Wanna hear a cool tip for driving more sales?
Zero in on your content marketing!
The math is very simple: more website traffic means more prospects you can convert into paying customers if you play your cards right.
For this strategy to work, you need to create high-quality content that will educate, entertain, and engage your target audience. But it’s not a one-time thing since you can’t exactly expect visitors to convert after a single interaction with your brand — it’s crucial to produce exceptional content consistently.
Long gone are the days when you could rely on blog posts only. The trick is to diversify your content that will match the preferences of different segments of your audience.
Here are some content types that you should include in your content marketing strategy to drive website traffic and conversions.
1. Blog posts
Despite being somewhat old-school, running a blog is an indispensable tactic for attracting visitors to your website. Surveys say that despite the popularity of video and other visually-oriented content, 40.4% of respondents describe written content as the most effective.
Blog posts can be around 1,000 words long and are much easier to craft than, say, videos, infographics, eBooks, or case studies.
But make no mistake — this content format will perform only if it’s optimized for SEO and if it adds value to your readers.
So, how do you do that?
Narrow down your topics
You probably know the general topics that your target audience is interested in. However, the general-topic approach is too broad, as such blog posts won’t answer some more nuanced or specific questions and will only scratch the surface. As a result, the traffic you attract won’t be high-quality and ready to convert.
That’s why you need to identify keywords your potential prospects are using in their Google searches to find resources like yours and create your blog posts around them. When it comes to website traffic, quantity doesn’t always mean quality. So, it’s best to opt for long-tail keywords as they will allow you to narrow down your scope and cover a specific topic that will attract a smaller but more targeted and ready-to-convert audience.
Finally, once you pinpoint relevant keywords, sprinkle them strategically throughout your content, such as in subheadings, content body, and meta tags, to help search engine crawlers index and rank your blog posts more easily.
Identify content gaps
This is a clever method of getting more traffic by stealing it from your competitors.
By performing a content gap analysis, you can detect content opportunities others missed and act on them. For example, it’s possible to analyze the existing blog posts displayed in search results for a particular query and see whether some of them are outdated, lacking relevant information, or miss the mark in terms of intent.
Then you can give these lackluster blog posts a total makeover by improving them based on your research.
Create evergreen content
There’s nothing wrong with keeping up with the latest trends and piggybacking on them when creating fresh content. However, bear in mind that these blog posts will be outdated and irrelevant once the hype around the topic starts to wane.
Instead of this, make evergreen content your priority, as such pieces — how-to guides, tutorials, or FAQs, will never go out of trend. Quite the opposite, these compound blog posts accumulate more visits over time due to their timeless nature.
You can make the most of this tactic by creating detailed, lengthy blog posts and revisiting them regularly.
Refresh your blog posts
The freshness of content is a pretty big deal in Google’s books — so much it has become a ranking factor.
However, this doesn’t mean you should start churning out new blog posts just for the sake of it. The idea we touched upon in the previous section is much better and more effective, not to mention cost- and time-effective. The trick is to give your existing content a facelift and prevent its decay.
Here are some simple tips:
- Expand the word count by going more in-depth and including additional examples.
- Update obsolete stats and references.
- Add more recent internal links.
- Change the publish date.
- Promote updated blog posts across your social media and to newsletter subscribers.
Zoma’s Mattress Size and Dimensions Guide is a great example of an evergreen blog post that adds tremendous value to readers. Apart from being comprehensive and addressing a very specific pain point that people who want to purchase a mattress encounter, the topic itself isn’t seasonal and will continue to generate traffic in the future, with minor adjustments and additions.
Similarly, the goal of Medical Alert Buyers Guide’s blog post about the Best Trackers for Dementia Patients is to assist people in picking the best solution that will fit their needs. It’s detailed, which is why it’s a go-to educational resource for families of dementia patients looking for a product to keep their loved ones safe. This example also works because the content isn’t salesy, and its primary goal is to be useful.
Read more: 5 Best Practices for Creating a SaaS Blog that Brings Traffic & Leads
2. Video
Need we say more?
This content format has taken social media and the entire internet by storm.
And with good reason.
