Blog Post Examples for Every Type of Post, With a Template for Each

Most people who search for blog post examples are about to write one and want to see what a good one looks like before they start, and the useful answer depends on the kind of post, because a how-to guide and a personal essay share almost nothing except a byline. So, if you are looking for blog post examples to model your own on, this guide can surely help: it shows one strong example for each of the 11 types of post worth writing, what that example does well and a template you can fill in.

I have been writing on this blog since 2008 and have helped many bloggers and small businesses shape their own posts over the years, and the same handful of shapes keep coming back, whatever the subject.

No single post can show you every good blog in the world, and this one does not try. It covers the types of post that do most of the work on a blog that wants readers and income, and for each one it picks a living example that has held up for years rather than the freshest thing on the front page. If you want whole blogs to study rather than single posts, that is a different list and I have linked it further down.

In addition to that, I have put together a templates pack you can print: the outline for every type here, with what each section has to do and where the proof goes. You can download it right below. Or, if you would rather have someone look at a draft with you, I am always available for a chat. Without further ado, let’s get started.

What a Good Blog Post Looks Like

Before the examples, I want to ensure the thing they have in common is clear, because it is easy to look at 11 very different posts and conclude that anything goes, and it does not. Every post below, from the 8,000-word reference guide to the 2,000-word essay, has the same 8 parts in the same order, and the type only changes what goes inside each part.

The two parts new writers skip are the payoff line after each example and the limits section near the end. Without the first the post reads like notes; without the second it reads like an advertisement, and readers can tell in a paragraph.

If what you are after is examples of whole blogs rather than single posts, the list of the best personal blogs and the roundup of the best WordPress blogs cover that. The rest of this article stays at the level of one post.

Blog Post Examples by Type

Each type below gets one example, the reasons it works, when the type is the right choice and a template. The templates are outlines: the order of sections and the job of each one. The words are yours.

How-To Guide

WPBeginner’s guide to starting a WordPress blog is the how-to post most of the web has copied, and it is still the cleanest example of the type. Syed Balkhi opens with the year he started his first blog and what it led to, then moves within 3 paragraphs into a table of contents and 9 numbered steps, each one an H2 with a screenshot of the exact screen the reader will see.

• The steps are in the order the reader will do them, and every step ends where the next one starts, so nobody has to work out what to click.
• Every screenshot shows the screen at the moment of the instruction, not a stock image of a laptop.
• An FAQ at the end takes the questions that would otherwise interrupt the steps, and the last updated date sits under the title where a nervous reader looks for it.

A how-to is the right type when the reader wants an outcome and the path to it has a fixed order. It is the wrong type when the answer is a judgment, because a numbered list cannot hold a “depends”.

Title: How to [outcome] in [context]
Intro: who this is for, what they will have at the end, what they need before starting
Table of contents
Step 1 to Step N: one action each, in order, with the screen or the result shown
What can go wrong, and the fix for each
FAQ for the questions that do not fit a step
Close: the next thing to do once this works

The “what can go wrong” section is the part most how-to posts leave out, and it is the part that separates a guide someone finishes from one they abandon at step 4.

Listicle

Zapier’s roundup of the best to do list apps shows what a listicle looks like when the writer has used the things on the list. It opens on the problem, that there are a million of these apps because task management is personal, then gives an at-a-glance table with the app, who it is best for, its standout feature and its price, before 7 entries that each follow the same shape.

• The table near the top lets a reader in a hurry leave with an answer in 30 seconds, and the entries below serve the reader who wants the reasons.
• Every entry has the same parts, pros and cons, a paragraph of judgment and a pricing line, so the reader can compare without re-reading.
• The method is stated once, near the top, and every product mention that helps the reader carries a link.

A listicle is the right type when the reader is choosing among several options and the options are genuinely different. It is the wrong type when one option wins for almost everyone, because then the post is a review wearing a costume.

