Core content is the backbone of any website, serving a clear purpose whether it be informative, persuasive, or awareness-focused. But there is another type of content that often goes unnoticed, yet plays a crucial role in the overall user experience: supplementary content.
Supplementary content, as defined by Google’s Search Quality Raters Guidelines, is any content that “contributes to a good user experience on the page, but does not directly help the page achieve its purpose.” This can include navigational buttons, embedded content, header menus, and even user-generated content. While it doesn’t have to directly add value to your core content, it should be relevant.
Supplementary content makes it easier for visitors to navigate your website, but it also has the potential to support, promote, and add value to your core content. In this piece, we will take a closer look at both core and supplementary content and explore creative ways to use the latter to enhance the effectiveness of the former.
What exactly is big content, and why is it important?
Big Content refers to a comprehensive and in-depth content that covers a specific topic or subject in great detail. It is also known as pillar content, cornerstone content or evergreen content. Big content is characterized by its length, depth of information, and the level of research and expertise that goes into creating it. It is typically longer than traditional blog posts and can take the form of guides, whitepapers, ebooks, case studies, and more.
The value of big content lies in its ability to establish the website as an authority on a specific topic and to provide the visitor with a complete and comprehensive understanding of the subject at hand. It helps to establish trust and credibility with the visitors and can also boost search engine rankings by providing a wealth of relevant and high-quality information.
Big Content also has a longer lifespan than other types of content, making it a great investment for a website. It can continue to generate traffic and leads long after it’s been published, making it an effective way to build a loyal audience over time. It also provides a valuable resource that visitors can refer back to in the future.
Big content can also be used to generate leads and sales by providing a valuable resource in exchange for contact information, such as an email address. It can also be used to position your brand as an expert in a particular field or industry, which can help you to attract new customers and business partners.
In short, big content is a valuable asset for any website as it establishes authority, provides a comprehensive understanding of a subject, generates leads and sales, and has a longer lifespan. It is a great investment for a website that can help to build a loyal audience and attract new customers over time.
Therefore, why use large content pieces?
There are several reasons why using large content pieces, also known as big content or pillar content, can be beneficial for a website:
- Establishing authority: Big content allows a website to establish itself as an authority on a specific topic by providing in-depth and comprehensive information. This can help to build trust and credibility with visitors, which can lead to increased engagement and conversions.
- Search engine optimization: Big content typically contains a wealth of relevant and high-quality information, which can help to boost a website’s search engine rankings. It can also attract backlinks from other websites, which can further improve search engine visibility.
- Long-term value: Big content has a longer lifespan than other types of content, making it a great investment for a website. It can continue to generate traffic and leads long after it’s been published, making it an effective way to build a loyal audience over time.
- Lead generation: Big content can also be used to generate leads and sales by providing a valuable resource in exchange for contact information, such as an email address.
- Branding: Big content can also be used to position your brand as an expert in a particular field or industry, which can help you to attract new customers and business partners.
- User engagement: Big content can also be beneficial for user engagement and experience, providing a detailed and comprehensive information that helps users to understand the subject matter better and make better decisions.
Big content can be beneficial for a website as it establishes authority, improves search engine optimization, generates leads and sales, has a longer lifespan and improves user engagement.
Big content can be beneficial for a website as it establishes authority, improves search engine optimization, generates leads and sales, has a longer lifespan and improves user engagement.
Enhancing your BIG Content object with Supplementary Content
Supplementary content is an essential aspect of any website that can enhance the effectiveness of your core content. It complements your main content object, such as a long-form blog post, by providing additional information, resources, and interactivity that can enrich the user’s experience.
However, supplementary content is not just an add-on, it also has value on its own. It can be optimized for search engines and made shareable to attract more visitors and generate more leads.
There are several types of supplementary content that can be used to enhance your main content. For example:
- Infographics: These are visual representations of data or information that can help to break up long blocks of text and make it easier for users to understand complex concepts.
- Videos: Videos can be used to supplement written content, providing a visual representation of the information being discussed. They can also be optimized for search engines and shared on social media to attract more visitors.
- Images: Images can be used to illustrate the content, make it more visually appealing, and break up long blocks of text. They can also be optimized for search engines by adding alt tags and captions.
- Embedded content: This includes content from other sources such as social media posts, reviews, and other types of user-generated content that can provide additional perspectives on the topic.
- Interactive content: This includes quizzes, polls, and other types of interactive content that can engage users and make the content more interactive.
Supplementary content can complement your main content object and enhance the user experience. It can also be optimized for search engines and made shareable to attract more visitors and generate leads. There are several types of supplementary content that can be used to enhance your main content, such as infographics, videos, images, embedded content, and interactive content.
Calls To Action As Supplemental Content
Calls to action (CTAs) can be used as supplementary content to guide users towards a desired action or conversion on your website or landing page. Here are a few ways you can use CTAs as supplemental content:
- Use CTAs to guide users through the sales funnel: Place CTAs at strategic points throughout the user’s journey on your website, such as on product pages, in blog posts, or in email campaigns, to guide them towards the next step in the sales process.
- Use CTAs to highlight key features or benefits: Use CTAs to call attention to key features or benefits of your product or service that may be of interest to the user.