Unlike text-based content, which is static, video combines different effects that offer both audio and visual stimuli. Naturally, this results in a more engaging and immersive user experience. People are hardwired to perceive the world around them by watching and observing from day one, while reading comes a couple of years later.
That’s why video is much more effective for explaining cerebral concepts and ideas and making it easier for us to understand them.
Plus, thanks to this audio-visual diversity, video commands attention and is much more entertaining to consume than text. According to statistics, 96% of people watch videos to learn more about a product or service.
Finally, video can condense a long read into a couple of minutes, so you can communicate your message to busy or distracted people.
All this makes video super shareable — 51% of people are more likely to share videos with their friends than any other content type, which means that you can expand your reach beyond your initial target audience.
Here are some tips for capitalizing on this content format and attracting high-quality leads to your website:
- Don’t push your agenda. Use videos to tell stories, not to sell.
- Get your point across in the first 10 seconds to capture the attention of your audience.
- Include captions in your video to cater to visitors who can’t play it with sound on since they don’t have their headphones with them or are multitasking.
- Use video in your blog post to diversify them and break down walls of text that are hard to read. Leveraging multimedia is always a good idea if you want to engage your audience.
- Don’t overlook Instagram Reels and TikTok, as these two channels can amplify your visibility and bring you tons of traffic.
Somnifix checks all the boxes in their video content. For example, their blog post on guided meditation for sleep features several videos that in no way promote their product. Since it’s a lengthy article, including several videos make it more interesting and readable. The brand also has a presence on TikTok and adds captions to their videos so that potential customers can watch them even in quiet places.
3. Infographics
Sharing stats, numbers, research results, facts, and other kinds of data with your audience goes a long way. It allows you to build trust and back your claims up.
However, information-packed text can be hard to read and process, and then all your efforts to collect the data and put it in context so that your audience can benefit from it falls flat. Given that 55% of people spend only 15 seconds reading your text, the odds are they won’t notice all these interesting and important numbers because they’re buried in massive blocks of text.
But if you throw infographics into the mix, things will start looking better and more reader-friendly.
Why are these colorful visual representations of data so effective?
Infographics:
- Simplify complex information and allow people to draw comparisons more easily
- Make it easier for people to retain the information they read
- Are easier on the eyes than plain text
- Communicate ideas more clearly and effectively
- Capture readers’ attention and make dull content more interesting
- Are three times more shareable than regular, textual content
So, it’s safe to say that infographics are highly engaging and should be an indispensable element in your content marketing strategy.
Factors to consider when creating your next infographic
- Don’t rehash the same idea that has already been used.
To reach the full potential of this format, the content you use has to be fresh, unique, and never published before. So, opt for the latest industry reports or use your own data or research study. If you decide to use somebody else’s data, don’t aim for well-known companies because you can be sure that a number of others will do the same, and your infographic won’t distinguish itself.
- Don’t skimp on design.
Even if you know how to use Canva or similar tools, the results will be better and your infographic will look more appealing and credible if it’s designed by a professional.
- Allow others to share your infographics for free.
Just make sure to ask them to give you credit. This is an excellent way to promote your content, drive traffic to your website, and improve the overall visibility of your brand. In that sense, it will help you establish your brand as an industry authority.
U.S. News & World Report New Homebuyers’ Survey 2022 would be a challenging read if it weren’t for several infographics used to illustrate the most important points, stats, and conclusions. Readers don’t have to scramble to find particular bits of data and results by going through the entire article — infographics sum up the highlights so that readers can check them out at a glance.
4. Interactive content
Blog posts, videos, and infographics are the pillars of high-converting content marketing strategy, but they’re by no means enough to hit your goal.
You need to move the needle and make your content even more engaging by encouraging your audience’s participation and engagement. Interactive content will involve your website visitors and allow for two-way communication.
Some of the most effective types of interactive content are:
- Calculators
- Quizzes
- Tools
- Interactive infographics
- Images with sliders
- Interactive webinars.
Unlike its static counterpart, interactive content works by obtaining input from users, hence delivering a completely personalized experience. In other words, people will get results based on their actions or replies.
