Behind the Retweet: What Makes a Blog Post Popular
Think about the type of blog post that interests you. Why does it catch your attention? Is it informative, funny, or short and sweet?
After seeing people retweet my previous blog post about why PR pros should embrace Twitter, I wondered why this post was popular. The topic obviously interested me, but it wasn’t a groundbreaking idea. Other posts that I wrote involved statistics, quoted articles, and took time to create—but they weren’t popular.
I looked at the content of posts with hundreds of views and retweets. I studied the social media pro Chris Brogan’s blog. I thought about what I like to read. Eventually, I came up with a list to answer the burning question: what makes a blog post popular?
1.) Bullet points
Reading a blog should be quick and easy. Bullet points instantly make text easier to read. Bold words help, too.
2.) Questions
Don’t you think they’re a great way to catch readers’ attention?
3.) Tips & Tricks
Everyone likes advice. Especially advice that is put into a neat list.
4.) Short Sentences
Keep posts interesting. Make reading easy and quick.
5.) Pictures
Web browsing can leave you with a 9-second attention span—the same as a goldfish. Pictures can attract those wondering minds and keep readers focused on the article.
To all the readers and bloggers–what else makes a blog post popular?
A blog post that gives me something: giveaway, tutorial, recipe, etc.
DeborahDeborah, thanks for your input. You are pointing out a good tip for writers–to make sure their blog post offers something useful to readers. I also choose to read posts based on what I can take away from it, and I admit I can’t resist a giveaway!
Rachel LeamonWhite space
A lot of blogs are complete walls of text with a fancy image “cause a picture is the answer to all”, at least some bloggers tend to think that
I agree with all the points made in your post (especially the question part, I never thought about that, but it makes a lot of sense!) + Deborah’s, but I’ve got one minor “but”. Titles or enumerations (like used in this post) should be followed by the text immediately, especially when the text that belongs to the title is short (like in this blog). The reason for this is that it makes it easier for people to see which text belongs to which title (not trying to burn you down or something
just happen to remember that).
PaulThanks for your tip Paul! I appreciate any advice I can get. I never thought about the white space before but you’re right, a space between the titles and the text does make it harder to read. I will definitely keep this in mind for my future blog posts…so next time you check out this blog I’ll be using your advice!
Rachel Leamon