- Use CTAs to encourage social sharing: Use CTAs to encourage users to share your content on social media, which can help drive more traffic to your site.
- Use CTAs to promote special offers or discounts: Use CTAs to promote special offers or discounts to encourage users to take advantage of them.
- Use CTAs to encourage subscriptions: Use CTAs to encourage users to subscribe to your email list or follow your social media accounts.
Remember to always make the CTA clear, action-oriented, and highly visible. And test different versions to see which one perform best.
Supplementary Content that complements your Big Content
Supplementary content can complement big content by providing additional information, context, or examples that help to clarify or expand upon the main content. Here are a few ways to add supporting content:
- Use images, videos, and infographics: These types of visual content can help to break up large blocks of text, making the content more engaging and easier to understand. They can also be used to supplement the text by providing additional information or examples.
- Use quotes, testimonials, and case studies: These types of content can be used to provide social proof, which can help to build trust and credibility with your audience.
- Use interactive elements: Interactive elements such as quizzes, polls, and calculators can help to make the content more engaging and interactive, and can also be used to provide additional information or examples.
- Use internal and external links: Linking to other relevant content on your site or on external sites can help to provide additional information, context, or examples that can supplement the main content.
- Use related post: Showing related post can be a good way to keep readers engaged and on your site for longer.
- Use bullet points and headings: Breaking up the content into small chunks using bullet points and headings can make it more scannable and easy to read.
Remember to keep the supplementary content relevant, valuable, and focused on the main topic, and use it to enhance the user experience.
What is on your sidebar?
The sidebar on your website is a valuable area that can be utilized to guide and assist your website visitors. Utilize this space to highlight relevant and lead-generating content that aligns with the viewer’s interests and needs. It is crucial to ensure that the supplementary content in the sidebar is high-quality and relevant, as it appears on every page of your website.
Include essential elements such as a search bar, RSS feed subscription, and links to your social media profiles. Additionally, you can consider incorporating other useful elements such as a clear and concise brand message, important e-commerce conversion factors such as delivery options and product guarantees, your most popular or effective content, lead-generating offers, and upcoming webinars or events.
It’s worth noting that for mobile users, supplementary sidebar content may appear below the main content on the page. Keep this in mind when designing and organizing your sidebar to ensure that it’s easily accessible and user-friendly for all visitors.
The content you place in your website sidebar can depend on the main content of your website, but here are a few general suggestions for content that can be used to support your main content:
- Navigation: A navigation menu can help visitors find other pages on your website that are relevant to the main content.
- Search bar: A search bar can help visitors quickly find specific information on your website.
- Popular/Recent posts: Showing popular or recent posts can help visitors discover new content that is relevant to the main content.
- Social media links: Including links to your social media accounts can help visitors follow you and stay updated on new content.
- Contact information: Providing contact information can make it easy for visitors to get in touch with you.
- Newsletter signup: Encourage visitors to sign up for your newsletter to stay updated on new content and offers.
- Related content: Showing related content can be a good way to keep readers engaged and on your site for longer.
- Categories/Tags: Showing categories or tags can help visitors find more content on similar topics.
- Testimonials: Include testimonials or reviews from satisfied customers to build trust and credibility with your audience.
- Ads: You can also include ads on your sidebar if you want to monetize your website, but be careful not to overdo it and make sure the ads are relevant to your main content.
Remember to keep the sidebar content relevant, valuable, and focused on the main topic, and use it to enhance the user experience.
Pop-Ups
Pop-ups have gotten a bad reputation due to their misuse and overuse, but when used correctly, they can be a powerful tool to promote and amplify your best content. The key is to provide value for your audience and use supplementary content to aid them in their research, decision-making, and taking action.
When creating pop-ups, it’s important to consider factors such as timing, relevance, and frequency. Don’t use pop-ups too frequently or too early in the user’s journey, and make sure they are relevant to the user’s interests. It’s also essential to give users an easy way to opt out or close the pop-up if they are not interested.
Additionally, you can use pop-ups to promote exclusive content, special offers, or lead-generating forms. But, always make sure the content you promote with pop-ups is valuable to your audience and that the pop-up is timed to appear after the user has had a chance to engage with your site for a bit.
To ensure a good user experience, it’s important to use pop-ups in a thoughtful and strategic way that provides value to the user.
Making Everything Interact
supplementary content is a crucial aspect of a successful website, as it complements and enhances the core content. It refers to additional information or resources that are provided to supplement the main content, with the aim of meeting different needs and advancing the customer along the sales and marketing funnel.
To create effective supplementary content, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your objectives and to plan ahead. This will help you create content that complements your core content and guides visitors along their journey, while also extending the shelf life of your core content.
supplementary content can come in various forms, such as images, videos, infographics, quotes, testimonials, case studies, interactive elements, internal and external links, related post, categories/tags, etc. These types of content can be used to provide additional information, context, examples, social proof, interactivity, and more.
It’s important to place the supplementary content in a location that makes sense and supports the user’s journey, while also considering the overall picture of how each component supports both the user’s and your company’s objectives.
By utilizing supplementary content to enhance the user experience and encourage action, you can increase the effectiveness of your core content and extend its lifespan.
