Good blog post examples are worth studying by type, because each type makes a different promise to the reader. A how-to promises a result, a list promises options, an opinion piece promises an argument and a case study promises proof. Start with the table: it matches each type to the question your reader is asking. The 12 examples after it are invented, one per type.
This page is about the shape of a post once you know what it's about. Each example gives the headline, the opening and the outline, with a note on why it works.
| Type | The promise | Use it when the reader asks… |
|---|---|---|
| TypeHow-to | The promiseYou'll be able to do this | Use it when the reader asks…“How do I…?” |
| TypeList post | The promiseHere are your options, ranked or grouped | Use it when the reader asks…“What are some ways to…?” |
| TypeUltimate guide | The promiseEverything you need in one place | Use it when the reader asks…“Where do I even start?” |
| TypeFAQ post | The promiseStraight answers to the usual questions | Use it when the reader asks…Many small questions at once |
| TypeOpinion | The promiseA position, argued fairly | Use it when the reader asks…“Should I…?” or “Is this right?” |
| TypeOriginal research | The promiseNumbers nobody else has | Use it when the reader asks…“What's actually happening?” |
| TypeComparison | The promiseA verdict, with the reasons | Use it when the reader asks…“Which one should I pick?” |
| TypeNews | The promiseWhat changed and what to do | Use it when the reader asks…“What's new, and does it affect me?” |
| TypeCase study | The promiseProof that it worked somewhere | Use it when the reader asks…“Has anyone done this?” |
| TypeInterview | The promiseA person worth hearing from | Use it when the reader asks…“What's it like to…?” |
| TypePersonal story | The promiseWhat happened and what it taught | Use it when the reader asks…“Am I the only one?” |
| TypeRoundup | The promiseMany views, compared | Use it when the reader asks…“What do the experts think?” |
Formats that teach
Many readers arrive with a question typed into a search box. These four types answer one, and the reader judges them in the first screen by whether the answer is there. The labels sound alike; what that first screen hands over is different for each.
How-to post example
Headline: How to repot a root-bound monstera without setting it back
Opening: If roots are circling the bottom of the pot or poking out of the drainage holes, your monstera has run out of room, and spring is the best time to move it. The job takes about half an hour, a pot one size up and a bag of chunky potting mix. Here is how to do it so the plant settles in instead of sulking for a month.
Outline:
- Five signs it's time to repot, with photos
- What you need
- Step by step: water the day before, ease it out, loosen the roots, set it at the same depth, water and drain
- The first two weeks after
- If the leaves turn yellow
Why it works. The first screen gives the reader a diagnosis to check against their own plant, the season, the time it takes and a three-item shopping list, all before step one. Numbered steps suit someone with soil on their hands. The last two sections answer the question readers tend to ask a week later, which is the part they come back for.
List post example
Headline: 10 cuts that take 500 words out of a draft without losing anything
Opening: Your draft is 2,300 words and the limit is 1,800. Before you start sacrificing whole sections, try these ten cuts in order. The first three usually find a few hundred words on their own, and none of them touches your argument.
Outline:
- Delete the warm-up paragraph
- Cut throat-clearing phrases (“it is important to note that”)
- Merge two examples that make the same point
- Replace “in order to” with “to,” and other long ways to say short things
- Drop adverbs that repeat the verb
- Turn passive sentences active
- Shorten each quote to the line that matters
- Cut one word from every pair (“each and every”)
- Delete the summary just before the conclusion
- Check whether the last paragraph is the first one again
Why it works. The first screen gives the size of the problem (500 words), an order to work in and an estimate of what the first three cuts will find, so the reader can start cutting before they finish reading. The number in the headline is a promise they can measure. The items are ordered by payoff, so a reader who stops at three still gets something, and each would get a before-and-after line in the full post.
Ultimate guide example
Headline: How to start a neighborhood book club: the complete guide
Opening: A book club needs three things: people who come back, books they actually finish and a host who keeps it from turning into a dinner party. This guide covers all three, from the first invitation to the night in month eight when only two people have read the book.
