What’s in It for Me: 7 Types of Timeless Core Content

No one said starting a website was going to be easy. Once you’ve got your web hosting figured out and have got WordPress installed. It is time to start writing.

You want to create content, but what type? Sometimes your head might be swimming with ideas, then others times… nothing. The goal of this guide is to help you gather your thoughts, and have a clear understanding of what good content is. Today we are going to explore 7 ways other bloggers have captured attention while “adding value.”

Now we’ve all heard the phrase “add value” tossed around. What people are basically saying is “help the reader out” but since saying “add value, add value, add value” hasn’t gotten us any where. Let’s take a look at content that answers the question for the reader: “What’s in it for Me?”

As we break down the 7 types of content, always remember readers are continually asking themselves “What’s in It for Me?” as they evaluate your website. For each type of content outlined below pay special attention to the “What’s in it for Me?” (WIIFM) question is addressed.

Let’s get started.

1.) Lists – Tried and True Attention Grabbers

Lists are the easiest to create and most shareable form of core content. Let’s face it, the web has become too cluttered with content. Lists help decimate information for your audience.

WIIFM – Lists are great for Aggregation and Decimation. They add value by offering the reader to great content with a common theme and saving readers time.

Marko Saric breaks down 58 action points that could be looked at as an check list for a good blog.

Lisa Barone offers 5 Major sights into how successfully track your social media efforts.

Art of Blog displays 180+ Thesis customizations to get the reader's creative juices flowing.

2.) How-tos – People Like Their Problems Solved

People have problems, or at least things they want to fix or want to accomplish. How-to articles help ease assist the reader in easing these pains.

WIIFM - People have problems. How-Tos help solve their problems.

Chris Pearson helps readers diagnose and remove the all to prevalent WordPress Pharma Hack of 2010.

Derek Halpern guest posts on Copyblogger and explains how to create content that will help get you subscribers.

Art of Blog teaches readers how to add social media icons to their Thesis installation.

3.) Series – Class is in Session

A series is just what you would expect, multiple posts with a related topic. They do take some planning and time but they can be the strongest and most valuable audience building tool in any blogger’s arsenal. People like to feel that they are a part of something. Draw the audience in with questions prompting them to interact and teach them sometime new.

WIIFM – Interaction, community, continued learning.

Back in the day when everyone was still trying to figure out what SEO was all about, Chris Pearson did a series explaining how SEO impacts everyone.

In 2007 Problogger, Darren Rowse did a series outline 31 days to a better blog and elicited reader participation. This is still and outstanding resource.

Late 2009 Markus Urban did a video series on how to get started blogging in one week.

4.) Interviews – Exclusive Content is Hard to Beat

Interviews are great for sharing perspectives or information from unique individuals. These interviews can be written, audio, or video. Each medium has its own merits.

WIIFM – Unique insights into the people being interviewed.

Problogger interviews 10 successful professional bloggers to find out what they do when they are feeling burned out.

Copyblogger interviews Seth Godin on his book tribes and what it takes to be come a leader.

Art of Blog interviews Chris Pearson, creator of Thesis Theme to find out what his plans are for the future of Thesis, web publishing, and twitter.

5.) Reviews – People Like Honest Opinions

Whenever money is involved people like to have reassurance that what they are buying is a good decision. If you can write an impartial review that helps readers decide if the product or service in question is a good or bad decision they will love you for it.

WIIFM – Outside opinion of product/service being reviewed.

Michael Gray offers a detailed review of Textbroker.com. He also offers suggestions on how to use the service along with some other useful insights.

Paul Stamatiou is known for his extensive reviews. He writes some of the most detailed reviews known to man. This is what his audience has come to know him for and he lives up to his standards every time.

Art of Blog offers an extensive review of Thesis theme for WordPress offering insights into who the Thesis is right for and some places where it could improve.

6.) Case Studies – Real World Examples

Considering people love how-to articles you can bet, people like it when you show them the how and why something works. This is where case studies come in. Case studies are a great way to not only get attention of other bloggers but also give your readers some tangible take-aways that they can act on after reading.

WIIFM – Tangible Understanding of why things work.

Derek Halpern pairs psychological research with internet marketing application. In this example he overviews how fewer options for buyers will often lead to higher conversion rates. He also looks at how large retailers such as Amazon.com have implemented the strategies he recommends.

Rae Hoffman, aka Sugarrae, takes an indepth look at how twitter can be used to generate traffic, business, and authority. In this case study she gives real life examples of how her team used twitter in conjunction with their site bbgeeks.com

Art of Blog takes a look at several successful internet marketers and how they use WordPress pages.

7.) Comprehensive Guides – Go In-depth

Comprehensive guides are nothing more than a super in-depth how-to articles. They cover the topic from all angles and do an outstanding job of answering any lingering questions the reader may have.

WIIFM – Complex ideas covered completely and succinctly make for a great resource users can reference.

Mindmaping is a powerful strategy but can be somewhat hard to grasp at first glance. Aext breaks it down along with recommendations of tools to help you with mind mapping. This is a prefect example of a comprehensive guide as it introduces the topic, discusses why it is important, offers tips, and answers questions.

Online Reputation Management isn’t the most elegant of topics to cover. It is inherently dry and boring, however the team over at Outspoken Media do a great job dissecting the core issues at hand along with breaking down steps to manage your online reputation. This guide is awesome because it not only establishes them as an authority but it is also a great way of getting clients as well.

Headway theme as a ton of options and for beginner users there wasn’t a great place to go to get started. In this guide Art of Blog offers a great resource to answer the common questions people had when they first started to use Headway. This guide covers the basics and educates users so they are ready for more advanced topics.

Closing:

Hopefully this article has added some clarity as to what people mean when they say “Add Value.” As you may have realized this post is actually a mix of case study and list. We take a look at how and why each of these articles have worked while giving you ideas on how to execute on your own blog. The major take away is to always remember: “What’s in it for Me?”

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Written by Nick Reese

(photo by Christopher Chan)

Nick Reese is a full time internet marketer living in Austin Texas. When Nick isn't managing web properties he enjoys biking, shooting video, and drinking tea. You should follow Nick on twitter here and check out his side project Becoming Bold.

Nick has written 49 posts for Art of Blog!