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24 Brilliant Bloggers Talk About Writing Viral Posts

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Brilliant Bloggers is a bi-weekly series here at NMX where we look at the best posts from around the web all surrounding a specific topic. Every other week, we’ll feature a brilliant blogger, along with a huge list of more resources where you can learn about the topic. You can see more Brilliant Blogger posts or learn how to submit your link for an upcoming edition here.

This Week’s Topic: Writing Viral Posts

We all dream of waking up one morning to find that a post we wrote exploded over night and drove millions of new readers to your blog. Heck, forget millions most of us would be happy driving thousands or even hundreds of new readers to a post. We all cross our fingers that one of our posts will go viral, but the fact is that this isn’t common no matter how good your content may be.

Viral posts spread like an infection – fast and to many people. But what exactly defines a post as viral? And how do you replicate this success again and again on your blog? This week’s Brilliant Bloggers is all about how to write posts that set you up for this success. There may be no silver bullet formula you can follow that guarantees your post will go viral, but you can at least nudge things in your favor as much as possible!

Brilliant Blogger of the Week:

leo widrich What Makes Content Spread: The Anatomy of a Post that Got Over 500,000 Likes by Leo Widrich

If anyone knows a thing or two about viral posts, it’s the guys from Buffer, who see people sharing certain posts (and not sharing others) every day. In this post from Buffer’s Leo Widrich, the entire process of going viral is broken down into chunks, using a specific popular post as a case study. If you’re writing great content, but just can’t seem to reach that viral level, this is a post you need to read.

Also, make sure you follow Leo on Twitter at @LeoWid and check out Buffer as a content-sharing tool. Disclosure: they’ve exhibited at our conference in the past, but I wouldn’t recommend Buffer if I didn’t think this was an amazing tool.

Even More Brilliant Advice:

  1. 7 Steps to Create a Viral Blog Post by Jason Delodovici (@jdelodovici)
  2. 11 Tips to Write a Killer Blog Post that Can Go Viral by Nandita B. (@nanditaSEO)
  3. Create Powerful Viral Blog Posts With This Ten Point Plan by Scott Dudley (@ScottDudley)
  4. Five Easy Tips To Write Viral Blog Posts by Gary Lawood (@lawmacs)
  5. Forget SEO: Here’s How to Write a Post That Goes Viral by Neil Patel (@neilpatel)
  6. Go Viral: How To Write A Successful Blog Post by Josh Ebsworth (@CW_JoshE)
  7. Going Viral: Analyzing the Shared Characteristics Behind Viral Blog Posts by Tom Ewer (@tomewer)
  8. How I Used Twitter to Attract 34,771 Unique Web Hits by Derek Halpern (@derekhalpern)
  9. How to Go Viral with Your Blog Post by Terri Lee Ryan (@TerriLeeRyan)
  10. How To Plan And Write A Blog Post To Go Viral by Francisco Rosales (@socialmouths)
  11. How to Write Articles That Go Viral by Daniel Zeevi (@DashBurst)
  12. How to Write Copy that Goes Viral by Seth Godin (@ThisIsSethsBlog)
  13. How To Write For Viral Marketing by Chris Lentzy (@chrislentzy)
  14. How to Write Posts that Go Viral by Onibalusi Bamidele (@youngprepro)
  15. How to Write Posts that Go Viral in Social Media by Leslie Anglesey
  16. New Blogger? Create a Viral Post in 5 Simple Steps! by Greg Digneo (@GregDigneo)
  17. No More Blah Blogs: Let’s Go Viral by Hannah Kaufman for Savvy Panda (@savvypanda)
  18. Our Viral Blog Post Formula by Caitlyn Muir (@scribblinghappy)
  19. The Simple Secret Behind Writing Viral Blog Posts by Srivathsan G.K. (@dangerdiabolick)
  20. The Truth About Going Viral: What I Did After 1 Million People Stopped By My Blog by Jeff Goins (@JeffGoins)
  21. The Ultimate Guide to Creating Viral Content by Neil Davidson (@WEBPRESENTER)
  22. Who Else Wants to Write Viral Blog Posts? by Jasmine
  23. Why Content Goes Viral: the Theory and Proof by Carson Ward (@carson_ward)

Did I miss your post or a post by someone you know about writing viral posts? Unintentional! Help me out by leaving a comment below with the link.

