Content is king and when it comes to creating great content there is more to it than just writing whatever comes to mind. It’s good to jot down ideas for your articles but this is not what this post is about. What I will talk about here is having 3 different types of content that serve different purposes, to inform, increase the likelihood of shares and traffic, and last but not least, content that is designed to generate revenue. As you read this post, what you need to do is keep in mind that you need to feed your blog whatever it hungers for the most and why diversifying your online content is important.
3 Different Types of Content and How to Use Them
Your blog needs to have a three-way balance among the 3 different types of content. I have placed them in the order of which type you need the most of. In addition, I went ahead and elaborated on how to use them in order to make them as effective as possible.
Informative Content – Consider informative content to be the foundation of your blog; this type of content needs to consist of “how tos” and any other forms of advice. It is just sheer information and its sole purpose should be to inform and teach readers. This post that you are reading is a good example of what I mean by informative content. Yes, it contains links for further reading but it just provides information without having any sort of affiliate links. I judge a blog by how much great informative content a blog consists of. Look at this way; this is the type of content that will keep your visitors engaged and come back. I feel that your blog should mostly consist of this type of innocent informative content.
Content That Encourages Promotion – After you have laid your foundation of informative content, this type should come next and its purpose is to get attention and boost sharing. It consists of reviews, resources, and controversial content that encourages comments and shares which in return will bring you traffic to your blog. I’m sure that this is not new, however this has worked out for me by chance and I have reaped great benefit from it. I’m not saying that this should be the only reason for this type of content, everything you write should be to inform but I also understand the importance of having a good content strategy and what it can do for your blog or business.
I have written 2 reviews as of writing this and both times they have attracted the company’s attention and encouraged them to share. The reviews were honest nonetheless (as they should be) but the owners decided to share the reviews themselves and it brought me not only a boost in traffic, but recognition from the companies. If you are able to write a good enough review of an industry leader’s product, and it gets the owner’s attention it increases the chances of them further promoting your post.
You should not send them an email or contact them saying that you have written a review, instead simply share it enough till the word gets around. Everyone checks their stats and if they see that they have traffic coming from your post then the chances are that they will click the link and try to see what’s going on.
If you have written some great content at the very least you will get a comment with a thank you. If the review is really good then they might even want to promote it. In order to further increase the chances of your review to be noticed, you can tag the owner so that way they receive a notification. The same goes with for an article that has a list of resources, if the content is good enough and the links in the article get enough clicks you can get the resource owners’ attention as well.
As for controversial content, this is the type that has a chance of going viral. If you manage to get enough traffic to it then it can spark debates in the comment section. This type of content can be either a hit or a miss. To give you an example, I have written an article titled How to Rewrite and Spin Articles in 2013 With a White Hat on and the title alone can strike a nerve with some bloggers. I don’t condone spinning articles and anyone who reads the post will know that. I just simply had an idea that I wanted to share even though I have never tried it. The title made the article sound a little farfetched and actually did share a method where you can rewrite and spin it as a white hat method. It sounds hard to believe but if you read it you would see how obvious it was. I did not get the results I was aiming for just yet, but then again I haven’t promoted it that much.
Content That Generates Revenue – This type of content is the kind that is sculpted around an affiliate product or anything that generate an income for you. In most cases it’s in a form of a review but whatever the case I believe that you shouldn’t have too many of these. If most of your blog posts contain large numbers of affiliate links then not many people will want to stick around.
I have read several times that perhaps you should post out this type of content once a month. Personally I feel like it depends on how much of it you already have and how frequently you post in general. If you have a lot of these, try making several of your next posts be the other 2 types and see how that works out. Either way, I feel like that this type of content is saved for last after the first 2 have done their job of laying a foundation of good content to attract visitors and to keep them reading. It makes sense to me that it would be more beneficial to post revenue generating type of content after your readership and traffic have increased.
Are You Building YOUR Blog the Right Way?
Having a good foundation of informative content gives new visitors a good home when they are trying to learn something new. When the foundation is in place you can write content that increases your shares and traffic.
This way if any of those new readers decide to browse your blog then they will find loads of information and quite possibly subscribe. Once your followers and subscribers have grown, you can share your awesome reviews about a product you tried. It is only at this point they will trust your judgment enough to follow your links and possibly make the purchase.
Ask yourself which one of these your blog lacks for the most.
To throw some random numbers out there to give an idea: Let’s say you post content twice a week, which makes it 8 a month, post 5 informative, 2 attention grabbers, and 1 revenue generator. This will keep readers reading your blog without leaving them feeling sold on anything.
If you evaluate your blog and see that it is unbalanced in terms of content types then you can easily redress the balance by just writing a few of the missing types. By doing so, you will strengthen your blog and benefit from it correspondingly whether your goal is to increase your subscribers, traffic, or revenue.
Very informative post on content types. I agree, the bulk of your content – and what will brings readers back – needs to be informational. This is the best way to give value to your audience, establish yourself as an authority, and get meaningful traffic.
Hi Tom,
I couldn’t said it better myself. I feel as if we were to write for the sole purpose providing information that it would all come back to us on its own.
Thank you for your comment.
Waoo,this is exactly what should be in place to be a progressive blog,thanks for sharing
Hi Ebima,
Yes, this pretty much sums up what type of content your blog needs to have in order to ensure growth.
Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment.
Stay Awesome!
Thank you for this informative article. I have been considering launching a new blog and am about collecting information before I do. This has helped me a great deal and given me several good ideas for my new project.
oh thanks. very informative and interesting. pls send me mail with this address i sent you one but no reply. pls reply me. I’ve something to share with you. i want you mentor me
thanks