Ten ways to get people to read your blog
Posted by Brett Tackaberry on October 21st, 2006
Gotcha. If you’re one of the few people that read this blog on a regular basis you know that I’m the last guy who should be telling you how to increase your traffic.
Is it just me, or is everybody not getting sick of people constantly writing blog posts in the form of “X ways to do Y”?
- “25 Rules to Grow Rich By”
- “88 Surefire Tips for Succeeding in College”
- “Five Simple Steps to designing with colour”
- “Top 10 Tips To Lose Weight Without Losing Mind”
- “Seven Ways To Light a Fire Without a Match”
- “10 Pros & Cons of switching from Windows to Mac OS X”
And that’s just what I’ve come across today. Has our collective attention span gotten so infinitesmally short that we can only digest information when it’s presented to us in short lists? A quick perusal of the popular pages on delicious seems to provide a simple answer to that question.
To me, it just seems like a bit of a cheap and lame way to title your posts… something akin to calling your show “reality TV” a few years back just because it was a fad at the time. Ok, I realize I’m probably being a tad unfair to those hard working bloggers that just inherently write all their thoughts into five to ten bite-sized chunks, but hey… who am I to criticize? Millions of blog readers can’t be wrong, can they?
October 22nd, 2006 » 1:53 am
Hi Steve,
As the publishing industry learned a long time ago, covers sell.
As the newspaper industry learned a long time ago, headlines count.
As the television …. you get the picture.
People really like the lists. They seem to convey a sense that herein lies practical advice that I can use.
But really counts is whether the content delivers on the promise.
And anyone who wants to keep readers coming back needs to deliver solid content once the readers arrive.
October 23rd, 2006 » 10:52 am
Add a second “Joe” to that comment.
No matter what media you cover, “X ways to do Y” grabs attention like a deal that is too good to be true. It’s part of media history. It’s an easy, quick read and yes, many times, it is just fluff.
That being said, it plays into some of the biggest principles that will play out in the future of media.
The ying the modern media world requires that content grabs visibility in a growing mediascape where things can easily get lost. “Top” lists grab the eye and usually challenge or invite you to read/view/listen onward.
The second half of the modern equation, the yang, demands quality. If the content does not live up to the hype, you are almost instantly doomed for failure. The modern consumer is just too savvy and has limitless options if your product does not live up to expectations.
“Top lists” may consume society and sometimes if you can’t beat it, you just have to use it!
October 23rd, 2006 » 11:30 pm
Hey man,
Got any tips on how I can get people to read my blog? I promise there are no top 10 lists…
October 24th, 2006 » 9:10 am
To the stereo Joes: you guys are totally right. And I knew in the back of my head when I wrote the rant *why* these kinds of catchy titles are all the rage. It’s nothing new and it just makes sense – after all, readers love them. I guess my beef has to do with the ‘yang’ as Joe #2 puts it – the all too often low-quality post with the catchy title. Maybe because I’m a sucker for those headlines as much as the next guy and I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed when I’m all psyched up to read a definitive list of 10 ways to wash my dog in a westbound train (or whatever I happen to be reading that day) and the post falls way flat. I guess that’s where my frustration stemmed from – but that’s nothing new. Since when does anybody like reading bad blog posts?
October 24th, 2006 » 1:18 pm
So the message is that if you’re going to ying, you better have yang!
I feel your beef Steve. Even if something is free, disappointment still make you feel like you’ve been ripped off somehow.