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Today (or on the day it happened – just depends upon when you read this), you will see thousands of bloggers writing about the death of Steve Jobs. Many because they want to and many because they think that by writing about his death, they will get more blog traffic.
And for many their blog traffic will increase.
And many of us will remember exactly where we were when we first heard the dreadful news.
Just like…
Where were you, when John Lennon was shot by Mark Chapman?
Do you remember what happened, what you were doing, where you were standing and who you were with?
How about when it was announced that Elvis was dead, or Princess Diana?
Or when Obama was elected the first black president of the United States?
Do you remember where you were when it was announced that Sadam Hussein had been caught?
Or that we were going to declare war with Iraq?
It’s funny how these massive events shape our memories.
Most people you speak to have a story to tell about one or the other of them.
A friend of mine remembers when she heard that Jeff Buckley died – she was at the beach with her then-boyfriend. Because she loved Buckley’s music, she can conjure up the car that her and her partner were sitting in at the time, and the smell of the sand and spray.
She even gives her boyfriend – long since an ex – particular memory space because he was with her when she heard the news. The same friend can recall every single aspect of the front room she was living in when she watched the terrorism on 9/11 unfolding in front of her.
Our brains link in key events with whatever we happened to be doing at the time they happened. We tend to remember EVERYTHING about important events – not just what happened and how we heard, but seemingly inconsequential details like the picture on the cup of coffee we were holding when we heard, and the curtains hanging at the window when we watched the news that day.
It’s as if our brains combine every single detail of our environment and capture all of it, in case it may be significant. This is why you will remember who you were with, what they were wearing perhaps, and even the weather on the day you heard about Obama being elected.
Increase Blog Traffic: Use Current Affairs
This is important information when it comes to getting more visitors to your blog.
Now we have established that our brains make important links between world affairs, historical events, and the small details, it shows us a potential possibility for strengthening our blog writing.
When something happens in the news, we can pull that in to our blog and it brings a wealth of benefits for your blog.
It:
- Makes the reader’s brains more likely to remember what you have written, as you have linked it in with something of significance for them
- Capitalizes on important keywords, using the most talked about, tweeted about, or searched for keywords…bringing you more blog traffic
- Opens up communication on your blog platform using common themes that everyone has an opinion or emotion about
- Gives you an opportunity to share views which you would not otherwise be able to express with your online community
What’s not to like about this?
So, the next time something significant happens, even if it’s just that your football team got promoted to a new league, or a freak weather occurrence has left us watching flying frogs, find a way of referencing it on your blog and linking it in with whatever you are writing about, that day.
As a direct result…you could get many more blog visitors.
What’s your view?
Have you blogged about current affairs and seen an increase in blog traffic?
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I have never tried this approach to get more traffic to my blog, I found it hard to relate the current issues with my blog’s topic, maybe I should think of a way to relate it in future
david recently posted..Cheap Vinyl Fencing Can Be Made All Around Your House at Low Cost
Twitter: andrewrondeau
David,
You should. You could talk about Stev Job’s innovation and the latest ‘technology’ when it comes to fencing…as an example!
Andrew
Andrew recently posted..Internet Marketing Is Easy When You Use This Technique Part 2
Twitter: kezanari
it does work we have to do is set up a generic website or blog where you can just write about current events news stories. Use Google trends or Yahoo trends to find out what’s popping!!
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Hey Andrew,
I have heard of this strategy before and I think its a really effective traffic generation strategy.
However, I think it relies heavily on your niche and perhaps your ability as a writer to connect “the current affair” to the over all theme of your blog.
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Satrap,
Totally agree…there has to be a good connection and as Daid says above…it can be hard to find one.
Andrew
Andrew recently posted..Internet Marketing Is Easy When You Use This Technique Part 2
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I’ve related my blog topics to current events before. It’s definitely a good way to draw attention and traffic to those particular articles. You have to be creative to make the subject relevant to your niche and write well. You don’t want to stretch it too far or it will be an obvious marketing ploy that doesn’t make any real sense.
The other thing that works well is to write about popular topics generally (not just current affairs).
