b. Essentials of a blog post

Everyone has their own style and this is how I structure a blog post in my mind:

1. Perfect combo: Curious headline and eye-catching featured image

Test it yourself. Try removing the featured image for some time and you will be impressed by how the analytics will change instantly.

“How” and “Why” in a headline always works, and a “list” title never, ever disappoints (remember, it always depends on other factors, too.). You can also study some interesting headlines on the Medium Top 100 lists by viewing all the last months.

Choosing a great headline is awesome and choosing a great featured image is great. But when you bring the ideal two together, it’s just perfect.

2. Introduction

This is, for me, by far the most important section of an article.

You have a few seconds to convince the reader that you can fulfill the promise you gave in the headline. It’s in those few seconds that he/she will decide whether or not to open a new tab.

Pull her into your story step by step. Change his mind so that he forgets he had actually landed on an article. Start with a shocking scientific result, an awkward detail, or a personal story.

Try starting right in the middle of the story. What time was it? Who were you with when it happened? Look how Andrew Wilkinson made a great intro with one of his recent articles:

“That’s stupid — you’re building a lifestyle business,” spat the investor across the table, flashing me a death glare.

I finished reading his article within a few seconds.

3. Body

There are two things I pay extreme attention to in the body:

3.1 Let the reader breathe

Remember, you survived the introduction and pulled the reader into the body.

However, the reader is still in the middle and she is already getting easily tired and is about to open a new tab.

Insert a visual and let the reader breathe.

3.2 Don’t use distracting links

There is a difference between giving credit to reliable resources and flooding your article with links just to prove to your reader that you wrote a high-quality piece.

Always ask, is this resource really relevant? Does your audience really care?

4. End on a high note

You are playing your final cards. The reader is really tired and has been going between so many open tabs and mobile notifications.

Ease up and slow down. Write even simpler sentences. Keep your paragraphs shorter and your message even more to-the-point when possible.

Recap all your points by showing how you fulfilled the promise, and send her home on a high note.

→ Part 3 — When ready to publish ←

Even when you finish writing your article, the real game is still to begin.

The art of asking people to recommend or share

This is something I do very often at the end of my articles that not many people do: I ask the reader to recommend or share the article.

For some of my articles, this simple question has increased the number of shares by up to 32 percent.

People are not mean — if they don’t share, it doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate your article. It’s just that some people simply don’t have the habit of sharing as much as you do. But often if you ask them, they are kind enough to share your work with their networks.

2. Sending out the newsletter at peak time

The best time to send out an email campaign always depends on your audience, time zones, industry, etc.

Generally, Sunday 0:00 GMT works for a global audience since people are usually looking forward to reading new things as the new week kicks in.

However, I strongly suggest you to split-test the time you send out your newsletter. Many mail companies like Mailchimp offer growth-hacking tools to test sending the same email to two different groups of your subscribers.

For instance, above is one of the old email campaigns I conducted for a client. Look at the shocking difference in opening rates, even though the two groups didn’t have that much of a time difference.

3. Send the first bomb all together

Let’s say you have figured out the best newsletter timing for your audience to be Sunday evening at 6:45 p.m. Share the article on your social media accounts as soon as your email campaign is on its way to people’s inboxes.

Send the first shot all together consistently across all channels, instead of weakening them by separating into different times.

Always share the same post on your social media accounts a few other times over the next few days, covering different time zones.

4. Reproduce the same content on different channels and in different formats

This is something that generates significant additional traffic. Once you see that an article is successful, turn it into a new format in a new channel. Turn your articles into:

Slides and upload them on Slideshare, images on Instagram and Facebook, infographics on Pinterest, or into a video on YouTube.

One of the best reproduction forms is to turn it into a website, a software, or a tool as a side project. Here is something I turned into a website after an article that became one of the most upvoted things on Product Hunt.

→ Part 4— Redistribution ←

The traffic you see on the Medium screenshots above is only a portion of the traffic you get. Redistributing on big publishers sometimes can up to double your traffic.

What is really interesting is to see how people exaggerate big media outlets in their minds, seeing them as unreachable, unachievable channels that only the top guys get into.

The truth is, editors working for big media outlets are such nice people. They are not your enemies, and they don’t ignore you on purpose.

They usually have very intense workloads and they need one thing: to bring only the best content to their websites.

Here is how to give them what they need and enjoy huge traffic and exposure.

1. List your targets

Go on to the “contact” pages of your target publishers or tech blogs, and get the emails of editors. When there’s no email, search for them on Twitter. Make your wish list of target editors with all contact details.

2. No traction, no redistribution

Remember: all they need is traction or proof of a performing article. If you can’t see the traffic on your Google analytics, there is no way you will fool the editor into reposting it on their website.

Wait for few days to get some analytics data. Once you see something really great about your article (it doesn’t have to be only traffic, it can also be a great quality content many opinion leaders are referring to) take the screenshot or proof, and then:

3. Send emails or tweet editors with eye-catching headlines

Please don’t email them like:

“Hi, my name is bla,

I am bla bla bla,

I published an article….”

Be to the point and brief. Talk about the results. And talk only if you have results.

Here is a typical email I send and usually receive an answer to:

Title: “My post has 42% share rate, screenshot attached, repost maybe?”

Email: “Hi, my article is performing really well, pls see analytics data attached. I want to repost it on your outlet. Please kindly get back if you are interested. Ali”