Steve Rayson over at BuzzSumo recently wrote this amazing blog post reviewing viral content and the most shared posts of 2015.
There appears to be no magic formula to create viral content, but this research has identified four elements that can increase the shareability of content and Steve clearly details them below.
So, if you want to increase the chances of your content being shared then carry on reading this great post.
What content were you reading this year? Did it include some of the most shared articles of 2015?
Why does certain content get shared so much and go viral? Last year we looked at 100m posts and highlighted the common characteristics of viral content. This year we added over 1 billion articles to our content database and looked again at the most shared posts. Our analysis shows that viral posts remain outliers, and unfortunately there is no magic formula to go viral.
However, there are insights from viral content that we can use to improve the shareability and engagement of our own content. The posts we are looking at in this review are primarily consumer posts, we have previously examined the best B2B posts of 2015.
Below we have provided examples of the most shared posts of 2015 and tried to break down why they went viral. If you haven’t got time to review them individually, you can jump straight to our conclusions.
Our review has identified four different elements which occur frequently with viral content. A combination of these elements may not guarantee viral success but they can improve shareability. Look out for these elements in each of the viral posts below.
Viral Posts Are Insightful Outliers
Viral posts are not the norm. Our examples below include posts with millions of shares. However, these viral posts are exceptional even for very largest viral sites, as we can see from the graphs below. These show the distribution of shares across posts for BuzzFeed and the New York Times.
There are fewer and fewer posts as the numbers of shares increase. Going viral is like alchemy, and even the best sites cannot consistently replicate the success of their top posts (if they could, they would). Like most publishers, the top sites have a lot of steady performing content and a few huge hits. The top three most shared articles on the Huffington Post demonstrate this quite clearly as we can see below. The top post got almost double the shares of the third most shared post. This is a pattern we see again and again.
Thus viral posts are exceptional, and there is no simple formula for viral success–unless possibly you are an international celebrity. For our analysis we excluded content about and from celebrities, musicians and films, even though they can drive huge volumes of traffic. For example, Adele’s recent release of her song Helllo on YouTube raced quickly past 500m views.
What if you’re not Adele? (and If you are Adele: Hello, how are you, please feel free to share this post). What can you do to create more shareable content?
In our view these viral posts provide insights into how we might make our own content more shareable, even if it doesn’t go viral. Here are our lessons from the most shared content of 2015.
How To Go Viral
1) Surprise People (Facts & Images)
People like to share content–both facts and images–that surprises. They also love to share new research and trends, particularly if they challenge current perceptions. Marketo’s 2013 survey with Brian Carter on why people share on Facebook found that people love to share amazing and surprising content. This view is supported by our review of 2015’s most shared content.
The most shared content on the London Evening Standard site this year was a post that probably made many of us happy. It highlighted new research showing that champagne can help prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Very welcome news at Christmas. Cheers!
The most shared article on Huffington Post this year was also surprising. It combined research with a provocative title. The post was about addiction, a current topic of discussion and interest. The post highlighted new research challenging the prevailing wisdom about addiction and highlighted the significance of isolation and loneliness. The post was clearly thought-provoking and made people keen to share.
This post went viral on Facebook as we can see below. In most cases we found Facebook was the key network in igniting and driving viral content.
A subset of surprising facts is new research and trends. The latest slides from Mary Meeker on Internet Trends are a good example of highly shared B2B content with nearly 3m views. It also helps that they’re in Slideshare format which makes them easy to digest — much easier than a dense report.
Viral Elements – Surprising content backed by research, provocative titles and easy to scan formats.
2) Leverage A Trend, Particularly Zombies
We all know that the trend is our friend. Commenting on, or including, in-vogue topics in your content can increase engagement with your audience. In 2015, if in doubt about popular topics, write a Zombie story.
This is an example we would not normally predict to go viral. It is simply an article about a Zombie-themed cruise; however, the reaction was huge. The post got over 400,000 comments. Yep, that is 400,000 comments. It was fun and very much on trend. Who would have thought that Zombies would be viral?
