You might think that the Holy Grail as far as content goes is making it effective in conversion stakes, but you’d be wrong. It’s one thing to convert your readers into customers or buyers, but it’s another altogether to get them so hooked on what you have to say that they share the message with others. This is the kind of free advertising that possesses power money cannot buy – get the voice of the people on your side and you are well and truly set.
Of course, like most things in life the best things in SEO don’t come easy – shareable content is something the SEO pros of the world are still trying to perfect day in and day out. However, according to the pros at Jenkinson and Associates Ltd it is 100% possible to give your site and its content a much better shot at being shared far and wide by those that matter to you most – it’s all about knowing what makes content shareable in the first place and going from there.
Something New
Right off the bat, the most important box of all to tick is making sure what you’re saying is something new. If you’re just repeating what’s already out there, chances are the majority will already know what you’re saying and thus have zero reason to share it. If they wanted to, they already would have. So, regardless of what kind of angle this means you have to take, it’s vital to make your content at least to some extent new and unique which is guaranteed to lead to others sharing what you have to say, as everyone likes to tell their contacts something they don’t already know.
Something Interesting
There’s a very big difference between a fact and a fact that’s interesting…and that’s a fact. It’s extremely rare for anyone to come across something genuinely interesting on the web and not share it with a fair few other people. However, you can’t expect to list anything and everything just for the sake of it – the key lies in putting out content that’s got some genuine interest-value to it. Much as it may seem like a cliché, statistics and figures can be great tools for prompting shares as they’re not only interesting…or at least they can be…but they’re also readily available and easy to remember.
Something Problem-Solving
Next up, if you are able to answer a popular question or solve a common problem, this is again guaranteed to lead to sharing of the message. Most website visitors are after all there for a specific purpose or with a specific gap to fill in their lives, so if you’re able to do this for them, they’ll no doubt be happy to send others your way.
Something Emotional
Probably the most powerful content in the world in a marketing sense is that which is able to coin an emotional reaction. And for the most part it doesn’t matter which emotion you go for – scary, sad, hilarious, thought provoking or pretty much anything else across the board. Emotions make the message itself dig far deeper into the reader’s brain than one read with apathy and it’s simple human nature to want to share emotions with others…pure gold for you and your site!
Something Entertaining
Much as they may argue to the contrary, it’s a plain and simple fact that the vast majority of web users spend most of their time online looking for entertainment. Now, what entertains one may differ greatly for another, but it’s still the same tale of looking to things to kill time and amuse. This is precisely why sites like YouTube have become so world-dominating over recent years – you log on, hit a single button and have something entertain you while you just stare at the screen. And of course, anything that you find entertaining you’re naturally going to want to share with others – it works every time.
Something Concise
And finally, it’s very rare for anyone to share a message far and wide if said message demands pages and pages of reading to understand. Instead, it’s those messages and content items that are short, punchy and to the point that end up doing the hard work for you via word of mouth. Think about the way you tell a new story you read to others – you never give them the full 1,000 word article word for word, but rather a headline and a concise summary. Think of your content in the same way and make sure that whatever it is you’ve got to say, you say it without too much fluff.