01 Aug 912 Million Blog Posts Can’t Be Wrong: 5 Ways to Boost Social Shares of Your Blog
During my travels around the Internet, I found this data-packed article on blogging. The author analyzed 912 million blog posts to understand how content format, word count and headlines affect social media shares and backlinks.
I don’t know about you, but our clients want to get more eyeballs on their blog. Heck, I want that for my own blog posts.
I pulled out five findings that are easy to implement, though one will require a little more of your time. You’ll know it when you get to it.
5 Ways to Boost Social Shares of Your Blog Posts
Opt for long titles
Blog post titles that contain 14-17 words generate 76.7% more social shares than short ones. Ten to 13 words do OK, too, but less than that and sharing falls off.
Use more question titles
Blog post titles that end with a question mark get 23.3% more social shares than headlines that end without one. I’d definitely A/B test this in your email marketing. Send out one email with a question mark and one without – and see what happens.
Write more list posts
List posts (“39 ways to fold laundry” or “14 must-try avocado recipes”) get an average of 218% more shares than “how to” posts and 203% more shares than infographics. When you need a break from list posts, write a “why” post. People like to share them on social, too.
Go long-ish
Blog posts between 1,000 and 2,000 words get an average of 56.1% more social shares than ones that contain fewer than 1,000 words. (Go over 2,000 words, and you’ll see diminishing returns).
Publish whenever
Blog posts published on Sundays had slightly more social shares than the other days – but barely. Publish and share posts on the days your readers are most engaged (and yes, you’ll have to do some experimenting to figure this out).
Need help with blogging in general – and not just getting more social shares? Download our Small Business Guide to Blogging today.
Terri Kaufman
Posted at 10:17h, 11 SeptemberSunday is for reading, huh? Never thought of that.
Terri Kaufman
Posted at 10:20h, 11 SeptemberI mean, Sunday for blog marketing — tended to think of it in a business silo, as in posting on work days. But yes, that’s the freer-time day going back to big, fat newspapers.
Monika Jansen
Posted at 10:34h, 11 SeptemberI know, right? The findings were really interesting.
Charles McCool
Posted at 12:20h, 11 SeptemberWill try some longish and questioning titles in upcoming articles.
Monika Jansen
Posted at 16:02h, 11 SeptemberAwesome – let me know how it goes!