We’ve all heard the phrase, “Content is king.” If that’s the case, then why isn’t your site getting more traffic? Well, for starters, perhaps you aren’t utilizing the right types of content in the first place. You see, only the right content can help increase the size of your kingdom. It really comes down to having a content strategy plan. After that, you can determine the types of content to post and how often. The good news is there are many types that can and will attract your target audience. With a consistent combination of these different content types, you will keep your readers interested and coming back for more.
How-To
One of the most popular types of content is the how-to. The reason is because when it comes to long tail search queries, many people start it with the question of “How to…” or “How do I…?” With a how-to article, you want to always start off by introducing the problem, and then you introduce a solution. The next step is to expand upon the steps, then summarize those steps and end with a conclusion. How-to articles can be as simple or complex as you want them to be. This type of article resonates well with the repeat customer who wants to continue to improve upon their knowledge of the world. Keep in mind that the more detailed your explanation, the better. In addition, use of diagrams, videos and images all help to boost your traffic.
Book reviews
This is one of the most interesting types of content because all you have to do is give your perspective on a book you’ve read. You can either share recommendations or critiques. The sky truly is the limit here. Also, if you are wanting to position yourself as a thought leader–a book review is a good place to start. A 7-point format helps you diagram your review with these simple steps:
- Book introduction
- Author introduction
- Summarize the major points
- Convey your likes
- Share your dislikes
- Recommend it or not
- Offer a call to action such as a link to the book
Of course, it also helps if you can interview the author or review new releases and pre-releases. Not to mention, make sure your book review fits the theme of your site. To illustrate, you might not want to do a sci-fi book review if you run a recipe site.
Quick tips
You don’t have to write an epic novel each and every time you decide to post something. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be enough time in the day to do so. Sometimes, you might write something short and straight to the point. These work well not just on your blog, but also on email newsletters. You don’t want all of your posts to be short though. Instead, mix them up with longer pieces of content. It helps when you are short on time, but still want to give your readers something intriguing to check out. You can even use quick tips to ask a question or plant the seed for reader discussion.
Infographics
Everyone loves an image, especially one that provides a wealth of useful information in a small amount of space. This makes it easy for your readers to visualize and process information. Moreover, infographics are highly shareable especially on sites like Twitter and Pinterest. The use of images can appeal to the emotional side of viewers, which helps when it comes to getting clicks. The entire point is you want people to share your posts. You can use your infographic to communicate almost any concept from data, statistics, research and even how-tos.
However, infographics can cost a pretty penny, around a thousand dollars on average. There was a time when infographics were shared just because it was an infographic. That is no longer the case since they are much more prevalent today. You have to make your infographic really good to make it shareable. An update on the infographic is the gifographic. They follow the infographic format but utilize animated gifs as opposed to static images used in traditional infographics.
Definitive Guides
With definitive guides, you can display your expertise on the topic of your choice. Of course, these do tend to be a lot longer than the average blog post. The essence of a definitive guide is filling it with so much information that your readers do not feel they have to do any more research on the subject. Essentially, your readers get everything they need to know in one place. You can either post a definitive guide up on your blog, and/or make it available for download. Definitive guides help to increase your authority. When you build your authority, you start to attract influencers who can positively affect your overall content marketing strategy.
Opinion piece
While opinion pieces do not often focus on facts and figures, they do create connections by offering unique or shared views on varying topics. Opinions also help to stir up conversation because you then prompt others to share their own opinion. Your readers may either agree with you completely, and want to share that. They might also completely disagree, and want to let you know about it too. Then, there are those who might partially agree and partially disagree. Many times opinion pieces are deliberately positioned to take one side in a divided debate. Why? Because it sparks conversation. While this is an opinion, it is still critical to understand the significance and benefit of useful information. The varying types of opinion pieces are:
- Taking sides
- Big picture
- Predictions
- Devils advocate
- Future forecasting
- Deep dive
- Taking a new angle
Meme
You’ve probably seen a wide variety of memes and enjoyed sharing them, as well. What makes memes really stand out is the humor they convey. People love things they can laugh at or share. The good news is you don’t have to be an expert graphic designer to create a meme. There are many meme sites that let you add your own text to meme images. Nonetheless, these may not be the best type of content to share on your blog. Yet, they are perfect for sites such as Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Reddit. You can use a meme whenever the mood strikes you. Don’t overuse them because they can devalue your brand.
Videos
A picture may tell a thousand words, but a video tells ten thousand. With videos, you can education, entertain and inspire your audience with personality that is difficult to emit through the written word. Your readers not only get information, but they get to learn more about you. Of course, you must get your script together first. After that, place your video on YouTube and Vimeo. That way, you help to boost your traffic and brand recognition.
If your ready to start or new blog or give your current blog a boost, you have plenty of content types to choose from.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: 8 Content Types Your Blog Can’t Afford To Live Without
More Sales & Marketing articles from Business 2 Community:
- 15 B2B Case Studies Show How Content Marketing Drives ROI
- How to Explain PR to Your Friends
- 5 Mobile Marketing Mistakes – and How to Fix Them [Infographic]
- The Ultimate A-Z Marketing Buzzwords Bible
- How to Beat Larger Competitors at B2B Marketing and Sales
