Sep
10
This is a guest post by Michael Martine. He is a blog consultant and WordPress theme designer and lives online at Better Blogging with Michael Martine.
If you want to be an expert in something, it takes dedication and a lot of work. If you want to be known as an expert in something, you also have to know how present yourself as one. Bloggers who are known experts write in way that enforces that image. There are 5 basic types of posts that experts write, and you can apply these to your own blogging.
Type 1: The Definition Post
The definition post is a long-standing method for presenting yourself as an expert. In this type of post, you define terms, a concept, a practice, often with examples and links. For example, if I were running a landscaping company and I had a blog, I could write a post that defines common landscaping approaches. If I was a search engine marketer, I could write a post defining some of the more esoteric search marketing terms. Sometimes these kinds of posts are almost like miniature glossaries. As such, they often get good search traffic and backlinks (links back to the post from other sites).
Here’s an example shamelessly pulled from my own blog. The post is called What is a blog? Yes, I have the gall to define what a blog is, even though it’s been done before by many others. This shows how well I understand blogs and blogging, and this helps to establish that I’m an expert. This is one of the most popular posts on my blog and gets great search traffic.
Type 2: The Resource Post
Experts have links to great resources that beginners don’t. One way an expert becomes viewed as even more of an expert is by sharing these resources with others and helping others become experts in their own right. The most powerful kind of this type of post is for resources created by the expert, rather than by someone else. For example, an expert home brewer who is also a bit of a geek (funny how those two things go together) might have created some home brewing software anyone can download or purchase. Here’s a great example of this kind of resource post from SEO Book.
The most common form of resource post contains one or more links to other online resources. The less well-known but powerful these resources are, the better for your reputation as an expert. You can also go for completeness: an exhaustive list of resources will attract visitors and links. For example, here’s Mashable’s 17 AdSense Plugins for WordPress.
Type 3: The Tutorial Post
Providing step-by-step instructions shows you are an authority on what you’re teaching. This is especially true if your tutorial covers something not many people know how to do. Small Potato, a WordPress theme designer wrote a post on how to do hover menus in WordPress themes. Not all tutorial posts have to be detailed step-by-step instructions. Often, you can provide more general instruction just as well, though this might depend on your audience.
There’s been a growing trend towards video tutorials. Compared to all the writing and screenshots needed for a written tutorial, a video tutorial can be a great teaching tool. Here’s a tutorial video on how to make sushi rice.
Type 4: The Story Post
Relating a story that showcases how you work and how people benefit from working with you is an important tool for experts. In You Get What You Pay For, Thomas of English Cut tells a story as a lesson that reinforces why bespoke tailoring costs more than ready-to-wear.
Type 5: The Opinion Post
Opinion posts are the kind of posts amateurs tend to write when they don’t have much knowledge or experience! But when an expert writes an opinion post, that opinion is based on knowledge and experience. An expert will refer to her knowledge and experience in her post as a way to give credit to her opinion. A great example of this type of post is at business guru Tom Peters‘ blog. Tom has an incredible wealth of experience helping business succeed and he uses that knowledge and experience to inform opinions on things that aren’t pure business, but which affect and are affected by business.
Your Challenge
Write a new post in one (or all!) of the expert types and share the links to them via the comments. Be sure to tell us what type of expert post you chose.
Great post Michael. The Challenge ending is sure to inspire a lot of great posts from David’s readers.
Thank you, Adam. I’m looking forward to seeing them.
Interesting and original poist. I wonder what type of post this one is?
Stumbled and Sphunn
Hey Matt, thanks for the Stumble and the Sphinn!
That’s a great article with food for thoughts and reflection. And thanks for the opportunity to link to a tutorial post.
By the way, there’s at least one other category: authoritative jokes.
Sorry to have overlooked that one!
I really identify with this post. I am working on posting more frequently(actually trying to get motivated to do so). I have selected 5 areas that I feel are relevant to my blog, but this adds another dimension to how\what I should blog about. Thanks for the great post.
Thanks for the positive feedback/stumbles/etc., everyone. Which type of the 5 is the post itself? Definition.
Tyson: you can mix ‘n’ match the 5 types to your 5 areas for instant post formula to help stay on track.
That is exactly what I was thinking. If you have 5 categories that are pertinent to your blog and you try to hit all 5 of these types of of posting, that gives you 25 strong authoritative post. Fill in some link love and authoritative jokes and that equals to the 1 post a day for a month.
Good times,
Tyson
So, that’s what makes you successful. I wish I could write good enough to do well in blogging.
You still have to do all the hard work that gives the knowledge and experience of an expert. But in order for other people to see you that way, you need to know how to present yourself properly.
People who understand this “secret” can help accelerate the process of becoming an expert by presenting as though they were one, already. It’s sort of like the idea of dressing for the position you want to get, not the one you have now.
Michael is a great blogger, definitely knows his stuff. Great guest post mate!
Thanks, mate!
