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Blogging Style: The Basic Posting Formats (Series Index)

After reading blogs for awhile, I’ve come to see some patterns in the ways postings in text-based blogs are formatted. As I see it, there are seven basic formats for blog postings. Each serves a different purpose for bloggers and their readers.

The format of a blog posting, if chosen consciously and carefully, enhance communication – particularly the delivery of certain types of content. Consequently, some formats work best for commentary or explanation, others for alerts and references, etc.

Here are the seven basic blog posting formats:

  1. Link-only
  2. Link blurb
  3. Brief remark
  4. List
  5. Short article
  6. Long article
  7. Series postings

Keep in mind that these types represent points along a spectrum. A specific posting might blend aspects of two or more formats.

Why should bloggers understand and care about posting format?…

Bloggers who clearly understand posting formats and consider them consciously are more likely to choose the best format for each posting they publish – one that suits the content as well as the audience and the blogger’s own resources.

Before you start blogging, it helps to envision what your final posting will look like. Remember: your ultimate goal is communication, so it helps to publish in ways that effectively support communication. For text-based blogs, selecting the right format for each posting is a big part of achieving that goal.

Most blogs offer a mix of posting formats. That’s fine – even desirable. With a few exceptions, most blogs that I’ve seen which offer only a single format of posting end up feeling rather monotonous. Format variety enhances most blogs. John Battelle’s Searchblog does an excellent job of mixing posting formats (mostly link blurbs and short articles, with the occasional long article thrown in).

If you’re not sure which posting formats your readers prefer, ask them! It’s easy to conduct a simple reader survey with a free tool like SurveyMonkey. Of course, you also have to consider the time and energy you have available to post to your blog. If your readers say they want long articles from you daily, and you have about a half hour a day at most to blog, obviously you’ll have to find another option. (Maybe a weekly long article, supplemented with daily link blurbs or brief remarks.)

Selecting a posting format is always a tradeoff. As this series describes, each format has unique advantages and disadvantages.

NEXT: The link-only posting…

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This entry was written by Amy Gahran and posted on September 22, 2004 at 12:35 pm and filed under Content Style & Business, Voices: Blogs, etc.. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Comments are closed, but you can leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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29 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

  1. The inaugural Business Blog Roundtable: Apr 25, 2005: Discussing posting frequencies
    bbr number 1_2.mp3 Contentious » Blogging Style- The Basic Posting Fo What is best practice for scheduling posts?If you’re not going to …

    [Reply]

    3. View from the Isle - Professional Blogging & Blog Consulting on April 27th, 2005 at 10:57 am
  2. The inaugural Business Blog Roundtable: Apr 25, 2005: Discussing posting frequencies
    bbr number 1_2.mp3 Contentious » Blogging Style- The Basic Posting Fo What is best practice for scheduling posts?If you’re not going to …

    [Reply]

    4. View from the Isle - Professional Blogging & Blog Consulting on April 27th, 2005 at 10:55 am
  3. Blogs for small business…and some good quotes by Susie Gardner
    As I’ve said before, one of the few e-mail newsletters I subscribe to and read regularly is Small Business Computing.  There are often great articles …

    [Reply]

    5. View from the Isle - Professional Blogging & Blog Consulting on March 12th, 2005 at 2:25 pm
  4. What’s your voice?
    Your blogging voice.  It is undoubtedly the most important part of making your blog yours.  But it is also one of the hardest things to …

    [Reply]

    6. View from the Isle - Professional Blogging & Blog Consulting on February 15th, 2005 at 12:34 am
  5. Blog Posting Styles
    Amy Gharan over at Contentious has some posts up about Blogging Style: The Basic Posting Formats (Series Index) which are worth a read for some people out there. I know I got at least one good idea from them. via…

    [Reply]

    7. eclexys on February 2nd, 2005 at 11:58 pm
  6. The Dowbrigade on the Blogs and Knowledge Management Talk
    Michael Feldman, aka the Dowbrigade, writes his thoughts on the style of blog posts, based on what Christina Pikas talked about at Thursday’s blog meeting .

