Drive Traffic to Your Site with User Generated Content

In most cases when you see a definition of Web 2.0, you see the words user generated content or UGC. UGC is the foundation of Web 2.0 as the output of the empowerment of formally passive web surfing and the tools that enhance interaction today.

As a marketer, you are likely tasked to continually increase traffic to your company’s website. UGC can help you rapidly accomplish this goal. In fact one company reported a 300%+ jump in traffic when they opened up their site for writers to post pertinent information.

Before opening your site up to UGC, it is important to study your audience and determine what type of content will be most relevant. It is also important to set the level of control over the content. You may think this might create an overload of material to sift through to keep control, but many companies have allowed their community to police content successfully.

Depending on your audience’s wants for content, you might open your site to outside writers or bloggers to provide expert opinions. You might allow access to your customers to make submissions, or even offer a contest of some sort to gain content.

Rewarding your contributors in some way via a prize, monetarily, or simply recognition will encourage submission. UGC has the inherent ability to attract more audience as it often becomes viral as your contributors talk about it in other places as well and tell their ‘friends’. UGC is also a great companion to social network initiatives for your company.

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