7 Blogging Tricks for More Traffic, Shares and Links

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7 Blogging Tricks For More Traffic, Shares and LinksAndy Crestodina

#wineweb

Strategic Director | @crestodina

Wine & Web #54

Topics

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source: Moz, BuzzSumo

What gets shares and links?

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source: Moz, BuzzSumo

Most Content Gets Few Shares and No Links

...if you want to create content that achieves a high level of both shares and links

then you should concentrate on opinion forming, authoritative content...

or well researched and evidenced content.

The Power of Strong Opinion

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List of Your Strongest Opinions

Why Create Research?

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1. Numbers are credible2. Owned by you, making your site the

primary source3. The outreach can grow your network4. Support the sales pitch5. Research gets more links and shares

than other content

Types of Research

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1. Experimentation2. Observation3. Aggregate4. Online Survey5. Phone Survey

Before

• Four options• “∞ emails”• CTA: “Sign Up”

Before

• Three options• “Unlimited emails”• CTA: “Get Started Now”

+500% Increase in conversionssource: Copy Hackers

source: Apartment List

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Observation

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source: Wikipedia

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Aggregate

source: MOZ

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Aggregate

Online Survey

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Source: GroupHigh

Phone Survey

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Source: HBR

Don’t take shortcuts; they take too long.

Sonia SimoneCCO, Copyblogger Media

Research & Marketing

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Length

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source: BuzzSumo dataset: OrbitMedia.com

Long Content Gets Shared More

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source: Curata

Long Content Generates More Leads

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source: HubSpot

Long Content Gets Linked To More

Word Count vs Average Linking Domains

> 2500

2250 – 2500

2000 – 2249

1750 – 1999

1500 – 1749

1250 – 1499

1000 – 1249

750 – 999

500 – 749

250 – 499

0 - 249

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source: Moz, Buzzsumo

Article Length Avg Shares Avg Referring Links

< 1,000 2,823 3.47

1 - 2,000 3.456 6.92

2 – 3,000 4,254 8.81

3 – 10,000+ 5,883 11.07

n = 489,128 articles (over 85% had less than 1,000 words)

Length, Shares and Links

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source: CoSchedule

Long Content Tends to Rank Higher

Formatting

source: NN Group: How Little do Users Read?

“Users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.”

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Readers Aren’t Reading

• Header and Subheaders• Bullet Lists Numbered Lists• Block Quotes• Bolding and Italics• Internal Links• Short paragraphs

Format for Scanners

Short paragraphs get read.Long paragraphs get skimmed.

Very long paragraphs get skipped.

Jason FriedBasecamp

white space is good

Headlines

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1. Make a Promise2. Trigger Curiosity3. Use Numbers4. Ask a Question5. Use Power Words6. Sized to Fit the Purpose7. Keyword First

7-Point Headline Checklist

source: How to Write a Headline That Won’t Get Ignored

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Images

source: Twitter Media Blog, March 2014

source: Social Bakers, March 2014

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source: 2015 Blogger Survey

What Media are Bloggers Adding?

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In a desert of text, images are water.Give your readers a sip!

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If you can’t write a meaningful caption,it’s a stock image.

1. Contains the headline (or quote)

2. Has a face3. Sized for social media4. Consistent and aligns with the

brand5. Explains complex concepts6. Use more than one image7. Won’t get you sued

7-Point Blog Image Checklist

source: Best Practices for Adding Great Pictures to Every Post

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Collaboration

1. Mention them in your content2. Ask for a contributor quote3. Include them in an expert

roundup4. Invite them to guest post5. Deep dive interview

Five Ways to Collaborate

source: Online Networking Guide, Orbit Media

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Let Your Collaborators Know...

YOUR SITE

OTHER SITES

Locations

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Blogging vs. Guest Blogging

Content = 2Links = 0Friends = 0

Round Two...

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(better links + real connections)

Nice blog, but… This is what great content marketing looks like.

Round Four...

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Content optimized for search includes keywords.Content optimized for social includes people.

An ally in creation is an ally in promotion

How many people are waiting for you post to be published?

...make sure it’s not zero

What’s In It For Me?!

Ideas from Feldman Creative focus on putting thepower of digital marketing to work to get you

more traffic, leads and sales.

Ideas from Feldman Creative focus on putting thepower of digital marketing to work to get you

more traffic, leads and sales.

Put the power of digital marketing to work to get more traffic, leads and sales.

1. Get to the point very quickly2. Indicate the benefits in the headline3. Be brief

What’s in it for me??

THANK YOU! #wineweb

Andy CrestodinaStrategic Director | @crestodina

bitly.com/contentchem