Most of us blog because we love to write and want to connect with like-minded readers, not because we’re egomaniacs who need tons of traffic and comments to feel satisfied. Still, it’s a rare blogger who doesn’t check her stats and feel a surge of pride when one of her posts goes viral and attracts tons of traffic. And that spike in traffic is most fulfilling when you know it’s the result of quality content merging with smart online strategies.
- The Controversial Post
- The Shout Out Post
- The List Post
- The Pop Culture Post
- The Tutorial Post
This type of post works best when it’s inspired by a genuine frustration or counter-opinion, not just arguing for the sake of stirring up controversy (and driving traffic). For instance, fellow freelancer Lori Widmer generated a lot of traffic when she took a stand against Demand Studios on her blog. She didn’t rail against this new business model because she wanted to attract lots of angry commenters, she did it to warn other writers and show them the alternatives.
I’ve created posts like this in the past, but it wasn’t until I listened to a podcast with Pat Flynn and Corbett Barr that I fully understood the shout out post’s potential. Instead of inviting guest bloggers to contribute, Barr suggests creating a shout out post in which you link to several influential or up-and-coming bloggers in your niche. That way, it gets you on their radar, and many times these bloggers are so stoked that they’ll comment, tweet, or otherwise share the link with their followers. Check out Barr’s post, 17 Traffic Building Tips, for a great example of this format that also incorporates some other useful tips on building traffic.
Search engines and readers love lists because they’re easily digestible. And if you can brainstorm a whole bunch of useful tips and wow readers with an impressive number, even better (often you can pull this off by breaking down your initial ideas into smaller, more specific tips). Examples of this format are everywhere, but if you need inspiration, feast your eyes on Carol Tice’s 20 Tips for Breaking Into Print Publications or my FreelanceSwitch post from way back, 50 Ways for Writers to Find Article Ideas.
Looking at things through a pop culture lens can be a great way to examine a tired topic in a new way. Take a look at this Copyblogger post titled Tim Gunn’s Top 5 Tips for More Stylish Content to see what I mean. I employed a similar strategy for my post about Writing Lessons from Charlotte’s Web – who doesn’t love the word-slinging spider we read about in childhood? Not only is it entertaining to the readers who visit your blog on a regular basis, but it can also attract new readers who happen to Google the name of the celeb, TV show, book, or movie you mention.
So many blog posts ponder big ideas like “why should we write?” without delving into the “how” of writing (or whatever topic the blog covers). That’s why a well-crafted tutorial post that gets into the nuts and bolts of a project or topic can be incredibly powerful. Linda Formichelli’s post on using specificity to boost your writing is a great illustration of a how-to post. It also includes a few anecdotes from Linda’s own assignments, making the post more relatable and giving readers concrete examples of how to work in details.
I was reading through your post and planning to comment on how helpful it was — in fact, I have my first shout-out post going up this week, and I LOVE writing list posts — and then to my surprise I saw at the end that you mentioned my Renegade Writer post on using details in your writing. Thank YOU for the shout out! I'm off to read your FreelanceSwitch post…
Thanks so some new search stats I'm using, I can tell which topics or tags people most seek from my blog. I'm working on a way to revisit and expand upon those topics on a regular basis.
These are great tips. I need to work on doing more of these.
A good bit of my blog traffic comes from my tutorial posts. They fit squarely in the "giving to your readers" category.
I've had great success with shout-out posts. Not only are you giving your reader new sources to go for information, you're supporting fellow writers and bloggers at the same time.
Although search engines and many readers like list posts, I'm not a big fan of them. Occasionally, I'll publish one just to mix up my content style. I'm one reader who doesn't enjoy reading them.
Great, helpful tips, Susan. Thanks so much for posting them. I plan on printing them out and referring back to them; such helpful info~!
Ooh I love how-to posts…I often find them very educational and helpful. Most of the blog posts that are in my Favorites often tend to be either list posts or those how-to posts.
Thanks for the tips….very helpful!!
~TRA
http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
I think the opposite or bizarre-o post can sometimes do it. You know:
8 ways not to ever have sex again
5 ways to get your wife to leave you
7 ways to ruin your kids for life
Thanks to everyone who weighed in!
@Alisa: Since you're a fan of bizarre-o post topics, you'll probably get a kick out of the Linkbait Generator: http://linkbaitgenerator.com/ I once amused myself on a car trip by hitting refresh and seeing how many weird titles it would suggest before cycling through repeats.
Aren't you clever! You just created a list post that is a shout-out list, and a how-to post. Nothing controversial about all that, but I guess blogging itself is culturally hip. Congratulations for leading the way.
I get huge spikes of traffic on holiday themed posts, too.
I always enjoy a good list post (like this one!)…and prefer it when the list is not incredibly long because it's easy to absorb and recall the info.
I'm with Donna in not emjoying reading list posts all that much, or actually, how to ones either. So I use those ideas with a bit of a slant.
For example, I'll have a post on the music of Michigan, with several artists/albums included, or one on Irish music for the holidays, but not written as '5 albums for…'. As for how to sort of posts, the ones I do on creative practice and spiritual reflection could be called how to, suggesting ideas and inviting reflection. My most popular posts, interestingly enough, are the most narrative ones.
List post and tutorials seem to be most popular on my site–and they are my favorite to write as well. But your post inspires me to try something that I haven't done for awhile, like a shout-out post. Thanks.
Great post, Susan. For my own blogs (and I now have 2 personal ones plus a blog I run for my community club) I don't often go for controversial posts.
But I have used the shout-out technique, as well as the list or tutorial approach to blog posts and find these do work well.
Thanks so much for the link to the "Think Traffic" post. It was fabulous!
I absolutely love your posts! I receive your updates via email and click on all the links you share. Thanks for all of the great advice.
So much helpful information in this post. Thanks so much. I especially found #2 helpful. I write a place blog, so it is hard to think up controversial topics since most of my readers are not local, but rather non-resident. But, I will study your recommendations and see how I can up my traffic numbers.
This is a great post! I suspect it will get a lot of traffic!
I've noticed on Alisa Bowman's blog (she left a comment here too) that her READER RESPONSE posts always have a gazillion comments. When you present someone else's problem and ask readers to help find a solution. I have no idea if that spikes her already very high traffic but I know I love reading those posts.
I have yet to write one. Someone needs to give me a really juicy problem that my readers could solve…
This is such a well-written post, as usual! I have noticed that my highest traffic posts are tutorials, and the other rules you list ring true to me as well. Thanks so much for putting this together. I'm looking forward to your future blog posts because they are so informative!
Great post! I'm in the midst of revamping my entire blog, and these are really helpful tips.
I haven't tried shout out posts yet, I think I will. Very helpful tips.
Thanks for the refresher course! I really do love writing tutorials whereas my co-editor goes for the controversy, so together we're unstoppable!
I like the idea of a shout out post – spreading good karma on the web, one post at a time!
Thanks for the link love, Susan.
It's true – many of these types of posts drive traffic. I use my comments section to gauge the effectiveness of the posts. It's funny to see what gets them talking!
List posts are always popular on my site, but I always feel so silly writing them because they're so easy!
Book giveaways are hands down my most popular posts — for comments anyway — for obvious reasons.
My favorite posts are when I throw conventional wisdom out the wisdom and don't list, use SEO-friendly language, or sensational headers and still generate a discussion among my readers.