The other night I was chatting with The XBroker, Jeff Corbett and he was sharing with me how he was stunned by the amount of traffic his recent post, Survey Says...Realtors Suck! In less than 48 hours, the post had over 10,000 views. As I began writing this post, it had been viewed, 11,951 times and clicked on to be read, 11,483 times. Personally I was blown away by these stats!
When I was selling Myrtle Beach Real Estate full time as a real estate agent and had just a personal website, the highest amount of traffic my website ever received was just over 3,000 hits in a month! So, I began to investigate my blog to see what kind of traffic my posts receive on ActiveRain. This is post #474 for me. I started looking at the statistics on my blog to see what kind of traffic my posts have been receiving. For the sake of time, I used my last 25 posts to figure out my average number of clicks and views.
The last 25 posts I have written have received 40,699 views and 9124 click thru's to be read. This averages to over 22% click through rate. Or, 1 out of every 5 visitors to my blog is clicking into my post to read it. Rainmaker accounts on average receive around 500 views per post. But, let me show you a few tips to increase traffic even more and get them reading your posts.
First, you need to have a catchy title. Having a title that peaks someones curiosity will always be more effective than a good descriptive title. If Jeff had written his title as, "California Association of Realtors 2008 Home Seller Survey Results" instead of "Survey Says...Realtors Suck!" the activity would have been much less. Remember, over 10,000 views in less than 48 Hours! Here is a free tip to all the members on how to increase your chances of getting featured.... TITLE TITLE TITLE! I view over 300 posts daily and if your title doesn't make me click on the post, your chances of being featured go way down.
Next, be consistent! A consistent blogger is a successful blogger. before I go any further, let me insert this caveat. Consistency is different than just placing up a bunch of blah blah junk on your blog 3 times a day. What I mean by being a consistent blogger is someone who writes on a regular basis (daily or every other day) good quality content each post. When you read through a post by that person, you find a new nugget of information that is important. Writing a short 3 line blog is a waste of your time and mine. Something that short is nothing more than an over sized Tweet and needs to be used in that forum.
Remember, the consumer has showed up to your blog hungry to learn something. If you are not feeding them the nutrition they came in search of, they will move on to someone else that will satisfy their needs.
Thirdly, Be as committed as a Major League Broadcaster. Last week one of my favorite announcers, Harry Kalas the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies passed away suddenly. While it was a rather tragic and very sad event, one thing I learned from Harry was to be committed. He was the Phllies announcer for over 30 years. He became well known for his great "outta here" calls. But his commitment to a team that has the most losses of any other professional team had to be hard at times. But Harry knew that it was only a season and that the Phillies would return to greatness which happened last year as they won the world series.
When it comes to blogging, we need to have that same level of commitment. I talk to people on a daily basis that say blogging is a waste of time. Whenever I ask, how long have you done it, they normally respond with, "oh, 4 days, and I did 2 posts with no leads! As Brad Andersohn says, "It isn't a sprint, but more like a Marathon!" Give it time, and whenever you want to throw in the towel, watch this clip.
Live on the edge but don't fall off! My father used to tell me all time, "Jeremy, there is a difference between being cutting edge and bleeding edge" When you are writing your posts, using some "edginess" will start conversations among your readers. One of the main points in writing a blog post is to get interaction with your readers through comments. Be Cautious though to not push the envelope too far and go from that cutting edge to bleeding everywhere. If that happens, your readers will disappear.
Share your expertise in a "No Holds Barred" manner. One of the things I have been gifted with is the ability to learn new gadgets quick and implement them into a business plan. Many of these items I have learned I have shared with members here on ActiveRain through multiple tutorials. As I stated before, interaction is an important between your consumers/members is an important aspect to the success. The posts that continually get comments on are the posts of tutorials on how to do this, or how to use that.
Don't get consumed by comments! Did I just contradict myself? I think I did! When I say don't be consumed by comments, what I mean is this: Do not give up and think your blog is not working just because you do not receive a gold star or 100 comments. As I began looking back over my stats I noticed that the posts that had the most views & clicks were not my featured posts. Nor were the posts with over 100 comments or even the one with 791 comments! Instead, it was the posts that were consumer oriented & Localism. Several of my Localism posts have been viewed well over 3,000 times!
