Before looking into the blog categories specifically, it’s important to understand customer intent. The six blog types which will be discussed all fall into one of four search intent categories. In a nutshell, search intent is the reasoning behind a specific search on a search engine.
Content around specific blog categories fall into one of four search intents
The four intents are:
- Informational – The user would like to learn something. These searches usually include phrases such as ‘where is’, ‘how do you’, what is’, ‘who’ etc.
- Navigational – The user has in mind what they are looking for but may not know the full URL of a site, such as ‘Kariba’ or ‘UK phone code
- Transactional – The user is ready to buy and is looking for a website where they can make the purchase. Phrases include the words ‘cheap’ or ‘buy’ or a broad term such as ‘Mediterranean cruise’.
- Commercial – The user knows what they want but would still like to conduct further research. This could include terms such as ‘top’ or ‘best’ to compare products or services.
By understanding the intent of your users, businesses can ensure their blog is optimised for the right terms. Because Google focuses on providing the most relevant links for a search query, aligning your content with your audience’s queries allows the blog to rank higher up in the search results, thus boosting traffic and conversion potential. Furthermore, some blog categories lend themselves better to certain search intents.
But how can you infer search intent and then create engaging copy around this intent?
As an example let’s assume a user puts in the term ‘how to make Madeira cake’. From the intent above, this would sit under the informational category. However, by physically typing this phrase into the search engine results pages (SERPs), businesses will be able to determine exactly the type of content being produced. In this example, content is to specific recipe pages or a catalogue of ingredients required to make the Madeira cake. Content should therefore follow a similar nature as this is the intent, but offer a USP to differentiate it from every other piece on the SERPs.
Let’s now look at the six most popular blog categories for websites to ensure traffic potential is maximised.
Tutorials
80% of all Google search intent is informational. It therefore makes sense to ensure businesses are catering to what the majority of users are looking for, which is the answer to a problem or issue. If a business is able to provide an answer to a query, that organisation will be seen as helpful and in a position of thought leadership, increasing the chances the user will purchase in the future.
Articles in list format
SEMrush found that lists resulted in 4x more traffic and 2x more social shares than information which is formatted in larger, harder to digest paragraphs. This is because as businesses and consumers in general are becoming more time conscious, lists provide a quick and simple way to digest information.
Case studies
In a number of marketing surveys, marketers have identified case studies (88%) as being one of the most powerful tools for lead generation. Case studies can provide the following benefits:
- Demonstrate brand attributes
- Showcase how products achieve customer needs
- Provides social proof for prospects
- Uncover brand evangelists
Predictions and trends
Hubspot research found that those who do read blogs regularly do it for one of two reasons:
- To be entertained
- To learn something new, be it in their industry or in general
Predictions and trend blogs are great for businesses and consumers. It allows businesses to be in the position of thought leadership, showcasing sector expertise. However, it also provides consumers with unique insights they won’t find elsewhere.
Guides
Guides are some of the best content pieces a business can produce. Whilst they often take much longer to complete, the benefits are more than worth it. Some benefits include:
- Providing ample keyword opportunities
- Indicates relevance to boost it up the SERPs
- Often seen as cornerstone content
- Opportunity to use as a lead generation tool
Long-form content outperforms shorter content by a fair margin. SEMrush states content over 3000 words gets x3 more traffic than copy under 1200 words. This is in part due to the fact long-form content such as guides are on average shared more on social media according to Hubspot.
Interviews
Interviews are great pieces of content that allows for a business to tap into another organisation’s reputation and audience. It also alleviates the burden of content creation as questions can be emailed to the interviewee to answer. Interviews allow brands to:
- Broaden their network
- Develop quality backlinks
- Increase their influence
- Create quicker content
Interviews can provide some healthy traffic towards a business’s website, as often the interview is shared by employees at both companies, who drive the content into their own respective networks.
Whilst adding content around these blog categories to your website will help drive traffic through matching the intent of your audience, there are still a number of on-page SEO techniques that need to be applied to get these pieces up the SERPs.
However, we understand with the day-to-day running of a small business, dedicating time to writing engaging content that is diversified across these six blog categories isn’t always feasible. So if you want to ensure that you’re providing your customers with value and dominating the competition, Kariba can support with a number of proven strategies.
So why not get in touch with Kariba for a free consultation today on 01423 593020.
