What is the best way to increase engagement and traffic on your website? In this article, I will list 7 forms of content to increase website user engagement.
Once upon a time, we used to hail content as king. But that was back in a time when content marketing was not the digital marketing asset it is today.
Nowadays, we refrain from using that same well-worn phrase, but the truth of the matter still remains the same. And that is: you need to provide plenty of content for your audience to ensure your website will attract and engage visitors.
User engagement is the crucial first step in the conversion process. Let’s look at seven content forms you should consider to boost website engagement and traffic.
Table of Contents
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1. Simple, Straightforward Blog Posts
For starters, you need to include simple, garden-variety, regular, ordinary, whatever you want to call them, blog posts.
These kinds of posts are what most blogs put out. Some brands do it very well, while others fail to grasp the main purpose of a post.
Ideally, you want to reach into two different categories:
- blog posts you can rank for (decent monthly search volume and low competition)
- blog posts that you may not be able to rank for but that your audience will certainly be interested in reading once they find your website
Here’s an example of the former. The main keyword of this article has a monthly volume of 50.000 and keyword difficulty of 10. The top-ranking posts have less than 10 backlinks. Clearly, the website can try to outrank them and get some of that very valuable traffic sent their way.
They also have more general posts, which are probably non-rankable but in line with the website’s overarching theme.
2. Roundup Posts
Another kind of blog post you should feature on your website is the roundup post. They aim to sum up a topic, break it down and accumulate knowledge and information from different sources. They usually come in list form, detailing the main characteristics, drawbacks, and benefits of a certain product or service.
The purpose of these posts is to offer valuable insight on a specific question, essentially shortening much lengthier posts that go into more detail about one item. This is where all the data is compiled into one valuable read.
This post comparing mini ovens has done it nicely. They have a useful introduction that explains what to look for in a post, and then they go into the main details about each product. It should provide their audience a good starting point when shopping, not to mention a few clicks through their affiliate links.
3. Comparison Posts
And the third, somewhat similar, kind of blog post you should try to feature if possible is the comparison post. Unlike the roundup, which is a list of more items, the comparison post, as the name suggests, compares and contrasts two different products or services.
For this kind of post to be successful, you need to find the right balance between being informative and offering your own opinions. Don’t just dryly provide specifications. The human touch is just as important.
Here’s a great example comparing IncFile and LegalZoom, two LLC formation services.
Firstly, the article features plenty of information and goes into plenty of detail. Secondly, there’s a running commentary throughout as well, letting the reader know what the writers have thought about them.
4. Infographics
Infographics used to be all the rage once upon a time. They were used so often and so poorly that most brands have since stopped using them completely.
Nonetheless, the infographic is an incredible way to convey information because:
- It reads much faster than a blog post.
- It is much more visually appealing and attractive.
- It is often more likely to be shared and go viral.
Not all topics are good infographic material, though. You do need to find one that is in line with your brand and interesting or rankable.
Here’s a neat infographic about productivity mistakes that ties in very well with the website’s overarching theme. It is well-designed (super important), and it offers useful information (just as important). Overall, it’s much more engaging than a blog post on the same topic that has already been done to death.
5. Original Research
The main issue most brands come up against when producing content is that they keep rehashing topics that have already been covered numerous times. And often, these topics have been covered so well that there’s not much more to add to the conversation.
While you can rarely be completely original in your topic choice, the way to stand out is to conduct your own original research. That way, you can provide useful, fresh information that your audience may not be able to find otherwise. This works especially well in the SaaS industry, where you are able to use your own product to provide relevant research.
Ahrefs has a lot of content that falls into this category. For example, here’s this post comparing Squarespace and WordPress in SEO terms. Interesting, complex, and well-written, this kind of post is a bit niche but an incredible conversion booster for the brand.
6. Ebook
Ebooks are usually served in gated content form. This helps ensure you capture enough information about your leads to make it worth the production. Offering ebooks for nothing in return is usually not the best course of action.
That being said, there’s a possibility that people who have given you their contact details in exchange for the ebook will unsubscribe after the first newsletter. To minimize this possibility, keep sending them emails they would be interested in, based on the ebook they’ve downloaded.
However, here’s a different example: a free ebook from Moz that requires no action but that has certainly generated plenty of traffic and links for Moz over the years. If that is your content goal, you can forego the gated element.
7. Video + Transcript
The other non-text kind of content you should feature on your website is video. Often hailed to be more popular than blog posts, videos are a great way to attract another target audience segment.
To ensure your video has the most engagement potential, make sure to also include a transcript. That way, even those who aren’t able to play the sound of the video for whatever reason are able to enjoy your content. Not to mention, it will be more searchable, and people will be able to jump to the part that is of interest to them more easily.
Here’s a website that does transcripts with every video they do. The videos are usually short and on a catchy topic, and the transcripts make them easier to index and find.
Final Thoughts
Some of these content formats may not work well for your blog. So, make sure you carefully consider your target audience’s interests and pain points before you begin producing content.
Most importantly, don’t forget that quality trumps quantity. Invest your time and resources in producing valuable content, and you’ll start seeing those engagement and traffic numbers steadily rising.