I know I made it sound super easy to get a good level of readership to your blog, but in all honesty it really is! If you take the time and put forth the effort, your end results can be amazing!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am the Co-Founder of 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors. I have traveled the country as a social media speaker. If you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in this blog, please contact me directly. We specialize in social media training, online consulting, and the creation of your own custom WordPress site.
Feel free to subscribe to my blog to keep up to date with my latest posts of tips & tricks to enhance your experience on ActiveRain. If you would like, you can sign up to receive updates via email directly in your inbox.
Also, let's connect on these great social networks:
Useful Blog Posts:
Twitter Applications- 125 Twitter Tools To Make Twitter Easier To Use
Featured @ Club Chaos
Great reminder to us all to keep blogging. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your expertise in blogging. I have a graduate degree in information systems. I just began blogging about two months ago in order to start being recognized on the Internet for my local expertise. Furthermore, I really enjoy writing on the Internet. It gives me a chance to give back to the Realtor community across this fine country. Thanks for the inspiration and words of advise.
Good stuff Jeremy - and a reminder for me to work on my titles!
(BTW-if I were writing to get 100 comments or a gold star, I would have quit a long time ago - I'm lucky to get 100 click throughs LOL - guess I've got work to do still!)
Jeremy, I think the key phrase that got this one going was "Realtors Suck." VERY catchy!!
I toss up some posts and hope that nobody here will comment on them... and then there are others that I write for the A|R 'in-house' audience.
But, just titling it Realtors Suck is enough to get loads of hits.
I agree that it is definetely because of the Title "Realtors Suck". We will all have to work on our titles. Thanks for the encouragement to the rest of us bloggers.
Jeremy: It's the same reason RL radio personality gets so much press, hate and sensationalism provoke strong emotion. I opt out.
I agree with your assessment. It takes discipline...just like everything else worthwhile.
Wow,
Thanks for the math lesson. I will have to check out my ratio. I have been working on crreative titles and my recent blogs have been receiving more attention. I think I'm making progress lol.
what does "view" mean?? I see this and don't know. I have had many blogs with 3 and 4 thousand "views" but with only 20 or so comments. What's up with that???
I remember seeing that title but I didn't read it because I hear that a lot in my area. Here Realtors are blamed for the escellation in prices. Now that prices are coming down, we're blamed for that too. Durn!
Jeremy: Here I go again. When I first saw the title... "Survey says... Realtors Suck..." I must admit that I was not impressed. I clicked on it just for the heck of it. As I read the post... and then read the comments... I was intrigued at the "type" of agents who seemed drawn to it, and also by the rudeness in some of their comments. It may have brought a zillion clicks, views, whatever... but for me it was a negative post that I did not want to return to. Sure... I read it initially, and yeah, I guess the title "worked" because I did end up reading it. But...
And yes... there is the "but." I guess I am just a bit too old for all the negativity I found in both the post and in the comments. By the way... I enjoyed YOUR post... and found it very worthwhile. Thanks for sharing. Take care...
Thanks for making me feel normal. I'm still fairly new to blogging, but not to real estate. When I become empassioned, that's when I write the best. And regardless of comments, I feel good with the end result. But comments are nice, as it's humanity's way of feeling connected to a group-think. Really great post. Titles are important - they are the most fun for me! Cheers and thank you again for great information.
HEY! Spring/Marathan was mine, mine, mine. http://activerain.com/blogsview/365272/ACTIVERAIN-POINTS-COMPETITION-WINNING-AND-BLOGGING-FOR-BUSINESS-Its-Not-A-Sprint-Its-A-Marathon
Titles are the window to your content. OPEN THE WINDOW!! Of course, if it's a Localism post, one must consider Mother Google.
Jeremy, Thanks for the positive reinforcement. To me it really is like a diet. You have to be consistent to get results.
Interesting results that show the power of the blog.
Jer...
Nice post ... I think that consistency is the MOST important thing. To tell you the truth, I haven't looked at the number of views in some time. I think I'll check out the stats!
To me I write to different audiences, and its at the end its not about the amount of clicks but how much business I'm ultimately getting. I try to mix it up.
