How To Write A Popular Post
By Leo Babauta
Over the last fortnight or so, I’ve had some thrilling success on social bookmarking sites such as Digg and delicious, in articles that I’ve written for a few different blogs (including last week’s 7 Ways to Crank Out Articles). Now, these posts weren’t written specifically to get Dugg, but I have learned a thing or two about writing a popular post, and why it matters to freelance blog writers.
Let’s take a little look today at why a freelance blog writer should care about writing popular posts:
It makes you valuable. If you are writing freelance for a blog, you want to give them your very best content, and give their readers great value with your writing. But if you also write a post that does hugely well on Digg (for example), you’ve just given your employer something that’s not easily achievable. Sure, the big sites can make the front page of Digg nearly any day of the week, but trust me, they still care about it. And to medium and smaller blogs, those types of successful posts are pure gold.
Looks good on your resume. Well, you probably won’t literally list your popular posts on your resume, but if you contact any potential employers to do some freelance writing, you can mention that you’ve had 12 popular posts on Digg in two months. They’ll hire you in a flash.
It’s a bit of a thrill. To know that thousands of people like your article is like a validation that you’re a good writer. But if you are looking for validation, don’t read the comments on Digg. They’re pretty vicious.
Now, you should know that it’s not easy to get on the front-page of Digg, and it can take a bit of luck. Often you might write an article that you think will do well, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Other times you don’t expect an article to do anything, and it just takes off. It helps if another popular blog links to the article to get the ball rolling.
But given all of that, there are some things you can do to write an article with powerful potential to become popular:
- Write catchy headlines. This is the most important step of all. Headlines, more than anything else, will catch the eye of a potential Digger or deliciouser. Make them want to know more, want to read your article, and you’re halfway to getting a digg. The other half, of course, is the content, but they won’t read the content if the headline doesn’t grab their attention. Read some popular posts on Digg and delicious to find out the kind of headlines that do well. Most important: the headline should have some kind of benefit for the reader, should catch their attention, and should make them curious and want to know more. Don’t be afraid to be flashy when it comes to headlines — understated headlines don’t do well. And don’t be afraid to revise your headline several times — the original idea is rarely the best.
-
Deliver the content. OK, you’ve got their attention with the headline. But if your content doesn’t give them exactly what the headline advertised, your readers will feel tricked. And then they will be angry. And anger is not usually the reader reaction you should go for if you’re looking for popularity. Your content should deliver exactly what you said you would give them, and be as well-written as possible.
- Be useful. Be extremely useful. Some of the most popular posts are the ones that teach the reader to do something they’ve always wanted to do, or that offer them a resource they can use often as a reference (that’s why they’ll bookmark it on delicious). Write a resource that is so useful that the reader will have no choice but to bookmark it. Lists of useful resources and links are always a good choice.
- Write about a hot topic. OK, this is pandering, but who among us hasn’t sold our souls yet. Just me? OK, then skip this step. But if you want to grab a reader’s attention, writing about Twitter a few weeks ago, or Tim Ferriss last week, or Ron Paul this week, or MySpace or You Tube or Google or Ubuntu or Macs in any given week, would be likely to catch some attention. Especially if you write something original or extremely useful about that topic.
- Write a great lead. The opening paragraph (or two), after the headline, is the most important part of the post. Write a lead that summarizes what you’re going to talk about in the article, and why the reader should care, and grabs their attention and pulls them into the rest of the article. That’s a lot to ask of one paragraph, but the best leads will accomplish this.
- Use lists. Sure, people get tired of seeing Top 10 lists, but if it’s a Top 10 list about something they’re interested in, they’ll read it anyway. And the great thing about lists is that they are well organized, and eminently scannable. A busy Digger or deliciouser can easily catch your main points without having to spend much time reading the whole post. Who has time to read every word?
- Be original. You can do all of the above and be exactly the same as a dozen other dugg posts. No one wants to read a duplicate of something they’ve read over and over before. Do something different, think of a way to give a new perspective or refreshing angle to an old post, add humor throughout the post. Make them leave the article saying, “Wow, this was pretty good. I should thank that awesome free-lance blog writer with a Digg!” (Again, if you want to believe that people are thinking this stuff about your article, don’t read the comments on Digg.)
3,200 freelancers surveyed globally. In-depth interviews with 10 notable freelancers.
Insights and information you can't afford to ignore!
Find Out More
With over 100 weekly comic strips and counting, Freelance Freedom is an institution around here. Check out of all NC's brilliant work in the archives.
Freelance Freedom Archives
Fabulous post Leo, I could help but immediately submit it to Digg though who knows what diggers will make of it
Social bookmarks sites are a pain in the neck for bloggers…here’s why I think so:
http://www.sciencetext.com/top-ten-reasons-bloggers-should-avoid-social-bookmarking.html
Nice post.
Hey David, nice post, did you know that ironically it has been submitted to Digg itself! – http://digg.com/software/Top_Ten_Reasons_Bloggers_Should_Avoid_Social_Bookmarking
I’m working on writing a popular comment.
This IS what I’ve been talking about! You are the man! This is the kind of thing that I wanted to get from this site and guess what this article just got del.icio.used by me!
“Hey David, nice post, did you know that ironically it has been submitted to Digg itself! ”
You linked to the wrong page for that “7 ways to crank out articles” link.
Good tips on writing popular posts.