Title: Best [category] for [reader or job]
Intro: the decision, who it is for, the one-line answer for the reader in a hurry
At-a-glance table: item, best for, the one thing that sets it apart
How the list was chosen, in a short paragraph
Item 1 to Item N: the exact name as the heading, the verdict in the first sentence, what it does well, where it falls short, who should skip it
The limits of the list
Close: how to pick between the top 2

Item headings carry only the name. The award, the rank and the reason go in the first sentence under it, where a reader arriving from a search can see them without decoding a headline.

Ultimate Guide

Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO has been the reference example of the long guide for more than a decade. It is one topic split into chapters, from what search engines do through keyword research, on-page work, technical SEO and links, with a landing page that lists the chapters and a navigation that carries the reader from one to the next.

• The chapter order follows the order a beginner meets the problems, so the guide can be read straight through or entered at the chapter the reader needs.
• The illustrations explain the ideas rather than decorate them, and the tone is one patient teacher from the first chapter to the last.
• It has been revised rather than replaced, which is why it still ranks for the query it was written for years ago.

An ultimate guide is the right type when the topic has 5 or more sub-topics that each deserve a post of their own and the reader benefits from seeing them in one place. It is the wrong type for a topic that fits in 1,500 words, where the label promises more than the post can deliver.

Title: The Beginner’s Guide to [topic] or The Complete Guide to [topic]
Landing section: who it is for, what they will be able to do, the chapter list
Chapter 1: the idea in plain words and why it matters
Chapters 2 to N: one sub-topic each, in the order a beginner meets them, with an example in every one
Chapter N+1: how to measure whether it is working
Glossary or FAQ
Close: where to go next, and which chapter to re-read when stuck

A guide of this size lives or dies on revision. The one that gets re-read every year and updated where it has gone stale is the one that keeps its position; the one published once ages in public.

Product Review

Wirecutter’s office chair review is the shape almost every serious review site now uses. The picks come first, labeled for the reader they suit, each with a one-line verdict, and only then does the post explain who the writers are, who the review is for, how the chairs were chosen and tested, what is wrong with the winner, and what happened to everything else.

• The verdict is at the top and the reasoning below it, so the reader who trusts the site can act and the reader who does not can check.
• A section on the winner’s flaws sits in the open, under its own heading, which is the single most trust-building habit in review writing.
• The competition section says why the others lost, in a line or two each, so the reader does not wonder whether the writers missed the one they were considering.

A review is the right type when the reader has 1 product in mind and wants a buy or skip. It is the wrong type when the reader is still choosing a category, which is the listicle’s job.

Title: [Product] Review: [the verdict in 4 words or fewer]
Verdict box: buy or skip, who it fits, the one disqualifier
Who this is for, and who should look elsewhere
What it does well, with the proof for each claim
Where it falls short, under its own heading
How it compares with the 2 closest alternatives
Price and plans in prose, never a table that rots
Close: the condition that would change the verdict

The “who should look elsewhere” line costs a sale now and then, and it is the reason a reader believes the rest of the review.

Comparison Post

Kinsta’s WordPress.com vs WordPress.org post is a comparison done the useful way round. It defines each side in its own section, then answers the question in the title directly under a heading that repeats it, then spends a section on the limits of each, one on moving between them, an FAQ, and a summary that names which reader should pick which.

• The verdict is conditional and says so: quick setup and simplicity on one side, ownership, monetization and control on the other. The reader places themselves in a sentence.
• The “can you move between them” section answers the question the reader has next, before they have to search for it.
• Each side gets a fair definition before the comparison starts, so the post reads as a decision aid and not as a demolition.

A comparison is the right type when the reader has narrowed to 2 options and needs the condition that decides. It is the wrong type when one option is plainly better for everyone; that is a review with a rival mentioned.

