What type of content helps to build a popular blog? Today Jurgen Appelo from Noop.nl shares three types of posts to help you grow your blog.
There are many ways to build a popular blog, and each blog author has his own ideas on topics and style of writing. In this post I will tell you about my personal recipe for blogs. I call it sugar, spice & vitamins.
Vitamins
But how do I get people to consume vitamins?
Well, just imagine that you’re trying to interest consumers in eating savory pies. Waving at people with healthy carrots and sticks of celery will probably not be received with much enthusiasm. People might care about vitamins, but what really gets them motivated is usually something else…
Sugar
But why always the number 100 in these posts?
Because 100 is bigger than 25. And bigger than 50. And it’s the first number to require no less than three digits. The posts I mentioned here have been huge traffic generators for my blog. I believe that list size and traffic volume have a non-linear relationship. A top 100 list doesn’t give you four times as much traffic as a top 25 list. It gives you ten times as much! (I even created an article called How to Create a Top Blog List, so that you can enjoy similar results for your blog.)
You can think of other and better ways of attracting new readers. But remember! We’re talking about sugar posts here. They only exist to attract new consumers and to make them digest the vitamins as well. Go easy on the sugar! You don’t want your blog to turn into a cotton candy machine.
Spice
But won’t these posts scare away my readers?
Yes, some of them perhaps. I’ve written posts that made people laugh, scream and cry. Figuratively speaking of course. (And some of their replies made me laugh, scream and cry.) It’s the spices that will divide your readers. Some people will hate them. But many will come back for more, because they won’t find those particular flavors anywhere else.
Sugar, Spice & Vitamins
Exactly one year after I started, my blog now has 2,500 feed subscribers, and 1,000 visits per day. That’s not bad for a blog about an extremely boring topic like software development management. And I attribute the success to my sugar, spice & vitamins recipe. The sugar attracts new readers, the vitamins keep everyone healthy, and the spices make it all the more interesting.
So… have you figured out what kind of post this is?
Images by Fred Armitage, Darwin Bell and Riv.