I was playing with the logs and stats from my Google Analytics account and it really didn’t surprise me that some of the posts that gets the most traffic were the ones that really didn’t have anything to do with internet marketing, blogging or make money online (w/c is the topic of this blog). Here’s a short screenshot from G.A:
Contest posts are naturally high traffic ones due to its intrinsic nature, while some of the other posts here go within the theme of this blog w/c is internet marketing and blogging. The hits from other couple of posts and pages may seem unnatural though. The post about the best birthday gift for the girl I love have the most no. of unique counts and pageviews in terms of posts and the about and photo pages are the most popular in pages.
That is voyeurism at work. It continues to amaze me how offtopic writeups, mostly are personal posts, get so much traction. When I wrote that “teenage-love” affair post I really wasn’t so keen that I would get responses but I was surprised when so many people I do not know commented and gave me their tips. It also went hot on social sites and eventually just got so many traction.
Why it rakes in traffic
People love personal posts, there’s no doubt about it. Most of my readers read my blog because of my expertise in this topic so that being said, any other post outside my niche can either spark a good interest or no interest at all and luckily for me its working on a good side.
Voyeurism is a superb traffic technique just because of the fact that it enhances your relationship your audience. It brings you closer on a more personal basis and in marketing, that’s an added trust and credibility.
Top 3 ways on how to take advantage of Voyeurism
- Build your expertise first and foremost – Ok, you cannot just start a blog and write random personal posts and then expect a heap of traffic. It is not gonna happen. What you can do though, is work on building a presence first, overdeliver good content in your niche and focus on growth. As I’ve said people become more interested on your personal stuffs when they trust you for what you provide.
- Share your personal craps BUT STILL add value – One thing you would notice with all the personal posts is that they all add value. No one wants to read something they wouldn’t enjoy so whether that value accounts for enjoyment, or learnings, its all up to your readers. Just make sure they are going to pick up something useful.
- Don’t hold back anything – People love honest stories and it’s always one thing that people admire. You cannot call that post personal when you’re lying so make sure you don’t hold anything back.
- Limit yourself in doing it – Ok now we know that personal posts are the ones that get good traffic. We also understood that people like it for intrinsic reasons so what now? Make all your posts personal posts? Naah! Like anything there’s a limit. When it comes to superb content, you can’t feed your readers with these each and everytime as they will get overwhelmed. That goes the same with personal posts. Once you abuse the use of it, it would start boring the heck of your readers.
So what now? Here in my blog, I’m proud to say that people like my personality (debatable). I get both good and bad feedbacks but overall I think I’m doing things fine. Voyeurism is an effect of good personal branding and if youre not leveraging it, you’re missing a lot.
I agree Melvin, this is so true! Ah, but what a choice for word….voyeurism? Anyway, I think it’s also an element where people see that the “writer” of this (or any for that matter) becomes and take the blog to a greater depth, by providing glimpses of personality strewn throughout the blog.
It’s really nice, not a really high-and-mighty feedback and elicits as well as builds trusts and relationship. I think at the end of the day, people just loves to be with people, and when they are genuinely interested in people, they naturally gravitate towards wanting to know more about them too.
Is this not correct?
Melvin Reply:
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Superb point Nigel! That’s a great addition. In this business, we’re dealing with real people and at the end of the day, these people who are following us want to know more about us. Are we just a screen name or real people?
You’re right, they gravitate towards wanting to know better. Thats the main reason why photo galleries on blogs are one of the most viewed pages i guess. 😉
Nigel Chua Reply:
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Yeah, in businesses, we like to deal with people, and preferably people we know and better still people we like all the more! Perhaps one of the reasons why people prefer photo galleries is also as people enjoy looking at things (especially if it’s good looking/pretty/soothing) as it makes them feel good, and words can be, what’s the word for it…wordy. Haha! =)
I agree with you Carl…personal posts are really enticing whenever one blogger gets quite personal with his reader and revealing himself. It makes people come back and not only be a one-time visitor.
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i agree dude….if you will write something that is directly related to the people, they will like it and visit it….a well written post
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This is powerful stuff Melvin and it surprises me.
I never would have guessed that people want personal details and stories – and yet come to think of it, all those sites that simply share their thoughts are highly successful with lots of followers and commenters
My instinct tells me that people want information and all my posts are about telling people how to do things.
Thanks for the heads up on the personal detail element.
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Melvin Reply:
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Glad you like this article Keith. The best examples are bloggers named chow and schoemaker. I mean they dont put out the best content right? You see them write maybe 2-3 superb articles per month but they get a lot of people to read their stuff. That’s because they have that personal bond with their readers that want to know more about them on a personal basis.
Keith Davis Reply:
May 3rd, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Thanks Melvin
This article has thrown me a bit.
Here I am giving people lots of info, but not a lot about me!
I obviuosly need to get up close and personal.
BTW – 2 to 3 articles a month sounds like a lot to me. LOL
.-= Keith Davis´s last blog ..Flying in formation =-.
Melvin, Great and very interesting post that you have written here. I’ve had personal experience with this subject in the past. A winter ago I had gone into hospital & had complications that entailed going into a coma…. my sister had put up a post letting my readers know what was happening & where I was in my progress. My traffic went way up and every time we updated about my circumstances we had traffic numbers that went even higher. I’m not sure if it is voyeurism or what one would call it, but it is a intriguing concept. Is it also why there are so many “reality” shows on the television these days with some getting very high ratings. I guess it’s human instinct to want to hear or know or watch what other people are doing? jj
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Melvin Reply:
May 6th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
yep, I think I was one of the bloggers who really commented their and followed up your status. I mean that alone is a really different situation that pulled great traffic for you. But yea its something that you really dont wish to happen again because its a different scenario. a life and death one.
dude i think there is various ways Personal Posts Get LOTS of Traffic like personal posts having unique info
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The real reasons behind the surge in traffic for personal posts are:
– people are generally nosy about others private life – especially in Asian culture. This is one reason why social networks are so successful
– it’s so easy to make a comment and take part in discussion about things that affect the mass (as against a technical topic that only a few understand)
Linking the personal story to a message for the broader mass will make such posts really effective. In short, it’s good to churn out every post out of personal experience and relate.
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Melvin Reply:
May 6th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
yep. great addition in this post Ajith. 🙂
Agree with you bro, I have noticed that to. Thanks for sharing your insight and tips. 🙂
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I believe personal posts work so well because in a niche such as marketing, make money online and ecommerce, people want to know the experiences people have with software and services, instead of just learning theory and information.
In some ways, people are inspired by stories about how you succeeded or failed when trying out something. It gives them a story to grasp, something they may have experienced as well.
I try to balance many of my posts with meaningful content but also keep an edge where I tell a story about how I’m implementing the tactics I talk about.
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Me too. When I read blogs, I prefer to read stories than whole bunch of facts that are not even proven.
I see my about page gets lots of views too but never actually tried doing a personal post. May be need to one every month.
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nice article. thanks for sharing.
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I notice the same thing. The post that everyone seems to enjoy is the one I rant about the cost of toilet roll.
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I definitely agree on your views. Personal blogs are more natural that readers loves to visit.
Thanks for this information.
Great tip! I found my gallery is the most popular set of pages. Makes sense, people are socially curious. I have a post coming up over the next day or two on achieving your goals, using myself as an example. I think this represents what you say about adding value to your personal posts.
Cheers!
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