Next Brilliant Blogger Topic: Hosting Webinars

I’d love to include a link to your post in our next installment– and if you head to the Brilliant Bloggers Schedule, you can see even more upcoming posts. We all have something to learn from one another, so please don’t be shy! Head to the schedule today to learn how to submit your post so I won’t miss it.

The Top 12 Sites in the Marketing with Social Media Course

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speaking-workshops Below is a list of the top 12 sites by unique visitors, visits and page views (they are different) upon completion of the Marketing with Social Media MBA course taught by Bill Belew (that’s me writing about myself in the 3rd person).

The course focused on content/inbound/social media marketing and was taught at the graduate level in an accredited university in Silicon Valley. Here are the details:

  • The students had different blogging rhythms – 1-3 times daily and wrote various lengths of posts – 200+ to 600+ words.
  • All actively created internal and external links and fished, legitimately, for back links.
  • The students guest posted twice each week at BillBelew.com and at a classmate’s site of their choice.
  • The students also wrote evergreen/anchor/pillar posts weekly.
  • Finally, some students actively worked their social networks if they had a presence.

For good or bad, take a look at the top 12 sites. I encourage you to let the students know what you think of their ongoing product.

Visits Uniques Page Views
Soccer Roundup 1,764 1,260 4,732
UI Design 1,134 437 3,053
Arts and Crafts* 2,789 2,393 14,691
Saumya’s Kitchen 1,887 1,163 4,329
Techno Evolution Leads Revolution 1,594 1,308 3,083
Rph at Work 1,542 1,081 5,722
Info-Nepal 1,901 1,422 4,984
Migrated Mouse 1,455 1,147 2,477
Colors n Spirits 3,076 2,115 20,907
Social Media Buff 2,453 1,726 4,855
Jinie’s Kitchen 5,332 3,419 14,284
World of Dance 2,047 1,843 3,413
 *the first month of data is missing
Course aggregate 43,599 28,376 122,680

Out of the 60 active students that finished the course, these top 12 (20%) students received:

66.5% of unique visits

61.9% of visitors

70.5% of page views. 

Where is Pareto when you need him? Indeed, 20% of the class clearly did generate the majority of the output.

Some of the questions I have at this point which I will address in future posts …

1. Does blogging pace make a difference? Multiple times/day of short posts vs one ‘meatier’ post daily? How about a combination to this approach?

2. Could the students generate organic traffic without relying on keyword research?

3. Does content have to be grammar perfect? For many of my students, English is their second and even 3rd or 4th language!

4. What about cheating and duplicate content? Does it work? Some of my students went that route and in a future post I will tell you how that worked, or didn’t work for them.

5. What is an average bounce rate? Time on site? Page view to unique visit ratio?

6. Do my instructions work in other languages? 2 of my students wrote in Chinese and one in Japanese.

7. What was the hardest part for these newbie bloggers?

8. How did they keep themselves motivated or not?

And and and …

9. What questions would you like to ask? What answers might I be able to dig out for you from this experiment?

I have a ton of data that I will share here in the coming months and at my home site – BillBelew.com and at NMX 2014. Will you be there? I will.

BTW, how’s your blog working for you?

Free Gift: The Ultimate Guide to Using Links to Build Relationships & Drive Traffic [12 Days of Giveaways]

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Introducing the latest in NMX’s line of ebooks: The Ultimate Guide to Using Links to Build Relationships and Drive Traffic.

Here at NMX, planning for our January event is in full swing…but that doesn’t mean we don’t have time for the holidays! That’s why, every day from now through December 25, we’re featuring a brand new giveaway for the entire NMX community!