Outline:
- Contents, with a link to every section
- Who to invite, and how many
- Choosing books people will finish
- Where to meet and how often
- Running the first meeting
- Discussion questions that start a conversation
- When people stop reading the book
- Online and hybrid clubs
- Keeping it going past the first year
- Questions people ask
Why it works. The first screen gives a map rather than a first step: the three things the guide covers, how far it goes (month eight) and a contents list to jump from. A how-to hands over step one; a guide shows the reader where their question sits. Each section answers one question and could stand alone. The opening admits the hard part (the night nobody read the book), which tells the reader the guide is written by someone who has run one.
FAQ post example
Headline: Hiring a freelance editor: 12 questions clients ask first
Opening: Most people who email an editor ask the same handful of questions, in roughly the same order: what kind of editing they need, what it costs, how long it takes and what happens if they don't like the edits. Here are the answers, grouped by where you are in the process.
Outline:
- Before you hire: Do I need a developmental edit or a copy edit? Do you do a sample edit?
- Cost and timing: How do you set your fee? How long does a 70,000-word manuscript take?
- During the edit: Will you change my voice? How do I answer your comments?
- After: Do you look at the revision? Can I come back for the next book?
Why it works. The first screen lists the questions the reader came with, in the order clients ask them, and says the answers are grouped by stage. The questions are written the way clients actually ask them, so each one is likely to match a search. Answers start with a short reply and add detail after, and the grouping lets a reader skip to their stage. An FAQ post is also the natural home for the terms clients confuse, such as developmental editing and copy editing.
Formats that argue or report
These posts are read for a judgment or a finding. They work when the claim arrives early and the evidence is visible, so the reader can disagree with something specific.
Opinion post example
Headline: Stop saving your best idea for the last paragraph
Opening: Most of us were taught to build to a conclusion, and most readers never reach it. If your strongest point is in your final paragraph, move it to the first. Here is why the school habit fails people reading on a screen, the one case where saving the best for last still works, and how to rearrange a draft in ten minutes.
Outline:
- The habit, and where we learned it
- What it costs: readers who leave before the point
- The best objection: suspense
- When to break the rule: stories and speeches
- A ten-minute rearrangement, shown on a real paragraph
Why it works. The claim is in the headline and the first two sentences, so the post practices what it argues. It takes the strongest objection seriously instead of a weak one, which gives a reader who disagrees a reason to keep reading. It ends with something the reader can do today. The same shape works for a newspaper column; see these op-ed examples.
Original research post example
Headline: We read 500 job posts for content writers. Here's what employers asked for
Opening: In August we collected 500 job posts for content writers from three job boards and coded every requirement. Two findings surprised us: 61% asked for knowledge of a subject before they asked for writing samples, and fewer than one in five mentioned a portfolio. The method, the full numbers and the spreadsheet are below.
Outline:
- How we collected and coded the posts
- The ten most common requirements, as a chart
- What surprised us
- What the data can't tell you
- Download the spreadsheet
Why it works. Original numbers give other writers something to cite and link to, because nobody else has them. The figures here are invented, so they show the structure, not a real finding. The method comes before the findings, and a section on limits says what the sample can't prove. Offering the raw data invites other people to reuse it, with a link back.
Comparison post example
Headline: Index cards or an outline: two ways to plan a novel, compared
Opening: Use index cards if you find the story by moving scenes around; use an outline if you need to know the ending before you start. Below are how each one works, what each costs in time, a side-by-side table, and the mix of the two that many writers end up with.
Outline:
- The short answer
- How the index-card method works
- How a written outline works
- Side by side: setup time, flexibility, revision, series planning
- A hybrid: cards for the middle, an outline for the ending
- Which one to choose
Why it works. The verdict is the first sentence, conditional on something the reader knows about themselves. The table serves the skimmer and the sections serve the careful reader. It admits that both methods work, which makes its recommendation easier to trust. For the methods in depth, see how to outline a novel.