Fox news is a popular site, but this post dominated their other most shared content. It got almost five times the shares of their next most popular articles, demonstrating again that viral posts are outliers. Fox was not able to reproduce this level of sharing with any other posts or even come close to it.
Viral elements: Content about a popular topic or trend. But remember that there’s no guarantee.
3) Inspire People
Inspirational quotes, including images with inspiring text, have become a very popular form of content on the internet. Insipiring content can take many forms, including stories like those below, but there seems to be no shortage of appetite for inspirational quotes.
BuzzFeed remains the master of the curated viral list post. We hate to admit it, but list posts remain one of the most shareable forms of content.
This curation of 51 beautiful literature quotes had over 9m views and over 1.4m shares. Most people have favourite books and quotes.
Viral elements: Inspirational quotes, curated content, list format that is easily scannable. And yep, list posts still do very well. Which brings us to:
4) Create Stunning Picture List Posts
We have previously identified picture list posts as an ideal format for viral content. Images are very powerful on the internet and picture list posts enhance this power with the shareability of curation and list posts.
This was the 4th most shared post on the New York Times this year and achieved over 500k shares. It is a list post with beautiful pictures that appeals to the love of travel and adventure.
Beautiful images are inherently shareable but photos do not need to be of beautiful things. This series of images on The Guardian demonstrated much that is ugly about the world but did so using very high quality surprising images. Like the earlier example, the post is very surprising, thought-provoking, and visually rich – key viral elements.
This article was the second most shared post on the Guardian this year.
Viral elements: Visually rich posts with awe-inspiring graphics, and curated list posts.
5) Exploit Cute Animals & Babies
Yes, you read that right. Cat posts have become cliche on the internet. Dress a cute cat in a Halloween outfit and you have the makings of a very shareable post. It is not only cats, other pets and babies do equally well.
We took this example from Gizmodo. You might expect to see cat posts do well on big viral sites such as BuzzFeed, but less so on sites such as Gizmodo. However, Gizmodo’s top post this year by some margin was about pets.
The post received over 680,000 shares.
Babies are also a good substitute for pets, or is that the other way around?
Viral elements: Cats, dogs, pets and babies. The Gizmodo post was also surprising, or maybe not if you are a pet lover.
6) Be Amusing
People like to share entertaining content. A study by the New York Times found one of the most common reasons people share content is to bring valuable entertaining content to other friends. Make ’em laugh, and you’re on your way to going viral.
For example, this amusing post on the New Yorker got twice as many shares as any other post on the site this year. It may have also tapped into a trend about people questioning scientific evidence.
People love to share amusing videos, and video is a fast growing format on Facebook. This short video was one of the top Vines this year with over 56m loops.
Viral elements: Amusing posts and videos. Our first example leveraged a current issue whilst the second leveraged a cute kid.
7) Be Controversial
Controversy engages people though it carries a degree of risk. By nature controversial posts can be divisive. However, people often share to be part of a tribe supporting a particular view and to show their loyalty or belonging.
Example: Donald Trump Facebook Posts (millions of interactions)
We had a look at the Facebook posts of Donald Trump and filtered out those with the most engagement using our Facebook Analyzer tool. Donald Trump may be divisive, but he has engaged a tribe with similar views through his posts.
If we look at the likes and shares of posts on Donald Trump’s Facebook page over the last 6 months, we can see that his controversial statements have driven a relatively high level of interaction on Facebook, and it’s growing.
Viral elements: Controversial opinions about trending topics. If you find your tribe, and it’s big enough, then they’ll help you go viral.
8) Quiz People
People love a quiz, particularly if it tells them something about themselves. People also like interactive content which they can share with friends, for example a popular UK quiz was How Northern Are you? Most successful quizzes encourage users to share the quiz and their result immediately upon completion. This works especially well if the result portrays you in a positive light.
