You probably have a ton of ideas about your niche and are having a fun time writing them down and posting them on the digital space, but sooner or later, you’re going to want to transform your blog into something more than a space for posting your personal thoughts. You need an audience.
Every blog, small or big, needs organic traffic driven by its content quality and delivery; isn’t this why people post on the internet in the first place?
Your blog could be a standalone project – content for the sake of content (backed by Google Ads Program or Amazon Affiliate), or it could be a vehicle to drive your business. The latter is more likely to be the case but in both scenarios, you need to show that you are authoritative over your niche.
In the digital age, information is almost ubiquitous, so why would people be drawn towards your content? I often equate content marketing with job interviews because you need to answer one tricky question: “what makes you different?”
This is what I intend to answer in this article, i.e. how you can leverage information to boost the organic traffic coming towards your blog.
Understanding the Informational Value of Content
In my experience, if your content is not accessible on the first page of Google searches for your niche, you’ll be losing on a lot of your content traffic. Most users only go for what is available for them at the very top of their search results.
A 2020 research by Sixtrix can back me up here, they found that 28.5% of the users tend to go for the top-most organic (not Ad-powered) results of their Google searches.
But it takes much than just throwing in a couple of keywords to rank your content higher up in the search results.
The informational value of your content is what attracts your audience. Your readers need to know that you are authoritative in the area and that your writings are a reliable source of information. In essence, the better the user experience, the better your search ranking.
But an even more important aspect in this regard is content quality, the informational value of your blog content should be a top priority. Back to the question I posed earlier, you need to show your audience that you know your stuff but also that you present your facts in a unique manner.
After all, blogs are all about delivering a personal touch with your content, all the while stuffing them with information.
Let’s understand this in practical terms.
5 Tips: Leveraging Information For Maximizing Your Content Traffic
Here’s what I have found to be highly effective in driving more content traffic towards blogs, and all of these parameters have been proven to be highly effective in 2021 as well:
1. Develop A Research Protocol
Research should be all about digging the facts, and the best way to get to them is to track the source. So, for instance, if you deal with the traffic accidents niche, then be sure to scratch the bottom of the topic, rather than looking for what others have written – but of course, you can check out competing sites for a reference or general idea.
In some cases, it is very hard to go through the research material, especially if you have to read lengthy reports and papers for your work, but it will always be worth it.
If you link back to such materials on your content page, not only will it allow Google to better assess the nature of your work but also create a sense of authority for your visitors who will see how well you’ve researched your stuff even if they don’t decide to explore your sources.
A 2020 research from Moz revealed that almost 75% of the articles and blogs reviewed had zero external links, thus their impact factor was also minimal.
Also, backlinks to your site can help, but that’s only possible if your content is worth sharing in the first place, so make it as well-researched as possible. If you write well and play your cards right, you might be able to cash in on opportunities to earn backlinks for your website.
2. Never Underestimate the Importance of Evergreen Content
Information changes from time to time but rarely goes out of relevance, just some touchups, and a decent re-write will make your content good for another day as well. This is especially true for all types of business blogs because people constantly seek solutions for common issues, and your words will guide them.
For this, you’ll have to structure your content such that it doesn’t lose its relevance. Keep it open-ended and add facts that you can reuse or at least redirect to in the future. Topical content, in contrast, is only relevant for a short span of time, and won’t do you much good once that window passes.
I am not suggesting that one I better than the other, but if you want a steady stream of information for your readers, ever-green content is the way to go.
But there is something else here too: don’t just repeat things.
Yes content relevance will make it shine forever, but people don’t like reading the same thing over and over, moreover, Google will penalize you for self-plagiarism – and yes, this is a major search engine ranking factor.
Instead, you should try and explore things from a new angle now and then.
Find up-to-date information, blend in the facts from the previous work, and create a new blog article that addresses a unique angle of the topic.
For instance, if you’ve done something like “best content idea generation techniques,” you can revisit these points but this time make it different, i.e. “countering writer’s block through idea generation.” The point is, you can always reimagine your words, and deliver them in a new, improved manner.
As per my experience, blog readers respond positively to idea recycling as long as content uniqueness is ensured.
3. The Manner of Presenting the Information Matters
Your blog needs to have a consistent tone, but at the same time, you should be up for experimentation. Every so often, one of your posts will attract more applause and views from your audience, you need to figure out what you did right with that piece.
As mentioned earlier, you need to find the perfect way of disseminating information, perhaps your blog does not conform to the standard writing styles, instead, you’d be better doing something unique. The point is that you can always find ways to better attract the attention of your readers.
Notice how your readers respond and do the things they like more often!
When you introduce novelty, your work attracts attention.
When that happens, you can earn backlinks through guest blogging or amplified visibility.
Just think it through, the top Google search results in the content category have 3.8 times more backlinks than the following result entries, this is too much to be a coincidence. Content quality, engagement, and originality thus cannot be underestimated.
4. Go Beyond The Usual Suspects: Headings, Subheadings, & More
Here comes another less thought-about element regarding content creation: labeling.
We oftentimes get so lost in developing rockstar articles that we completely neglect the importance of the elements that will help search crawlers identify it, i.e. deep learning and algorithms. For instance, the headings, subheadings, image captions, meta-descriptions, and so on.
Take this article, for example, look how intricate the heading is, it is juicy, simple, and yet at the same time, it covers the point of discussion perfectly. You need to focus on these elements to create engaging headings and subheadings that reveal enough about the topic of discussion to make people want to read it but not so much that it becomes a spoiler.
This way, your content becomes relevant for search engine results as well.
Just be sure to never mislead people through click-baits. Yes, your heading must be thought-provoking and intriguing but if you’re exaggerating about the nature of your content or lying, it won’t bode well for your traffic and your reputation as a content creator.
5. Use Other Media Elements To Strengthen Your Content
The world of content is evolving rapidly, and while the relevance of the written word stands firm, and will do so in the future as well, text-form content is no longer the sole mechanism of disseminating information. Instead, you can augment your web content and blog articles with other helpful media elements to enhance the reader’s experience.
In the recent past, infographics, for instance, have become very successful in summarizing content details. Think of it like this: you present your reader with a graphic summary, they look at it and see that the details are worth their time, and then go on to read the whole thing.
Or if they are in a hurry, they just skip to the sections relevant to them but absorb the gist through your infographic presentation.
Making them is not tough, you can use online tools for that – but be sure to only go for these if you feel that they would add value to your blog, for instance, they may be a no-no for formal blogs and websites, i.e. legal/scientific ones. But if they fit, make the best use of them.
You can also link your web content to relevant videos, preferably your own, to amplify the message you wish to communicate or just throwing in a new angle.
Either way, it will increase engagement and help define the theme/topic of your content to the search engine AI.
Pictures are good too, but only if they fit right and are not generic.
6. Add A References Section, If Applicable
This one is only for very rare cases, but some blogs would do much better if they listed the resources used at the end in a references section. Science blogs, for instance, will be able to not only express their authority in the matter but also drop a reservoir of information for their readers to follow if they feel like it.
This will also help initiate a conversation about the topic and leave your audience more than satisfied on the information delivery end.
Plus it will help the Google algorithm which uses data input to judge relevance.
In Conclusion
There is an endless pool of information out there, and your content is merely a drop in this oceanic space, but you can make it count. Blog followings are not created overnight, instead, you need commitment and hard work for this.
I highlighted some of the top trends for this year and what they mean for your writings, and hopefully, you’ll get started with your experiments and see what works best for you!