When executed properly by matching the purpose and context of your website, sticky content can spark interest, provide useful information, and maybe even inspire or motivate visitors. Ultimately, sticky content encourages repeat visits to your site and can build goodwill in doing so.
What is sticky content? The term comes from Internet lingo. It refers to content added to a site that has the purpose of getting users to return to a particular website and hold their attention longer than just a glance. This is why we commonly see such things as Internet games, weather, news and horoscopes on personalized web portals. However, keep in mind that sticky content is never advertising or should it be.
The Piggyback Concept – More Than Meets The Eye
Sticky content is about piggybacking existing content onto another medium (your website) to yield a greater value. For example, NASA scientists are considering a plan to piggyback future astronauts on –or even inside- asteroids orbiting between Earth and Mars to shield them from cancer-causing space radiation during trips between the planets.
While the proposal has some disadvantages, it offers the space agency an appealing, elegant way to sidestep problems like building a rocket big enough to boost heavy, human-made shielding into space as part of the spacecraft.
The plan draws on an ancient concept: Piggyback on –or inside- a more powerful object to get to the desired destination. Whether it’s buckling up in our cars, riding an elephant into battle, or climbing into a hollow wooden horse and being rolled up to the gates of Troy, the concept of piggybacking has a track record of success.
In a similar concept, sticky content piggybacks to your theme and plays an important role in yielding a greater viewer value because it delivers something people generally want—to be entertained, informed, or inspired in some fashion. Today, adding sticky content to your website is as easy as finding the right media provider.
How To Obtain Sticky Content For Your Website
Fortunately, third-party media providers make it relatively easy to incorporate content using web-streaming syndication schemes. Of course, both legal and technical challenges make it imperative to work with a professional web developer who can properly setup the digital content licensing with the media syndicator and provide support for widget integration.
Beyond a specific topic, some advanced media syndicators provide tools for building custom playlists with a mix of content, helping to ensure the content has a wider degree of relevancy to your particular audience or purpose.
Don’t Overdue A Good Thing
Even though syndicated content is highly desirable for many communication strategies, it’s also important to keep in mind that if you overuse sticky content, you risk squandering your core communication strategy. That’s right. Too much of a good thing and your website’s message becomes diluted to the point that, well…what is the point?
Most importantly, fresh content that is focused on your website’s overall purpose is paramount if viewers are to keep coming back for reasons that meet your company objectives. Creating the right mix and balance of information sources is the “secret sauce” only you can answer considering the business type and visitor preference. Certainly, syndicated media is not appropriate for every website, but it’s at least worth considering.
Don’t hesitate to contact Fox Web Creations for expert consultation on using advanced strategies like sticky content that can entertain, inform, and inspire your web visitors, giving them a compelling reason to return—again and again!
