Today I'm going to introduce you to the main
concept that is at the heart of my methodology for
building blog traffic.
It's called "Pillar Articles".
Pillar articles on the surface appear to be
standard blog articles, but for some special
reasons they become the main drivers of traffic to
your blog.
They form the foundations - the pillars - of your
blog.
SPECIAL OUTCOMES
There is no one particular reason that an article
becomes a Pillar, rather it's the results you get
from the article that qualify it as a Pillar.
A Pillar article will perform the following key
functions for your blog -
1. Bring in a flood of traffic when first
released.
This is often the result people linking to or
trackbacking your article and generating a little
bit of "buzz" around the blogosphere (other
blogs).
2. Provide a definition of a key term, an answer
to a commonly asked question, or a brief how-to
tutorial.
The article's value is not time dependent, you can
refer to it in future blog posts, other bloggers
will link to it and refer people to it over and
over again. It's timeless information, not news or
personal blogging - it's relevant to a wide
audience for a long period of time.
3. The traffic keeps coming long after the article
is archived deep within your blog.
Often because of reason one above (lots of
incoming links to the article) a Pillar article
will rank well in search engines and consequently
show up on the first page of searches, directing
brand new readers to your blog long after you
first published the article.
4. Provides a reason to bookmark and/or subscribe
to your blog (and RSS feed).
When a first time reader comes to your blog and
they see all the fantastic content they are much
more likely to bookmark your site for further
reading later. They will start monitoring your
blog regularly, transforming from casual random
surfer into loyal reader because they can see the
quality of your previous work.
SPIKE ARTICLES
Don't get confused between a Pillar and a Spike
article. A Spike article is all about a quick rush
of traffic that often disappears within a day or
two and has very little long lasting impact.
Pillars are timeless, Spikes are temporary. One of
the tricks is knowing how to convert a Spike into
a Pillar.
Without Pillar articles most other traffic
building techniques fail. If you don't have
Pillars in place most traffic techniques you
implement will be Spikes, maybe generating a rush
of traffic for brief bursts but very quickly
dropping back to where you were previously. You
won't convert first time visitors into regular
readers.
FOLLOW A BLOG TRAFFIC METHDOLOGY
A well constructed blog, one that follows a
traffic building methodology, will retain an
audience long after the blogger stops writing.
This has many positive outcomes, including -
A) You can stop blogging for a week or two without
worrying about losing your audience. This means
less stress and a more solid blog foundation.
B) The resale value of your blog will be higher
because it's value and popularity are based on the
existing content, not the potential future content
that evaporates when the blogger stops blogging
after the sale. It's more about the blog and less
about the personality behind the blog.
(Although personality is still very important -
more on this in future email newsletters.)
Here's to your blogging success,
concept that is at the heart of my methodology for
building blog traffic.
It's called "Pillar Articles".
Pillar articles on the surface appear to be
standard blog articles, but for some special
reasons they become the main drivers of traffic to
your blog.
They form the foundations - the pillars - of your
blog.
SPECIAL OUTCOMES
There is no one particular reason that an article
becomes a Pillar, rather it's the results you get
from the article that qualify it as a Pillar.
A Pillar article will perform the following key
functions for your blog -
1. Bring in a flood of traffic when first
released.
This is often the result people linking to or
trackbacking your article and generating a little
bit of "buzz" around the blogosphere (other
blogs).
2. Provide a definition of a key term, an answer
to a commonly asked question, or a brief how-to
tutorial.
The article's value is not time dependent, you can
refer to it in future blog posts, other bloggers
will link to it and refer people to it over and
over again. It's timeless information, not news or
personal blogging - it's relevant to a wide
audience for a long period of time.
3. The traffic keeps coming long after the article
is archived deep within your blog.
Often because of reason one above (lots of
incoming links to the article) a Pillar article
will rank well in search engines and consequently
show up on the first page of searches, directing
brand new readers to your blog long after you
first published the article.
4. Provides a reason to bookmark and/or subscribe
to your blog (and RSS feed).
When a first time reader comes to your blog and
they see all the fantastic content they are much
more likely to bookmark your site for further
reading later. They will start monitoring your
blog regularly, transforming from casual random
surfer into loyal reader because they can see the
quality of your previous work.
SPIKE ARTICLES
Don't get confused between a Pillar and a Spike
article. A Spike article is all about a quick rush
of traffic that often disappears within a day or
two and has very little long lasting impact.
Pillars are timeless, Spikes are temporary. One of
the tricks is knowing how to convert a Spike into
a Pillar.
Without Pillar articles most other traffic
building techniques fail. If you don't have
Pillars in place most traffic techniques you
implement will be Spikes, maybe generating a rush
of traffic for brief bursts but very quickly
dropping back to where you were previously. You
won't convert first time visitors into regular
readers.
FOLLOW A BLOG TRAFFIC METHDOLOGY
A well constructed blog, one that follows a
traffic building methodology, will retain an
audience long after the blogger stops writing.
This has many positive outcomes, including -
A) You can stop blogging for a week or two without
worrying about losing your audience. This means
less stress and a more solid blog foundation.
B) The resale value of your blog will be higher
because it's value and popularity are based on the
existing content, not the potential future content
that evaporates when the blogger stops blogging
after the sale. It's more about the blog and less
about the personality behind the blog.
(Although personality is still very important -
more on this in future email newsletters.)
Here's to your blogging success,
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