Content is king and always will be, especially for bloggers who earn their living by providing valuable information. Indeed, content is the first thing your blog visitors notice and the only thing they come back for. Many people join the blogosphere because they feel strong about writing and want to say something new to the world. However, bloggers often get stuck to their posting schedule and write the same style of articles over and over again. This can get dull for both you and your readers. Text posts are great, but they are not the be-all-end-all of blogging. Don't be afraid to experiment and try to diversify your content with something that will surprise your readers and make them coming back for more. Here is a roundup of five original ideas how your blog content can be diversified and what tools may be helpful to achieve that.
Infographic
Infographic is an awesome way to deploy complex information in visually
attractive datasets. It may consist of annotated charts, graphs,
visualized maps, diagrams, circles, timelines and other stuff of the
kind. Infographic can make your blog post more eye-catching and get
bigger coverage on the Internet. A lot depends on the topic you pick for
an infographic: it must be new, fascinating, well-grounded. It's better
if you provide not just your in-house stats but trace some global
trends. No doubt, infographic development requires much time and effort
and the outcome is often unpredictable. Still it's worth trying since
there's a great deal of free resources assisting with infographic
creation. Have a look at Google Public Data, ManyEyes and Stat Planet.
They give you access to the libraries of publicly available data and
the ability to upload your own datasets and turn them into attractive
infographics in a variety of forms. Alternatively, you can repost a
ready infographic from Visual.ly with your own interpretation and all credits observed. Slideshow
Slideshows can be of two types: educational presentation and photo
slideshow. Both suit perfectly to display series of meaningful
information and engage your blog readers. If you feel skilled enough to
make your own research, PowerPoint is the best option
to start your experiment with. Keep your slides simple, clear and
informative, use bullet lists, graphs and diagrams and of course don't
abuse effects and animation – they may distract and annoy your readers. Slideshare
is a good resource to host your presentations with the ability to get
embed code for your blog. With photo slideshows you can tell your
readers about some meaningful event or your daily routine. To create a
slideshow in a web-ready format, use Freemake Video Converter.
This free tool allows users to turn any massive photo content to Flash
videos with provided embed code or upload ready photo slideshows to your
YouTube channel. You can add background music and switch on the
panorama effect. The whole process will take a couple of minutes.Video interview
The power of video is often underrated. Indeed, bloggers often forget
that video can deliver a message more effectively, key points
accentuated and emotions well-observed. Plus, videos save visitors from
reading long passages. Video interviews are the content you can easily
do with the help of Skype and a video recording software like Snagit or CamStudio.
The challenge is to find the right person for an interview. This person
should be an expert in your niche, someone who can really provide a
fresher look at the topic and share expertise. Thoroughly prepare
questions and post them to the speaker beforehand. While interviewing,
keep the talk interactive, don't forget that you arrange all this for
your readers who are may be not acquainted with the topic at all. The
interviews can add definitely add credibility to your resource since
people appreciate such arrangements. List
People love having a wide range of items to choose from. All these
"Top-10", "Best-100" or “A to Z” lists contribute to better post
structuring and let readers compare items within one list. You can make a
list of whatever concerning your blog niche: helpful resources, tools,
videos, tips, workarounds, or tricky ways to do something. People often
scan through posts – give them reason to to pause and take a second look
at the items they got interested with. Use bullets or numbers, insert
pictures and always put the names in bold. Still keep in mind that using
lists is not a replacement for relevant and thoughtful content. If you
get too gimmicky with lists which do not relate to the main focus of
your blog, people will be just as turned off as when a post is too long
and complex to read all the way through. So give only relevant
information about the item, e.g. enumerate its main pros and cons and
give advice on how to benefit from it.Q&A
If
your blog is strictly niche-oriented and you receive tons of emails and
comments, assign a post to frequently-asked questions. An advantage of
such posts is that you have a chance to speak on multiple topics of
little significance. Q&A posts also give a perfect opportunity to
build internal linking: just mention previous posts related to the
question and make anchor text with targeted keywords. Don't forget to
put questions in bold so that readers could scroll down and start
reading with the questions they are most interested in. Be open to your
public – publish questions that people ask about your hobbies,
interests, jobs you did.comment and share to your friends!
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