Morning Jeremy! The more a person writes, the better he or she gets. I enjoy reading the content and writing style of some bloggers. Then I enjoy the AR Features. I think as people write, they start to learn what kind of content is read and what is not. Good information. Thanks!
Mary
Jeremy....very informative post and I notice that the attention getter titles do get more interest...
Some great points, Jeremy. It's all about being creative and excited about what you write.
Thanks.
Jeremy,
Well said!! I am fairly new to blogging and love to write. My hope is to be writing something that someone will find useful. I totally agree with you on the importance of a catchy title!!
So true Jeremy. A lot of my posts that have been viewed often are not the ones with the most comments. The public does not comment but they see so it is worth it to keep on keepin on.
Thanks for reenforcing blogging..I've got to do a better job on my titles and content.
Jeremy, now really, I am not surprised, first, the catchy title always works and second, most importantly, it was posted by a staff member which many of us will check and at least scan for relevant information (whether it proves compelling or not) and third it was up on the feature page for a long time (though not repeatedly moved to the top over several days like the new "BEHOLD the BILLBOARD" sign. That almost had a "from the mountaintop" ring to it. As my daughter says in these cases..."whatever"
Enjoy the koolaid my friend, I love it here, warts and all! LOL
BTW, did I read you right that you are no longer selling selling real estate?
Jeremy, that was a very helpful post. I need to do a better job with my headlines and appreciate your advice. I'm sure over time, all of us get better at blogging but I do notice that they real good ones here on AR are very consistent.
Jeremy some of the biggest mistakes I see being made start with the title both from an interest point of view and an SEO point of view. Your article does a good job of pointing out some of the things necessary to be successful with blogging.
Jeremy, I have just started to blog consistently. I figure I am still in the first 5 miles of the marathon. Thanks for the encouragement to hang in there.
Jer,
Thanks for the tips, I will be working on my titles as well as content. Thanks again.
Jeremy,
Thanks for this post. I needed a nudge. I know I should blog but have a hard time being consistent. You are inspirational. I think I can. I think I can.
How do you manage to view over 300 posts daily?
Thanks for such a helpful post. I'm still trying to figure out how to balance the time involved with blogging.
Great posts, my writing suffers from get to the point Pryor! Brevity is the soul of wit. Wow, I got to the point. You're good!
It's not a Sprint to the Win, It's a marathon to the VICTORY! :-) Great post Jer!
Greg, click on your statistics button on your MY Home Page. then you will see the different areas with descriptions.
The little I in the circle will tell you all about the 2 different things.
Amy- Your Darth Vader in the title was what drew me to your one post..why? It was an awesome title!
Lenn- Ok, I will give you credit too, even though I remember hearing Brad tell me that long before hehe. You though did at least write a post about it.
Russell- Since being w/AR I have only written maybe 10 posts. I've been so busy with everything else. So 15 of the other posts are all about stuff I did pre-AR and they received a lot of hits. As for RE, I still have my license and help out my Dad with the technical stuff. We always have been a team.
Irene- It is my job! I read from here to see a little bit of everything.
You know it Brad- I've been working out a whole lot more lately so I can win the marathon!
Jeremy: Thanks for the words of wisdom. I agree, good and catchy content is king! I never really know which posts will be garner a ton of eyeballs, but really is a marathon....Thanks, Rich
Thanks Jeremy. As a fairly new blogger / Activerainer, I really appreciate tips and encouragement like this. Now, I just have to implement it!
One other quick comment - I just noticed when I spell checked this, that spell checker does not recognize "blogger". Isn't that kind of strange for a blogging network?! :-)
Jeremy - Thanks for the very helpful tips and reminders. While I did not enjoy the original post mentioned (the title did not draw me in) I can see how it would others. Titles are very important, consistency is key and content is crucial!
Great reminder - especially the part of quality posts.
Jeremy, you make this sound like such hard work. I just want to play in the rain :-)
It's important to have posts that are worth reading. I need to improve my titles. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks Jeremy. Your constant helpfulness and positive outlook help me keep going !
Jer - I count any post with fewer than 100 comments as an abject failure. I am kidding, of course. This was a terrific post, buddy!
i blog there for i am?
I look for hits through to my website from AR, localism and active blog.
Thanks, Jeremy- for the encouraging numbers!!! Consistency!!!