Title: [A] vs [B]: Which Is Better for [reader or job]
Intro: the decision, the default recommendation, and the condition that flips it
What A is, in a fair paragraph
What B is, in a fair paragraph
The differences that decide, one heading each, with the winner of each named
The differences that do not matter, in one short section
Pick A if… Pick B if…
Close: what to do the day after choosing

The “differences that do not matter” section is a small thing that saves the reader an hour, because most comparison posts pad themselves with features neither reader will ever touch.

Case Study

Brian Dean’s Skyscraper Technique post on Backlinko is the case study that launched a thousand imitations, and the structure is why. The result is in the title, a doubling of traffic in 14 days, the intro shows the charts that prove it, and the body is 3 steps a reader can repeat, each illustrated with the actual pages and emails involved.

• The result comes first and the method second, which is the opposite of how most people tell a story and exactly how a reader wants to hear one.
• Every claim has a screenshot or a chart beside it, so the post never asks to be believed.
• The method has a name, and the name is what people remember and repeat, which is how a 2013 post is still cited.

A case study is the right type when you have done something with a measurable result and can show the record. It is not available when you have not; a case study written from imagination is a how-to with a false claim on top.

Title: How [who] got [result] in [time] with [method]
Intro: the result with its numbers, and the proof shown
The situation before, and what had already been tried
Step 1 to Step N of what was done, each with the artifact
What did not work along the way
What the reader can copy, and the condition it needs
Close: the one thing to do this week

The “what did not work” section is what makes the result believable. A case study with no failures in it reads like a brochure.

Original Research

Ahrefs’ study on how much content gets no traffic from Google is the research post other people cite when they need a number. The number is in the title, 96.55% of pages get no search traffic, the sample is stated up front, about 14 billion pages from the company’s own index, and the post spends a section on the limits of its own data before it draws conclusions.

• One headline number, stated to the decimal, that a reader can quote in a sentence. That is the whole reason a research post spreads.
• The method and the sample size are in the first screen, and the limitations have their own section, so the number arrives with its boundary attached.
• The post ends with what the reader should do differently, so the data is not left as trivia.

Original research is the right type when you have data nobody else has, whether that is your own analytics, a survey you ran or a public dataset nobody has bothered to analyze. It is the wrong type when the data is borrowed, because then the post is a summary and should say so.

Title: [The headline number] of [population] [does or has X]
Intro: the finding in one sentence, the sample and method in the next
Finding 1 to Finding N: one chart each, the number in the heading, one paragraph of what it means
What the data cannot tell you
What to do differently because of it
Method in full, at the end, for the reader who wants to check

Put the method at the end and the limits in the middle. The reader who wants the number gets it in the first line; the reader who wants to argue with it gets the method without scrolling past it to reach the point.

Explainer

Semrush’s What is SEO post is a textbook explainer, and I mean that as praise. The first paragraph gives the definition in one line, the headings are the questions a beginner asks in the order they ask them, from why it matters to how it differs from paid search to how to start, and every abstract point gets a diagram or a screenshot of the thing itself.

• The definition is in the first paragraph, plain, before any history or context, which is what the searcher came for.
• The headings are questions, so a reader can find their own question by scanning and skip the ones they can already answer.
• It ends with where to learn more rather than with a summary, which respects a reader who has just read 13 minutes of it.

An explainer is the right type when the reader has typed “what is” and needs the idea, the reason it matters and the first step. It is the wrong type when the reader already knows the idea and wants the procedure, which is the how-to’s job.

Title: What Is [term]? [one-line plain gloss]
Intro: one placing sentence, then the definition in plain words
Why it matters, with one concrete consequence
How it works, with a diagram
How it differs from the thing people confuse it with
The types or parts, if there are any
How to get started, in 3 to 5 moves
Close: where to learn the next level

The “how it differs from” section is the one readers thank you for, because the confusion between two nearby terms is usually why they searched in the first place.

Reference Tutorial

The CSS-Tricks guide to Flexbox is the post developers have kept open in a tab since 2013. It splits the topic along its natural seam, properties of the container and properties of the items, gives every property a diagram, a code block and its list of values, and closes with worked examples and a browser support chart. It has been updated continuously, and the date under the title says so.