This personality quiz was the second most shared post on PlayBuzz this year with almost 4m shares. The top post was another quiz ‘Can We Guess The Level of your Education?‘. PlayBuzz has become a master of the viral quiz, and if you haven’t already studied their viral content, it is definitely worth a look.
This post was a classic example of viral Facebook content. It drew you in from the very first screen and appealed to your instinct to test yourself. It was also something people wanted to share, as demonstrated by almost 5m shares. Sharing your percentile score (assuming you did ok) also makes it appealing.
This post exploded on Facebook, and its reach was out of all proportion to shares of other content from the same site as shown below. The site has subsequently run a number of quizzes but created nothing to match the success of this first post. That’s a side lesson–you can’t just re-run what worked and be assured a second viral result. Content formats can get old quickly.
Interactive content is a variation on quizzes and can also do very well, as we will see with this next post.
The most shared post on Time this year was on the most popular baby names. You simply enter you name and year of birth, and the site calculates what your name would be now or in other decades based on the popularity of your name when you were born.
This article also made it very easy to share your results with your friends on Facebook or Twitter.
Viral element: Easy-to-take quizzes that highlight something about the user. Interactive content formats and encouragement of sharing.
9) Provide Warnings
The 2014 Marketo and Brian Carter research found that people shared content to provide warnings to other people about dangers such as a scam. This continues to be the case in 2015 as we found a number of most shared posts that were warnings.
The most shared post of Webmd.com this year was a warning about a recall which had four times as many shares as other posts on the site. Interestingly there was other warning content at Webmd, but the Tylenol post was particularly viral.
Viral element: Timely warnings or cautions in your field could win you an audience as it’s helpful content to share.
10) Tell Them The Secrets Of Success
Most people want to be successful. People also like to share content that is valuable or helpful to others. Thus posts designed to help people achieve success have the potential to go viral, if the content delivers.
This is our first B2B example, which was one of the top shared posts on LinkedIn this year. It’s had over 3.6m views on LinkedIn.
Based on our look at content that performs well on LinkedIn, it’s clear that the word “successful” in the title helps. This particular title also taps into the current trend and interest in mindfulness.
Viral elements: Tips on being successful, practical, helpful content and leveraging the current interest in Mindfulness.
11) Health, Diet & Fitness Tips
Who doesn’t want to get healthier? Health was a popular topic in 2015. Interestingly, three of the most shared posts on BuzzFeed this year were about health, as seen below.
This post appealed not only to a desire to be healthy but also to your budget. One noticeable feature was that the post included individual images that were sized and ready for Pinterest. The post was pinned over 500,000 times.
Viral elements: Health, diet and fitness tips. Good use of imagery, a form of picture list post, how-to posts that will help people improve themselves.
12) Tell Them Secrets Of Love & Dating
Love is the drug, as Bryan Ferry put it, and it appears that the right content on love or dating has a lot of potential to go viral.
The most shared posts on the New York Times this year are outliers, gaining a lot more shares than other posts, and most of these articles are arguably not news. The second most shared post on the new York Times caught our attention about falling in love.
The post challenged a common preconception about love, as it says you can can fall in love with anyone–not just your soulmate. This post got significantly more shares than the 3rd and 4th most shared posts on the New York Times and almost double the 5th most shared. It is also a form of “how to” post, and has a great headline that you can’t not love.
This is a variation on the theme of love and soumates. This post resonated with the audience and was the most shared post on Thoughtcatalog.com this year by some margin with over 1.6m shares.
Viral elements: Insights into love and dating. Great headlines and one was also a ‘how to’ post that had an interesting claim.
13) Share The Secret To A Long Life
The cause of existential angst, according to Sarte, is knowing we are going to die. He also said “hell is other people,” so he probably wasn’t on Facebook. Whether you agree with him or not, it seems we are all keen to find ways to avoid an early grave.
