How to Encourage Content Sharing

No matter how valuable your content is it won’t draw traffic to your website unless people are willing to share it.

Although you may have a strong community who are supportive of your work, it can still be difficult to make them take action and share your content with their own community. This article will tell you how to increase the chances of your content being shared on the internet and have it spread like wild fire.

Provide a Solution to a Problem

Find a common problem people are having within your niche and write with the intention of solving it. There are many problems that go unaddressed on the web and you can be the first provide the answers.

Use a Catchy Headline

Apply common link bait elements to your headline so your post works well within social media circuits. Link bait headlines are those which immediately draw the attention of a social media users to your post. Sometimes the headline may be all that you need to have other users share your content, especially if the post itself is too good to pass up. Include your main keywords; get to the point but also use a hook to compliment what you plan to tell them. Study how magazines use headlines because that’s what sells their rest of the content – apply it in your own writing.

Make your Content Valuable

Create the most valuable content you can relating to your subject. Do some research into the topic and notice where others have left out details. Include additional resources, links to other pages and share your own experiences about the topic. Try to cover the subject with the intention of only writing about it once; using this mindset, you’ll begin creating content that has lasting effects and provides valuable information.

Create Clear Calls-to-Action

Always include a clear call-to-action. A Call-to-Action can be as simple as telling people, directly, to share your content, leave a comment or email your work to others. Other calls-to-action may include prompting your readers to buy your products or services. Whatever your call to action, you should always keep it straightforward and to the point; get people to share by telling them to.

Enable Easy Sharing with Widgets

It only takes a few seconds for someone to submit your content to social networks, however this process can be streamlined further by using social media sharing widgets on your page. Embed easy sharing options such as the Twitter ‘ReTweet; button, Facebook ‘Like’ Button, StumbleUpon ‘vote’ button and the Digg button to allow your readers to dynamically submit your content to social media networks in a single click. You’ll find that visitors are more likely to share content if you remove as many barriers as possible, that’s why buttons make for a great addition when enticing users to share.

By combining some of the techniques above, you can improve the chances of your content reaching its full potential within social media circles and across the web.

How do you encourage people to share your content?