While content is always going to be the driving force behind a successful website, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out amongst the millions of websites all vying for your readers’ attention.
Promoting your brand, generating leads, and increasing sales using a variety of content marketing techniques should be your goal as a business owner.
But I think it’s time to shake things up!
Take a look at Buzzfeed. Why are they so popular? Why do you automatically know their name when I mention it?
Why QUIZZES of course!
Though seemingly silly and trivial, Buzzfeed’s viral quizzes have taken to social media like wildfire. Honestly, I love finding out which city I was really meant to live in, what super hero I am most like, and what my soulmate’s name will be. There is just something fun about answering unrelated questions, getting an awesome (or sometimes completely off-base!) answer, and sharing it with my friends on Facebook.
And as for Buzzfeed: they experience traffic booms, sales increases, and can charge nearly double that of the average publisher’s rate for advertising on their website. All because they shake things up, make it exciting for their readers, and know how to target a huge audience.
Today I want to explore how you can implement a new way to engage your website visitors, just like Buzzfeed does, using a cool free WordPress plugin called Riddle.
What is Riddle?
Riddle is a free WordPress plugin that gives website owners a way to create interactive quizzes, personality tests, surveys, and more right on their WordPress website.
These “riddles” are meant to engage your audience and encourage them to stay longer on your site. They are also intended to be shared by your readers across various social media platforms (such as Facebook and Twitter) so that more people visit your website. The goal is to see a boost in your site’s traffic and hopefully more sales as a result.
Riddle offers some really neat features such as:
- Integrated lead generation forms to build your email list
- The ability to use their images, your own, or upload images from the web
- Easy editing tools mimicking Photoshop without all the hassle – filters, text addition, cropping
- Search feature to add GIFs or YouTube videos
- Easy sharing ability so your riddle goes viral
- No coding required to embed riddle onto your website – simply copy and paste a shortcode
- Unlimited Riddle creation with lead generation forms for all – at no cost!
Still not sure what this whole thing is about?
Here are some great examples provided by the creators of Riddle so that you can get a clear idea of just some of the possibilities you have when creating your own viral riddles:
- Quiz – 8 Cat Facts You Won’t Believe!
- Personality Test – Which Font Describes Your Personality?
- List – Top 10 Sweatiest Cities in America
- Poll – What will you do with your wedding dress after the big day?
Using Riddle
Step 1: Installation and Activation
Installing the Riddle plugin onto your WordPress website is as easy as downloading it from the WordPress Repository, from your WordPress dashboard, or getting it from riddle.com.
Once you have installed and activated the Riddle plugin, you will need to visit Riddle’s website and set up a free account to receive your WordPress token to activate the plugin on your website.
You can get your WordPress token by going to Account Settings. When I initially went to this section I was very confused because there was no WordPress Token for me to copy and paste into my WordPress website. However, after a little research I found that by clicking reset a new token would appear, and sure enough I got one.
I then copied and pasted the token into my website and a new sidebar menu item appeared labeled Riddle.
Step 2: Choose a Template
Creating riddles is super easy and lots of fun. But just so you know, you do not do this from your WordPress website, rather you create using the free Riddle account you signed up for. Click on Make Something and let the fun begin!
On the main screen you will notice a variety of different templates are available for you to create your riddle. These include opinion polls, lists, pop quizzes, personality tests, and surveys.
You can either choose to create your own template or use the one provided (which is what I did for my first creation).
Step 3: Creation
I chose to do a Survey for my first riddle creation. After selecting template I was brought to the creation section which is very easy to use.
First you will want to title your riddle. I made mine catchy and fun, enough so that my readers would be intrigued to take my survey.
I then constructed my questions. You have the option to allow your survey takers to insert their own fill-in-the-blank answers or choose from multiple choices answers you provide them. You can also add as many additional questions as you like.
While you create each question and answer, you will notice that each slide has a default image that has been provided for your use. However, it is very simple to clear those default images and add your own.
I did run into some issues with the images that kind of threw me off. I was poking around to see how I could add my own image, edit it, and insert it, but in the end changed my mind and wanted to keep the default image.
Unfortunately, once you clear the default image it seems gone forever. I could not figure out how to get it back either which ultimately messed up my already embedded survey that was on my website.
I would like to see an Undo button or a Save Changes button so that users could experiment with different looks without losing all of their original work.
Step 4: Monetize
In this section you have the option to create custom lead generation forms, use an existing MailChimp form, or even add a custom ad, all of which appear right before your reader can access the results of your riddle.
This is a great way to build a bigger email list and capture the information of potential customers. In fact, it has been suggested that quizzes have an average opt-in rate of 50% which is statistically solid.
Step 5: Customize
Matching your riddle to your brand design is important. You want to avoid a disconnected feeling when you invite readers to take part in your riddles. That is where customization plays a part.
Choose your color scheme, fonts, and even pick from dozens of available languages (although I am not sure exactly what this does because all I noticed translating was the Create your own survey button and not my actual survey text).
Step 6: Publish
After you have completed creating your riddle, you must decide where you would like to share it. You can link it on the web itself, share it on social media, or even embed it directly into a post on your WordPress website by grabbing the shortcode, copying it, and pasting it on your website where you want it to appear.
Sharing your riddle in multiple places will increase your chances of people seeing it and engaging with it. I would recommend embedding it on your website as well as sharing it on a social media platform where a large portion of your audience can be found.
Analyzing Your Riddles
The great thing about your riddle account is that it saves all of your creations so you can make changes whenever you need to.
Near the bottom of every riddle you have created there is also a link to the statistics of your riddle where you can see how many times it has been viewed, how many starts and finishes your riddle has received, and how many times it has been shared.
This analysis of your riddles is helpful in seeing what type of riddles your audience likes to engage in and what type of content is being shared. You can then use this information to adjust your future riddles and make them even more viral.
Documentation, Support, and Pricing
The creators of Riddle are dedicated to helping everyone with their riddle creations. They have a thorough Help and FAQ section as well as an email address (hello@riddle.com) where you can get additional help.
They also have a Support Chat where you can ask questions and receive an answer within an hour or so (except on weekends). Luckily, Riddle is super easy to use and my need for support seems very minimal.
As I mentioned earlier, Riddle is free to use and you sure get a lot for nothing. However, if you are looking for a more professional look and wish to remove the Riddle branding from your riddle creations, for $49/month you can do just that. Not sure if that’s what you want? Try their risk free 14 day trial and see how you like it.
Final Thoughts
Overall Riddle is an awesome tool to have in your content marketing arsenal. The possibilities for reader engagement are endless and the excitement your audience holds for sharing results does not seem to be dying down any time soon.
Although there were some technical things I would like to have seen work a little differently, for being a free WordPress plugin, there is not much I can complain about.
If you are looking for a creative way to get your website visitors engaging with your content, consider using the Riddle plugin. Be like Buzzfeed and bring the social media fun of Facebook and Twitter straight to your WordPress website!
Have you tried the Riddle plugin? What do you think of my survey? Would this be something you would be interested in seeing implemented on websites you visit? I would love to hear all about it in the comments below!
Image Courtesy of Freepik
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