Over the years, I’ve stated that “how-to” content is the best type available online and it continues to grow in popularity over the years. Many people often wonder if it’s growing in popularity over the rest of them so I decided to do some research to put together some insight into the topic. What I found was very surprising and I encourage you to pay close attention to some of the factors. This way, you can tweak your content strategy to include more “how-to” content and increase traffic, conversions, engagement, and profits. For those of you NOT aware, “how-to” content is tutorial based content describing the process to get something done from beginning to end. For example:
- How to write quality content
- How to setup your TV
- How to optimize your website
- How to create YouTube.com videos
It’s important you know how to utilize how-to content to your advantage. Let’s look at the growing trend.
They are Very Practical
People love “how-to” content and they are increasing in popularity simply because they are very easy to follow. This type of content is based around tutorials and is a complete walkthrough of how to do something from start to finish. Because people can be located all over the world and have a different learning gap, being able to find “complete” tutorials are great for them. Next, people have different experience so it’s important to give them a step-by-step guide on how to solve a common problem within your niche.
Different Formats Available
The Internet has expanded so much that you can create content in different formats like written and video. There are many others but how-to content is ONLY feasible when either written out or a video has been created. For example, when you want to learn how to do something, you’ll either look for content by searching in Google or performing a quick search within YouTube.com. Not to mention, there are so many tools that streamline the creation process for both. With content, you have platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. If you want to create videos, you can do so with Screencast O-Matic or AVS, then simply upload it within minutes to YouTube.com.
Both allow you to format and add the correct meta data for search engine optimization. Next, within YouTube.com, you can also promote your personal website by adding a link within the video or in the description below.
Always Need Guides for Processes
What do I mean by this? Simple…
There are always new things to learn because companies are growing by providing new products and services. Whenever something new in your niche is introduced, people need to know how to use the product or service. This means it’s time for you to create another tutorial for your audience. As long as you have new things that need to be learned, you’ll have a growing request for how-to content.
The rate at which you’ll be creating more of this type of content will depend on your niche and how fast it’s growing. For example, in the technology niche, you always have new products, tools, servicing, and strategies you can write about.
It’s Evergreen
How-to content is pretty much evergreen because it has no expiry date. It’s believed you can only do something “1” way so once you create the content, it doesn’t have to be updated and the technique doesn’t change. This means as long as people are looking for a way to do something, your content will come in handy. However, the thing that does change is how many people will be searching for a tutorial. As new products come out, you’ll have to create other tutorials, which might decrease the amount of traffic to the older ones. Here’s my point…
How-to content once created will have a long lifeline WITHOUT any expiry date on it. For this reason, the popularity continues to grow.
They are Right to the Point
One of the best elements of how-to content is that it’s right to the point, which is what people are looking for. When people need an answer, they want it right away because many times, it’s urgent. How-to content from start to finish is pretty much straightforward and this is why the popularity is growing. With so much information online, many people don’t have time to read lengthy content so having content that provides an immediate answer is the way to go these days. For example, imagine if you need an answer to a common problem. You’ll look for content that provides you with a complete solution WITHOUT distracting you in any other way…right?