One of the first steps in writing an article or blog post is picking the best article structure for your content. An article’s structure is basically the posts structure. The goal of any article is to keep readers engaged, and choosing the best structure you use will help do that. Each structure serves a different purpose. You want to choose the one that best suits the kind of information you’re putting out. Let’s go over some popular articles structures and look at some examples:
1. Listicles
Everyone has seen the list posts. They are referred to as listicles and are a popular form of blogging because they are very effective. People hate reading long blocks of text. Most people will leave a page if that’s what they see. With a listicle, you don’t need to read every word to get a good idea of what the article is about. For the most part, reading the heading will provide all the basic information needed. Then, if the reader wants more information, they can read the body of the text.
Listicles aren’t only popular with readers though. Article authors love listicles because they are easy to plan and write. Once you have a topic, it becomes a matter of finding the key points and plugging the information into those sections. Just knowing what you are writing about gives you a roadmap of what to write.
A lot of listicles out there are clickbait (Hello Buzzfeed). If you’re looking for the 20 best celebrity beach bods, I’m sure there’s an article for that somewhere. Listicles don’t have to be clickbait though. Recently, I was looking for a camera so I could start putting content on YouTube. I searched “Best cameras for YouTube in 2021” and got an article from Tech Radar. This post lists 16 different camera options. The options cover various price points and functionalities. By doing this, the article becomes useful to anyone looking for a camera to use for YouTube.
The information in the article is easy to follow. It also solves my problem. Because chose the listicle format style, they have been able to cover cameras that would suit almost anyone.
For me, I’m not looking for the most expensive camera. I want a nice mid-range one. Since this post is set up as a listicle, I’m able to scan the headings and find the cameras that fit my budget. That makes this article very useful to me. I don’t need to read a bunch of stuff I’m not interested in to find the content I am very interested in.
One last point to make about listicles is the value to affiliate marketers. Listicles are one of the best article structures for affiliate sites because they allow you to easily compare multiple items on the same post.
If you look at the Tech Radar post, there is no doubt it is a good income generator for the company. Each camera option contains an affiliate link. If the reader buys any of the suggestions, Tech Radar will earn a commission. This works out great for everyone involved. The reader gets the information they wanted and Tech Radar gets to earn a commission.
If you run an affiliate site, listicles could be a highly profitable post format for you to try.
2. How-to Guides
A how-to guides purpose is to solve a problem. When people are looking for how-to guides, they are mission-focused. They know what information they want, and they want that information now.
Take a look at the example I provided. The article title is “How to Change Your Oil.” That is what I searched for and it’s the information I want. I don’t care about the history of automobiles. I don’t want to learn about electric vehicles. I have a car that needs its oil changed, and that’s all I’m interested in right now. Save the automobile history for another article. Give people the information they want and do it as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This Car and Driver article on How to Change Your Oil is an excellent example. It covers the requested information and even adds a little video to show each step, which is a nice touch.
Keep you how-to articles laser focused on the problem at hand. Don’t deviate or try to make them something they are’t. Just solve the readers problem.
3. Interviews
Interviews are not as common, but they are a good way to showcase information from an expert. Some interview blog posts get edited down to get their most important information. A lot of the “banter” gets removed, and the most quotable content remains. Others choose to run the interview in its entirety. There isn’t a right or wrong way.
A popular use case for interview-style posts is repurposed podcast interviews. You’ve already done the interview, so now it’s only a matter of transcribing that conversation into a post. This is a great way of getting your information out in multiple different ways.
A good example of an interview-style post comes from Tryinteract.com. They interviewed Kaye Putnam, who generated $100,000 in sales from a Quizlet lead magnet.
4. Current events
The thing about current events is… they don’t stay current for long. This gives your content a short shelf life. I don’t write on current events because I prefer to write content that can live on for years. That doesn’t mean that’s the right decision for everyone though. Many people have found great success by reporting on current events in their niche. Because I don’t do it doesn’t mean it isn’t right for you. It just means it isn’t right for me.
Engadget is a perfect example of current events/recent news blog. This blog focuses on technology and reviews. Their homepage is always featuring new stuff, and this business model has been very profitable for them.
5. Personal Stories
Some blogs have found success in sharing their personal stories. You see this a lot in the personal finance and parenting spaces. The story becomes a part of their brand. This kind of post can create a loyal following with your audience as they get to know you.
Pregnant chicken was started in 2010 by Amy Morrison. She started it with the goal of “making people feel prepared and excited about having a baby.” Amy has made her content highly relatable to her audience. She does this through her personal stories and experiences. When you read her articles, you just know she believes in what she is doing. She has built a very successful business, and a lot of that is due to her personal stories and how they relate to her audience.
6. Case Studies
Case studies are an in-depth analysis of a specific person, group, or event. Case studies generally need a lot of research and analysis. They are not your everyday kind of article or post.
While case studies are more specialized, they can produce lasting traffic. Imagine you have a marketing company that recently doubled a client’s revenue. Having a case study on how you did it and what you learned would have immense value. Small businesses may try to copy your method, but the big clients will value the expertise. You will shoot to the top of the list when they are looking for a marketing company.
An absolutely amazing case study HubSpot shows the power this kind of article can have. Their company focuses on software solutions for marketing, sales, and customer service. If you look through the case study, it becomes clear they understand the industry. There is no doubt this yearly case study drives a steady amount of leads and sales to their platform.
To get the Hubspot case study you do need to enter some information. (It is a lead magnet, after all). This will give you access to the report, and you will be glad you did it. I personally found this be be a valuable resource for my own blog, and think you will find value in it too.
7. Reviews
If you want to drive traffic and make some affiliate income, review posts need to be at the top of your list. They are one of the best article structures for affiliate marketers. The people looking at reviews are already in the “buyers journey.” They are looking for the best option to solve their specific problem. If can guide them in that decision, you will start seeing some affiliate income.
Over the last couple of years, stock trading has taken off. One of the most popular new platforms is Robinhood. There is no doubt that people were looking online to find reviews about Robinhood. When it comes to money, we always want to make sure it will be safe and secure. The top review article is from Nerd Wallet. They go over the pros, cons, fees and give a full review. It is a perfect example of a review article.
It is important to note that you will only want to choose companies or products you believe in and like. The last phase in the buyer’s journey is advocacy. This is usually used for the product or service, but it holds true for your recommendations. If you recommend junk, you will get one affiliate sale. If you recommend the best products, you become a source for all future purchases.
Additional considerations:
- Stick with the same structure throughout the entirety of the article. Jumping back and forth will be confusing for your audience.
- Keep your audience in mind. Will they find value in a case study or is a short listicle a better fit? Knowing the search intent can help you decide this.
- Use headings. Remember, people like to scan. Good headings help people get where they want to be faster.
- Add some graphics. There are VERY few posts that wouldn’t benefit from pictures, graphs, videos, etc.
- Have a call to action. You wrote the post hoping for some kind of result. Make sure you are guiding people to that result.
- HAVE FUN! When you are having fun writing an article, your audience will have fun reading it.