Today, to start off the 12 Days of Giveaways, we have a real treat – a brand new ebook! If you’re a blogger, this is one you definitely don’t want to miss. The Ultimate Guide to Using Links to Build Relationships and Drive Traffic is a comprehensive resource that will teach you how to:

  • Make your content better by using both internal and external links
  • Drive massive traffic with link resources that go viral
  • Attract the attention of a-list bloggers in your niche with links
  • Keep readers coming back for more with link opportunities for your entire community
  • Ensure readers stay on your site longer through related links

Best of all, The Ultimate Guide to Using Links to Build Relationship and Drive Traffic is completely free for members of our brand new community, NMX University. (Don’t worry – membership to that is also free!)

You can find out more about our ebook and register for NMXU here, or if you are already a member, simply log in to NMXU here to download your free copy today!

Three Ways to Use Twitter Lists to Build Blog Traffic

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When I first signed up for Twitter, I didn’t use the list function at all. I didn’t even realize they had one, and I was following so few people that it didn’t really matter whether or not I had them categorized. As I began to “meet” people online and the number of people I followed grew, I suddenly needed to create lists in order to make sure I didn’t miss the tweets I really wanted to see. I have lists for blogging friends, lists for people I know in real life, lists for those I’m following who are gamers, and more. Organization is important to me, so I make good use of lists.

But lists are great for another reason too. When used correctly, they can actually help you build blog traffic. Today, I wanted to talk about three ways I’ve seen people using lists to drive traffic to their blogs, including some tips I’ve done myself.

Disclaimer: I do not encourage you to have “fake friendships” on Twitter or other social media sites. Basically, tweet with people because you like them, not because you think you can leverage your friendship to make money in the future! These tips are simply ways you can organize Twitter to make it more effective for driving blog traffic while still maintaining friendships and meeting new people.

Twitter List Tip #1: List chat participants.

I love taking part in Twitter chats, including our very own #BWEchat (held every Wednesday). When I participate in a chat that has to do with my blog niche, I like to add participants to a special list. After all, they’re all talking about the same topic, so they must be interested in it! Throughout the week, I often see chat participants asking questions about the topic at hand, and I can swoop in to answer them, even linking to past blog posts if relevant. Throughout the week, I’ll delete people who don’t engage or are spammy, follow the people who are friendly, and then clean out the list to prepare for the next chat.

Twitter List Tip #2: Create a list for conferences.

BWELA is coming up in less than a month, so now’s prime time to start preparing for BlogWorld and test out this tip for yourself. As you see people tweeting about going (follow the #BWELA hashtag), add them to a list of your own and interact with them. You’ll make some new friends, and be able to plan some great meet-ups while you’re in LA. The added bonus (and traffic-driving portion of this tip) is that most people who are going to meet you in real life take a moment to check out your blog.

Twitter List Tip #3: Go for the multiple RTs.

People retweet posts all the time. Sometimes because they’re friends with you already, while other times because they just happened across your link via a friend or search engine and liked the post. Those are people who have already raised their hands and said they like your blog! Add them to a list and build that relationship. You can even notify them when you’ve written something similar to something they’ve retweeted in the past (though try not to be too spammy).

Do you use Twitter lists to build traffic? Share your tips with a comment below!

21 Brilliant Bloggers Talk About Commenting

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Brilliant Bloggers is a weekly series here at BlogWorld where we look at the best posts from around the web all surrounding a specific topic. Every week, we’ll feature three of the most brilliant bloggers out there, along with a huge link of more resources where you can learn about the topic. You can see more Brilliant Blogger posts or learn how to submit your link for an upcoming edition here.

This Week’s Topic: Commenting

Posts about commenting generally fall into two main categories: 1) how to effectively comment on others’ blogs to build your brand and boost your traffic and 2) how to police the comments on your own blog. Both are topics that you need to consider if you want to be a successful blogger. After all, audience participation through commenting is one of the biggest differences between a blog and a static website. Today’s Brilliant Bloggers discuss this topic from top to bottom, so you don’t want to miss a single post!

(This is serendipitously a really relevant topic for this week, since Facebook just unveiled their new comment box plugin.)

