Summary: Smart content recommendations can help your readers find the parts of your site that meet their needs.
When you combine high bounce rates and high single-visit rates, most traffic on most sites is from “drive-bys” – i.e., the one-and-done visitor. Getting some of those drive-bys to stay for one more page view can make a huge difference in your site traffic. Effective content recommendations might keep some of those people.
Content recommendation systems suggest additional articles, videos, podcasts, etc., to visitors based on their interests, keeping them engaged with compelling content on your platform.
Consider these three issues when you think about content recommendation.
1. How to classify content
The magic behind content recommendation relies on classifying content in a way that matches your goals and the reader’s goals. Content can be classified in a number of different ways, such as …
- Words in the title
- Keywords or tags
- Word density in the article
- Categories
- Author
- Long vs. short articles
Match the right scheme to your use case. For example, if your site includes long articles and abstracts, don’t recommend long articles to people who prefer abstracts.
2. Types of recommendations
Each of these options might have a different use for different kinds of content, or on different areas of your website.
- Popular articles on the site right now
- Popular articles in a specific category
- Popular articles by a specific author
- Articles read by visitors who read the current article
- Articles that visitors with similar browsing history have read
- Popular articles for people with a specific job title
- Articles read by people who are like the reader
- Articles read by people in a specific geographic area
- Etc.
3. Put the reader first
One of the challenges in creating a successful content recommendation strategy is to ensure you’re putting the reader’s goals first. It’s too easy to fall into the trap of thinking about what you want the reader to do to promote your business model. Instead, put yourself in the reader’s shoes and design your content recommendation strategy around what will help the reader find the content they want to find. That will be the best for your business in the long run.
Addressing the reader’s needs will increase engagement, which is the primary goal.
