Content Crafters

The Top 13 Content Marketing Blogs That Don’t Suck

May 9, 2022

It’s easy to curate a list of a hundred content marketing blogs, offering great advice to everything from social media marketing to advice for the B2B marketer.

But each and every content marketing blog is not made the same.

Some are good, some are bad. And the problem with information and advice is that if you don’t get the good kind, it’s probably worse than getting no information at all.

Bad advice can actually set you backwards and burn valuable time.

So we wanted to put together a list of the top content marketing blogs that are truly valuable.

If a content marketing blog isn’t included in this list, it doesn’t mean it’s not a good one, or that it somehow fails in terms of content creation. We probably just forgot about it, so don’t flame us on Facebook or Twitter, please.

You can, however, be sure that all of the blogs on this list are awesome and compiled by some of the best marketing professionals in the business today.

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Top 13 Content Marketing Blogs in 2022

Let’s take a look at some of the top content marketing blogs to read in 2022.

1. Content Marketing Institute

Content Marketing Institute is really the grandfather of content marketing, and as such, their mention on this list is mandatory.

They’ve been at it since the beginning. But more importantly, the quality of their posts hasn’t diminished as they’ve grown and scaled. As a general rule of thumb, blogs usually start out pretty good but get worse as they accept more contributors and loosen editorial standards.

Content Marketing Institute has maintained their editorial quality and standards for great content.

Some of their posts are quite foundational when it comes to content marketing. As such, it can be a great place to start for beginning bloggers. Posts like these are 101 level but quite comprehensive:

Once in a while, they also publish a wonderful advanced level topic as well. For example, most people know what a buyer persona is — but at the same time, almost every marketer gets it wrong.

Content Marketing Institute published a fantastic article on the common mistakes marketers make with regard to personas and how to fix them.

Overall, if you work in content, you should probably keep an eye on CMI.

2. HubSpot

HubSpot is another O.G. in the content marketing blog world. They’ve been blogging about “inbound marketing” (a term they invented) since the mid-2000s, and even before that, their founder Dharmesh Shah found an audience on his onstartups.com blog.

Now, HubSpot blogs about a greater array of topics than simply content marketing. They have a wide target audience, covering subjects like sales, customer service, and the frequent marketing blog article. They also touch on ecommerce, cryptocurrency, and news and trends.

But they started out talking about content marketing fundamentals. Stuff like:

…and many more topics.

One thing to note is that they publish so often and in such a high volume that not everything will be relevant or useful. But you have to know that they’ve written about pretty much everything with regard to content marketing, so if you want to learn about a topic, you can probably search ‘site:hubspot.com “[keyword]”‘ into a search engine like Google and find a cursory article explaining the topic.

It’s a great library of content marketing fundamentals.

3. Animalz

Animalz is my favorite new content marketing blog, headed up by content genius Jimmy Daly.

I like Animalz because it’s strategic and has a ton of original, thought provoking ideas. They don’t cover the basic bullshit, and they never churn out a thoughtless post just to score SEO traffic. Each post is a well-crafted opinion piece designed to persuade or simply to probe the conversation about content.

A good example of this is their post, “Your Blog is Not a Publication.” This post argues that your blog should resemble a library of resources to be pulled from at any time, rather than a series of linearly developed posts that establish a narrative that a cohesive audience follows. The latter is wishful thinking in most cases, and despite being the generally agreed upon advice, tends to lead to blog failure.

They also have rich how-to pieces, such as this piece dissecting the success of 100,000 page view blog posts, or this one on writing better blog titles. Hundreds of blogs, ranging everything from fitness blogs to gardening blogs, take the advice of Animalz.

If I had to recommend one content marketing blog in 2022, it’d be this one.

4. Ahrefs

If you’ve followed any of my posts recommending blog tools or content marketing tools, you know that I’m an Ahrefs fan boy. It’s my favorite SEO tool, hands-down.

As it turns out, they also have a fantastic blog.

Although it’s not as broad level and expansive as HubSpot or Content Marketing Institute, or even Animalz, it covers the SEO side of content incredibly comprehensively. You can be sure, as well, that most of what they write about is backed by hard data and is quite trustworthy. That’s a rarity in the SEO world (and in the broader marketing world more generally).

What I love about their blog the most is that they consistently publish original research. This post on reciprocal linking is a good example of that. It’s not just re-hashed content. They’ve done something new and interesting, so it’s well worth your time to read it.

For the most part, Ahrefs blog is written with the more advanced practitioner in mind. They do, however, have a few introductory posts, but even those are more comprehensive than the average content marketing blog (a good example is their “what is SEO” post).

5. First Site Guide

First Site Guide is an awesome resource for beginning bloggers as well as veterans looking to learn new tricks like monetizing your blog, It’s a solid place to go to learn the fundamentals, both in terms of content marketing mindset and strategy as well as tactical considerations like how to promote your blog and how to set up a WordPress site.

Your best bet is starting out on their “learning blogging” guide, which includes sections on starting a blog, writing, promotion, WordPress, making money, and more.

6. Buzzsumo

Buzzsumo is another example of a blog that does great original research.

I love their headline analysis post, where they analyze millions of headlines to see what gets shared the most on different networks, what words are most commonly used, and generally just a lot of awesome and interesting facts on how marketers are crafting blog headlines.

Like Ahrefs, the focus on this blog is less on overarching content marketing strategy and more on how to optimize content and get the most out of it. While they hit on SEO sometimes, they go a bit broader, teaching about content promotion, headline optimization, how to spread content on Reddit, and more.

If you want to grow your blog and grow it fast, Buzzsumo’s blog is a wonderful place to learn how to do that.