Besides being entertaining, interactive content is valuable as it helps your prospects learn something about themselves or find a solution to their problem.
Last but not least, it’s an excellent lead-generation tool since it prompts website visitors to share their personal information with you. This will give you a deeper insight into your potential customer’s needs and preferences.
Transparent Labs’ Macro Calculator is a handy tool as it helps potential customers accurately determine their daily calorie intake and macronutrient needs based on a number of personal details they provide. It’s worth mentioning that a detailed resource about macronutrients follows it, but what’s visibly missing is that annoying sales pitch that would put visitors off engaging with it.
5. User-Generated Content
If content is king, then user-generated content (UGC) is the ultimate emperor.
Consumers are 2.4X more likely to perceive UGC as more genuine and credible compared to branded content, which means that if you want your audience to trust you, show them what others say about your brand. The authenticity of this powerful social proof is what will vouch for you and convince potential customers that your brand is legit and provides exceptional user experience.
Additionally, by allowing existing customers to have their say about their experiences with your brand, you’re effectively dispelling potential customers’ worries about how your product or service works. At the same time, people featured in your posts will get their share of the limelight and boost their own online presence — a win-win situation.
Building a strong and loyal community is another benefit of this type of content, but the fact that you’ll get some engaging content for free is also a huge bonus.
The best and most effective types of UGC are:
- Case studies
- Reviews
- Testimonials
- Social media content, including original posts, reshares, and comments
- Q&A sections
UGC can come in different formats, including videos, blog posts, or even live streams. Incentivizing your customers to leave reviews, participate in case studies, or share the word about your brand in other ways is OK as long as their feedback is sincere.
ShopSolarKits.com is a good example to look at as the company is all about transparency and social proof. The brand gives existing customers a platform to share their opinions, which show up on all their products pages. This way, potential customers get unbiased information about the products they’re viewing.
6. Email
Yes, email is a popular, cost-effective advertising channel that boasts an amazing 3,600% ROI for just a fraction of the cost you’d otherwise invest in some other digital marketing efforts.
But did you know that it can be used to boost your organic website traffic?
However, using email for this purpose requires a couple of tweaks to be successful.
Target your recipients accurately
Email marketing works only if you implement automation at scale, but the problem lies in the fact that if you don’t do it right, you risk sending generic emails that won’t yield the results you expect.
The trick is to segment your audience into groups based on different parameters, such as different traits, past behaviors, or preferences, and sending them the content that resonates with them. Proper segmentation and targeting will add a personal touch to your messages and make them relevant to your audience.
If you send out a regular newsletter with exclusive content, your recipients will definitely click “Read more” and land on your site.
Integrate email with your social media
A synergy of these two channels is a match made in heaven.
You can, for example, leverage your online presence to invite your followers to subscribe to your newsletter or the other way around. A small incentive, such as offering 10% off to subscribers who start following you on Instagram, or Facebook followers who subscribe for a newsletter, will grow your list and, ultimately, your website traffic.
It can be difficult to keep track of which of all these integrated channels perform well and which ones require fine-tuning, so implementing a system to help you with this could be a real lifesaver. It allows you to store and analyze all prospect/customer data across different platforms and use it to personalize your communication with them. Check out what the best small business CRMs are and why it’s essential to monitor your prospects’ and customers’ interactions with your business.
Include SEO keywords
If you want your recipients to open your emails, you have to intrigue them. It’s only logical that adding relevant keywords they use in their Google searches into your subject lines will capture their attention and get them to click.
But you shouldn’t stop there — add keywords to the preview text and email body too, then perform A/B tests to figure out which version performs better.
Ask for reviews
Send out post-purchase emails to your new customers and ask them to leave reviews on third-party review sites.
Given that most people start their product searches online, having a lot of recensions on a website you’re not affiliated with in any way will improve your visibility and credibility, while potential prospects will be curious to check out your website and see what you offer for themselves.
Wrapping up
Experimenting with different types of content is the best way to ensure a steady stream of website traffic and an increase in conversions. All the formats we discussed are effective, but it’s best to mix them up so that your website visitors can pick whichever they prefer. A bonus tip would be to keep a close eye on your metrics and make adjustments accordingly.