Why do so many people write about the same thing in a same way? It seems like every blogger feels obliged to write at least once on this topic.
Good post indeed… nothing more annoying then reading a blog post which makes you regret losing 2-3 minutes of your life =)
Thanks for the great comments, everybody!
@David Bradley: You bring up some excellent points, and I agree with some of them. However, I think overall, a good blogger who would like long-term traffic should consider social bookmarking. A couple of points in response to your post:
* Yes, Digg can crash your site if you’re on a low-cost server — but once your traffic gets a bit heavy, you should consider a higher-traffic server. If you only want to have a little traffic, then the high-traffic server and social bookmarking sites aren’t for you.
* Digg will give you a big traffic spike, and that will die down after a couple of days. And no, the monetization won’t be huge, as you mentioned. But you shouldn’t be thinking in terms of monetization in the early stages of your blog. You should be thinking of long-term readers. And though 99% of the Digg visitors will not come back, even a 5% sticking rate is good. I’ve noticed increases in my subscribers on my blog each time I got popular on Digg or delicious or Netscape or Stumbleupon. Those increases add up over time — I’m up to 6,800 subscribers in less than 4 months, which isn’t bad.
* Perhaps just as important as subscribers, though, is branding. As a writer, you need to make a name for yourself. Even if 99% of the Digg users don’t come back (worst case scenario), at least they’ve read your post. And now they’ve heard of you and your blog. They might not remember it, but if this happens 2-3 times, your brand (your blog and your name) will begin to register as something they should know. And if you get popular 5-6 times, for example, pretty soon you are a brand that is highly recognizable. That will pay off in the long run.
* As I said in the post above, do not read the comments on Digg. You need a really thick skin, because they are malicious. I’ve developed that thick skin (I cried like a baby from the comments of my first popular post), and I just laugh when I read their comments now.
* They are a huge distraction and waste of time — agreed! You really have to limit your time on them. Don’t get sucked in!
But again, your points are well-taken, David. Any writer considering these issues should weigh your arguments with mine and make a very personal decision.
totally sound advice!
In regards to Davids post, while I agree with some of those points and will not argue with them, I find it humouress that you have included a ‘share this’ link which allows you to dig it etc
Is that not called “not practicing what you preach”??
Besides that I thought this article is helpful indeed, not the first I have read some of the tips but helpful indeed, so thanks
Actually, I think all you have to do to write a popular post is use that headline! hahaha honestly, when I saw your headline in the feed list, I clicked it really, really fast.
I’m just starting to blog about digital film production, and this is some great advice to help me along. Thanks!
Thanks for all the comments guys. I’ve had more feedback on the article here, than I got on my site. Darn those Diggers when they won’t come. And, yes, it was deliberately ironic to get on Digg and to use ShareThis. I have to confess, I was playing devil’s advocate in writing a contrary article like this that advises bloggers to do exactly the opposite of what most advice articles would say.
Just for the record, I am quite happy for Sciencetext to receive visits from social bookmarkers everywhere. In fact the site had 25000 Stumbleuponers this week already on an article on Firefox plugins to annoy advertisers
Thanks again for the feedback
db
I always enjoy Leo’s articles whether they’ve been written about before or not because he writes them better than anyone else.
Good job Leo!
Thanks for the great advice. As a new blogger, this information is incredibly valuable.
awesome advise… #1 and #7 are key
Thanks for a great article.
Nice article!!!
Wow, you’ve got this worked down to a science. This is especially useful to those of us who run a blog as a way of driving more traffic to our site. Thanks for the valuable advice.
auto spray guns auto spray guns [link=http://auto-spray-guns.holily.in/]auto spray guns[/link] animation japanese animation japanese [link=http://manawebster.iespana.es/view/animation-japanese.html]animation japanese[/link] rumour has it jennifer aniston rumour has it jennifer aniston [link=http://yasa-shisa.isuisse.com/rumour-has-it-jennifer.html]rumour has it jennifer aniston[/link]
longaberger purse basket ebay longaberger [link=http://morningmoon.we.bs/web/longaberger.html]basket longaberger[/link] acceleration due to gravity 2004 acceleration administrator administrator consultant consultant internet isa microsoft pocket pocket pro security server [link=http://tangelaflora.we.bs/acceleration.html]acceleration formula[/link] king edward 6th college stourbridge king edward 6th college stourbridge [link=http://king-edward-6th.pappas.in/]king edward 6th college stourbridge[/link]
dr seuss how the grinch stole christmas inflatable grinch [link=http://traceejeffreys.ifrance.com/topic/the-grinch.html]the grinch that stole christmas[/link] dr seuss how the grinch stole christmas inflatable grinch [link=http://traceejeffreys.ifrance.com/topic/the-grinch.html]the grinch that stole christmas[/link]
dog bark dog bark [link=http://liquid.isasecret.com/dog-bark.html]dog bark[/link] dog bark dog bark [link=http://liquid.isasecret.com/dog-bark.html]dog bark[/link]
a good review how to write poplaran post, you covered everything
Great review, very detailed and informative. Writing a hot topic is the best way to have your post very popular. People will always search past and current hot trends in any search engines.
you have probably mentioned all points to make a post digg and tweet worthy. I was just setting out to write a post like this. I think this post offers a great deal of inspiration for me to write my next post on how to make their post tweet-worthy. Thanks for the wonderful post!
This article is a very helpful to all blogger and I think If you want to write a excellent post then this post is keep in mind.