Following on from my Top 10 Tips for Effective Blogging, I decided to list my most popular blogs so far this year. According to the WordPress stats, these are my most popular blogs this year by number of views:
1. Audiobus – a case study in app collaboration
4. Bring back the Court Jester
5. Six Melbourne Start-Ups to Watch
6. Broadcastr signs off: 9 Challenges for Social Media
7. “If it’s not on Facebook, it didn’t happen…”
8. “Everything on the Internet should be free…”
9. Would you take career advice from a sushi chef?
10. Ten Reasons why the Lean Start-Up Model is here to stay
My conclusions?
1. Anything with numbers and lists does well
2. Anything about Start-Ups is popular
3. Anything on social media creates a buzz
4. Anything a bit leftfield (sushi chefs, analogue production, Court Jesters) gets attention
5. Audiobus is a phenomenal app!
Content in Context 
Lists are total bait because people don’t like to read on the internet. They just want the headlines. Lists gratify that quickly so all the data suggests this is what drives traffic, so people do more of it. How-to’s are better though. ie: How to start a company in Melbourne. Or, for super traffic, combine the two. 10 ways to start a company in Melbourne.
examples.
Top 10 Ways to get a raise without speaking to your boss.
10 Things your boss knows about you that you don’t.
5 Things Mark Zuckerberg does in the morning that you don’t.
8 Things that Sucessful Leaders don’t do.
All of these headlines play to people’s desires. The fact there is some ‘magic formula’ to being a billionaire or something and the answer is just a click away, probably shows more how to sell than how to blog.
Reading LinkedIn news will show you this in 10 minutes 🙂
Nice post Rory.
Love your work
Yes, the Internet often dictates form over substance – and blogging has become part of that fast food culture. Through my own blogs, I try to offer personal insights, alternative perspectives, and create connections between seemingly unrelated threads. But sometimes a list says it all (and there’s nothing wrong with the occasional quick fix in place of a balanced meal….)
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate the feedback.