As we move into 2023, shareability of content has become a staple in an effective content marketing strategy. This valuable marketing tactic serves as a powerful branding tool, and can be used as a way to attract links from other websites. However, devising fresh and engaging ideas for linkable content can be challenging with so much competition. That’s why it’s important to understand the different types of linkable content assets and how they can bolster your content marketing strategy.
In this blog, we will discuss the variety of linkable assets that are must-haves in your content marketing strategy in 2023. Plus, we’ll even give a brief overview on how to best leverage these types of linkable content to boost your overall strategy and attract more backlinks.
Why Creating Unique & Shareable Content Is No Easy Task
Challenge #1: Content Saturation in Market
Aside from the challenge of competing against literally all already-existing content on the web, there are only so many ways to produce original content that stands out and appeals to your target audience. As such, it’s essential to focus on creating useful assets that not only engage readers but also help them discover and learn in a memorable way.
In 2023, every piece of content produced should be centered around user intent, quality of information presented, and memorability. That’s why content creators need to be creative and think outside the box to generate linkable assets that will reach the right people.
Challenge #2: Provide Value While Aligning with Your Brand’s Goals
Generating the right linkable assets that align with your overall content marketing goals is only half the battle. You must consider how they will provide value to your audience to achieve a favorable outcome through your efforts. Your goals for your linkable asset strategy should define what type of content you create.
Moreover, creating shareable content can lead to increased brand awareness, and reinforce brand messaging and awareness. For these reasons, linkable content assets should be a key part of any successful content strategy in 2023.
The Basics: What Makes Content Shareable?
When creating linkable content, it’s essential to consider what content types are the most likely to get shared and by whom. In doing so, you should be coming from your target audience and linkers’ perspectives. There are a few basic elements for creating shareable content:
- Well-researched, accurate content
While it may seem obvious, your content should be well-researched and contain accurate facts to resonate with your audience while simultaneously building your credibility. With all of the misinformation on the internet today, we can’t stress this enough!
- Offers value to your readers
Most importantly, linkable content should offer legitimate value to the reader, whether that’s helpful advice or an entertaining experience. The content you create should interest your readers and provide information that they might not know and find important to pass along.
- Eye-catching, correctly-formatted content
Linkable content should be attractive and easy to read, regardless of the type you choose. It should also have an eye-catching headline and a solid call to action that encourages linkers to share your content.
Content that is linkable and shareable should also be formatted in such a way that it can be easier to digest, engage your audience, and offer visual appeal. Linkable assets can be presented in various ways; through blog posts, podcasts, infographics, videos, webinars, or case studies. So, how can you attract shares?
The last step in creating linkable content is bringing it to the forefront of your audience. This means sharing your content on social media, optimizing for search engines, generating email campaigns, and more. Ideally, relevant and highly credible websites will link back to your content, in turn boosting your keyword rankings and boosting your domain authority.
11 Types of Linkable Content Assets
Without further ado, let’s take a look at 11 different types of content that are helpful for creating shareable content.
1. Free Tools
Free tools provide value to users while giving them a solution to their immediate problem. Think calculators, quizzes, estimators, or tutorials, as well as printables. The more value you offer your audience, the more likely they are to eventually convert to your service, or share the tool with other like-minded audiences.
Moreover, your free tool could be included in different listicles pertaining to your services. Meaning, credible websites are linking back to you and are boosting your authority in the process.
2. Infographics
Infographics provide a great way to quickly and easily package data-driven information. They help explain complex topics in an easy-to-understand visual format, making them ideal for sharing across various platforms.
Because of this, infographics naturally have greater potential to go viral. Viral content drives organic traffic and high engagement back to your website, making your audience more likely to convert.
In addition to driving website traffic and conversions, infographics can also be an ideal linkable content asset for link building. By providing high-quality, linkable infographics, you can attract link opportunities from other websites interested in your topic or data visualization.
3. Statistics
Latest and up-to-date statistics are both insightful and engaging. They can be used to back up claims or provide insights into the topics at hand. Statistics from either first- or third-party data are both great, as when businesses perform research, they will generally look for compelling data points that can be used.