I like your post Michael
I see writing the good post is really dificult and maybe I only can make the type 5 post. It’s easy to make and we can be honest for ourself and our reader. It’s also good for review blog, because reader usually seek the honest opinion
Great post, especially for inspiration. Sometimes I know what I want to write, but not quite exactly what direction I want to take it. And I totally love authoritative jokes posts :c), I am trying to come up with another one myself since I did one and it was a real hit.
A very comprehensive post David, I’m a quite good at the first and the last type, and will certainly try the other three. As far as tutorial post is concerned, I think I can go with Wordpress tutorials only.
Great information. Going to go through your past articles as well.
MEGAN
David does a great job and you should learn a lot if you read past posts!
Darin
Great. . . Now I have homework to do.
Awesome post. My goal for the rest of this month will be to post one of each kind of these posts. Now I just have to decide what I want to be an expert on.
Michael,
Thanks for the information. You have some really good points. I published a resource post last night (it’s linked to my name on the comment). I’m not sure if it’s something an expert would do, but it has brought some good traffic today.
Wow, that is a great resource!
[...] The 5 Types of Blogs That Experts Write [...]
[...] The 5 Types of Blogs That Experts Write [...]
What a great article. I’m no expert, but have written a how-to article or two in my time. The story post is my favorite as it relates my experiences with music to others, in hopes of making a connection with the readers.
“NO EXPERT” you would have fooled me!
LOL
Darin
Only experts can write such a wonderful post.Job well done
Great post! As always
Very good post Micheal. It was a lot of learning. I never thought about all these aspects before writing a blog.
Next time I am definitely going to keep these tips in mind before writing a blog. I guess that’s what makes you successful, your writing skills.
I already starting type 5. Now, i’m entering type 3 blogger. I don’t know when I entering another type.
[...] David Culpepper is a great guy and Pure Blogging is a great gem of meta-blog. I wrote a post called The 5 Types of Blog Posts that Experts Write. [...]
thanks for a great post Micheal
A very interesting article. I think that next month I will aim to write at least one post that fits every category you mention!
- Martin Reed
Awesome. That is a worthy goal!
[...] The 5 Types of Blog Posts that Experts Write If you want to be an expert in something, it takes dedication and a lot of work. If you want to be known as an expert in something, you also have to know how present yourself as one. Bloggers who are known experts write in way that enforces that image. There are 5 basic types of posts that experts write, and you can apply these to your own blogging. [...]
I can relate to this post. I think the easiest ones are story and opinion. Tutorials can get technical. Either way I just stumbled it and it looks like others have as well. Great bloggery!
Another great article David, this is sure a unique one and great one
Thanks again!
An excellent base here from which to work if you are struggling for something to blog about!
[...] The 5 Types of Blog Posts that Experts Write [...]
Hi,
Great article!
Lots of great tips for bloggers starting out! Keep up the good work.
Steve
Well that is a goal for me - to write a post for each category.
Great blog, Michael! Found it very helpful because right now I am trying to define what my blog is really all about and how to make it more useful to readers.
Thanks for a wonderful article!
Really good article, thanks! It seems that im a beginner level blogger:D
Absolutely nice information. This is an awesome post to me. I am figuring out how Wordpress and such things work and how to earn money with blogging, so this post can help me to become a pro.
I am not sure that I would ever aspire to becoming a pro but am curious about the credence of some of the so called experts.
The internet is so huge, how can you truly tell those who are really experts and those who plagiarise the experts, or those who just make it all up !
I’m crazy about Michael Martine and love his Remarkablogger blog - he’s so practical and he’s proven he knows what he’s doing! Enjoyed his guest post
Thanks for a 5 ways to change it up and deliver great content. The tutorials seem to be the ones always on the back burner - need to focus on these more.
Excellent article. These all certainly apply to my field which is Real Estate. I have a blog that covers Real Estate in Metrowest Massachusetts and have used many of the concepts that have outlined.
Great information. Going to go through your past articles as well.
Really good article, thanks!
[...] Michael Martine offers his own take in a guest blog post at Pure Blogging in theThe 5 Types of Blog Posts that Experts Write [...]
Oh, so writing one of these things automatically makes me a problogger? Nice!
You must be kidding me
If that were the case, I will simply get an article for each category listed and paste them in my blog. After that I simply declare myself a ProBlogger 
I believe those classifications are meant to enhance the output of a serious blogger.I enjoyed the post. Cheers.
Excellent article. I just found this site and I am gobbling up the information. This one article will provide with weeks worth of great content design for my blog.
Thanks
Great job, MIchael!!
That’s a nice breakdown. It is certainly helpful as I try to find new ideas for what to write about to start with the five and say “what type of post do I want to write today”
A good “homework” will be to take a look to ur old posts and define what type matchs with everyone. By doing this i think it would be easier for me to write one of each type.
I think the most popular types of post are The Resource Post and The Tutorial Post. It is also useful to learn something new and get the needed recourses you couldn’t find by yourself.
This informations are awesome . . .
I think the best types of posts are the opinion and tutorial posts….I really like opinion posts as they lead to interesting discussion.
What comes to my curiousity is that might be there are millions bloggers wrote about blogging topic and I found that some probloggers now running out of topic and try to recycle their posts by making some revisions here and there..
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