What Are the Most Popular Blogs Doing Right?
Since the advent of blogs, there’s been constant debate over “what makes a blog successful?”
The Internet is filled with wonder and has endless pages of information—from blogs to websites about any topic imaginable.
Yet, some bloggers stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of popularity. The many daily visitors to their websites show that people value their opinion and advice.
For example, the table below shows three popular blogs and the number of unique visitors in a month.
| Blog | Estimated Monthly Visitors |
| Nerd Fitness | 1.5 million |
| Business Insider | 114 million |
| TMZ | 47.1 million |
So, what exactly do these blogs have to offer? And what can we take away from them and apply to our own? If you’re trying to grow a blog, you’re in the right place.
Today, we learn the tactics most successful and influential blogs use and how to apply them to yours. Let’s see what they’re doing right.
1: Targeting the Right Audience
Regardless of the niche, a key element to blogging success is focusing your efforts on a certain group of people.
Defining your target audience allows you to:
- Focus on their needs
- Direct your marketing efforts and money to a specific group that’s most likely to buy from you
Let’s take the Nerd Fitness blog as an example.
Initially, Steve Kamb’s health and fitness blog wasn’t for everyone. He specifically targeted nerds to help them become fitness enthusiasts. He offered them fitness education through products and information that worked for him.
Source: Nerd Fitness
There are currently about 1.5 million regular users interested in fitness who visit this blog every month—a staggering amount in such a competitive niche.
The key ingredient to the success of this blog is focusing on a specific audience, which sets it apart from other health and fitness blogs.
How do you target the right audience as giant popular blogs do?
Understand your target audience and their pain points to create content that resonates with them. Here are a few ways to identify the right audience for your brand:
- Conduct a SWOT analysis to help identify your brand’s strengths, possible weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- Understand your target audience’s goals and pain points.
- Understand your existing buyers by examining your web analytics or using tools like Facebook Insights.
2: Generating Killer and Timely Content
“Content is King” is a famous essay and quote by Bill Gates. That means original, top-quality, timely, and relevant content is what makes most blogs successful.
For example, one powerful secret that Business Insider (the world’s fastest-growing tech, media, and finance blog) uses is producing excellent, trending, and compelling content. They always ensure they release the story first.
By updating their content with new facts to stay on top of current trends, they always stay one step ahead of the latest news and their competitors.
Source: Business Insider Africa
From there, they quickly distribute the trending topics through their branded accounts and social media platforms like Facebook Live and Snapchat.
We can borrow the following two important points from Business Insider:
#1: Generate Content Based on the Trending Topics
- Its relevance to your brand or niche
- The type of content you’re creating
- Timeliness
- The trend’s shelf life
#2: Be Quick to Share the Content on Different Platforms
- Leverage social media platforms by providing links to your followers on Instagram or Facebook groups.
- Run an email campaign with your article’s link or request influencers to promote your content on their platforms.
- Convert your content into a video, use slides, add voice, and share it on platforms like YouTube.
3: Feeding and Fueling Readers With Curiosity
Human beings are naturally curious creatures.
We can’t help but wonder why certain things happen and how the story unfolds—even if the outcome doesn’t matter to us personally.
The most successful blogs thrive on generating curiosity and keeping it alive to drive readers back for more.
Many people like following celebrities’ news. That’s why gossip sites relating to stars are the most popular in keeping the audience wanting more information about a particular famous person.
For instance, TMZ is a popular celebrity site with about 30 million unique visitors monthly. Through its celebrity news, the blog piques the interest of its readers and makes them want to learn more about the topic.
Check out the headlines below:
Source: TMZ
A headline such as “Guess Who This Smiling Cutie Turned Into!” entices the reader to click and find out who the little child turned into.
However, gossip sites aren’t the only way to feed your readers with curiosity.
No matter your niche, there’s always an approach to get your readers wanting to find out more about your blog’s content.
Curiosity allows readers to engage more with your content because it encourages them to read more to get the information they need.
So, how do you feed your readers with curiosity?
Use the following tips:
- Ask your readers questions. Questions make them eager to know the answers. That way, they’ll keep reading. Questions like “Want to know more?” keep the readers glued to your content since they want to find solutions.
- Simplify complicated ideas. When writing about complex topics, don’t give your readers dry paragraphs full of technical terms. Always use phrases like “Here’s what that means in simple terms…” and offer a more straightforward solution to keep their attention.
- Address your audience directly. Addressing your audience directly is a powerful strategy, especially on your sales page, as you can guess what queries a reader might raise about your product. Here, use phrases like “If you’re wondering…”
Watch the video below to learn how to create curiosity with your blog content.
Over to You
It’s good to have some goals as a blogger but never lose sight of why you started.
Blogging shouldn’t be work. It should be fun.
As long as you’re knowledgeable in your subject matter and communicate your ideas effectively, it’s a rewarding experience for both you and your readers.
Acknowledging that blogging is a business gives you an edge: it helps you see the tangible return on the time and energy you invest into it.
The above tips give you an idea of where to start, but there’s no guarantee of success right away. It takes hard work, dedication, and possibly a few bumps along the way.
To accelerate your success journey, you can hire experts like CopySmiths.
We’ll help you generate content to match your audiences’ needs and ranks to improve your online visibility.
See what Chris, one of our clients, had to say about working with us:
“We have used CopySmiths on several occasions to assist with blog content for our website. Their approach is strategic and SEO results-driven…”— Chris, Red Kite Design
Let’s start your journey to successful blogging together. Contact us today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is starting a blog hard?
No. Becoming a highly paid blogger is a process, but it’s possible: it takes a lot of sacrifices, time, and hard work, but the results pay off in the end.
Do I need a degree to be a blogger?
No, you don’t need a degree to be a blogger. However, you need to have top-notch writing skills, high expertise levels in your chosen niche, and patience as your site builds traffic.
Why do most blogs fail?
Most blogs fail due to a lack of engaging and quality content. Creating valuable content gets you to the top of the game since so much competitive information is available online. You need to stand out above the rest.
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I'm Katrina McKinnon, founder of CopySmiths and Small Revolution. In my 20 years of experience, I have helped online businesses create high-performing content specifically on an eCommerce store's blog. Find me on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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