Sales goals are set and it’s time to start generating quality leads for your sales team. While there are many ways to identify prospects, you know your blog is one of the most effective tools to drive organic traffic. But you might ask, “What types of blogs and topics will attract the most readers?”
Search engines look for fresh, relevant content, so regularly publishing new posts provides readers with valuable information and helps increase your website’s online search ranking. Properly optimizing blog posts for key SEO search terms also increases rankings and drives more targeted organic traffic. This gets visitors to your blog. But what makes them stay there without bouncing?
We’ve pulled together seven types of blog posts that will not only help with SEO, but also provide a platform for developing shareable, highly sought-after content that will attract visitors to your website like a tractor beam pulling in the Millennium Falcon.
-
- Lists
Everyone loves a good list – especially one that is both informative and fun. Creating a list post with a great headline like “5 Tips to Increase Millennial Member Engagement” helps the blog to show up more frequently in search results, grab readers’ attention and improve the likelihood that the reader will click through and read your post.Bonus Tip: Create an evergreen list that will stand the test of time. Research has shown that including evergreen, tactical blog posts can organically increase website traffic long after the original publication date. - How-tos
With more people asking Google for instructions, it’s no wonder that “how to” blog posts are so popular. Include “how to” posts in your editorial calendar, but make sure they aren’t too specific. Broader topics show up more often in search results and will drive more visitors to your website. Here’s a great example from Protech: How to Track Email Responses with Microsoft Dynamics 365. - Infographics and videos
Have you ever shared an infographic or video on social media or with coworkers? How did they react? Likely, they were more engaged than if you had tried to relay the story verbally and some may have even shared it with their own online circles. Publishing highly sharable content, such as infographics and videos, increases the reach of your blog posts because people are more attracted to graphics than plain text. Infographics are especially popular since they can present complex ideas visually. This infographic blog post from InfinityQS breaks down the cost of a technology solution in an easy-to-follow graphic. - Guest Blogs
Inviting an industry expert to contribute a blog post is an excellent way to attract new visitors to your website. Most guest bloggers like to share their posts through their own social media networks and may even include a link to the post from their blogs.Not to mention, guest blogging for another site is a great way to increase awareness of your company. But make sure to request a link back to your website to drive traffic. Cetrom’s CEO Christopher Stark contributed this guest spot to the Sprint Business blog. - Blog Series
Netflix and DVRs have made it almost impossible to remember the days when you had to wait for the next episode of your favorite show, unless you watch Sherlock or Doctor Who. However, taking a cue from the “old days” of TV can help drive traffic to your website. Developing a series of blogs with a teaser for each ensuing post builds momentum and increases blog subscriptions as readers want to know when the next installment is coming out.Another great time to use a blog series is when a topic is too long for a single post. Breaking the topic up into two or three smaller topics for a series benefits both you and the readers—like MFG.com did for their New Suppliers Guide. After the entire series is published, make sure to insert links to previous and following posts to help entice visitors to read all pieces. This will increase page views and visitors’ time on your website. - Interviews
What’s the first thing you would do if you were interviewed by the evening news or local magazine? Would you find the link on the media outlet’s website and send the interview to your coworkers, friends and family to prove your fame? Of course! Interviewing staff or clients will likely produce the same result. Plus, interviewees tend to also share the interview link on their social media networks, further extending the reach of your post and driving more traffic to your website. Check out this interview with PNMsoft CEO Gal Horvitz.Similar to a guest blog, interviews with industry experts will also increase traffic to your website due to the expert’s reputation in the industry. - Trends
Current and prospective clients want to stay ahead of the curve and are always searching for the latest trends in their industry. They may not be able to attend every industry event, so they turn to blogs as part of their research. Reporting and commenting on the latest trends helps readers see you as an industry expert and drives traffic to your website through popular, trending keywords.You can also get more mileage out of your marking dollars by posting “recap” blogs after attending industry events. Make sure to discuss the emerging industry trends in your recap blog, like NeoGrid did in this recent post.When thinking about your website as a tool for lead generation, leverage the work you already put into your company’s blog to attract more visitors. By adding, or expanding, the use of these seven types of blogs, your posts will be more effective and boost organic website traffic and search rankings.
- Lists