This video post was the second most shared article on the Huffington Post this year. In some ways it is an expert interview post as Jessie Gallan has turned 109, but it is also a fun and happy post celebrating long life.
Jessie puts her long life down to walking, a bowl of porridge each morning, but primarily to avoiding men. However, this may not be the only answer to a long life, as we shall see with our next example below.
Viral elements: Share the secret of eternal life. Or if that’s too much of a stretch, share heartwarming content about longevity. In a way this is a variation on how-to health posts.
14) Share A Heart Warming Story
People love stories and they love to share heart warming stories.
USA Today’s top post this year was a heart warming story of a long and happy marriage. Maybe the moral for men who want to live a long time is to be married.
This post topped USA Today’s most shared content because it was a heartwarming, happy, inspirational story. It may also have some insights for long life as the couple describes their healthy breakfast of tea, oatmeal and fresh fruit. They also nap early and often.
Viral elements: This post contained a happy story of a long marriage and possibly the secrets of a long life.
Conclusions: Four Elements of Shareable Content
Ok, so what have we learnt from the most shared content this year? More importantly can it help us in creating shareable content?
It is worth starting by reiterating that there is no formula for going viral. It’s not always clear what will ignite a post and provoke significant sharing. Even the big sites have random outliers, posts that generate share counts no one could have predicted. The evidence also suggests it is not simply about the content but also about amplification. In our research sharing by just 5 influencers can be enough to ignite content sharing. Paid amplification can also help kick start things if you have a potential viral post.
What we can see from the posts above is that they often combine different elements to make the content more shareable. For example:
A quiz on a popular topic leverages both a trend and a shareable content format.
A picture list post combines three very shareable elements namely a list, curation and images.
From our analysis there are four different elements that contribute to shareability as follows.
This is not a comprehensive list, just a way of thinking about the elements. A viral post is likely to combine a number of these elements. Nothing guarantees your content will go viral but including one or more of these elements can help make your content more shareable. Thus when creating content you can ask yourself:
Does the content have an emotional element?
Does the post include shareable content types, such as facts, images, and quotes?
Is the topic one that resonates with your audience? Is it trending?
Is the format one that works well with your audience, such as practical tips or a quiz?
Headline
Finally, a potential viral or shareable post also needs a good headline. I really like the way BuzzFeed create multiple headlines and A/B test them with audiences. This allows them to tailor based on real audience interaction. However, you may not have this facility. If not, you can look at the four elements above and think above incorporating these into your headline. For example:
Emotional words e.g. Surprising
Topic e.g. Zombies
Type e.g. Facts
Format e.g. List post
Thus a simple headline using all four elements may be “10 surprising facts about Zombies”. Ok, so you can’t just write by numbers like this, but it’s a good way to check that your headline will have shareability.
Can you go viral in 2016?
No promises but..
.. by learning the lessons from this year’s viral content we may be able to make our content more shareable in 2016.
Steve Rayson is a Non-Executive Director of BuzzSumo. BuzzSumo is a social search tool designed to support content marketers, journalists and anyone interested in finding great content and understanding influencer amplification.
Good blog post ideas are essential for any company, small business or solo entrepreneur. Any brand that ignores content marketing is probably missing out on a large share of potential traffic.
Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to find an audience, build a relationship, and generate sales.
Blogging should be at the heart of your content, with a blog acting as the central hub for all your thoughts and ideas. However, many people struggle to think of blogging ideas, so their posts become increasingly sporadic.
The following blog post ideas can all be used to provide a consistently rotating plan of ideas:
Video Posts
The popularity of online video means it can't be ignored. There is so much quality video content being produced, but most people don't have the time to go searching for it.
If you can curate the content, your blog can become the source for all the important niche videos. You could also create your own videos, particularly if there is a subject that can be best explained visually.
Responses
Most niches are highly active, with many bloggers having an opinion on the main issues. Bloggers will create posts that have varying traction with the audience.