    [Reply]

    8. j\'s scratchpad on November 8th, 2004 at 1:29 am

  7. I´ve had read your posting with great interest. Thanks for thinking over. I will try to mix the posting formats.

    [Reply]

    9. Jörg Petermann on November 6th, 2004 at 1:22 pm

  8. I can’t say I would ever pin myself down to one presentation style - some days I have a URL to comment on, some days I don’t; some days I feel like telling my life story, other days I have one smartass remark to make. I don’t think any kind of format consistency is required to develop an audience - but perhaps it takes time to develop a voice.

    [Reply]

    10. Kirsten on October 25th, 2004 at 12:05 pm

  9. Here’s my example, albeit from a non-blog world. So, I am a game designer on the side - if you’re unfamiliar with that hooby, that that’s even better for my example! Compare, at just a glance:

    (1) http://mythpunk.forgreatjustice.net/ExitMusic.txt
    (2) http://mythpunk.forgreatjustice.net/ExitMusic.pdf

    I was really shocked when I saw what my partner did to my text in terms of layout and design. Suddenly, an amateur text looked like Professional Material.

    I see it all the time: interface and formatting have a geometric effect on the value of that content. (Of course, that doesn’t help 0-value content, as has been said.)

    [Reply]

    11. Dev on October 8th, 2004 at 11:16 am
  10. BlogWrite: how do you write a blog?
    Amy Gahran’s Contentious outlines 7 formats for writing a blog. Want to learn more about writing a business blog? Tune in Wednesday, October 20th at 1 PM EST for BlogWrite: a 75-minute WordBiz teleseminar. Don K. Crowther and I will reveal a step-by-…

    [Reply]

    12. debbie\'s blog - Debbie Weil is publisher of award-winning WordBiz Report on October 7th, 2004 at 4:38 pm
  11. Choosing the best posting format
    In the next couple of weeks I need to put together support materials for new users of our Ping Alumni Services. I’m looking for readings, tools and examples that will be valuable yet not overwhelming for new bloggers and I’ll be collecting them here …

    [Reply]

    13. Mohr Blog on October 5th, 2004 at 3:22 am
  12. How do you choose your feeds?
    This is a good question and I made it to myself when I was trying to read my Bloglines feeds today. There were something like 6500 entries to read, but the problem was that there were many feeds with more than 200 entries and when I open to read then d…

    [Reply]

    14. Bibi\'s box on October 5th, 2004 at 2:07 am

  13. Scott wrote:

    >this infatuation with presentation is absurd. ,,,Compelling content will engage regardless of the format; hopeless, introspective drivel cannot be salvaged by any presentation format.<

    I disagree. In my experience, strong, compelling content can be (and often is) undermined or even completely ruined through presentation in an inappropriate format.

    But I agree that drivel cannot be salvaged regardless of format choice or editorial skill. However, bear in mind that this involves some major value judgements. It all depends on the taste of the target audience. One person’s drivel is another person’s epiphany.

    - Amy Gahran

    [Reply]

    15. Amy Gahran on October 3rd, 2004 at 2:55 pm

  14. I’ve always thought that de LIST posting format really sux. What’s the point of it?

    [Reply]

    16. andufo on October 3rd, 2004 at 12:39 pm
  15. Are you BUSY too? Posting styles for everyone
    Think you’re too busy to blog? Listen to Yvonne’s interview (linked in the post below) for a couple of helpful approaches to that problem. Check out the advice in Blogging Style: The Basic Posting Formats (Series Index) from Amy Gahran’s

    [Reply]

    17. BusinessBloggingBootCamp on October 2nd, 2004 at 3:03 pm

  16. Sorry, Scott. While your last point about “hopeless, instrospective drivel” is true, your main argument is utterly wrong. No matter how brilliant the idea inside your head, it can be diminished, obscured, or completely lost, if poorly presented.

    I’d argue that a significant part of what makes “compelling content” compelling is in its “formatting.”

    Looking forward to more in this series, Amy.

