Top 10 Blog Traffic Killers

Platform by Michael Hyatt

The following advice is from Michael Hyatt’s newest release, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. The book is one of the most comprehensive guides on building an effective platform I’ve seen. Both beginning writers and established authors will find excellent and insightful instruction.


Assuming you want to increase your blog traffic, there are certain mistakes you must avoid to be successful. If you commit these errors, your traffic will never gain momentum. Worse, it may begin to plateau or begin to decrease.

How do I know? After writing more than 1,200 posts and receiving almost 100,000 comments, I have made most of the mistakes you can make—numerous times. As a result, certain patterns emerged.

1. You don’t post often enough.

Frequency is what separates the men from the boys … or the women from the girls. You cannot build solid traffic without frequent posts. I have seen time and time again that there is a direct correlation between frequency and traffic.

2. You post too often.

Yes, this is possible too. People don’t need to hear from anyone more than once a day—unless it is a group blog or a news site. You would do better to focus on writing one really great post a day rather than several mediocre ones. The trick is to find your frequency sweet spot. For me, it is four to five posts a week.

3. Your post is too long.

I shoot for less than 500 words. But I often post up to 600-700 words. Sometimes more. You can get away with this if your posts are scannable—that is, you make use of subheads, lists, and other devices that keep people moving through your content.

4. You don’t invite engagement.

Engagement refers to a combination of page views, reader comments, and social media mentions. The posts that generate the most engagement for me are those that are controversial, transparent (especially about failure), and/or open-ended. That is why I try to end every post with a question.

5. You don’t participate in the conversation.

When bloggers don’t comment on their own posts and respond to their readers, it is like hosting a party at your home, making a brief appearance, and then disappearing. In any other context, that behavior would be perceived as rude or odd. The same is true in blogging.

6. You don’t make your content accessible.

I often get asked if I think people are reading less. The simple answer is no. In fact, I think they are reading more than ever. But they are reading differently. Readers have shorter attention spans. They are scanning content, looking for items that interest them.

7. You don’t create catchy headlines.

According to Brian Clark, who runs the must-read site CopyBlogger, “on average, 8 out of 10 people will read the headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.” This means your headlines are the most important thing you write. Fortunately, Brian has an entire series of posts called How to Write Magnetic Headlines.

8. Your first paragraph is weak.

This is critical. Assuming you have written a great headline, people will next read your first paragraph. You must use this paragraph to pull them into the rest of your blog post. Start with a story, a promise, or a startling fact. Many bloggers spend too much time trying to set up the post or provide context. Just get to the point.

9. Your post is off-brand.

If you are trying to build a platform, you need to find an editorial focus and stick to it. A tighter focus leads to higher traffic. This is why I have tried to narrow my own focus to four areas: leadership, productivity, social media, and publishing. If I want to write on something else (e.g., fitness), I do so through one of these four lenses.

10. Your post is about you.

Unless you are a megacelebrity, readers don’t care about you. Not really. They are about themselves. They want to know what’s in it for them. your personal stories can be a doorway to that, but in the end, the best posts are about your readers’ needs, fears, problems, or concerns. Always ask, “What’s the takeaway for my reader?”

There are other mistakes too; I doubt this list is exhaustive. But if you can avoid these, you will be well on your way to increasing your traffic and growing your home base.


If you liked this post, you’ll love Platform. Read more at Amazon and download a free sample.

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Turndog Millionaire

Great tips. Especially about looking at each thing you do through a lens. Eventually you will talk about an array of topics, but if you always look through a particular lens, you should be ok

I think I do ok with most of these, but I fail at some for certain.

And I’m excited to get to your book too. I’m going to have an Amazon spree on Saturday 🙂

Matthew (Turndog Millionaire)

Michael Hyatt

Thanks, Matthew. I hope you enjoy the book!

Turndog Millionaire

bought it last night, so will make sure I review it when done. I hear it’s good. I’m sure it will be

Matthew (Turndog Millionaire)

Ed_Cyzewski

All good tips that I’ve seen modeled at your blog Michael. Under inviting engagement, I would add that negativity can really alienate readers and kill constructive dialogue. If I’m ever tempted to tackle a tough topic, I have tried to remember the word “redemptive.” I need to help all of my readers rather than leading one band of readers on a chase after another group of readers with pitch forks and torches.

RoreyCathcart

Love the comment Ed. In my personal life and in my mind I am a pitchfork and torches leader by nature. I have strong opinions that I frequently foist on my friends and family. It’s fine, they love me. Most importantly, they stand up to me and call BS on me too. It works for us. On my little Genealogy blog where I’m trying to generate business this personality flaw is a killer. My mantra to myself is ‘FRIENDLY and informative’. I like ‘redemptive’ too. I want to invite discussion, not echo chamber sycophantism.

Joe Lalonde

Great tips Michael. All items I’ve been trying to implement into my blog. The toughest has been writing a killer first paragraph. Starting off always seems awkward. Any advice?

Michael Hyatt

I think the best advice I can give is make it about the reader. Try to connect with his or her psychological state, a problem, or an intriguing fact.

RoreyCathcart

Michael. I really appreciate this post. It is nice, succinct list to gauge all of my content against. I know where my strengths and weaknesses are on the list. In the blog reading I do for my industry I would say ‘off-brand’ is our biggest fault. Though not posting enough comes in a close second.

Meredith Rutter

Jane, thank you for this guest post! Michael, thank you for the succinct and loaded bits of info about an area I (Yours In Books) am struggling to get on top of. Does your book do all this great stuff and more? (No, I’m not a plant!) Sounds like a must-read.

Michael Hyatt

Yes, I think so. You might want to have a look at  the reviews on Amazon. They will give you a good sense of what others are saying.

The Roaming Boomers

Thanks for Sharing!

John Andrew Williams

Just bought the book.  Thanks so much for posting!!  I know my blog on http://www.academiclifecoaching.com needs some love and support.  

Sally

Helpful tips – nothing worse than someone who posts too much, I end up “unfollowing” or “unfriending” them.

C. S. Lakin

Terrific, concise, pertinent, and so helpful. everything a blog post should be! thanks so much, Jane!

khaalidah

These tips are terrific common sense rules of thumb.  Great reminder and help.