• Every entry has the same 3 parts, diagram, code and values, so a reader who has used the page once can find anything on it in seconds.
• The organization follows the structure of the subject itself rather than the order the author learned it.
• It is maintained, and it shows the maintenance, which is why it outranks newer posts that were written once.

A reference tutorial is the right type when readers will come back to the same post repeatedly and need to find one thing fast. It is the wrong type for a topic people learn once and never look up again.

Title: A Complete Guide to [thing]
Intro: what it is for and when to reach for it, in a paragraph
Table of contents that mirrors the structure of the subject
Section per part: what it does, a diagram, the code or the setting, every value or option
Worked examples from simple to full
Gotchas and compatibility
Close: a note on how the page is kept current

Consistency is the whole craft here. The moment one entry has a diagram and the next does not, the page stops being a reference and becomes an article the reader has to read.

Personal Essay

Tim Urban’s The Tail End on Wait But Why is the personal essay that gets forwarded between friends a decade after it was written. It starts from a chart of a human life in years, then counts the ordinary things left in one, winters, books, ocean swims, dumplings, as grids of dots, and then turns to the people, working out that by the time he left home he had used up around 93% of the in-person time he would ever have with his parents.

• It starts small and concrete, with countable things, and lets the reader do the emotional arithmetic before the essay names it.
• The hand-drawn dot grids are the argument. Take them away and the essay is a paragraph of advice everyone has heard.
• It ends on 3 plain things to do, said once, with no summary and no moral.

A personal essay is the right type when you have noticed something true in your own life that the reader has half-noticed in theirs. It is the wrong type when the story is invented to carry a point, because a reader can hear the difference, and it is not available at all when the story is not yours.

Title: the thing itself, small and concrete
Opening: the ordinary moment where it started, in scene
The thing counted or looked at plainly, and shown: a chart, a list, a photo
The turn: where the ordinary thing becomes the real subject
What it means for you, said once
Close: 2 or 3 things to keep, then stop

The turn is the whole essay. Everything before it earns the reader’s attention with something ordinary, and everything after it spends that attention on something that matters.

Opinion Essay

Paul Graham’s How to Do Great Work is the opinion essay at its most stripped down: a date, a title and 8,000 words of plain text with no headings, no images and 29 footnotes at the end. The first sentence is a question about what the techniques for great work have in common across fields, and the whole essay is one man’s answer to it, argued from observation rather than from citations.

• It has a position and holds it for 8,000 words without hedging into “it depends”, which is what an opinion essay is for.
• The footnotes carry the qualifications and the tangents, so the main text stays a single line of thought.
• It is written for the reader who will finish it, not the one who will scan it, and it does not pretend otherwise.

An opinion essay is the right type when you have a view the reader cannot get from a search result and the standing to argue it. It is the wrong type when the view is the consensus, because then the essay is an explainer with attitude, and readers notice the attitude before the content.

Title: the claim, or the question the essay answers
Opening: the observation or question that started it, in the reader’s world
The claim, stated once and plainly
The argument in 3 to 5 movements, each with a concrete example
The strongest objection, conceded where it is right
What follows for the reader
Close: one line, and stop

The concession is the part that separates an essay from a rant. A writer who can say where the other side is right earns the right to say where it is wrong.

How to Pick the Type

The type follows the reader’s question, not the writer’s mood, and most questions announce their type in the first two words.

The reader is asking	Write a	The example above
How do I do X?	How-to guide	WPBeginner
Which X should I use?	Listicle	Zapier
Teach me X from the start	Ultimate guide	Moz
Should I buy X?	Product review	Wirecutter
X or Y?	Comparison post	Kinsta
Did this work for anyone?	Case study	Backlinko
How common is X, really?	Original research	Ahrefs
What is X?	Explainer	Semrush
What was that property again?	Reference tutorial	CSS-Tricks
Has anyone else felt this?	Personal essay	Wait But Why
What do you think about X?	Opinion essay	Paul Graham

When a topic seems to fit two types, it is usually two posts. A comparison that keeps turning into a how-to is a comparison with a how-to hiding inside it, and both do better on their own pages, linked. The list of blog post ideas that drive traffic is a good place to see how the same subject splits into several types.

