5 Types of Content to Drive Website Trafficby Robin Samora - Marketing/PR Expert
Good content on your website is an important part of your marketing strategy, helping boost SEO and your LKT (like, know, trust) factor. The more authoritative content people see from you, the better. It helps your audience see your expertise, business, and lifestyle — what you’re like as a person.
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1. Blogs
If you don’t already have a blog, you should. Even if you only have time to post once a month, it keeps fresh content on your website. Any marketing consultant would tell you that when you post blogs to social media, you’ll also drive traffic back to your website, assuming of course that your content is valuable, useful, relevant, and of high quality — all of which is great for SEO.
Writing blogs establishes you as an expert and creates tons of searchable content for people to find you online. It also helps you to stay current in your field. If you’re always researching topics and trends in your industry, then you know what’s new, up-and-coming, and what your target market wants to read.[If you need help starting a blog, download my new report, The Non-Bloggers Guide to Blogging — 20 Steps to Starting Your First Blog.]
Writing blogs establishes you as an expert and creates tons of searchable content for people to find you online. It also helps you to stay current in your field. If you’re always researching topics and trends in your industry, then you know what’s new, up-and-coming, and what your target market wants to read.[If you need help starting a blog, download my new report, The Non-Bloggers Guide to Blogging — 20 Steps to Starting Your First Blog.]
2. White Papers
Take your writing skills to the next level and create a white paper, a guide that informs your readers about a complex topic and helps them understand an important issue. You can start with an idea you had in a blog and then elaborate on it, or research what’s trending. Think of a white paper as a blog on steroids; it should be in-depth and read like a report.
A white paper is often a long-form problem solver and helps your reader learn a new concept or technology in terms they understand. It could be a comprehensive how-to guide, a product comparison, or video white paper or slide show. Do some research about your topic and include recent data and statistics to prove your point. Stay focused and showcase your expertise and business. Offer content that’s not readily available.
While white papers are a great way to increase website traffic, they’re also a useful tool to convert a visitor into a lead. “Enter your information, and I’ll send you my FREE REPORT: 10 Strategies to Jumpstart Your Marketing,” is a perfect example.
A white paper is often a long-form problem solver and helps your reader learn a new concept or technology in terms they understand. It could be a comprehensive how-to guide, a product comparison, or video white paper or slide show. Do some research about your topic and include recent data and statistics to prove your point. Stay focused and showcase your expertise and business. Offer content that’s not readily available.
While white papers are a great way to increase website traffic, they’re also a useful tool to convert a visitor into a lead. “Enter your information, and I’ll send you my FREE REPORT: 10 Strategies to Jumpstart Your Marketing,” is a perfect example.
3. Videos
Video is the king of content and should be part of your marketing strategy plan. Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other websites with fancy algorithms favor video content. Why? Because people love video. SuperCoolCreative.com reports that “53% watch online videos to be entertained and inspired. 28% watch online videos to relax or escape. And, 21% watch online videos to learn something new.” Maybe that’s why more than 1 billion hours of video are watched every day on YouTube.
Not a budding Steven Spielberg? You don’t have to create a feature-length film. How about a quick 2-3 minute video to introduce yourself, an employee, or a new product? You can also add video to your Instagram story — maybe thoughts on a new trend. And if your video is on a story, be sure you save the file to use later.
When you post videos to YouTube, be sure to embed the code it provides and paste it onto your web page, plus use tags (keywords) that are highly searchable. I recently wrote a blog about driving traffic to your YouTube channel if you want to get into the details.
Not a budding Steven Spielberg? You don’t have to create a feature-length film. How about a quick 2-3 minute video to introduce yourself, an employee, or a new product? You can also add video to your Instagram story — maybe thoughts on a new trend. And if your video is on a story, be sure you save the file to use later.
When you post videos to YouTube, be sure to embed the code it provides and paste it onto your web page, plus use tags (keywords) that are highly searchable. I recently wrote a blog about driving traffic to your YouTube channel if you want to get into the details.
4. Webinars
Here’s another idea. Offer webinar content that’s trending and that your target market wants to learn about. This type of content, either automated or scheduled live, is a proven lead generator and drives traffic back to your website, especially if your business is B2B.
A word of advice. Talk about what you know — what you’re the expert in. The quality should be no different than speaking at a conference. Prepare a high-energy presentation that includes key, new, interesting takeaways that will inform, engage, and entertain your audience. You don’t want to see people leave your webinar in droves. You’ll take a hit in energy, and that is the worst!
You’ll also want to remember to create a separate landing page on your website for people to sign up. You can promote the webinar on social media, with email marketing, at networking events, on your email signature, or send a link to prospects and clients. Even if they don’t attend, they’ll know you’re up to something first-rate.
A word of advice. Talk about what you know — what you’re the expert in. The quality should be no different than speaking at a conference. Prepare a high-energy presentation that includes key, new, interesting takeaways that will inform, engage, and entertain your audience. You don’t want to see people leave your webinar in droves. You’ll take a hit in energy, and that is the worst!
You’ll also want to remember to create a separate landing page on your website for people to sign up. You can promote the webinar on social media, with email marketing, at networking events, on your email signature, or send a link to prospects and clients. Even if they don’t attend, they’ll know you’re up to something first-rate.
5. Infographics
Like videos, images tend to be more compelling than text — way more than a list of bulleted statistics. Bring out your inner artist and test drive sites like Canva, Stencil, Snappa and DesignBold to create images and graphics. You can also find designers for hire on Upwork or check online for local students looking to build a portfolio.
To drive traffic to your site, post teasers of the infographic on social media and in emails. Then link to your website to view the full image. Be sure to include your logo on the infographic, so if someone shares it, others will know it came from you. Infographics work amazingly well to break up written content in your blog, plus they’re fun to look at.
To drive traffic to your site, post teasers of the infographic on social media and in emails. Then link to your website to view the full image. Be sure to include your logo on the infographic, so if someone shares it, others will know it came from you. Infographics work amazingly well to break up written content in your blog, plus they’re fun to look at.
There are a ton of brilliant and engaging content ideas out there, but these are the most important to get started with to drive traffic to your website. More visitors on your website should lead to more business.
“Build it and they will come” is perfect for Field of Dreams, but not necessarily to build website traffic. You’ve got to promote. So let’s get started. Share what you know and what you love, and tell everyone to come see it.
“Build it and they will come” is perfect for Field of Dreams, but not necessarily to build website traffic. You’ve got to promote. So let’s get started. Share what you know and what you love, and tell everyone to come see it.
