In my last post, I mentioned that one of the ways I hope to generate more traffic in the upcoming year is by revamping old content. I managed to do this successfully with one of my early articles on HubPages simply by changing the title.
The article was first published on June 8, 2009 and did not generate a lot of interest. It took learning about keywords and search over the ensuing 3 months or so, but I figured that the problem with the article was the title. To illustrate, compare these two titles:
(1) Ease Into Stocks Positions a la Livermore
(2) Trade Stocks Like Jesse Livermore
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the first title was the original which did not generate a lot of traffic (I think it might have been under 30 views through October). After learning a little about keywords and search, I changed the title (without altering the article at all) to the second iteration. Now the article is getting an average of 1 view per day.
Granted that may not seem like a lot of traffic for some niches and authors, but for me, I am pleased that the change was positive. I suspect that if I look at some of my other early articles from last summer, I could make similar adjustments with additional positive results on traffic.
Currently, this article is on Google page 6 when searching for Jesse Livermore. The only link that I have made to the article is at Xomba. Plus I have the HubPages RSS feed on this blog. I will often see this article show up as a "Hot Article" since it will tend to get a few surges of traffic now and again. With a little more promotion, it is possible that I could do even better.
Anyway, the point was that maybe I could review several of my poorer performing, evergreen articles and revamp the titles and my keyword targets. Maybe this would result in more traffic. Having a better sense of what people might be searching for in Google is one of the keys to making money online. Like I said, I have learned a lot in the past year and plan to keep learning.
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Hi Kidgas,
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent idea to create more traffic. I've done it with some of my articles too and it makes a difference. I've learned over the past couple of years that using "to the point" titles generates more traffic than using "clever" titles. We live and learn. :)
Hi Kidgas,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea and I have tried it successfully with my older articles at S101 and have seen a considerable jump in PVs:-)
That's great it already made a difference. I feel like I should do this too, since when I first started I really didn't know much and am probably wasting my content by not going back and making it more effective.
ReplyDeleteSo, it seems like those who have done it have been successful in bringing in more traffic. And I think we would all agree that we know more now than we did when we first started, so it would seem like a good thing to work on.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for commenting.
Wow,
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there was money to be made from ehow!
lol...am impressed. I guess I should try it out
Dennis's last blog ..Internet Marketing – Week 16
zenji,
ReplyDeleteThey have gotten rid of the Writer's Compensation Program. Now you have to write for Demand Studios. I am not exactly sure how that works.