Statistics can be used with almost any topic or industry, making them highly versatile while simultaneously building your credibility and authority.
4. Listicles
Listicles are linkable content assets that can be used to capture the attention of readers and answer some of their most pressing inquiries on a topic. They present information in an engaging and concise manner, making them perfect for link-building as well as viral shareability. You can attract link opportunities from other websites with related interests by providing curated listicles on compelling industry topics.
Additionally, listicles are great for SEO readability, as they break up long chunks of text into digestible pieces (such as this article!). The more simplified your content is, the easier it is for search engines to index it.
5. Store (Or Service) Locators
Store and/or service locators are invaluable for businesses in the retail or service industry. Store and services locators help customers find the nearest store or service provider in their area, making them a great way to improve customer experience and loyalty.
Geographical location is a key consideration in local organic rankings, and the more information you have available on your business’s physical location/s, the easier it is for Google to serve relevant search results for your audience. Couple this with more credible websites sharing your locator, and you’ve got a serious local SEO strategy.
6. Press releases
Press releases can be used to announce new products, services or business developments. They’re used in marketing and PR strategies and provide link-building opportunities to link back to your website from other websites and publications.
When your press release reaches the right size publication, you can attract link-building opportunities from other websites with similar topics and interests. News outlets often pick up press releases, increasing the visibility of your linkable content asset and helping you reach a wider audience.
7. Ultimate Guides
Ultimate Guides are comprehensive, in-depth resources on specific topics. This type of shareable content can help content creators with their Skyscraper content strategy, as they can link other content assets back to the Ultimate Guide.
The more links back to your piece of content, the better it does in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). A great way to showcase industry authority, Ultimate Guides offer high-value content that can drive organic traffic over the long term.
8. Research Papers & White Papers
Research papers and white papers help add authority and credibility to your business, especially if your audience requires more in-depth information on specific products or services. The more data-driven content you have, the greater your chance of websites picking up on your research and sharing it. In addition, you can leverage performing direct on-page optimization in order to boost organic traffic from search engines.
9. Webinars
Webinars are an excellent way to showcase your expertise and link your video content to your website. They provide linkable content assets like slides, audio recordings, and transcripts that can be shared with other websites that house content on related topics.
Key pieces of webinar content, such as quotes and snippets, can be repurposed across social media channels, your website, and paid ads. Most importantly, however, webinars allow you to engage with your audience more personally and build relationships with influencers within your industry.
10. Downloadable Templates
Downloadable Templates include high value content such as free Excel spreadsheet templates and step-by-step personalized guides. This type of content is valuable because it has done all the heavy lifting already – provided data and facts in an easily shareable format.
Often times, your readers are searching for content that will solve a problem for them. Downloadable templates, like free tools, make it easy for them. The more valuable your templates are, the more likely other relevant websites are to link back to you.
11. Podcasts
Last but certainly not least, podcasts help you reach a wider audience and position your brand or business as an expert within your industry. They provide a personality and tone for your brand or business, while allowing you to generate linkable content assets in the form of audio recordings and transcripts.
Podcasts are great because they are easily shareable across social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Youtube. Episodes can also be broken down into smaller segments for various social media platforms and repurposed for blog posts and e-books. Podcasts can be extremely versatile if created and leveraged with enough consideration for their purpose across platforms.
Time to Get Started
No content marketing strategy is complete without a comprehensive linkable asset profile. Whether it’s a research paper, podcast, ultimate guide or webinar – shareable content assets can help you attract link opportunities from other websites, improve your organic keyword rankings, as well as build relationships with influencers within your industry. In addition, shareable, linkable content assets also help you to stand out in the crowded market and attract audiences that are well-versed in your product or service.
The linkable content assets discussed provide a good starting point for creating shareable and linkable content. By combining these linkable assets with your overall content strategy, you can attract link opportunities, grow awareness and solidify your brand’s presence in the market come 2023.
