Hi there! Eric again!
I touched on 3 things we at BlogBurst are doing to help improve your success in our network earlier today, and I wanted to touch on 3 things you can do to get your blog more momentum in our network.
First let me start off with saying that you are all great bloggers, you all have good communities and conversations and a wealth of knowledge and insight. You have all done well in attracting readers from the ether. This service can just help you extend that reach, and to really capitalize on it you need to (slightly) expand upon your notion of audience. You are trying to attract readers that are more mainstream than your previously tech-savvy audience.
3 things you can do to get your blog more momentum
1. Topical clarity and focus. Most of our current implementations live at a sectional level within our partner sites, so a blog that is clearly about gardening is much more likely to be picked up than a blog with a few gardening posts mixed in with posts about other diverse subjects. This need for clarity becomes even more pronounced as we move on with more article page inclusions.
2. Posting Frequency. We want to make sure that new topics of interest are being covered, so higher posting frequency generally indicates that you’re more likely to engage in the conversation on new topics sooner.
3. Headlines. In all cases BlogBurst widgets start off with your most recent headline, and in most cases a short abstract of your post – the more engaging your headlines are, the more likely you are to attract readers to your point of view.
Erin,
I’m a former newspaper editor and tend to write my headlines like newspaper headlines. Since seeing what I’ve had picked up via BlogBurst, I’ve tried to craft headlines that are more catchy.
My question is, however, what’s better, a catchy headline that might not give away what the post is about or a headline that is more straightforward.
For example, today I wrote a post about Texas Governor Rick Perry failing to committ to serving a full four year term. I titled it “Rick Perry Has Commitment Issues.” I had considered something more catchy like, “White Male With Good Hair Seeks Mate For ‘08″ but decided against it because I felt the other headline would be better for BlogBurst pick up.
Do you perhaps have examples of some headlines your or affiliates think are good from a BlogBUrst standpoint?
Hello Vince,
I think those are both great headlines, although I agree that the former is a better fit.
Typically our editors and the publishers we work with aren’t necessarilly looking at individual posts to fit on certain areas (although it does happen in ceartin cases); rather we tend to look at the blog as a whole and the way current events (or whichever chosen topic) move through the blog so we can set things up to be a little more automated. Clarity about who and what you are talking about will get publishers engaged and that will lead to more pickups.
My Blogburst account has been 1 year, and I some times find the traffic from Blogburst, but never know how it pick up my posts.
Now, after reading the point #3, I know more clearly how it work, thank you!