    [Reply]

    18. Tom Collins on October 1st, 2004 at 12:04 pm
  17. How to Blog
    Amy Gahran hat eine Artikelserie ü ber den gemeinen Blogger und seine sieben Schreibstile
    geschrieben. Und wehe, Ihr pa ß t nicht in dieses Schema… [Column Two]

    [Reply]

    19. Der Schockwellenreiter on October 1st, 2004 at 3:33 am
  18. The Basic Posting Formats
    For business purposes I think we mostly find posts in formats 3, 5 and 6. And that is logical…

    [Reply]

    20. CorporateBloggingBlog on October 1st, 2004 at 1:39 am

  19. With all due respect, Amy, this infatuation with presentation is absurd. Achieving “communication,” as you put it, is relatively straightforward: have something to say, which 80+% of all blogs out there do not. Compelling content will engage regardless of the format; hopeless, introspective drivel cannot be salvaged by any presentation format.

    [Reply]

    21. Scott on September 30th, 2004 at 2:35 am
  20. Blogging style: The basic posting formats
    Blogging style: The basic posting formats : index of the great 7part series by Amy Gahran The format of a blog posting, if chosen consciously and carefully, enhance communication - particularly the delivery of certain types of content. Consequently, so…

    [Reply]

    22. soulsoup on September 30th, 2004 at 1:45 am
  21. Blogging style: The basic posting formats
    Amy Gahran has written an excellent series of articles exploring common blogging styles. She identifies seven basic blog posting formats: Link-only Link blurb Brief remark List Short article Long article Series postings [Thanks to Bill Ives.]…

    [Reply]

    23. Column Two on September 30th, 2004 at 12:34 am
  22. Entry Styles
    Via Blog-Efl and MBE I found a series of posts on Contentious about the various styles of blog writing. Amy also provides the advantages, disadvantages, and tips for writing each style.

    In the index article Amy explains why it is important to know…

    [Reply]

    24. Blinger: A linguistics &amp; ESL Blog on September 29th, 2004 at 11:32 pm
  23. Blogging Formats
    Amy Gahran of Contentious.com is running a series of posts about the different styles of blogging. This blog fits into the “link-blurb” and “link only” styles, since I’m merging the RSS feed from the blog itself, with the RSS output…

    [Reply]

    25. All About RSS Blog on September 29th, 2004 at 12:03 pm

  24. Yep, I’ll be covering formats for non-text blog content later. Right now, I needed to start with text content, since that is the core content of most blogs.

    - Amy Gahran
    Editor, CONTENTIOUS

    [Reply]

    26. Amy Gahran on September 25th, 2004 at 11:47 am

  25. Amy,

    I know you are talking about “text-based” blogs, but I think one pattern that may be missing is the one I use - a combination of a photograph/illustration and text above or below it.

    [Reply]

    27. Seshu on September 25th, 2004 at 11:38 am
  26. Blog Post Formats
    Amy at Contentious is writing a series on different types of blog posts which might be of interest to some readers. She’s broken blog posts down into 7 formats and is working through each post (only 3 completed so…

    [Reply]

    28. ProBlogger on September 24th, 2004 at 8:17 am
  27. [...] a Blogging Patterns QuickLinks — Julian @ 7:05 pm

    Amy Gahran has started documenting patterns of blog posts [...]

    [Reply]

    29. Synesthesia » Patterns of Blog Posts on September 23rd, 2004 at 6:06 pm
  28. Patterns of Blog Posts
    Amy Gahran has started documenting patterns of blog posts. 3 of 7 posted so far. I think this a type 2!

    [Reply]

    30. Synesthesia on September 23rd, 2004 at 1:06 pm
  29. Your Writing Style Should Influence Your Blog Layout
    You'll get even more mileage from Amy Gahran's must-read series on the seven styles of blog posts if you consider it in conjunction with the site usability findings of the Eyetrack III project. For example, the study found that pages with…

    [Reply]

    31. e&#45;Literate on September 23rd, 2004 at 10:00 am

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