News post example
Headline: The Saturday market moves indoors on Nov. 6: what changes for winter
Opening: From Saturday, Nov. 6, the market moves into the old armory on Front Street for the winter, with 28 of our 40 vendors. Hours change to 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Here is who is coming inside, how preorders work and when we move back outdoors.
Outline:
- What changes, and from when
- Which vendors are coming inside
- Parking and accessibility at the armory
- How to preorder from vendors who aren't
- When we're back outside
Why it works. The change and the date are in the headline, and what the reader has to do differently is in the first paragraph. Like a news story, it is built as an inverted pyramid, so anyone who reads only the opening still has what they need. There is no history of the market until the end, if at all.
Formats built on people
These four types borrow someone's experience, a customer's, an expert's or the writer's own. Their strength is detail nobody could make up, so they weaken when the people in them turn generic.
Case study post example
Headline: How a four-person bakery cut its food waste by a third in eight weeks
Opening: In March, Rye & Barley was throwing out about 90 loaves a week. By May it was throwing out 60, without baking less for the morning rush. The change came down to a spreadsheet, a 2 p.m. price drop and one awkward conversation with a supplier. Here is what they did, what didn't work, and what any small bakery can copy.
Outline:
- The problem, in loaves and dollars
- What they tried first, and why it failed
- The three changes that worked
- Results after eight weeks
- What you can copy this week
Why it works. A number and a time frame in the headline make the claim checkable. The section on what failed makes the success easier to believe. The last section turns someone else's story into the reader's plan. For the full method, see how to write a case study.
Interview post example
Headline: What a court reporter hears: a Q&A with Dana Whitlock
Opening: For 22 years Dana Whitlock has taken down every word spoken in her county's courtrooms, at more than 200 words a minute. We asked her what that does to the way she listens, how she handles witnesses who mumble and what she wishes lawyers knew. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Outline:
- How did you get into court reporting?
- What is the hardest testimony to take down?
- What happens when two people talk at once?
- Does the job change how you listen at dinner?
- What do lawyers get wrong about the record?
- What would you tell someone starting out?
Why it works. It introduces someone readers wouldn't otherwise meet, and the opening says why she is worth hearing. The questions follow curiosity rather than her résumé, and the editing note keeps the format honest. A good interview post cuts the answers hard and keeps the lines only she could have said.
Personal story post example
Headline: The year I stopped writing at night
Opening: For six years I wrote from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., because that was when the house was quiet. In January I finished a draft and couldn't remember writing the last third of it. This is what I changed, what it cost me, and what I'd tell anyone who thinks they can only work at night.
Outline:
- The routine, and why it worked at first
- The morning I reread chapter 20
- Trying to write before work, badly
- What finally stuck
- What I'd tell you
Why it works. The opening has a scene and a stake, not a lesson. The writer admits the cost, which makes the change easier to believe. The lesson comes at the end, earned by the story, and then it is handed to the reader as advice they can test.
Roundup post example
Headline: Eight editors on the one writing rule they break on purpose
Opening: We asked eight editors, from books, magazines, newsletters and technical documentation, one question: which writing rule do you break on purpose, and when? Five of them named the same rule. Their answers are below, lightly edited, with the pattern we noticed at the end.
Outline:
- The question we asked, and why
- Eight answers of about 80 words each, with name and role
- The rule five of them break
- Your turn: the question for readers
Why it works. One narrow question produces answers that can be compared, where “share your best tips” produces eight unrelated essays. Contributors often share it with their own readers. The synthesis at the end is the part only this post has, so it deserves the most care.
Habits the examples share
The 12 examples have different shapes, but they share a few habits that make a post easier to finish. Posts that lose readers early tend to share others.
Helps a reader finish
- One reader in mind, recognizable in the first paragraph
- The answer or the stakes within three sentences
- Headings that make sense read on their own
- Evidence in every section: a number, an example, a quote or a screenshot
- Paragraphs of two to four sentences
- An ending that gives the reader something to do
Gives a reader a reason to leave
- An introduction about the history of the topic
- Headings like Background and Conclusion
- Claims with nothing behind them
- Three examples making the same point
- A summary that repeats the post
- No clear next step
Headings deserve a second look, because many readers see nothing else on the way down the page. A heading such as “Why outlines fail” tells a skimmer what they would learn; “Background” tells them nothing. Read only your headings in order. If they don't tell the story of the post, rewrite them before you touch the paragraphs. Short, plain sentences help too; see readability for what that means in practice.
