User Initiated Content – Worth The Hassle?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

You’ve no doubt heard of user generated content (UGC). It’s content that users generate for you in the form of blog comments, forum postings, wiki information, etc. If a user can log in to your site and post information that you publish then it’s user generated content.

But what about user initiated content? This is content that you generate based on user input. For instance, a user requests that you write about a certain topic. But more often than not, a blogger will write a post about a topic because a user posted a question or left a comment and the blogger thought the comment deserved more than a response in the comments. It’s called user initiated content.

The great thing about user initiated content is you know it is content that at least some of your users are concerned about. Chances are, if one person mentioned it then there are at least ten or more other people thinking the same thing but not verbalizing it.

User initiated content is also easier to get started on. You don’t have to brainstorm for ideas. The idea is right in front of you. And if it’s something you can write about without researching then it will save you time and engery. And it still has all the same on site search engine optimization benefits as user generated content or any other type of content. In the end, user initiated content is a big plus. Just don’t do it too often, unless you really get some excellent topics from your visitors!