If a blogger writes a post that receives a lot of feedback, use this as a starting point for your own post. You may disagree with the original source material, but you might just have something else you want to add. If the original post encouraged a lot of interest, your own response can build on this.
News
News posts are fairly easy to write, but they can be popular with readers. You can stay on top of relevant news by signing up to industry sites, adding Google Alerts, and becoming a go-to authority.
News does require you stick to a schedule, so you may prefer to be known as a blogger who comments on, rather than breaks, news stories.
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Lists can convey information in a simple format, allowing a reader to scan the article or read deeper. You can cover complex issues or light-hearted topics in a list, so you are not restricted by the format.
If you are struggling to think of new ideas, set up a poll on your site allowing readers to give their opinions. A poll of readers can generate a lot of conversation, with individual comments providing most of the text for your article.
Tutorials
While many posts will be time-sensitive, tutorials can often have a long life. There will probably be a number of topics that beginners are always interested in, so a detailed tutorial can be used to direct them to your site.
When you have provided exceptional value to your readers, they will usually begin to recognize you as a trusted source and come back regularly to your blog.
Rand Fishkin and the team at Moz do this very well by creating a weekly video series on SEO called Whiteboard Friday. They produce a comprehensive free education program catering to beginner-to-intermediate SEOs.
Great blog post ideas on the Whiteboard Friday posts attract visitors into the Moz community. They are then introduced to using the excellent paid tools that Moz provides. This is how they make their money.
This is a good example of providing very useful free content upfront before introducing visitors to paid tools and services that will help solve their problems.
Infographics
Text and video will always be effective, but infographics can add a different element to your blog. Infographics can be used to convey a lot of different information in an engaging format.
Lists of statistics might not grab the attention, but a stylish infographic can tell a story that is full of pertinent information. Infographics are also likely to be shared, so you can often experience a flood of new traffic from a post.
FAQ
A frequently asked questions segment can help you keep close contact with your readers, but avoids the need to keep answering the same questions. You could have a monthly post that deals with commons questions, allowing people to submit their questions in advance.
An FAQ can become one of the most visited parts of your site, with new audiences finding you through this section.
Best of the Week
Compiling the best posts of the week, or any period of time you choose, is a great way to target the casual reader. Not every person who visits your site is a frequent reader, so a quick guide to the popular posts can keep their interest.
You could create a simple collection of links, but a way to enhance this type of post is to add new thoughts or some insightful reader comments.
By rotating these different post types, your blog can have a continual series of quality posts. Readers can often get bored with the same style of article, but a variety of styles lets you keep your site feeling fresh.
When an audience knows they can expect quality across a number of different approaches, building a strong following should be easy.
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You have been bitten by the blogging bug and your inclination for self-dependency, or maybe your professional interests, make you consider an alternative to a free wordpress blog. No matter what the reasons behind your decision, you should know that you can always opt for a self hosted wordpress blog.
A self-hosted blog versus a free wordpress blog
The free wordpress offers you web hosting but reduces the number of options and services available. A “self-hosted wordpress blog” allows you to have more control and exert your skills to the full.
You can benefit from your own domain name, create your own customized design template and decide upon which content management service to use. You can pick up domains cheaply at sites like Godaddy and Namecheap.
Great value hosting plans can be found at places like Hostgator or BlueHost. You can also use any upgrades that are necessary to better promote your blog content and so increase the number of viewers to your blog each day.
You will have to invest some money into tuning up your own blog but, if done wisely, your investment will pay off in the long run. After all, it’s better to be in charge of the website logistics than contenting yourself with the free service and the limited functionalities offered by a free blog hosting provider!
A self hosted wordpress blog as a catalyst for bigger revenues
A self-hosted blog can be the answer to your prayers when embarking upon a home business or when you want more virtual visibility for your brick and mortar business. Since you’re responsible for the smooth running of the blog and everything from the overall design to the content and the additional services is contingent on your technical skills as well as your aesthetic taste.
