Or if you use WordPress, how to get featured on Freshly pressed !

The things which get a blog post click are:

Great pictures Good catchy titles Keeping the blogs simple Have something which the readers can take back with them Creativity, it always works If you have something humourous to say, you’ve already scored Blog about one of your crazy experiences Write about new places you visit, as everybody isnt blessed to travel Have something to say about Fashion and beauty? – Go ahead ! Blog about popular hobbies Have comparative studies. We all like to compare isn’t it ? Be sincere, people recognize it Talk about popular sentiments Write something which promises better things in life

I am not an expert at writing great blogs so why would you believe in what has been mentioned above? If you are me you wouldn’t buy into these very easily. So lets see how I came to the conclusion that these are the things which make a blog click.

Following up on one of my commitments this year to write better blog posts, I decided to venture into the elite world of the freshly pressed blogs(For the uninitiated click here). The reason behind my move to check on freshly pressed blogs was another commitment, which is to have at least one post of mine to be freshly pressed this year. I have been blogging for a year now and I wouldn’t say I am the most active blogger but not too bad either. But I have never really understood what it take to be freshly pressed, so today I decided I would look at these fresh pressed blogs and learn what it actually takes to be in this elite group.

I wanted to get a general outline as to what makes a blog post good enough to be recognized so I took a random sample of 59 freshly pressed blogs. I didn’t open any of the blogs initially but just looked at the snap shot of the blogs which is displayed on the main page of word press. I started mentally noticing few blogs more than others and made a note of these blogs.

I shortlisted 13 blogs of the sample size of 59. That’s just 22%!!!!! And then I realized I was being so fastidious about the content I would read by just looking at a small snap shot of blog and the interesting part here was that I choose just 22% out of an elite collection of blog posts.

The 22% of the blogs selected just based on a small snap shot were chosen due to what? Few words and a thumbnail! I just want to mention to you that I have no particularly strong prejudices towards any topic and I just selected these blogs randomly and in quick time (to prevent much thought).

So before we even decide to read these blogs let’s remember there were 45 other blog post which went unnoticed (mind you these were all in the elite section). It just goes to show how little time we have to catch the eye of the reader. So what we have already learnt by this little exercise is that the following are a must for a post to be successful

Good pictures

Great catchy titles

So let’s see what was so special about these 13 selected blogs and see what more we can hopefully learn and implement in our future posts.

1. Naughty brownies

The moment you see that delectable picture -EAT flashes on your inward eye and then the name NAUGHTY BROWNIES will definitely get your thinking. Such kind of names just make your imagination run wild and get you thinking as to what could be inside the post.

You just scroll across and you will notice that it’s a recipe. Did it come as a sort of anti-climax ? I would say yes but if you u read the recipe you would have got yourself a simple recipe to make some amazing brownies. The moment you see the OMG looking brownies and the simple recipe for it….it will definitely get everybody working in their kitchens.

WIFM: –

Blog posts can be simple!

Should have something for the people to take back. Here, a wonderful and simple recipe.

2. Idiocy of the English language

The name gets you thinking isn’t it ? What is so idiotic about the language we are using to converse ? It could probably say a lot about us people who use it to converse isn’t it ? Curiosity kills the cat ….We got to delve into the post after looking at that title.

But the moment you open the link the first thing which is striking is the beautiful layout of the blog. I must say a very creative one.

I always felt creativity is something which shows you something which you see or use or know about in a completely different sense. Creative people take you out of the picture and show it to you in a different light. This lady Elana, is way too creative. I wouldn’t say everyone would be able to do such a thing.

WIFM: –

Think out of the box, simple ideas can make a great blog post !

Speak with your sketches sometimes, not everybody wants to hear people rambling.

3. Niagara Falls in winter

The striking thing about this is the picture of Niagara falls in the winter. As soon as you read the title, you minds starts to think Niagara Falls is special but for people like me who haven’t see it Niagara at all and for those who haven’t seen it in winter, it gets us thinking. Does it look any different in the winter ?

WIFM:-

Talking about experiences people might connect with or relate to.

Great photos of course !

4. Running a marathon in every state

I come from a country where such a thing would border upon craziness and all its synonyms. Now why would you want to do something like that ?

The longest I have run in my entire life was 9 mi and to actually run a marathon in every state at that ….definitely is crazy. But why did I connect to this post ?

WIFM-

Have something crazy on your blog which people want to but wouldn’t want to do !

5. New year, New world

New year, New world! There are a lot of people looking at new things to explore in life and unfortunately everybody isn’t blessed to travel. Great post for people who would love to see and hear from a new world !

WIFM:- Travel and its concomitant experiences !

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6. Darkness indulged

The moment you see that snap shot and the title you realize there is something strange going on there. It’s builds curiosity and tantalizes the dark side in everybody.