Quick Tip: Keep Blog Post Ideas Coming by Writing a Series

Quick Tip for Bloggers - Write blog post series for easier ideas and more consistency for readers. - AllFreelanceWriting.comRecently we looked at eight blog post ideas you can fall back on if you suddenly aren't sure what to write about on your blog. Today I have another tip along those lines -- something you can do on a regular basis to make idea generation a bit easier.

This week's quick tip for bloggers is to write post series rather than relying solely on one-off article ideas. 

Types of Blog Post Series

There are a couple of different ways you might run a blog post series:

  • You can have a regular weekly, or monthly, series (like the Tuesday Quick Tip series here at All Freelance Writing).
  • You might run a limited time series such as a five-post, week long series to cover a single topic thoroughly.

Both can be effective. A regular ongoing blog post series can make it easier to come up with ideas each week. For example, with the Quick Tips series here, I know I need to focus at least four ideas around shorter posts and specific tips for writers whenever I work out a month's editorial calendar. It gives you somewhere to start when coming up with blog post ideas.

A limited time series, on the other hand, can be great when you're feeling blocked. Instead of coming up with a week's worth of different post topics, you only need to come up with one main topic to write about. From there, you just break that topic down -- imagine you're outlining an epic article, but turn it into several shorter ones instead. You can even put them together into a downloadable report or short e-book to get more mileage out of your content.

Why Write Blog Post Series?

Blog post series can be great for you as a blogger in that you don't have to come up with as many ideas, or at least you'll have some guidance in choosing your post topics.

That's not the only benefit though. Blog post series can also be a good thing for your readers. It lends your blog a sense of consistency. Readers know what to expect, at least part of the time. And that can be a good thing when it comes to building a regular readership. If readers like a particular series, you have a good chance of bringing them back week after week.

Blog Post Types That Work Well as Series

If you're interested in organizing a blog post series, but you aren't sure where to start, consider these blog post types. They all work beautifully as ongoing features on your blog.

  • Weekly tips (like the Quick Tips series here on Tuesdays)
  • Link roundups (like this blog's Weekend Reading series, which was originally the Freelance Fridays series before the rebranding)
  • Q&As (answering questions from your blog's readers)
  • Interviews (great for networking in addition to fresh blog content)
  • Resource recommendations and reviews (like the Wednesday resource series here where I release a new freebie, recommend a resource, or review something writers might be interested in most Wednesdays)
  • Progress updates (if your blog revolves around your personal journey)
  • Video posts (talking head videos or even screencast tutorials)
  • Mini posts (such as the "short share" series here where I highlight an infographic of interest to writers; could also share something like an inspirational quote)
  • Podcast episodes (if you share each of them on your blog)
  • Guest posts (publishing content from a guest contributor once each week to give yourself a break)

Any kind of content that you can repeat easily is a great candidate for a blog post series.

What about you? Do you publish post series on your blog? Tell us about your favorite type of series content and how often you like to publish your series. Has writing a series made it any easier for you to come up with new blog post ideas? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Profile image for Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern is a professional blogger, freelance business writer, consultant, and indie author. She runs numerous websites & blogs including All Freelance Writing, Freelance Writing Pros, NakedPR, and Kiss My Biz.

Jenn has 25 years' experience as a professional writer and editor and over 20 years' experience in marketing and PR (working heavily in digital PR, online marketing, social media, SEO, new media, and thought leadership publication). She also has 19 years' professional blogging and web publishing experience (including web development) and around 18 years of experience as an indie author / publisher.

Jenn also writes fiction under multiple pen names and is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association.

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11 thoughts on “Quick Tip: Keep Blog Post Ideas Coming by Writing a Series”

  1. When I had a blog, I found it easy to have a series that ran for close to eight months. My blog was about the visit to the US made by a Persian gentleman in 1912. Someone had published a collection of all the talks that he gave during his stay. I could reference one talk in each post for more than eight months.

    After that, I began to think up other series to work on. For example, I did a series about the various things that Americans invented during 1912, focusing on items that our visitor might have encountered.

    Reply
    • That sounds like an interesting series Sue. 🙂 And it sounds like a very narrow niche for a blog (which can be good or bad, depending on the audience). So I’m curious. What made you choose to blog about something so specific? It sounds like an interesting choice for sure!

      Reply
  2. It was great reading about hosting a series through blogging. I have just posted my first of a series to see if I can build my audience as this seems to be my biggest short fall.
    I haven’t got an initial time frame for how long this series might run for, but I’m hoping it will continue for as long as possible and hopefully building a larger audience.

    Reply
    • In order for anyone to help you come up with ideas, we would need to know your niche at the very least. You could always come up with a series of tips or tutorials or run an interview series. But without knowing more about the blog, that’s all I have.

      Reply
  3. Great post Jennifer. I’ve posted my first in a series blog post before I read your article. I will have to make modifications and apply some of the strategies here. Have you written a series before. If you did, would you mind sharing the link? Thanks much.

    Reply
    • An easy way to interlink the series is to simply add links to the end of each post when the full series is published. Some might prefer to link each post to the one before and the one after it in the series. Or you could add links to the full series at the end of each of the posts. If you know how to add a pull-out box in your post, you could also link to each part nearer the top of each post without those links pushing the start of the posts down.

      Reply

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