If you are not particularly technical then you can always outsource the building of your blog to a site like UpWork.com.
If you’ve spent a bit of money on your blog you are more than motivated to make it yield some returns. When a business benefits from its own domain name and a tailor-made blog, the odds of ranking higher in the search engines and being visible to a greater number of people is more likely. This in turn can lead to upsurges in revenues and positive publicity.
Exposing your business's portfolio of services or marketing your company's achievements through your self-hosted wordpress blog will also gain you more business proposals and a greater number of customers. On the same note, in view of the better search engine optimization (SEO) offered by a customized domain name, requests to advertise on your site may also increase.
This can produce very lucrative results for you and those wishing to promote their products or services on your blog. This can be achieved by having banner ads posted on your site which can give you some extra cash flow in addition to the sales of your own merchandise and services.
A communication platform marketers should consider
To make it in the highly competitive marketing environment new to intermediate marketers rely heavily on mail marketing and building subscriber lists. A self hosted wordpress blog can be just the platform they need to post relevant and compelling content for clients and prospective customers .
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Therefore, if you are a new marketer or your level of expertise needs improvement, do not hesitate to opt for this type of online presence. It may take your online exposure to the next level and help you expand your business in a relatively short amount of time!
There are a lot of blog hosting solutions available on the market today ready to meet the customers' numerous needs. But if you are not willing to choose cost to the detriment of quality, originality and higher returns, then go for a self-hosted wordpress blog and increase the presence of your business in this new digital age.
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I came across a great blogpost by Darren Rowse about the daily blogging routines of 14 top bloggers. Darren is a very well known blogger himself – of ProBlogger.net fame. He's brought together the daily methods of other well known bloggers which I'm sure you'll find useful and take value from.
As part of that post I was intending on describing my own blogging routine – but on the spur of the moment decided to email a group of blogging friends to ask them to describe how they go about blogging.
Each have graciously allowed me to share their responses. I hope you find them as fascinating as I do.
My Question to these bloggers was: Can you give us a quick snapshot of your blogging schedule – when do you do it? Do you have a routine or is it more spontaneous?
I have a pretty set routine, simply because it is my job (that I also happen to love)—but that doesn’t mean I don’t also have lots of random things I need to do here and there, which I squeeze in with I can with three little kids. I typically write in the morning, since that’s my brain’s best time, and then I’ll fill in the gaps with tasks that don’t take as much brain power for me. Every day is different, to be honest, but here’s a typical day for me:
6 am—Wake up, personal time, coffee, writing time (if my toddler doesn’t wake up).
7:30-9:00 am—Breakfast with the family, get the kids ready for the day and out to school.
9:00 am-1:00 pm—Work, work, work in my office at home while our babysitter is out in the rest of the house with the boys (my oldest is in school).
1:00 pm—My second goes to preschool and my youngest naps, so I either wrap up work or catch up on household stuff.
3:30 pm—Pick up kids from school, help with homework, start dinner, clean, and other typical mom stuff.
5:30 pm-8:30 pm—Dinner, baths, storytime, family time, bed.
8:30 pm-10:00 pm—Any combination of work catch-up (although I don’t write, I do more brainless stuff, like photo editing, email processing, etc.), but I prefer to do things like watch a movie or read a book.
I used to have a routine, now I write when I have something to say, and when I find time (which never seems to happen recently).
In the past I had a proper schedule because at one point I was writing for a dozen blogs and people depended on me to deliver (contractually and out of a feeling of obligation). Like many bloggers, I used an editorial calendar, and such. This makes me feel I should get back to that!
My most productive time is the morning so I get up early and head straight to the computer to write. I just work on blog posts for 1-2 hours.
I ban myself from checking emails or social media as it’s too distracting. I work to an editorial calendar which helps me plan my content, but it’s still flexible so I can add stories at the last minute.
