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Blog Post Not Popular? Try This Simple Test

Guest post by: Karen Scharf

Article Overview: If you've been blogging for any length of time, I'm sure you've had at least one blog post that was just not at all popular. Even your loyal readers aren't spending enough time on the page to get through the entire article. And you're not really sure what went wrong.

Blog Post Not Popular? Try This Simple Test

If you've been blogging for any length of time, I'm sure you've had at least one blog post that was just not at all popular. Even your loyal readers aren't spending enough time on the page to get through the entire article. And you're not really sure what went wrong. While your initial reaction might be to throw in the towel and give up blogging in the future, instead I invite you to take advantage of this great learning opportunity. Take a look back at your blog post and run it through this simple test.

Test your title

In less than three seconds, your website visitors determine whether or not they want to remain on your webpage. And that conclusion is made, in large part, based on your page title. Make sure your title demonstrates a well-defined benefit to continuing with the rest of the article. Your title must pull your readers in to the rest of the blog post.

Test your opening sentence

Your first sentence is just as important as your title. It helps set the stage for the rest of the blog post. Your reader will determine the value of the rest of your post based on your opening sentence. It's important that your first sentence pulls the reader into the next sentence, and the second sentence pulls the reader into the third sentence, and on and on.

Test you layout

If your blog post looks like it's going to be difficult to read, chances are your readers won't stick around long enough to read it. You can make your post more visually appealing by including images or charts or any other eye candy. Using subheadings, bullet points, numbered lists and lots of white spaces will make your blog post easier on the eye and it will appear easier to read.

Test your reader interaction

Making your reader feel as if he's involved in the conversation, rather than only reading an article, is a good way to encourage your site visitors to hang around on your page longer. Consider asking a question in your blog post. Entice your readers to "talk" to each other using your blog comments field. Ask your visitors to contribute their opinion or, in some other way, to get involved with what you're saying.

Test your content

It can be hard to admit, but sometimes we're just not interesting. It could be a bad day, it could be a topic you're not too familiar with, whatever the case, there's always the chance that your post was simply something your audience didn't want to read. Maybe you need to introduce a new topic, or go back to a topic you're more comfortable with. Did you give your audience something they need? Sure, it's important to be interesting, but your audience might also be looking for informative, especially if your blog is aimed at other small business people.

Test your traffic methods

Did you advertise the post and encourage visitors? What avenues did you use to drive traffic to that particular post? Perhaps you need a better link building campaign or maybe it's time to investigate new traffic sources.

Test your post length

If your post is too long, your readers might not want to stick around. Remember, on the internet, three minutes can seem like an eternity. Could you have eliminated several sentences? Several paragraphs? Several thoughts?

On the other hand, if your post is too short, your readers might think it doesn't contain any worthwhile information. You need to know your audience expectations, and then test, test, test.

Of course, there's always the possibility that the lack of interest in this particular post didn't have any thing to do with the post itself. Is it possible that an outside event had your readers' attention on the day the post was published? Major breaking news, n industry shakeup, a natural disaster can all affect whether or not your readers are attentive to a certain post.

If the majority of your blog posts are getting respectable traffic and if you are comfortable with your relationship with your readers, I wouldn't worry about one unpopular post.

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Article Tags: blog post, blogging, blogs



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