Walk into a shopping mall and at the ends or in the corners are usually huge big-name stores. These are anchor units, the flagships of the mall. For many people they are a destination on their own, or a big part of the decision process in choosing where to go. The smaller units fill in the gaps, gaining walk-by traffic as people move from one anchor to another or from an anchor to the food court.
Attracting these big stores can make or break a mall, without them the customer numbers aren't as great and the smaller stores go elsewhere. But we still shop at the smaller stores and might spend more money there. Part of the appeal of anchor stores is psychological. Mall owners will do anything, including cash inducements, to keep the anchors.
So what are you wittering on about now, Chris? This is a professional blogging site not retail!
The lesson isn't as irrelevant as it first seems. What is your blog known for? Is there anything that you could point to that your blog really owns? It could be a single post, a series of posts, an over-arching "message". Now think about your favourite blogs. I am sure you go back to these blogs because of good quality regularly updated content but is there also a reference or series that you can refer to again and again?
This is "flagship content". It is an effective way of creating a blog using a core of content that you build around. The post, series or "message" is added to and referred to repeatedly over time, increasing the original value and relevance and also keeping it fresh. While the main benefit is branding and educational value, there are other benefits I will describe later.
You might be wondering what I am getting at, after all many blogs do quite nicely without any of these things. Look at BoingBoing? Well my theory is not every blog needs anchor content but all blogs could benefit.
The downside of course is this content is hard to produce. You need to put in the time and effort, and that is after thinking up a killer idea. But it is worth it. As well as being all the more likely to get attention from the bookmarking sites and a torrent of traffic there are several other benefits including:
* Search engine performance - given prominence on your blog navigation and references in future posts promotes the post in the search engines, also this anchor content is more likely to be linked to by others.
* Viral Appeal - something to recommend, something to remember, something to link to. Yes they could pass on your blog url but anchor content gives people a "because".
* Marketability - on occasion you will need a "portfolio piece" - something representative of your blog or your work, pro blog gigs, book deals, media appearances, press releases .... You don't always want to use your most recent post for this. A great flagship can sell a blog or your writing skills far better than asking the person to subscribe and read a while.
* Expansion into products - if you build up a good series or a well fleshed out post that can form the basis for workshops, training materials, book publishing ... it actually makes the job easier because you can add to it incrementally all the while building up feedback and tuning your effort to what works.
So how do you come up with the idea?
* Your biggest tip - what one thing would you tell a newbie to your niche that will serve them best?
* Vision - do you have a vision for your niche? What should the niche be like in an ideal world?
* Beginners 101 Guide - what steps or lessons do all new people need in your niche?
* FAQs - probably the easiest source AND content - a definitive FAQ can work extremely well
* Message - it might be a political message, a certain point of view, or something more simple. Many of my favourite blogs have the message "anyone can do this", including this one you are reading now ... obviously needs to be backed up with the "how".
* Jargon Buster - many industries build up long dictionaries of jargon words, be the ultimate glossary
* Product Database - some sites have grown to prominence purely because of reader reviews, you don't necessarily even have to do the reviews yourself (great keywords for adsense too!)
The best bit is you don't need expertise necessarily, just address a need. Actually thinking up the original idea is probably easiest for someone just starting out in a niche; as you learn you can record the lessons knowing it is all relevant for other beginners.
This post is a little odd as much of the time we write about getting more traffic but traffic is no good if you have little of value to see, having one or two great flagship destinations will give your blog something worth visiting and more importantly something to recommend to others.
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