“The wild beast hunts, two a day for five days, are magnificent.
There is no denying it.
But what pleasure is there in seeing a puny human mangled by a powerful beast or a splendid animal killed with a hunting spear.”
~ Cicero in 50 BC
Do you know why those huge Roman amphitheaters and coliseums attracted such huge crowds?
Bread and games.
Free food and free entertainment – a combination the Roman government believed would keep happy and docile the many unemployed people in Rome.
The government figured out what the people of Rome wanted and gave it to them.
And the people came.
In huge numbers. Hungry and thirsty for more.
Give Your Readers Bread and Games
Take cue from history: figure out what your readers want and give it to them.
And they will come.
In huge numbers. Hungry and thirsty for more.
KNOW what they want.
By figuring out what is being shared and read the most on your competitors’ blogs.
And once you see which posts did the best, you can write your own content related to those topics.
Provided that your writing is up to par, your newly created content should do well.
Here are some ways you can find out which of your competitors’ posts drew readers like bees to honey.
Click this link to go to the next page
I checked some “competition” (blogs on my topic that I like to read) at Topsy and guess what? – they’re not getting that much traffic (or tweets). Went back and read your Alexa post and tried them on Alexa: high numbers (low traffic). It blew my mind – does that mean I don’t have an audience?
I tried by topic, and found a niche blog with great ranking, but I hardly ever read it!
So, I’m still digesting this. I might need to try these great post ideas while expanding to different blogs.
Hey Ana,
Great post as always! I have been using SEO Quake for over a year now, very helpful tool. But Topsy, on the other hand, I have never used as you described. I will have to give this a try.
Thanks for the tips Ana and have a great day!
Hey there
I have to tell you the truth here… I looked at your post and thought…OMG this is very short for Ana… Then I thought “what could these people be commenting on if the post was so short???”… then I realized it was continued to the next page…
This is what happens when you take a quick glance at things, you see nothing.
lol, Mitz – I am trying to disguise the fact that I can’t seem to write anything shorter than 2,000 words these days. At least, it seems manageable when broken down into a couple of pages.
Ana,
Did I miss the post where you talk about why you’re using multiple pages for your blog posts now?
I’d love to know your thought process on it?
So far I have mixed emotions on the new experience.
Though I think you’re killing it with the content lately!
Hanley
I just started playing with pagination, Ryan (not post on it yet, since I don’t have any concrete results to based it upon).
The main objective is to reduce the bounce rate.
The two secondary objectives are more about user experience/engagement: are my readers more likely to digest my lengthy posts in two smaller sections vs one long one? Also, once I get them to click, are they more likely to stay and explore even more?
We’ll see how it turns out…
Interesting… I’m very interested in your results… Thanks for always pushing the envelop!
Ryan H.
So far bounce rate reduction of 9% – the most I’ve even managed to achieve in the past. I think it’s actually working.
Hi Ann,
You have share an excellent article. It is really informative and interesting. Thanks for mentioning tools. SEO Quake is really very helpful to create their own parameters. I like and use this tool.
Another nicely written post, Ana…
I also noticed your multi- page format, and my first guess was for improved bounce rate…..
Have seen this done on some sites whereby one post, was divided into four or more parts….
The only negative of those sites breaking a post down to four or more(very small) parts, is you get tired of flicking through so many pages to read one post..which may have the reverse effect to what was intended, and could cause readers to go elsewhere…(though, a two- part post should do okay)
Your inclusion of your related posts widget should sort out any bounce rate issues, also…
Some related post plugins(widgets) work really well, others can sometimes be terrible…
I tried out a particular related posts widget(I forget the name) where the number of views that came through that source, were quite amazing(then the plugin had some issues…and I had to remove it….darn!.
The one great advantage of related post plugins(if functioning properly) is that you’re getting people to dig deeper into your site, which should help to lift Search engine ranking across those inner pages(as well as improve bounce rate and possibly(Has been mentioned) spread PR..too……
Yeah, I know! I still have not got myself a Gravatar or Avatar……the reason I have held back so long is that I heard that there are security issues in relation to using these…
I am experimenting with pagination, Daniel. I do agree there’s a fine line between doing it right (2-3 pages at the most) and overwhelming readers with all the clicking they might have to do just to get to the end of a post.
