User Generated Content and SEO (Part 4)

Well, by now you should be convinced that UGC can be a huge gift in terms of SEO.  Now it’s time to ask yourself how to make use of it.

That really boils down to one thing:  attractive opportunities for interaction.  If you can create reasons and ways for your site’s visitors to lend their voice to the conversation, they’ll do just that.  You’ll walk away from it all with happier users an a healthy supply of SEO-friendly UGC.

Here are a few ways to start encouraging that interaction.

Good content.  Your own content needs to be good.  No one is going to be inspired to comment, argue, thank or expound upon something that’s dry, dull, boring or just plain lousy.  Think about what makes great link bait.  That’s what tends to create great UGC bait, too.

Comments.  Encourage comments.  That’s a little easier when you’re using a blog (if you’re not, you shoul probably add that component to your plans anyway), but it can be done with static pages, too.  You want to make it easy as possible for people to comment while still protecting yourself from spam.  Test your comment interface to make sure it’s friendly and do a little extra to nudge people toward leaving a comment.  Wordpress plug-ins that recognize the top commenters or that let people know what the commenter is doing on his or her own blog (i.e. CommentLuv) can help a lot.  It’s also a good idea to personally respond to comments in order to encourage dialog.  Oh, and when you respond, resist the occasional urge to be a jerk.  Maintain your best manners.

Contributors.  Actively solicit third-party contributions from readers.  Hey, the newspapers have managed to fill at least a page a day with “letters to the editor” for decades.  You can learn from their example.  People have an urge to be heard and to see their name next to a byline.  Make it easy to make a contribution and get material up and published ASAP.

Forums and Communities.  You can tack a forum onto your site, if you think you can get enough initial traffic and interest to support it.  You can also create smaller social communities using some great tools.  We’ll be honest, this can take some serious effort.  However, if it’s done the right way and really takes off, you can see amazing results.  Your site can become that “hangout” destination that people love.  And the fresh content supply will blow your mind.

Extras.  Take advantage of ways to “talk” to your visitors.  Pay attention to what they’re talking about and interact with them.  Ask them questions.  Offer prizes for great insights or answers.  You want your site to be more than a big stack of articles.  You want it to become a vibrant hub of activity.  That’s what brings the UGC.