They say that content is king but it’s not true. Don’t get me wrong; regular, high-quality text articles do generate traffic, especially over time. But if you want your blog to be a heavy-hitter right from the get-go, then you need to create something that can only be described as wickedly awesome content. That’s what’s king. To accomplish this, you need to expand your mind and start thinking about content creation, which implies multimedia. Fortunately, there are some free tools that can help you make the kind of attractive, diverse, and ultimately shareable content that will make you a content king.

ThingLink

Including images within a blog post is one thing (and getting them right in the first place is a question unto itself), but making interactive images is a whole new ball game. ThingLink is the leader in creating interactive images. An interactive image is one in which the user can hover over action points, triggering pop-up click-through options in real-time and on the same browser page. A flat image is an asset, but if you give visitors an option to learn more visually with embedded videos, additional text, or links to more information within that same image, it’s more than an asset; it’s a linchpin.

Picture by Moyan Brenn on Flickr

Prezi

If you’ve noticed, Prezi has exploded onto the academic and professional radars in a very visual way. It now competes with the likes of PowerPoint for the hearts and minds of presenters everywhere. Prezi is a software that offers a way to create attractive, fluid presentations on the cloud. Imagine the potential of embedding a whole PowerPoint presentation into a blog post. SlideShare is another option to do just that, but the liquid nature of Prezi’s navigation is more appeasing to an internet surfer’s eyes. One more alternative to spice up your content with presentations is Haiku Deck, so check that out, too.

Listly

It’s a good idea to include lists in your blog posts. They’re a great way to capture readers’ attention. If you ever wondered how you can improve on the default list, then the answer is with interactivity. Listly delivers the software you need to engage your readers. It allows you to create lists that can be added to, voted on, shared, and embedded. It’s a fantastic tool for content creation and one that’s definitely worth the elbow grease.

Powtoon

Have you noticed all of the animated tutorial videos popping up all over the net? They make what could be a boring “about us” page into something really, really cool. Now companies are creating animated videos as stand-alone content on their blogs. The downside for a lot of businesses is that these videos don’t come cheap (and for good reason—it takes a heck of a lot of talent!). But if you find yourself in a financial pickle, Powtoon offers a way to streamline video creation and animation for even the most uninclined. True, your video won’t be as unique as a custom animation, but it’ll sure give you some snazzy new content!

Canva

Canva is dazzling design for non-designers. It’s a great platform that allows you to create eye-catching graphics to add to your content. It has a large library of freebies, and additional features are not expensive. Similar to Powtoon, people may start to recognize features of your homemade graphics, so although we will recommend the software, we still respect the pricelessness of a totally unique graphic created by a designer.

Infogram

If Canva was a welcome discovery for you, then Infogram will be too. It’s the Canva for creating infographics. What’s one of the greatest features about graphics created with Infogram? They’re responsive on mobiles. Between Canva, Infogram and Powtoon, content creation really has never been easier.

And as a bonus, Infogram is also actually working on the first video infographic creator. So keep your ear to the ground and we’ll let you know where these content creation trends are taking us!