How to Use the Templates

A template is an order of sections, and the order is the part worth copying. I want to go through how to fill one without the result reading like a form.

The title should be written last and checked against the finished post, because a title is a promise and the draft usually ends up promising something slightly different from what was planned. The guide to blog post headlines that get clicks covers the wording once the promise is settled.

Each section should be drafted from its example outward, since the example is the explanation and the abstract sentence that introduced it can usually be deleted afterward. A section with no example is a section that has not been written yet.

The length should be whatever the sections need. The 11 examples run from about 1,700 words to more than 8,000 and every one of them is the right length for its job, and the question of how long a blog post should be has no better answer than that.

The limits section should be written before the close, not skipped because the post feels finished. It is 3 or 4 sentences, and it is the part of the post a returning reader trusts the rest for.

And the whole draft should go through one edit for the reader who scans, checking that the headings alone tell the story, and one for the reader who reads, checking that no sentence exists to fill space. The craft side of that edit is in how to write better blog posts, and the part that helps search engines and AI answers quote you is in how to format blog posts for AI search.

The Limits

These 11 are examples of structure, not of everything. A post with a perfect skeleton and nothing to say is still a post with nothing to say, and no template supplies the observation, the data or the experience that the good examples here are built on.

The examples skew toward technology and marketing blogs, because that is where the shapes are easiest to see and where I read most. A cooking blog, a travel blog or a parenting blog uses the same 11 types with different furniture, and you will have to do the translation.

Several of these posts are also products of teams, with editors, designers and years of revision behind them. A solo writer copying the structure will not match the polish on the first attempt, and does not need to; the structure is what carries the reader, and the polish comes with the fifth post.

And the pages change. Titles get rewritten, picks get replaced and layouts get redesigned, so the screenshots here are the posts as they looked when this was written, and the live pages may differ in detail.

What Quietly Ruins a Blog Post

Opening with the history of the topic. The reader searched for an answer and gets a paragraph about when the term was coined, and most of them are gone before the answer arrives.

Writing a listicle with 15 entries because 15 sounds thorough. The reader wanted 3 good options and now has to evaluate 12 mediocre ones, and the post loses to the one that made the choice for them.

Putting the verdict at the end. It feels like building suspense, and it reads as hiding the answer, so the reader scrolls to the bottom, reads the last paragraph and never sees the reasoning.

Using a stock photo where a screenshot belongs. The image takes the space where the proof should have been, and the reader learns that the pictures on this blog can be skipped.

Ending with a summary of what the reader just read. They know what they read. The close is for what they do next, and a recap tells them the writer ran out of things to say a section ago.

Publishing once and never revising. Every example above that still ranks has been updated, and the ones that do not exist any more were the ones left alone.

FAQs on Blog Post Examples

Final Remarks

If you have read this far, you have seen that the 11 posts share one skeleton and differ only in what fills it, and that the type is decided by the reader’s question before the first word is written. That is the one idea I want to leave you with.

When someone I work with is about to publish their first few posts, I tell them the same 3 things. Write the how-to and the explainer first, because those are the questions people are typing today and they are the posts that will still bring readers in 2 years. Put an example in every section before you write the sentence that introduces it, since the example usually makes the sentence unnecessary and the post shorter and better for it. And add the limits section even when it feels like it weakens the post, because it is the paragraph that makes a stranger believe the other twenty.

The templates pack has the outline for every type on 2 pages, so it is worth keeping beside you for the next several posts until the shapes are yours. And if you would like someone to read a draft with you, I am always available for a chat.

That is all from my side. I hope it helps you.