Archive for Blogging
When Is A Blog List Too Long?
Posted by: | CommentsGuest post by Tracey Grady, web designer
Creating lists is a very well-practiced blog strategy, and it’s easy to see why: lists are extremely popular, bringing traffic and incoming links to your blog. When done well they’re easy to read and absorb quickly. If you draw up a list of your own tips, you’re positioning yourself as an authority for the subject matter you’re writing about. When a list contains links to articles or material on other sites, you’re likely to attract reciprocal links from those sites. All of this is good news for your site’s traffic and SEO.
When you start collating a list for a blog post, inspiration can sometimes take full flight and you find yourself with dozens of potential inclusions. Great – it will be more comprehensive, and will demonstrate to your readers just how much research you’ve done, right? Well, both of these might be true. But beware falling into the mindset that the best list is a long one: in most instances, the opposite is true.
Before you publish that post on 120 best CSS Galleries or 85 Fly-fishing newsletters you MUST subscribe to, ask yourself if that’s really the ideal length for your collection. Short lists are easy to scan; readers can quickly get fatigued if the list runs on and on. When you’ve published a collection of links to articles off-site, your readers will naturally want to visit those sites to read the resources for themselves. But if the collection is very large, there’s a good chance that readers won’t have the time to check out all of the links in one sitting. They can bookmark your list, but they may already be frustrated at being presented with such a huge volume of information, even when it is of high quality.
What’s the ideal size for a list?
Because information is easiest to digest in short bursts, the best size for a list is between 5 and 10 entries. Not only are the contents more reader-friendly at this smaller size, but a short list also comes across as a quality selection. You the author will give the impression that you’re capable of editing your own copy. These are important considerations when you’re striving to create the best content for your blog.
But if your latest blog list is absolutely brimming with must-have material, here are some suggestions on how to handle the blow-out.
Start each entry with a short phrase or outline, in a bold or highlighted format. This makes your lengthy list much easier for readers to scan quickly
Divide the list into categories. Your post will be easier to digest and readers can skim over sections they’re less interested in if they choose. If your categories are strong enough on their own, then the next suggestion is worth considering:
Turn it into a series of posts. Instead of one long list, break it up into a handful of shorter, more reader-friendly articles. This enhances the impression that you have really researched your topic, and you are likely to attract readers and new subscribers who want to catch the next installment, and the next.
Publish only half (or one third) of the list now, then another half or one-third in a few weeks’ or months’ time. If you’re certain that your list will be very well received, why give all of your information away now? Holding back some of the material for a follow-up list “due to overwhelming popularity the first time” is a great blogging strategy and also highlights how good your initial post was (so long as the first installment was genuinely popular).
Depending on the material you are collating, a longer list can be easier to read in some instances. A list of brief tips (where each entry is no longer than a phrase or a short sentence) can run to, say, 50 and still be readable: here is an example. If the list is especially funny or entertaining, it might even get away with being quite a bit longer again.
If you still feel you should post your list of 95 AJAX tips to improve your e-commerce site, make sure it’s really good. Sites like Smashing Magazine have created a niche for themselves by publishing definitive resources for their audience. It’s possible to do the same, so long as your material is up to scratch.
What are your thoughts? When is a blog list too long? Not long enough?
5 “Secrets” for Boosting Your Blog Readership
Posted by: | CommentsGuest post by Chris Garrett, blogging and internet marketing consultant
Growing readership is one of the most common questions I get asked as a business blog consultant and coach. Anyone who has struggled to grow their audience will tell you that quality of writing is not all that it takes. I wish it was!
First of all, let me stress that quantity is not the only factor you need to be aiming for. A smaller, more engaged audience, often trumps a larger and less involved one. I have done several things on my own blog that have served to *constrain* my audience. Why? Because I want an audience who really wants to interact with me, who want to know what I have to say. Consider a company that sells nuclear power stations, going for a large, mainstream audience is probably not the right tactic!
So that all said, what are the secrets to growing a blog audience?
Well, truthfully, there are no secrets, but while these tips might seem common sense, as I like to say, common sense is seldom common practice. Any one of these tips is guaranteed to help you boost your audience and keep it growing:
1) Make a deep and lasting impact
People look to sites like TechCrunch and think they have to write ten articles a day. Nonsense. Churning out article after article will only serve to wear you down. Instead put your effort into creating what I call Flagship Content, content that provides real value, lasts a long time, and takes your message out into the world and brings back subscribers. Instead sticking to an arbitrary schedule, consider each article and make it the best it can be. This is not a quantity game, unless you want to run a blogging sweat shop.
2) Be a leader
Again, bloggers often look to the top sites in their niche and think if they don’t write on the hot topics their audience will think them irrelevant. No! Instead of following the herd you need to stand out, be your own voice, show creativity, add real value and most of all, lead.
3) Leave your sand-pit
Instead of just trying to create a powerful gravitational pull, work hard to find out where your audience hangs out and meet them half-way. Find the forums, discussion lists, social media sites, chat channels and face to face events where your readers gather and take part.
4) Plug your leaks
Growing your audience is as much about keeping people involved as it is attracting new blood. As people unsubscribe you need to work out why. Which content or activity drives people away? What can you do about it? For example, on my own blog I found people were unsubscribing from my emails because daily was too frequent, so I created a separate weekly list for people to join.
Finally, the most important factor of all …
5) Understand your audience
Too many bloggers only focus on their own needs, what they want to say, the words that they use, without considering who it is they want to attract, what their readers want, and how best to serve their needs. Your audience should be the first and last thing on your mind.
Look around at the top bloggers in your niche, do you think they meet the requirements I set out above? Think I have it all wrong? Do you have any other tips that I have missed? Please share your thoughts in the comments …
Monetize Your Site with the New PerformancingAds Network
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One of the most popular ad sizes among web publishers is the 125 x 125 square. The reasons – they are compact, affordable, and can be displayed in a variety of ways. The team at PerformancingAds realizes this and has built an ad network focused entirely on these popular blocks.
PerformancingAds opened today for all web publishers. Now publishers with sites of any size can join and tap into yet another stream of revenue for their sites.
PerformancingAds is not like all the others – there are definitely aspects of the program that make them unique and worth checking out!
- You determine where on your site the 125×125 ads will appear. Define as many regions as you’d like and you set the price you want to sell each ad for.
- The ad exchange program is very cool! You create your own ad and place it in the exchange pool. These ads are shown on other publishers’ sites in empty ad spots.
- You can book your own ads! Use PerformancingAds to promote affiliate content on your site or your own flagship content.
- You get paid on the 1st of the month immediately following the advertisers’ purchase. That is so much better than waiting for 30 to 60 days for payment.
- Advertisers purchase ads for 1 week at a time. By allowing advertisers this weekly option, you get a larger group of potential advertisers thanks to a lower threshold for advertiser entry.
- PerformancingAds is built by publishers for publishers – the team behind the network are some of the most successful in the business and are the same team that have brought us pMetrics, Hive and Performancing. And they have a sales team actively promoting the program and working for the publishers.
- The PerformancingAds affiliate program creates recurring income – now that is awesome!
Go check out PerformancingAds today! I have been part of the network since the pre-launch and have already sold ads and have been paid for them.
