A lot of online marketers start blogging in order to connect with their audience. However, there’s a difference between running a blog and running a successful blog. In order to get your readers involved and have your content spread or go viral, you first need to know what people want to read.
Once you know exactly what your readers will like, it becomes easy to create content that is not only popular but also useful. Given below are a few tips that you can use to understand what your readers want and how you can give it to them.
Look Into Your Own Successful Posts
The obvious place to start is your own blog. You might have written posts that got the best response in the form of new subscribers, shares across social media, etc. Your aim is to discover those posts that will help you repeat your success.
There is no perfect formula to create a viral blog post. You will have to experiment with different ideas to grasp what your readers like. The results you get from these experiments will help you decide what to focus on.
Sometimes you’ll find that a post made it big because it had enough convincing proof to support the headline. Other times it’s mainly because of the way it was written. There could be a number of reasons that made a particular post a success. Your job is to study them and determine as many of these reasons as possible.
However, don’t forget the importance of freshness. Your readers don’t want to see the same ideas over and over again, which is why you should try to find a unique angle when working with your old posts. Look into the current trends and see if you can talk about it from a different point of view.
Go through the Popular Posts on Other Blogs
If you’ve got a few favorite blogs within your niche that you always follow, you can use them to mine ideas. Scan through the popular posts on these blogs and see what you can write on.
The fact that these posts have already been liked by readers goes on to show that you can write on them too. It’s a safe bet. But if you really want this exercise to work out for you, then closely analyze every popular post to learn how they have been written and structured.
You’re not cheating here or doing anything unethical. What you’re trying to do is learn from the best and incorporate their style/idea into your own blog. That’s how you seek inspiration from other blogs so that you can serve your own readers the best content.
Last but not the least, be original in your approach. Add your personal touch to what you’re writing. Incorporate your own research and experience to create truly viable content. Don’t let your readers feel like they’re going through rehashed content.
What do you think? How do you go about discovering what your readers want? Do share your experience in the comments below!
