rant posts is something of a personal choice. Most people like to stay positive on their blog, but it is undeniable that controversy draws interest and attention. 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.

6. The rave post

A rave post is the exact opposite of a rant post. You write about something you love and rave about it. While positivity often doesn’t draw as much attention as negativity, I think these are easier posts to write and a lot safer as well if you are new to your niche market and you are still in the process of establishing yourself as a thought leader.

7. The profile post

A profile post is neither a rant post nor a rave post. It’s as its name suggests, a profile. To write a profile post, pick someone in your niche that you like or dislike for that matter and profile that person. A profile post is often written to be positive but at the same time, you want to keep your tone neutral as far as possible.

8. The interview post

Hard to write and very easy to get wrong, interview posts can be a challenge to even the most seasoned website content writers. In general, what you will need to write an interview post is an expert in your field. The simplest way to write an interview post is to do an interview of someone you appreciate by email. If the person you picked to interview agrees to go through with your plan, you can send them a list of questions that they can answer in their own spare time. This makes things easier for you and for the person concerned as well.

9. The social proof post

The social proof post combines the elements of both the informative post and the tutorial style post. The extra ingredient is that you add some 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.

10. The research post

Blogging is a process of constant learning and research. As a blogger you are constantly studying different topics. The research post takes the culmination of your research and compiles that into a report for your readers.

11. The review post

The review post if perhaps the easiest post to write. That’s also probably why review posts are incredibly popular online. Review posts are great if you have a product you’d like to recommend to your audience or perhaps warn your audience about.

12. 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 generate a series of blog posts. 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.