10 Types of Content to Help You Brainstorm Article Ideas

10 Types of Content to Help You Brainstorm Article Ideas

Are you feeling stuck when trying to come up with ideas for your blog?

Have you ever felt like you’ve written the same thing over and over again?

Imagine a gray, cold, snowy winter day and being stuck inside. A day like that can definitely zap your motivation to get anything done.

It can be easy to get stuck in life as well as when writing. I personally (and normally) draw a lot of inspiration from the weather. During the gray winter months, I have had to draw inspiration from other places because the weather just didn’t cut it.

When our motivation is zapped and we are feeling the blues, it helps to use other inspirational techniques.

10 Types of Content to Help Inspire New Articles

Here are ten different types of content to help as a springboard for inspiration. This list is great for when you are stuck or trying to brainstorm new article ideas.

  1. Evergreen or Cornerstone Content
    This has become my go-to type of content. These are the articles that contain information that never really changes too much and is always relevant.

    For tips on how to write this type of article, check out our post How to Write Evergreen or Cornerstone Content.

  2. How-To Articles
    Here is your super classic type of article. It’s classic because it works.
  3. List Posts
    5 Ways to, 7 Secrets to, 3 Easy and Simples Steps to…. List posts are loved by many blog readers, and they have some great benefits for the writer as well. I love how a list post article already has your format set up for me.

    For example, with this article, I started with the format. I brainstormed the ideas of the different types of content I wanted on the list. Then, I went back and wrote about each type of content. It made writing today’s article easy and time-effective. I’m a big fan of easy and time effectiveness.

  4. Problem Solving
    The problem-solving article is another favorite of mine. It is a favorite because it makes me think about what type of problems my readers and potential customers are having, and then I get to be the one who answers their questions. It also goes great with what we know about Google’s new search algorithm, Hummingbird.

    For more information about Google’s Hummingbird and why it impacts you as a writer, please check out our article, How Does Google Hummingbird Impact Me As a Writer?

  5. Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (FAQs)
    I love putting these types of articles together. Again, like above, these types of articles get you into the mind of your readers. It is also good practice to make sure that someone is asking the questions frequently, or else the article is misleading.
  6. Answering Specific Readers’ Questions
    Our readers are an excellent source of inspiration. A great idea for an article is to answer a question that has been asked. An example of this is one of the first video blogs I did, 4 Reasons to Use YouTube to Embed Videos and How to Do It.
  7. Curate Content
    Don’t let the blogging buzz word, content curation, throw you off. Curating content is a great way to produce content. The biggest rule of thumb here is to make sure that you are still producing original work. For some tips on how to do this, please check out the article, Content Curation – Tips on How to Get It Right.
  8. Ask a Question
    One of my favorite articles that I have written was, Are You Frustrated with Facebook? This topic was a hot-button topic for many of our readers. That question generated so much response that it led to a follow-up article.
  9. Case Studies
    The follow-up article, Are You Frustrated with Facebook?, was a great chance to dabble in a case study type article. I compiled all the responses to that question and categorized them, detailing not only if you were frustrated, but also why and if anyone would be quitting Facebook anytime soon.

    This article was a small-scale case study, but it was really fun to see what the readers in our circle were saying. Read the case study here, A Follow-Up: Are You Frustrated With Facebook.

  10. Should Ask Questions Post (SAQs)
    This type of article is one that I am looking forward to dabbling in more. What should people in your niche be asking? Ask the question and provide the answers. Use this type of content to display your expertise.

Summary

It is always impressive when people tell me how they never get stuck and continually have ideas. I’ll admit that I am a little jealous of those of you who can do that. For those of us who cannot, though, a list like this can come in handy.

What About You?

What is your go-to type of article? Do you find it easy to write and well received by your audience?

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26 Comments

  1. Great article Christine, I use most of these techniques already in my own blog, but I know the feeling of repeating myself. May need to alter my blogging schedule to use the different post types in a more structured way. When you are creating posts, do you use a schedule? Cheers ~Ian

    1. Hi Ian,

      You know, the only way I can answer that is by saying…kind of. I have a pretty structured schedule for 2 out of the 5 blogs I write for. For example on Monday I’ll post this and Wednesday it’s this and Friday is a free for all. πŸ™‚ For those 2 blogs the schedule works really well. I tend to be a free spirit and am in need of a bit of structure.

      What does your schedule look like?

      1. Hi Christine,

        I currently try to get at least one blog post a week done for my site inbetween doing client work and marketing. Similar to you I am also a bit of a “free spirit” and also have a habit of leaving it ’til the last minute.

        Luckily, my writing style means I can produce a new post in only a couple of hours, including research, so I tend to get away with it most of the time.