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I have been writing three blogs with the right keywords and density. I had never understood why my blog did not get more traffic but after reading your tips I feel that I can use them to get more traffic. I also think writing on current affairs can help.
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It’s funny David, all the “what Steve Jobs meant to me” posts seemed to blur for me. There were so many of them (a sign of the impact he had, I guess) that I just didn’t click any of them.
After a while it felt like people were just trying to cash in on Jobs too.
So while linking in to the news is a good tactic, a death may not be the best way to do it.
Ian
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Ian,
I suppose it depends upon the connection. If a ‘death’ doesn’t work…then try something else.
We have to test.
Andrew
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So true what you’re saying. We humans love to read what we already know about. Animals, if they could read, would too, probably. My eye-opener was attending the Isle of Wight mother of concerts back in 1971 – how I wish I were only just born then :-] – … all I wanted to read in the papers were reports and better yet pictures of the Isle of Wight concert where I had just been. Strange but undeniable phenomena.
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Beat
IOW!
I never knew – it’s just down the road from me.
Who was playing?
Andrew
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I always get a big traffic spike when I blog about a recent event — not usually a world changing event, but something like a new software release that would garner interest among a niche crowd.
Being first to blog about something is of course very beneficial, but usually I’m not even close to being first — I’m just the first person to target the news for search traffic.
In addition to the traffic, this often leads to a great discussion in the comments, and I’m sure new fans of the blog.
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Never heard of this kind of strategy to gain traffic, although you make a good point. Maybe I should try it then
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That’s an interesting strategy to get more blog traffic. With current affairs, I have always thought that there will be lot of competition and mostly news websites rank well. I must give that a rethink.
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Nice one Andrew. Current affairs topic can draw many audience. Never got that idea before but thanks to you. I can get more traffic to my blog now.
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Hi Andrew,
I did not know that there are many things that benefit a blog when it talks about current events! I only knew that people only are after on the increase in traffic if such an important event occurs, such as Steve Jobs’ death. Thanks for sharing!
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Never underestimate the power of human interest when it comes to news events! Writing on a current event is instant name/idea recognition, and playing to the emotional connections that people have to a subject could increase awareness of your posted material. Besides, human beings are curious creatures, right? And I agree with Ian that you have to be prudent with the subject you are writing about to avoid exposure overload. Thanks for the information!
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Using current affairs to increase blog traffic is a clever move. I can see it on how Yahoo! news trending changes every time a significant event occurs. People go online and search for a lot of accurate information that is available for them. And as soon as Ive heard about Steve Jobs’ death, I saw countless posts and articles discussing it. Some may have done it to increase traffic but I’m sure everyone did it to celebrate how the man of the future lived his life and how much he will be missed.
Twitter: erenmckay
Hi Andrew,
I think that if the person that is writing is completely sincere about how they feel about current issues then it’s a good thing.
For exmaple, one time I saw a Whitney Houston interview and it really moved me. I was so inspired by her interview that I cried and wrote a pretty big blog post about not judging others.
So when the person has their heart in the right place it’s a good idea.
All the best,
Eren
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Eren,
As you say…it’s very important to get the connection right.
Andrew
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Ok , very good article , but what if your blog is not for news(News blog) and it’s niche blog ?
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Harut
You have to make the connection between the current affairs news and your niche.
Andrew
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Blogging on significant events and linking to them surely increase incoming traffic; no doubt some posts go viral. But I think that it will mostly be a spike. As the event or the happening dissolves and fades, the traffic for that particular search term will also fade. In my opinion, such big topic related blog posts will only get a timely attention.
But it indeed a great idea to use that timely traffic too. Why not?
Thanks Andrew!
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Jane
What you say is right but the point is some of those ‘new’ visitors may return.
Andrew
Andrew recently posted..Internet Marketing Is Easy When You Use This Technique Part 2
Andrew, when you talk about trending topics and news you are most likely to attract a lot of traffic, however that might not necessarily be good traffic. I believe that news sites are not very engaging. Thanks for your write up.
Twitter: optimizethis
I’ve written about current topics a few times, and seen a decent amount of traffic from them. I think more importantly than writing about current events, is to stay current with news. Even if you aren’t writing about things, you should still stay active reading and browsing technology, business, and world news each day.