And other blog subjects that drive me nuts.
I’ve been conducting a little experiment on my blog for the last month or so. I’ve been hearing a lot of uproarious criticism about certain kinds of posts, specifically how a few cookie cutter post styles seem to be taking over the internet. I decided I would test how those kinds of posts perform versus posts that don’t fall into any of those cookie cutter patterns.
Guess what?
The kinds of posts that people so often complain about out-perform my other posts nine times out of ten. I’d wager the same would hold true on anyone’s site.
What kind of posts are getting the shrug-off? I’m seeing a lot of people negating the value of list posts, of how-to posts, or of posts that have headlines with words like “the best.”
To make a change, you must act, not lament
If you truly want to change a system, whether in the world of Social Media or anywhere else, complaining about things you don’t like won’t really do much. In fact, if you complain about certain kinds of posts in the online world, it just draws more attention to, well, those kinds of posts. It plants the seed in your readers’ minds. “Hmm, what is this list post thing all about?”
Rather than despairing that every blogger’s voice is melding into one, consider taking some actions to shift this trend. For example:
1. Look for posts that go against the grain and support those posts
2. Offer suggestions on how the kinds of posts you don’t like could be spiced up a little
3. Acknowledge the good stuff. Why do list posts do well? People are in a rush, and if they see they might just have 3 or 4 or 5 bullet points to read, they’ll be more inclined to head on over and read those posts.
4. If you don’t feel new content is being covered, cover it yourself! Light the fire of interest.
There are many other ways to alter the path bloggers are traveling on, I’m sure. But if numerous bloggers continue to complain about a cloud of similarity looming over blogs worldwide, guess what will happen? That kind of post will just become another cookie cutter blog post.
What do you think?
Image by Jean Scheijen. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/vierdrie