Welcome back from a hopefully rested break (or like me an over indulgent one that saw me heading to the gym like a cliché today). If you do anything on your website this year then make sure you have these content types covered this year…
1. Get a decent blog
If your website is new and you don’t already have a blog set up then now is the time to do one. It doesn’t have to be fancy but it does have to be part of your main website (Google loves good content, get up those ranking) and you do have to keep it updated (once a week is great, once a month is a minimum.
If you do have a blog then now is the time to review it – how is doing? What are the popular articles and topics? Make sure you have a plan to include popular items more frequently and look into adding a guest blogger to the site (one who will write well firstly and also promote the blog themselves to a hopefully large audience).
2. Try out some infographics
In my most recent issue of Cosmo I saw they had headlined with an infographic which I was quite impressed with. They’re not the easiest to get right but can be a popular way to get across interesting facts and statistics. And if there is one thing that influences buying habits – it’s facts and statistics.
Before you delve into the world of infographics make sure you have a good set of stats to work from, you don’t want to be in the position where you spend money and time on a great looking infographic that doesn’t say much. Also don’t let your designer treat it like a normal graphic, there needs to be inventive ways to display information not just a nice background and icons. Finally make sure you have a copyright and logo within the design otherwise you may find you see your information being used by someone else with no credit.
3. Dabble in a video or two
Videos are becoming one of the most popular types of ways to consume content, especially with the rise of smart phones and tablets. It’s not just music videos and films that are being watched but how to videos and helpful advice. Depending on your brand you can have a dabble with a more homemade look and use your iphone – I went to a video training session with some industry experts and they rated the iphone as long as you have a decent mic attached for sound. Invest in some good software or contact a freelancer who can add effects that look less amateurish and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. If you have deeper pockets then get the experts in to come up with ideas and graphics then it’s up to you to promote your latest content. We’ve added to newsletters before by showing the initial image in a player with a play symbol on the front – when people click it they open the video where hosted.
That’s part one for you – in part two I’ll be covering getting the experts in, mobile optimisation and user generated content…
