Have you
noticed that so many blog posts begin with a number? 6 ways to do this, 5 steps to do that, 8 ways
to avoid doing x, and 7 keys to achieving y.
Or, 9 reasons to read this blog. If a recent analysis of Inc. com
columns is any indication, if your blog post doesn’t begin with a number you
will not get as much traffic as you should
get.
A look
at October Inc.com columns that achieved the most readers, 90% or 9 out of the top 10, began with a
number. Here are some samples:
·
20
Awesome Things to Say That Will Radically Improve Your Life
·
8
Questions Every Candidate Should Ask During Job Interviews
·
19
Things Remarkable People Think Every Day
·
35
Cool Gadgets That Make Business Travel Faster
So why
are these types of articles and posts so popular, especially online? Because
they invite low commitment. You can read as many of the tips as you choose to.
There’s an expectation the article will not be long. It’ll be scannable and
skimmable, as opposed to having to ready a chunky article. Even better, such
articles with a number of steps always promise a benefit. 10 Ways to Make Money
sounds better than Why People Are Not
Opening Up IRA’s.
This has
been going on for a long time, beginning with printed publications. We have so
many top ten lists floating around. Magazines love telling us the 6 secrets to
a better sex life and the 11 fashion trends you must follow. Oh, here are 13
tips for losing weight, and 12 things to look for when shopping for a car.
This
doesn’t mean all blog posts have to involve a number of steps, lists or
strategies, but it does mean that you should give thought to everyone’s desire
to see things in a bulleted format.
Everyone has ADHD. We want to be exposed to a lot of things but each
thing tends to lack in-depth substance. Now, you could counter this revolution and
instead of tapping out the 8 ways to do something, you can create a lengthy,
well-researched, well-thought out piece on a subject people need to hear about.
But not every post can be Pulitzer-worthy. You need to mix in the 20 ways to
pick your nose posts.
Now, I
promised nine reasons to read this blog, but the truth is there are only two:
you’ll learn something and I will get more traffic to my blog. But if I only
put two reasons in the headline you would ignore it because two sounds like such
a low number. That is worse than putting a high number in the headline. Ok, now
you learned something else, so I am down six reasons, but hopefully you’ll
appreciate the brevity of my post!
READ THIS!
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Brian
Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and
not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter.
You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com.
He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted
by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014
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