{"id":1835,"date":"2019-01-12T13:07:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-12T13:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/?p=1835"},"modified":"2021-09-19T16:48:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T16:48:34","slug":"delivering-digital-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/delivering-digital-value\/","title":{"rendered":"Delivering Digital Value"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I analyse what types of blogs<\/a>\/content I enjoy reading (and publishing), it’s made me think more about the current media landscape.<\/p>\n

As creators, we obviously want to attract our few eyeballs to our articles, and perhaps even create some raving, foaming at the mouth fans who love our work.<\/p>\n

To do this, we website owners must seek to deliver value.<\/p>\n

After all, attention is an economy these days, and to tempt people to spend their deliciously fun free time consuming your information instead of watching Frasier re-reruns (looks away guiltily), there needs to be a fair value exchange.<\/p>\n

So, what exactly is the juice that most website visitors are extracting?<\/p>\n

Types of Website Content<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Well, clearly it depends on the site and their intentions, but after some focused staring into space and beard twiddling, I’d say most websites have three main aims:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • To inform<\/li>\n
  • To educate<\/li>\n
  • To entertain<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Let’s take a look.<\/p>\n

    To Inform<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    A good example in this category is your traditional news organisation. They would traditionally report on the worldly goings-on to keep you abreast of important affairs. The information was pretty factual and allowed you to join in with the water cooling tutting about the latest MP expenses scandal.<\/p>\n

    To Educate<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    This area has seen an explosion with the proliferation of Internet\u00a0goodness. In the Jurassic, pre-tinterweb\u00a0days, we actually had to pay\u00a0to\u00a0attend educational institution to learn the secrets of the Universe. Now we can get it free from our favourite YouTube vlogger.<\/p>\n

    To Entertain<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Not much explanation needed here. Often we need to be distracted from the drudgery of life, and entertainment in the form of 327 seasons of Lost or a dancing cat video fit the bill quite nicely.<\/p>\n

    You’ll also notice that the categories move from an objective to a subjective frame of reference and from a skillset requiring curation to creativity.<\/p>\n

    The Ultimate Combination<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    I think that increasingly if sites can cater to all three categories, it’s a winning combo.<\/p>\n

    Social media sites like YouTube are probably the best example of this…<\/p>\n

    Do I want to watch a video on the state of current affairs? I’m covered. Do I need to learn how to put up a gravity-defying shelf that actually supports my possessions? Check. Do I hanker after a bad lip reading video? Yes, please.<\/p>\n