Advice from Brilliant Bloggers:

How to Use Blog Commenting as a Networking Superweapon by Arik Hanson

Dude, if you want a go-to guide for how to effectively comment and turn those comments into something more than just a few clicks worth of traffic, this is a post you need. It’s actually a guest post for Social Media Examiner, so it’s also a good example of how to do guest posting the right way! Arik does an awesome job of guiding you through the ins and outs of finding blogs and leaving comments…and then talks about how to leverage that initial interaction to do some awesome networking. After you read the post, you can find him on Twitter @arikhanson.

Is Commenting on Blogs a Smart Traffic Strategy? by Brian Clark

I love this post because it addresses something that grinds on my last nerve – people who leave senseless comments on popular blogs because they want to be first. In fact, on the biggest blogs out there, that’s what people say: “FIRST!” Ironically enough, often there are 10+ people who all leave “first” as a comment. In any case, rushing a comment to be first not only makes you look like a tool, but it also doesn’t really give you traffic benefits – at least, that’s what Brian argues in this post (and I agree). Check it out and follow him on Twitter @copyblogger.

Creating a Blog Comment Policy that Works by John Saddington

I recommend that everyone has a comment policy posted someone on their blog, especially if you post anything controversial. Debates can turn sour in a hurry, and comment policies can help your readers know where you’ll draw the line. John’s post will help you create a policy if you don’t have one already, and you can also check him out on Twitter @tentblogger. (Also, unrelated, but his blog has the best subscribe button ever.)

Even More Brilliant Advice:

Did I miss your post or a post by someone you know about comments? Unintentional! Help me out by leaving a comment below with the link!

Next Week’s Topic: StumbleUpon

I’d love to include a link to your post next week – and if you head to the Brilliant Blogger Schedule, you can see even more upcoming posts. We all have something to learn from one another, so please don’t be shy! Head to the schedule today to learn how to submit your post so I won’t miss it.

Why Your Comments Aren’t Driving Traffic

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Back when I first started blogging, I remember that people were comment-crazy. I got my start writing for someone else’s blog network, and one of the things they drilled into our heads in the writers’ forum, employee training, etc. was that if you want to grow your blog readership, you need to leave comments on other blogs in your niche.

Not exactly the traffic you were expecting?

Comments are awesome. I love getting comments. When I feel passionate about a topic, I love leaving comments. But the truth? Comments don’t drive traffic.

Several years ago, I started my first blog, called the Millionaire Blogger, where I tracked my efforts to make a million dollars as a blogger (total, not per month or anything). One of the most popular posts I did there was a case study I did. For one week, I went out and commented everywhere. My goal was to leave 100 high-quality, helpful comments on blogs in my niche, and by the end of the week, I had exceeded that number. I tracked my stats very carefully. The results? I saw a very, very, very minor bump in traffic. The traffic wasn’t sticky at all. I didn’t receive more comments on my own posts than usual.

So why aren’t your comments driving traffic? It likely has very little to do with what you’re actually saying. Someone who leaves crap comments that are filled with backlinks will likely piss off the blogger and the community where you’re leaving those comments, but someone who leaves a helpful comment isn’t going to see much better results in terms of traffic back to their own website. It’s not about your content.

It’s about community.

If you wander around your niche and leave comments randomly, people may read your comment and enjoy it, even respond, but they don’t know you. They’re on that blog because they’re part of that blog’s community. They are looking for a new community. They care about your in the context of that blog’s community, but they have no push to get to know what you’re doing outside of that community.

The only way to change that, to make them care about who you are outside of that community is if you become part of it. If you’re there every day giving awesome tips and adding to the conversation, if you’re part of the forum, if you’re active on Twitter within the community, if you start showing up on the blogs of other commenters…then, people will start taking notice. Naturally, they’ll become curious about you and check out your site, and maybe even become part of your community.

In my opinion, though, commenting is not a good traffic-driving strategy. Don’t comment on others’ blogs because you’re hoping to see traffic back to your site. It’s a highly inefficient use of your time. Comment on others’ blogs because you actually have something to say and want to be a part of their community.

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