I run the related post with thumbnail and found that to be a good source for page views. Readers are most likely to click on images, this surely did increase the page views on one of my android resources blog. love your work as always Ana.
You’re right, Ana. This IS simple and it makes a lot of sense. I don’t know half as much about traffic as you do, so I’m definitely going to take this advice. I’m old fashioned in that I’ll visit the blogs I like and look at their ‘popular posts’ panel to see what’s hot.
Hi Ana,
Thanks for the great post. As is the case with other people, same here. Even i know about Topsy & SEO Quake but never took time to explore them. Your post revealed a lot of features of these tools to generate the traffic.
I really amazed at times when i found such posts. Though i would be using the same tool from a long time but it happens that i have never paid attention towards those features. There is so much to learn about a tool and how much we can make.
Once again thanks for this brilliant post.
I am with you, Kris – either those folks keep coming up with new features or I am just that slow learning the ropes. 😉
Heard about Topsy and I have to try my hands on that one. Thanks for these ultimate tools list Anna.
Hi Ana,
thanks for mentioning these tools. SEOQuake is really very helpful – I like and use this tool, but I didn’t use it for social signals 😉
I must also try Topsy – it seems that it has SEO potential 🙂
Chris
Not too sure about SEO potential, but definitely great for all kinds of research, Chris.
Hi Ana,
Excellent tutorial on picking out winning blog post topics… as I was working through your post using my own keywords so I could fully understand your process I kept discovering awesome topics to blog about!
Now I have to leave my blog reading for later… I’ve got lots to write about!
Thanks 🙂
So glad you found this post helpful, Jim!
I only recently discovered this way of finding new topics to write about and I’m really excited to do some more research for TGC as well.
Ana,
Great post, very informative!
I’m a serial surveyor. I’m constantly sending surveys to my audience and asking questions. I need to know what they want, how they want it, and when they want it. I noticed when I delivered what was desired, the response was massive.
I’m always aware and paying attention to what others are doing but I’m more aware that my audience isn’t necessarily their, so I have to survey and do my due diligence anyway.
There’s no cookie-cutter way to anything!
You are SOOOOO right, Dewane – what works for one blog might not be the right thing for another.
How do your subscribers/readers react to your surveys? I hear that participation rates are usually pretty low.
It depends largely on where (what channel) and how (short or long) I survey, but response rates are usually around 25-40%. Rates get higher depending on how I incentivize the action.
What’s really important though is how you use the data. I prefer open ended questions as oppose to closed and multiple choice. I try to understand what words and language they use so I can communicate with them better.
Awesome post Ana as always. Haven’t heard of topsy before but will surely give it a shot. Thanks for this wonderful tips and welcome to EMBER MONTH.
Figuring out what readers want will definitely keep them stick to the list. I loved the term- Bread and Games 🙂
Great Ana , the theory about bread and game, never heard before but yes I understood about the roman times. It is certainly a good strategy.
Hi Ana
It sure looks like some awesome services you are listing here. I will sure have to dig deeper in to them later. Thank you for always learning me something new when I visit this blog 🙂
I really like the tips you added in this article Ana. I never ever thought about using Topsy in this way to help me generate more traffic. Love it! Will definitely try it out!
Keep the good content coming!
Once I figured out that I could do this type of research, Scott, it made my blogging life a lot easier!
Words of wisdom Ana!
It’s amazing how much I learn whenever I visit your blog 🙂
Speaking of which, I had no idea whatsoever about Topsy, though had seen SeoQuake earlier, but never checked it out so much in detail. And yes, there is surely a great deal you can do with both of these.
Oh yes…readers are always hungry for more, provided you give them what they want, and that’s how readership and relationships build up.
Thanks for sharing and yes, I loved the picture of the woman with the veil on the first page. 🙂
Thanks, Harleena – have a blessed weekend!