        I am trying to rectify this and be a little more scheduled with what I am producing though as I can see the difference being consistent and regular makes to my site traffic.

        Cheers

  2. This is wonderful! It is very easy to get stuck when you tend to write frequently. You have included many great options and things to turn to when one might be in this sort of situation. Great article! πŸ™‚

  3. Great ideas on how to create content that will keep your audience attentive. I think we all get stuck at times and do not want to sound as though we are repeating ourselves. You have given us some great techniques. Thank you for sharing.

    1. Hi Meryl,

      You are so welcome! The hardest part seems to be getting started. That is where these techniques come in so handy. Thank you so much for sharing! πŸ™‚

  4. Lorii Abela says:

    Wow! An article on the “10 Types of Content to Help You Brainstorm Article Ideas,” I like this very much. Thanks for sharing, Christine!

    1. Hey Lorii,

      You are very welcome! πŸ™‚ I’m so glad you liked the article.

  5. Some of my best content have come from lists posts. I like to use them because they are simple and informative. Once they see the bullet points, they can take action on some of them. Thanks for the great post!

    1. Hi Nate,

      I love list posts too. You are so right that they are “simple and informative” and I agree, it is really easy as a reader to take action from a list post. Plus I think they are one of the more easier ones to write. πŸ™‚ Thank you for sharing.

  6. WOW! What an informative and valuable article! I am using some of the methods you’ve mentioned but never thought about #10. SAQ’s. This is such a great idea! I must try this on my next blog post. Thank you so much. This article is really jammed packed with fabulous idea!!

    1. Hi Alexandra,

      That’s so great to hear that the goal was “informative and valuable”. I have been writing a lot of SAQ articles lately and I am loving it. Let me know how your SAQ articles goes and what you thought about it. I would love to hear your opinion. πŸ™‚

  7. Fantastic article. Love the way you’ve put it together and I love the ideas. I can’t wait until the warmer weather comes and we see the inspiring spring. Definitely booked marked for future reference.

    1. Hey Heather,

      You are so sweet! Thank you so much. I’m really looking forward to Spring actually coming to us here in Michigan. πŸ™‚ Thanks again.

  8. Good ideas. I sometimes wish my fans would ask me more questions so I had blog topics. I think I’ll try #10, I’ll ask and answer the question. I do get my inspiration from nature, the season and the beads we work with both for our designs and for our blogs.

    1. I agree Roslyn, my client’s and fan’s do not help much when it comes to providing questions to write posts about either. Sometimes I find it helps to ask directly on Social Media what people would like to know or to do targeted searches on your subject through twitter and on forums. Cheers Ian

    2. Roslyn and Ian,

      I can relate, I don’t always get answers to questions I ask. The questions from readers I am usually able to draw on are in the comment section. A reader might ask a direct question on there or tell me about something they struggle with.

      Thanks for sharing and let me know how the SAQs article goes! πŸ™‚

  9. Such great tips! My go to is evergreen content. I can also take a different perspective on some of my current evergreen content as an option for a new post. Thank you for sharing this post!

    1. Hi A. Lynn Jesus,

      You make such a GREAT suggestion. “a different perspective on some of my current evergreen content”. You are so right and that is a great tip. Thank you so much for sharing.

  10. These are great suggestions and tips for coming up with great content. Bookmarking

    1. Hi Veronica,

      Thank you so much! Glad to be bookmark worthy. πŸ™‚

  11. That’s a really comprehensive list of idea-generators! I hadn’t thought of the SAQ angle, which I’ll definitely “borrow” … πŸ˜‰ I have also built up a large folder of potential topics. When I see an article that makes me think of an interesting aspect of my “women and money” subject, I copy and paste the article into a Word doc, including the URL and a few notes of what my thought was. I include the keywords for that thought in the file name. Then when I need a topic, I scan through the folder where I have hundreds of possibilities. A quick reading of the article and my notes helps me find my own original train of thought. That’s pulled me out of lots of binds when I wasn’t feeling terribly inspired … and suddenly I am!

    1. Hi Sharon,

      What a great suggestion! Keeping a “large folder of potential topics” is another great way to get “unstuck”. Thank you so much for sharing this with everyone!

  12. Laurie Hurley says:

    Good ideas for sure. I look at headlines from newspapers and magazine articles and figure out how I can reword to provide valuable content for my blogs. I have a new source that I am going to write about this week that will surprise many people. I also try to add a personal anecdote whenever possible – to make it real. As a social media strategist, it does get frustrating sometimes always coming up with new stuff. I sometimes write about that and how I came up with a particular blog post – my readers seem to like that!

    1. Hi Laurie,

      You have some great suggestions here. Scanning newspapers and magazine articles are a great way of generating breaking news content. Thank you so much for sharing.

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