Hi Jeremy - How does ActiveRain define views? For example, if someone has a featured post is it considered a view each time somebody looks at the AR home page? What about the Blogs page? Or do views only count when they are within a personal blog page, i.e. http://activerain.com/blogs/jeremy?
Great post! I was shocked recently when I saw how many of market report posts had been viewed...I don't entirely understand click throughs though and the stats....
Cool - I hope that 40,000 visitors click through SOON!!! I think that the catchy title does have a lot to do with that... thanks for the post and congrats on the feature Jeremy!
Great post! We have been away from AR for awhile but plan on getting back into the swing here soon.
Thanks for the juicy content to help us other bloggers!
Thanks Jeremy! Now I know both how to read my statistics (never really knew what views and clicks meant), and how to develop catchy titles for my blog posts. Excellent advice!
John- I believe views is every time the post is viewed by someone on the page.
Tracy- That is my job! Give you all the good juicy info from Activerain!
Jeremy you suck! Oh wait a minute, I don't think that was what you wanted me to do. I need to read the post again.
All kidding aside good message about the Headline.
I love the stats page - I wish they even told us more - I would love to know what keywords brought them to these blog posts, too. Can you make that happen? LOL just kidding!
Jeremy,
Lots of good info to digest...!!! Thanks, Fran
It was 10,000+ views in less than 24 hrs ;)
I have been here on AR for almost 2 years, but only CONSISTENTLY blogging every day since last summer. It really becomes a habit.
Nice tips Jeremy. I am going to put them all into play.
Jeremy,
You gave us all a wonderful idea. We'll let you write and title ALL our blogs too!
Seriously, you give motivate us all to try harder.
Irene
Great Post Jeremy,
Always an informative read! Keep up the good work!!
Cool post, though I often wonder if bloggers focus too much on the amount of readers and not enough on the quality of visitors and interactions.
dughh! thanks man..
I definitely have to step it up a bit with my titles! Regardless, it is amazing how many people view your posts -- and click thru for more information.
Jeremy - thanks for the reminder that this is a Marathon, not a Sprint!
Jeremy - this is some great advice for folks who are new, but perhaps maybe more so for those who have been writing for some time. I am often surprised at what posts get the most views and it is not the featured ones (which tend to be AR oriented rather than consumer focussed). I know for me coming up with a good title is a challenge - definitely not my forte. Blogging is continuining to evolve and understanding what is likely to work best and have the greatest impact makes sense. I noticed that there was no mention of worrying about SEO.
Jeff
Jeremy, you took your own advice and wrote a great title! It even got you a feature! He he. Thanks for sharing this great encouraging advice. Writing 10 high quality articles (blogs) is very time-intensive and challenging to keep it up week after week.
Thanks for the link to Field of Dreams. It's been forever since I've seen that movie, but what a classic. I need to dust off my VHS player and put in my copy. Wait... that's time I should be using to blog! People will come!
WHY DON'T YOU KISS MY GRITS! not really, just wanted you to know I got your point! Thanks
Great post and we all know that everyone reads your posts since you have all the info. =) I think it all depends on who you are writing for and why. If you are writing to get comments, then you need something that people can really react to. If you're writing for Google searching purposes your title sometimes can't be as creative because you need to incorporate certain words and if you're writing to get people to look then yea you need to put "Realtors Suck" or something equally provoking.
I think. Anyway, thanks for sharing!
Love the Field of Dream clip. My biggest issue has been consistency and have thought of throwing in the towel many times but I think their is still value in blogging even if it is less then the ideal frequency. The problem comes when you write what you think is a great piece and no one reads or comments. Oh well at least you shared your thoughts and ideas. One day someone will find the post...
While it's true that catchy titles catch attention, Jeff's title is not one that I would care to be associated with. I hope he made it a Members Only post.
Sex sells, as do four-letter words and controversy, but one can create very nice and lucrative niche markets for oneself without going those routes.
Jeremy - Thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes it is hard for me to see the results, but a post like this keeps encouraging me to try!
Hi, Jeremy. I just subscribed to your blog and I am going back to read all your posts on blogging. I am fairly new to Active Rain and I appreciate the help!
Hi Jeremy, Thanks for this enlightening post about blogging. I just wish I had started being consistent with blogging when I first joined Active Rain.