Internet Marketing - The Controversy Clause

In the summer of 2008 a prominent Australian scientist disavowed his belief in the science of global warming.

Nope, this isn't an article on global warming, but I bet that first sentence caused you to say, "Now there's a sensible scientist" or "That man apparently doesn't really understand science".

I imagine there are very few that are neutral on the issue. After all you can find a plethora of sites dedicated to all things green and there are a significant number of sites that will voice opinions that suggest the idea of global warming is hyped by scientists who simply want grant money, and this is the subject of fashionable funds right now.

For marketing purposes it may not be important which side of the argument you might agree to. You see the issue is of global warming is one of many hot topics and if you can present news stories related to a hot button topic that has some connection to your site you may find a growing number of individuals who may come to your website just to increase their blood pressure a bit.

Face it, controversy sells. You can capitalize on this in a blog, through a forum or a Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feed.

You can take sides and present only information from your side of the argument, but you may have a better overall discussion if you present news from both sides of a controversial issue. Make sure you present the information without personal bias whenever possible. Although if you are going to be biased it almost makes sense to be extremely biased. That may also create controversy and visits.

Give your guests a chance to comment. These comments are often enough to bring visitors back to the exact same subject to read what others have to say on the subject. The controversy may well be in the comments. As long as they're coming back, make sure they have plenty of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising links to choose from.

This is exactly how most successful blogs become successful. They find a way to reach out to issues people are genuinely interested in and then feed relevant information through that blog in a way that keeps customers coming back.

I stumbled across a vegetarian cook that has an incredibly popular blog. The owner supplies personally crafted recipes with photos. The list of comments to virtually every post is phenomenal. Many indicate a willingness to try the idea while others take the time to cook or bake the recipe and then comment on what they liked or didn't like about the dish. You might not think this type of blog would generate so much interest, but it eclipses most blog comments by a long shot.

The key for any informational section on your site is to be consistent, relevant and extremely fresh. It will also help if you can make the material original whenever possible.

Some site or blog owners will enlist the help of freelance writers to help generate continued interest in fresh content and they are finding that the residuals from PPC advertising more than offset the costs for content creation.

Controversy and originality make for regular interest in your content.