Editor’s Note: Since this article was posted Google’s algorithms have gotten a lot smarter. Whatever the theme to your blog or the style of your content, you cannot afford to scrimp on quality. To stand a chance of ranking well on SERPs, you need to be sure that your article not only has the right hashtags, but is also worthy of being read and curated by influencers. The following should be used as a guide for potential themes only.
If you don’t already have a blog that is connected to your website, it’s time to start one. Take Giraffe for example. Our blog allows for tags and search terms that are relevant to our customers, which helps drive traffic to our company website.
Here are some classic blog genres that will always generate traffic no matter what the content, so it might be worth considering investing in blog content to improve the traffic to your site.
1. ‘How to’/tutorial blogs
There is already a high degree of ‘how to’ content out there – if your topic is a common question there will be competition. Your blog won’t be the only outcome of the search, but it still has that chance. If the topic is unusual or very specific the options will be narrowed down and your blog has an even more likely chance to be viewed. People are constantly using Google or fellow search engines to find answers to ‘how to’ queries so these generic blogs will rank high in the traffic they attract.
2. Fashion
One of the most popular genres of blogging and one a lot of ‘newbie’ bloggers are likely to try. There is a big network out there for fashion bloggers. Connecting with fellow fashionistas will link their viewers to your blog and vice versa. If you are reviewing or commenting on big names and labels, hashtags and designs will attract traffic to your blog. We’re all nosey and wanting to know what other people are wearing or what they should be wearing. Fashion blogs will remain popular, as let’s face it, we all wear clothes!
3. Food
Everyone is constantly researching online about what the latest health craze could be. Looking for inspirations in cooking or simply researching a recipe. Whatever the content is, if it is linked to food your blog, it is likely to attract traffic. Personally, I have recently started a small blog featuring food and fashion and my food blogs always get more hits and likes. Food hashtags are such a popular search that your blog will get viewed. However, I think a big difference between successful and not so successful food blogs are the images – people love food, but they’ll love it even more if it looks appealing. The image will attract him or her to the written content and without knowing it, you have probably inspired someone to go and cook!
4. Music
Another generic popular starting point for newcomers to blogging is music. It’s everywhere around us and constantly changing, introducing new people and sounds. Therefore, up-to-date blogs about the latest artists, best new records and who to look out for in the future are likely to get high amounts of traffic. Even if the content isn’t great, it’s always the hashtags that will help, as people will automatically be directed to that blog. Although if the blog content doesn’t flow or isn’t greatly presented, people may still be intrigued by the artists you mention. Music blogs are also how some people break through into the industry, so people are continuously on the lookout for who is up and coming and so music blogs always rank high in popular blog genres.
5. ‘Top 10…’ blogs
This style of blog is such a popular past time (take that from a student) to distract yourself in the lunch break. Lists are easy to follow and quick to read. I think people reading these blogs aren’t particularly viewing the presentation and full content of them, more likely the title of each number and scanning the rest of the text. The more entertaining and relatable they are, the more likely they are to be popular. But again, thanks to search engines, a simple ‘Top 10 books you must read’ will receive a lot of matches and should be guaranteed views within time. A more specific title such as ‘Top 10 bars in Albert Road’ won’t have as much competition because a smaller proportion of people will be interest. However, this means more of a guarantee of views from people searching this. Keeping it small and local such as the previous example could also mean a more popular blog than a worldwide-related one because people will know where to go to find out this information if your blog is the only resource.
Points to consider to increase your blog traffic include keeping the content simple; not making it too overwhelming for the readers, but keep in mind the target audience and what they want to know and whether specialist language is needed or expected. Use your other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in to promote your blog and share links to it. Communicate with other bloggers by commenting on their posts and getting involved.
By Content Assistant – Alice Hughes – @aliceeehughes