7. Backlinko

Backlinko is also more in the “SEO” category, but a quick read through the site will reveal that its a treasure trove for content marketers.

For starters, Backlinko founder Brian Dean’s approach to SEO is heavily content-driven. You’ll find useful frameworks, link building tips, and ways to pack the most punch with uncommon wisdom (publish less frequently, for instance).

He’s only published a few dozen blog posts but has hundreds of thousands of pageviews per month. The cool thing is that, on a kind of meta level, his blog teaches the exact process he uses to build his blog. And, well, you know it works because his blog is successful.

A final point of praise: Backlinko is one of the few sites that I have multiple blog posts bookmarked, and I return to them on probably a monthly basis. His classics on SEO copywriting and link building never get old.

8. Jay Acunzo’s Blog

Jay Acunzo is one of the freshest voices in marketing. He not only writes a great marketing blog, but also has an interesting podcast called Unthinkable and is a keynote speaker at tech and marketing events around the world.

Also, his book “Break the Wheel,” was phenomenal.

In a world filled with “best practice” (which are really just common practices, where everyone agreed to meet in the mediocre middle), Jay encourages marketers to think outside the box, create meaningful content, and do work that matters.

If you ever get jaded working in content marketing, Jay is a good voice to shake you from that cynicism and spark a little bit of creativity and joy.

9. Convince and Convert

Convince and Convert is more of a general marketing blog, touching broader topics like B2B video marketing and word of mouth marketing. However, a core focus of their content strategy has and continues to be how to excel at content marketing (in its many forms).

On their blog, they have a really clear tagline that explains what they’re all about:

“You already know the what and how of digital marketing, we deliver you the WHY and WHETHER, and that’s our promise.”

As such, it’s a good place to deepen your knowledge on fundamental digital marketing topics like content marketing, influencer marketing, and social media.

I’d also argue that just watching and analyzing how they approach content marketing themselves is educational. They crush it.

10. Grow and Convert

Grow and Convert is one of my go-to blogs for in-depth guides on how to excel at certain aspects of content marketing.

This isn’t a beginner blog; they go far past the basics of “what is content marketing,” and they push the common wisdom on topics like content ideation and how to produce content that actually drives conversions, not just traffic.

If you’re already bought into the idea of content marketing and you know the general gist of how to do it, but you’re not quite satisfied with your results so far, a read through of their top posts will probably put you on the right track.

Their writing style is also very engaging and personal. It’s easy to forget that you’re actually learning something when you’re going through their posts, simply because the writing style is entertaining as well as educational.

This, too, is one of my favorite blogs of any topic.

11. Orbit Media

Orbit Media is a web design and content marketing agency based in Chicago, but they’ve got a surprisingly deep base of content marketing articles on their site. The company’s founder, Andy Crestodina, has a lucid and original take on content marketing strategy, so you get content here that can’t really be replicated elsewhere.

They talk about content strategy, but also dive into granular topics like promoting your original research on your blog, lead generation on your blog, and even guides on setting up Google Analytics.

These guys operate one of the most genuinely useful content marketing blogs out there today. If nothing else, check out their annual blogger survey, which has some interesting insights about what’s working for bloggers in the current day.

12. Wordable

Forgive me for indulging a bit, but I’d like to think Wordable is a top blogging and content marketing blog as well. We’re a bit newer than the others on this list (e.g. Content Marketing Institute and Convince and Convert).

But our goal is to produce well-researched and comprehensive content that helps bloggers, editors, and content marketers build more effective content marketing programs.

One thing unique to our blog is our focus on interviewing top content crafters and dissecting what makes them high performers. We have a whole series that includes interviews with people like Nichole Elizabeth Demeré, Kaleigh Moore, Colin Newcomer, and many more.

Apart from that, we build out curated lists of tools that help marketers choose content marketing platforms, promotion tools, and email newsletter tools. We also write about growing your blog, writing faster, and succeeding as a freelancer writer. If you haven’t subscribed to the blog already, give us a try!

13. Shane Barker

Shanebarker.com is the number one resource for digital marketing. On here you’ll find plenty of well-written, researched articles, containing actionable advice about all things marketing and SEO-related. The owner, Shane Barker, has helped plenty of businesses over the years grow and customize their digital marketing strategies. There are plenty of excellent blogs about influencer marketing, social media marketing, eCommerce, and SEO. A great example is why your Instagram Stories views are down and how to fix it. If you are looking for:

  • Unique marketing angles and opinions
  • Plenty of new content weekly
  • Regularly updated blogs
  • The very best SEO and marketing tool reviews

Shane Barker even offers a free SEO course to get your marketing journey started on the right foot. There is plenty of original content, as well as excellent reviews and opinions from Shane himself about SEO and marketing tools and agencies.

Conclusion

Like I mentioned up front, there are tons more content marketing blogs out there, and many of them will give you actionable insights and help you produce a great blog post while creating a winning content marketing campaign.

However, I think it’s a cop out to list hundreds of them as if they’re all “top” blogs. Many of them are good, but don’t really push new ideas forward for today’s content marketer. This list includes those that I know and read, and ones that put forth novel ideas from a digital marketing expert, or in-depth tactical walkthroughs that make you a better content marketer.

I’m all ears, though, if you think I missed a crucial, outstanding, top 1% content marketing blog. Please feel free to comment below and I’d love to check it out.

Kevin Kessler
Kevin J. Kessler is a published author of five fantasy novels, a professional wrestler, and a puppeteer (not all at the same time). Kevin is a content writer at Codeless.
Kevin Kessler
Kevin J. Kessler is a published author of five fantasy novels, a professional wrestler, and a puppeteer (not all at the same time). Kevin is a content writer at Codeless.