If you draft in Strokes, ask the Strokes Assistant to review the draft as a skimmer would and list the headings that don't make sense on their own.
How long each format runs
There is no correct length, but there is context. Orbit Media's 2026 blogging survey of 1,042 content marketers put the average blog post at 1,312 words, down from a peak of 1,427 in 2023. Treat that as a description of what people write, not a target. Length follows what the format has to deliver: a news post is done when the reader knows what changed and what to do, a how-to when the last step works, a guide when a beginner's last question has an answer. The ranges below are where each format often lands once it has done that job.
| Type | Often runs | Long enough to… |
|---|---|---|
| TypeNews | Often runs300–700 words | Long enough to…State the change and what the reader should do |
| TypeOpinion | Often runs800–1,500 words | Long enough to…Make one argument and answer the best objection |
| TypePersonal story | Often runs800–2,000 words | Long enough to…Show the scenes the lesson needs |
| TypeHow-to | Often runs800–2,000 words | Long enough to…Cover every step, and no more |
| TypeCase study | Often runs1,000–1,500 words | Long enough to…Show the problem, the attempt, the result and the lesson |
| TypeList post | Often runs1,000–2,500 words | Long enough to…Give each item a short paragraph |
| TypeFAQ post | Often runs1,000–2,500 words | Long enough to…Answer the questions people actually ask |
| TypeInterview | Often runs1,000–2,500 words | Long enough to…Keep the answers that earn a place |
| TypeRoundup | Often runs1,000–2,000 words | Long enough to…Give each contributor about 100 words |
| TypeComparison | Often runs1,200–2,500 words | Long enough to…Cover the criteria that decide the choice |
| TypeOriginal research | Often runs1,500–3,000 words | Long enough to…Explain the method, the findings and the limits |
| TypeUltimate guide | Often runs3,000 words and up | Long enough to…Answer every question a beginner has |
Write your own from an example
- Start from the reader's question
Write down the question the reader would type or ask, word for word. The table at the top tells you which type answers it.
- Write the promise in one sentence
“By the end, you'll be able to repot your plant.” “By the end, you'll know which method fits you.” That sentence becomes the first draft of your headline and the spine of your opening.
- Borrow the outline, not the words
Take the outline of the matching example and replace each line with your own point and the evidence for it. A line with no evidence is a gap to fill before you draft. The blog post outline template has the same parts with room for search notes.
- Draft fast, then cut the opening
Write the whole post, then delete the first paragraph and see whether the second one is a better start. It often is.
- Write the headline last
Once the post exists, the headline is a summary of a promise you have kept. The guide to writing headlines covers the formulas. If you're writing for a client, agree on the reader, the goal and the length in a content brief first.
Frequently asked questions
How do you start a blog post?
Start with the reader's problem or with the answer, in the first two or three sentences. Say what the post will give them and, for a how-to, what they need. Leave background and history for later, or cut them. If your second paragraph makes a better opening than your first, delete the first.
How long should a blog post be?
As long as the job requires. Orbit Media's 2026 survey of 1,042 content marketers found an average of 1,312 words, but that describes what people write, not what works for your topic. A news update can be a few hundred words, while a complete guide may run past 3,000. Cut anything the reader doesn't need to do or understand the thing you promised.
What is the difference between a blog post and an article?
A blog post usually lives on a person's or company's own site, uses a more personal voice and is often updated over time. An article usually appears in a publication with editors and a house style. The line is blurry, and readers judge both the same way: by whether the opening answers their question.
How many headings should a blog post have?
Use one main heading for each point or step, so a reader who sees only the headings can follow the post. A common rule of thumb is a heading every few hundred words in longer posts. Write each heading as what the section tells the reader, not as a label like Background or Tips.
