One popular post can bring your more traffic and links than a month's worth of your usual content. Make the next post you write your most popular post ever.
The following ten tips form my key advice for tackling this task. There's no blueprint you can follow to write an incredibly popular post, but you won't have a chance unless you try. I'm confident these tips will give you a good shot at success.
1. Time is more important than talent
Work on something for eight hours and you can bet it will be good. You don't need to spend that long actually. More time means you can refine, format and fill your post with plenty of value. Take the time to really craft your content. It will show in the finished product. It's the quality that matters.
2. Use your best idea
A post will never become wildly popular unless it fulfills a need, and does so emphatically. What's something your niche wants but hasn't got yet? Can you assemble a whole lot of really awesome (targeted) resources in one place? The more your posts helps people, the better it will do.
3. Use formatting to your advantage
These days, social media is key when it comes to launching your posts into the stratosphere. Social media users are notoriously spoiled for choice, however. Use formatting to emphasize the best aspects of your post. Hone in on your funniest lines, your most profound bits of advice, your best resources. Make them stand out.
4. Steal the headlines
There are probably one or two bloggers who've completely mastered the art of writing headlines for social media. The rest of us haven't been blessed with such skills. When you see a great headline, chances are it's option #12 of a dozen choices. Few of us can think of a great headline straight away. Spend ten minutes brainstorming and you're bound to stumble across something that works. A weak headline will cripple your post's chances of success. It's essential that you put a lot of work into getting it right.
5. Invest plenty of value in your post
Ever bookmarked or voted for something without completely reading it? We've all done it. It's because of the 'Wow' factor - the presence of enough promised value in one place gets the reader enthusiastic about the post straight away. Instead of 5 tips, why not share 50? Instead of 9 resources, why not 40 or more? This will make a visitor to bookmark your blog and head right back for more!
6. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
If your post looks good, it will draw readers in. Take the time to add images, thumbnails and formatting to what you create. Make your post a visual feast. With so much web content presented in a bland way, your post is guaranteed to stand out.
7. Let them know what to expect
Readers will skip your waffly introduction. You can say the same in less words, particularly when you're writing for an impatient reader: someone who wants to get straight into your tips/resources/opinions. Use your introduction to highlight why the reader should stick with your post.
8. Send messages with links
The best way to get a blogger to investigate your blog is by linking to them. We've got a natural desire to know what's being said about us. If your post becomes really popular, each link inside it should send enough traffic outwards to be worth investigating. Be generous with your outbound links when writing your most popular post. It gives other bloggers an incentive to link to you, because it's ultimately more promotion for them.
9. Utilize your network
If you want people to Digg, Stumble or Reddit your post, there's no reason why you need to sit back with fingers crossed and hope it happens. Ask them. Your loyal readers like you. You entertain them, or teach them, or help them. If voting is a simple matter of clicking a link they'll be more than happy to do so. Ask for votes in your post and email readers and social media influencers. In most cases you will need to get the snowball rolling. After that, others will do most of the work for you.
10. Review previous posts
It's good to review your previous popular posts to analyze what worked before. Explore what was remarkable with it. It's always good to learn from example. You can transfer these qualities into what you write.
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