I have a waterproof notepad in the shower as I always get blogging ideas while I’m washing my hair!
I tend to bang out some ideas and clip links as I go and keep about 20 “on the boil” posts in my drafts folder which I add to, patchwork, fiddle with over time.
Each Monday I try to devote to getting my blogs sorted for the week (I post Tuesday – Friday…ish).
I’ll write some afresh, or I pull one that inspires me from my drafts and tidy it up. My gorgeous assistant Jo will often add any links, caption pictures, do some extra research and run an extra eye over things. Invariably I get up on the morning of the post and tinker with it a little…often a bit of distance allows me to bring even more to it.
I have a content plan spanning most of the year. Most of the time, I will write my posts on the weekend. This is when the kids have their dad home to look after them and I can work uninterrupted or at least that is the theory!
As I have a plan for what I am writing, I can look at the topics earlier in the week. This lets ideas and often large chunks of the post, start formulating in my head, when I am doing other things like running. So when I actually sit down to do the task of writing the posts, it is much easier and quicker. I will schedule my posts in advance, so regardless of what happens in the week amongst family life, my posting schedule stays consistent.
If I have extra time and have something I want to say, I will write and post spontaneously, but this would occur only a very small amount of the time.
I blog a lot more spontaneously than not. I often have a core question that the idea of the post bounces against, but the actual “typing it into WordPress” happens quite randomly. For instance, I decided to write a post about Google+ the other day, but I framed it against the “if I’m a business person looking to get my feet wet, here’s a recipe for starting.” That’s the idea (google+) against the core question (how would I get started). I do that.
I try to get up at 5 a.m. every day and get in two hours of blogging and computer work before my kids get up (yes, they are late risers!). I then try to get in a few more hours in the afternoon, as well as a few hours on Saturday.
I’ve found that I’m much more productive when I compartmentalise my blogging time and try to leave my laptop and phone in my office as much as is possible so that checking emails and social media is something that I do during blogging hours — instead of during family time or at the dinner table.
My daily blog post the sweet albatross around my neck. I do it every day before 5 PM in New Zealand so that it appears around midnight in the US, which is still the biggest target market for English-language blogs.
I need to produce 365 unique pieces of photography art per year, so the production of the art actually takes much longer than the actual blog post. Maybe this is why I don’t mind the blog post. The blog post takes 5% of the time of the creation of the art. I write a short description of the photo and talk a bit about the art and the science behind it.
I have only two (main) posts a week, but they are rigidly scheduled and I’ve never missed one in five years of blogging. The streak helps to produce built-in accountability.
As for the actual writing, that tends to happen more spontaneously. I have a general quota of 1,000 words a day, but that can include a variety of writing. If I’m working on a book manuscript or traveling overseas, sometimes I create the blog posts in advance.
It's amazing the variety of routines used and a lot of will depend on your own personal circumstances. Darren Rowse shows this in this informative blog post . Those with jobs and/or children will have to get organised around them and other obligations. Those who work for themselves will have a greater degree of flexibility and will eventually find the optimum times to produce their best work while still being able to live a balanced and fulfilled life.
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If you ever have asked the question What is content marketing? Some very useful information on the subject of what is content marketing will be further discussed in this article.
Content marketing is a format of marketing that more subtly persuades customers to purchase certain products or services without bombarding them with sales pitches and in your face marketing. This approach is more welcome because there is nobody pressuring you to buy the product.
It gives the customer a feeling of more power and that they were the one that persuaded the purchase and not the salesman or woman. Keep reading to learn more about exactly what is content marketing and how it can help you!
What is Content Marketing: A Better Approach
There are many people in the marketing industry that can't answer the question what is content marketing? There are a lot of people that just spam people's email and/or social media pages. This is usually ineffective and usually lead to the termination or blocking of the senders email.
What is content marketing? It is an indirect way to capture a particular group or person's attention and quietly put the idea of your product in their head.
