Want More Traffic to Your Blog? Focus on These 4 Content Types

Do what others don’t

Over the past decade, the blogging world has changed immensely.

With 7.5 million blog posts published every day, competition is extremely fierce, and posting average-quality content is simply not enough — anymore.

So to make a difference in this overcrowded space, you should focus on the path many bloggers ignore.

While the majority of writers rely only on publishing frequency and content promotion, they often neglect one fact:

Posting the same content types over again slows down the website’s growth.

This should imply that creating something less typical can help you tap into new traffic sources faster and more effectively.

Focus on the 4 following content types and create valuable posts that will bring in more traffic, set you apart from the competition, and help your blog to be discovered even without excessive promotion.

Case studies

Having relevant and in-depth case studies published on your blog is a guaranteed method of driving traffic.

They tend to increase conversion rates, work as sales funnels, and audiences see them as the most trusted marketing content type.

author’s screenshot, source: Digital Marketing Community

But first of all, what exactly is a case study?

A case study is a method of research used to educate people about a particular subject/event/product etc. They’re used in marketing, business, and various scientific areas.

A great case study consists of a topic introduction, challenge, solution, and results, and it always tells a story that ends with a clear conclusion.

See an example of a case study below:

author’s screenshot, source: MailChimp

Regardless of your niche, you can always find a topic suitable for a case study.

For instance, you can show how the product you sell improved your customers’ health/visage/marketing strategy/mindset or how you managed to increase your sales by using a particular method/tool/website.

The options are almost endless.

Just check the links below and learn more about writing a great case study from scratch.

Useful resources

Interviews

Interviews are a type of content many bloggers ignore. Yet, they are super powerful when it comes to driving new traffic to your site.

Conducting interviews with people relevant to your niche works perfectly, as it’s a win-win situation for both you and your interviewee: You’ll get unique content, and the interviewed person will reach a new audience.

Plus, they’ll most likely share the interview on their blogs or across social media (people love linking to the content that mentions them), so you end up with another traffic source.

All you have to do is choose a person with a slightly bigger audience than yours. Ask them whether they’re up for an interview, explain why they should trust you, and what’s in it for them.

Besides getting traffic and building partnerships, interviews are also a powerful way to get backlinks.

Infographics & data visualization

Infographics are among the most used content marketing methods for B2B marketers, and the search demand for them almost doubled since 2012. The reason behind this is straightforward:

People love data in illustrated form because it helps them comprehend complex topics faster.

Basically, information that would need to be explained in 500 words can be demonstrated in a single infographic.

As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Although words infographics and data visualization might sound too analytical, they don’t have to be simply about data and numbers. They can include funny pictures, storytelling, and emotional content.

Just make sure they offer real value and well-researched facts and figures.

If you’re wondering whether there’s any difference between infographics and data visualization — yes, there is.

Data visualization can be a simple chart, graph, or diagram.

Infographics, however, consist of multiple visualizations and elements — see the example:

author’s screenshot, source: SPINX website

So if you have any complex information that can be conveyed in visual form, think of creating an infographic (or data visualization for single figures) to make the learning experience for your readers more attractive.

Using templates, you can put content into visual form quite fast — even if you’ve never done it before. To start, look at the sources listed here.

Useful resources

Ultimate guides

Many bloggers rely on short-form content as it’s easy and fast to write and allows them to keep up with busy publishing schedules.

However, readers trust long-form, well-researched posts more, and the average length of top-ranked posts on Google is 2,450 words.

Thus, long-form posts make a real difference.

It doesn’t matter what kind of website you run, there is always a chance you’ll find a topic within your niche that deserves to be explained in an ultimate guide.

Creating this content type comes with multiple benefits:

it puts you in a leadership position in your niche
it helps you rank for more keywords
it increases your traffic (and sales)
it brings you a lot of backlinks

On top of that, adding relevant affiliate links to products/services your readers would appreciate will help you build a nice passive income source.

Tips to write a great ultimate guide

Research competitors’ content and find out what they missed in their posts so you can cover it in your guide.
Conduct extensive keyword research.
Format your guide properly so it’s easy to read and likely to rank from an SEO perspective.
Use images, screenshots, and other visual content to break the long wall of text.
Use a lot of examples to increase the value of the post and make the topic easier to understand.
Make sure the guide is at least 3,000 words long.

Creating an ultimate guide can take more than 20 hours, but from the long-term viewpoint, it’s a priceless asset worth the hard work.

Conclusion

As I’ve mentioned in the beginning, to make a difference, focus on the things others ignore.

I visited the first five blogs appearing on Google when searching for dog-related products, and guess what. None of them presented me with any infographic with pet industry data or a case study about particular dog products.

Knowing this, take your chance to rise above others and create unique content that is hard to find somewhere else.