4 Characteristics of Top Performing Articles – Content Marketing Tips


If you have ever tried your hand at content marketing, article marketing, niche website development, or blogging then you will agree with me when I say that not all articles are created equal. In fact, if you are anything like me you will come to expect that out of 100 articles 1 or 2 will generate incredible and almost puzzling amounts of traffic from search engines. A few get almost no attention
Content Marketing is a Great Online Advertising Method
as if cursed by a cyber witch. Then, of course, most of the content will perform as you would have predicted.

But what is the story with those amazing top performing posts?


Sometimes the top performing article is one that you would have expected to do well and other times you are totally surprised of the traffic gap. On the other hand, 6-10 of your articles may seem to be flat out ignored. Finally, the clear majority can be segmented into good, average, and less than average performance. However, the difference isn’t that much. Perhaps the difference 30% between the three categories. The top performing articles have a huge difference from even the good articles, maybe 10 times as much or 1000%. Even more drastic is the difference between the top performer and the barely ever been seen performers, typically 40 – 100 times more. This would be 40,000% -100,000.


Why a Top Article Dominates?


If you pay attention to the "content elite" you will notice many aspects of similarity amidst the dominating authority blog posts. Most experts on the matter, including myself, believe there are four characteristics most common amongst enormous page view generating content. These are listed below.

 4 Characteristics of Top Performing Articles


1.     User-Friendly (Demand, Easy, and Useful) – 
a.     Considerable User Demand – The performers all have been on a subject that online users want. This means the content contains information that the user wants and has taken at least some effort to find it.
b.     Easy to read – People are busy and get tired from working and the rest of the stress that life produces. The typical guy/gal don't want to read an academic journal. Plain modern day talk works best.
c.     Useful – It is important that the article satisfies the users need. Now in some cases, the article may just satisfy a portion of the bigger puzzle the user is currently working on. This scenario still implies that the resource satisfied the immediate concern. The main idea here is that you need to give the user what they are looking for. Don't have a title that implies one thing only to provide content that yields the user nothing.
2.     The headline and Title – Typically the highest traffic articles have witty and catchy titles. Also, and just as important, the keyword(s) are wisely part of the article headline. When people use the web, they will pretty much ignore 90% of everything. Therefore, it is important to have an exciting and gripping title or headline. Right around 70 – 90% of people will at least read your title but as many as ¾ will not read your actual article. The latter is harmful to the success of the article because it results in a short trip and often what is called a bounce back (which is when you get to a site and then immediately return or go elsewhere which implies the article was not helpful).
3.     Visual Content – Almost every single niche site owner or blogger who has any success will tell you that they use tons of pics, vids, charts, graphics, etc. The performance rate of articles without visual aids is a small fraction of the page views media rich articles produce.
4.     Interact with Users – When users send emails, fill out the contact form, and or comment it is important to reply to each one. Engaging the customers and encouraging them to participate will lead to word of mouth exposure which has become known as "viral activity" in the world of internet advertising. This activity also gives the article big points towards search engine rankings. It can even lead to repeat users coming back to the article to see how people have responded to their comments. It can really cause a very beneficial snowball effect.

There is no doubt that content marketing is here to stay. It is one of the fastest growing online marketing strategies and is a huge help with SEOefforts as well. Thus it is becoming a part of every new marketing plan. I highly recommend it for anyone who is thinking of starting an online business.


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