How to Create Shareable Content for Your Blog

Are your blog posts getting good traffic, but no shares on social media? Clearly, your visitors are interested in what you’re writing, so why aren’t they sharing? Bloggers, creators, and small-business owners alike have all experienced this headache. Social sharing is a powerful tool — it lets you reach hundreds of new people for free — but it can be tricky to create the kind of content people want to share.

If you want to know how to create shareable content for your blog, it’s helpful to figure out exactly what types of content get the most shares. The following are some key research-backed insights to help you get the shares you’re after.

Understand how people share

The first step in creating share-worthy content is to figure out what, exactly, your audience likes to share. While you probably don’t have time to visit all of your followers’ social media profiles and browse their posts (although it could be quite beneficial if you do), there are a few key trends you should be aware of.

According to marketing research firm Ipsos, people are most inclined to share:

• Interesting content (61 percent)
• Important content (43 percent)
• Funny content (43 percent)

These insights are broad, but they can still be invaluable to your content strategy. If you can figure out what your audience finds to be interesting, important, and funny, you can more easily create shareable content.

Embrace long-form content

A few years ago, BuzzSumo and Moz analyzed more than 1 million pieces of content to track social sharing trends. One of their big takeaways was that 85 percent of published content was short-form — less than 1,000 words. However, their research found that less-popular long-form content was much more likely to be shared.

In our fast-paced world, it may seem counterintuitive to write blog posts that are 2,000 words or longer. After all, aren’t people too busy to read them? However, experts believe long-form content performs better because it’s typically thorough, well-researched, and thought-provoking. These types of pieces start conversations, which is key when you want your content to be shared on social media.

Share your opinions

You might be hesitant to share your opinions on your blog, as online “trolls” can be brutal. However, the Moz research showed that opinion-forming journalism, where the author takes an engaging or controversial viewpoint, gets significantly more shares than cut-and-dry, objective content. This makes sense, as further research indicates that 68 percent of people share content “to show who they are and what they care about,” according to Entrepreneur.

If something big is happening in your industry, don’t be afraid to share your opinions on it! You may receive some backlash, but you’ll also get support (and shares) from those who share your stance.

Use images and videos

Remember that the aesthetic appeal of your content is important, too. If you want articles to be shared on social media, you should include eye-catching images that will make them stand out on a timeline. The Content Marketing Institute explains that bright, clear, and original images perform best on Facebook, so avoid stock photos whenever possible.

You may also want to try creating video content According to Moz, video posts are shared significantly more than standard text posts. Your WordPress.com site supports video posts, so why not give it a shot?

If you’ve been wondering how to create shareable content, start by taking these straightforward steps. These best practices will increase the likelihood of having your content shared on social media, which can increase your blog traffic — it’s a win-win!