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Blogging is a great example of what is content marketing. A blog is a webpage that is usually free to join and allows you to post content on your blog page about pretty much whatever you want and tie your business or MLM company to.
A blog is a prime example of what is content marketing. If you can create relevant, interesting blog posts then you can turn those posts into potential sales for your business.
Being able to funnel the maximum amount of traffic toward your blog post will surely help you to succeed in creating a profitable business.
What is Content Marketing: Turning Content Into Valuable Traffic
Being able to understand what is content marketing is the first step in succeeding in the marketing industry. Content marketing and search engine optimization go hand and hand in accomplishing goals in this industry.
After you have written the quality content, then next thing you need to learn how to do is search engine optimization. Basically what SEO does is drives the maximum amount of traffic your way.
The way it does this is by formatting your content and webpage in a way that major search engines like google recognizes them. The better the content and formatting, the higher you will rank on those search pages thus hopefully transferring into sales for your business.
Another way people take advantage of content marketing is by using social media to promote their business. Creating and uploading videos to sites like Youtube is a growing way to answer the question what is content marketing.
Videos are another form of content that can be taken advantage of for the simple fact that there are millions and millions of people every day that use sites like these for various reasons. Answering the question what is content marketing is the first step toward success.
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There are some steps to take if you want to make money online blogging. Creating a successful blog will take some time, perseverance, and creativity. However, many people manage to build popular blogs that do generate a decent amount of income.
Make Money Online Blogging: Know Your Audience
The first step is to think about your readers, you need to know your target audience. The most successful blogs usually aim for a specific market or population. Some examples are parenting, humor, health and fitness, or technology.
Think about your potential readers and what they want to know. In addition to knowing your readership, you also need to know about your topic inside and out.
Make Money Online Blogging: Host Sites and Domain Names
Once you figure out what topic you want your blog to be about, you need to start setting it up. This means you need to find a host site. These sites provide a layout and step-by-step instructions for creating your blog page.
Some such as Blogger and WordPress.com will host a blog for free. If you want your own self-hosted blog then WordPress.org is your best bet.
Leadpages has now created a Website Builder where you can easily create a high-converting website with code-free customizations. By using Leadpages Site Builder you do not have the expense of hiring a web-developer or the extra cost of hosting.
The site builder comes with lightning-fast load speeds and 100% mobile responsive design. You can simply drag and drop your content into place and fully customize your site without touching a single line of website code.
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Creating the layout of your blog is the fun part. Add pictures, videos, text, and other page elements.
You will also need a domain name, which is the address your blog can be found on. Most people looking to make money online blogging want to have their own domain. This is considered more professional and it is easier for people to remember it.
However, there is a cost of about $10 to purchase a domain name from places like Namecheap or Godaddy and a small monthly fee for hosting it at webshosts like Hostgator or Bluehost. Once you set this up you will have your own web address for your blog.
Make Money Online Blogging: Marketing Your Blog
There are some relatively easy ways to increase your readership and to start increasing page views. First, create quality relevant content and then link your blog to your social networking sites. This will allow you to share a new posts with your friends and followers.
It is also helpful to follow other blogs that have a similar subject to yours. Also learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), this is the process that allows your blog to turn up on Internet searches. It has to do with keywords people use when searching for your subject, and making sure your site appears on their search engine page.
Make Money Online Blogging: Monetize Your Blog
This is one of the easiest ways to make money online blogging. Monetizing is when you open your blog up to advertising. You have control over what these ads look like and where they go.
Each time someone clicks on an ad, you get some money. If they click on an ad and buy something, you get a small commission. The type of ads are chosen for you based on the subject of your blog.
For example, a blog about running will probably have ads for running shoes. Some bloggers select specific products and write reviews about them with a link to the selling site, which also brings in a commission if the product is sold.
Make money online blogging by following these steps. Determine your audience, get your own domain name, market your blog, and monetize it. In time you will increase your readership and have people interested in the advertisements on your site.
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