Three quick hacks which I tell consulting clients all the time:
1) That thing OKCupid does to blog posts? Do it. Really.
(It occurs to me that, in general, "Imitate OKCupid" is good advice, but the specific thing is their sharing flydown menu. See http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/10-charts-about-sex/ and just keep scrolling, you'll see the effect when you hit the comments. Apologies for the topic, they are an edgy dating site.)
This is, in my recent experience, about ~3 hours of work, even if you're not a CSS/Javascript wizard. (And it will be easier when I get done with immigration stuff and have time to productize and OSS the implementation I did for a recent client.)
2) Blog posts typically have a spread phase (dominated by the new release window) and a residual traffic phase. Nothing says you can't optimize them differently for both phases. For example, put your citation-worthy headline and a prominent graphic into the post for launch. Change it to a SEO headline and add pre-graphic call to action after 48 hours.
3) The perceived value of blog posts is worse than evergreen resources. Strongly consider making those; they often have much higher ROI. The difference is largely just a matter of packaging.
a) Resources don't have a prominent date on them.
b) Resources don't scream I Am A Blog Template with, e.g., comment sections or headers which look like a blog.
c) Resources get more attention to unique, brandable visual design than blog posts do.
That might sound like a lot of work, but it is really not.
P.S. Oddly enough since I pay them money, I had never seen the KissMetrics blog prior to today. Egads. I am taking notes -- there is a heck of a lot there which is steal-worthy. (Note lack of date on posts. Note position of calls to actions prior to comments and on right navigation. Note email submission. Note per-post icon design. Note position of icon next to sharing buttons.)
For those initially confused by their link to the personal finance service named Mint, I believe their intention was to link to the web analytics service also named Mint at http://haveamint.com
I think, the link is indeed correct. It says that one should take a look at the call to action buttons etc. on the Mint blog (as linked), as they are probably quite successful.
Unfortunately I gave this talk as an exclusive favor to the 500 Startup companies. I may decide to mod it a bit for public consumption - but there was a lot of "inside stuff" that I'm not comfortable sharing publicly. As we iterate, I'll be sure to share more and more.
1) That thing OKCupid does to blog posts? Do it. Really.
(It occurs to me that, in general, "Imitate OKCupid" is good advice, but the specific thing is their sharing flydown menu. See http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/10-charts-about-sex/ and just keep scrolling, you'll see the effect when you hit the comments. Apologies for the topic, they are an edgy dating site.)
This is, in my recent experience, about ~3 hours of work, even if you're not a CSS/Javascript wizard. (And it will be easier when I get done with immigration stuff and have time to productize and OSS the implementation I did for a recent client.)
2) Blog posts typically have a spread phase (dominated by the new release window) and a residual traffic phase. Nothing says you can't optimize them differently for both phases. For example, put your citation-worthy headline and a prominent graphic into the post for launch. Change it to a SEO headline and add pre-graphic call to action after 48 hours.
3) The perceived value of blog posts is worse than evergreen resources. Strongly consider making those; they often have much higher ROI. The difference is largely just a matter of packaging.
a) Resources don't have a prominent date on them.
b) Resources don't scream I Am A Blog Template with, e.g., comment sections or headers which look like a blog.
c) Resources get more attention to unique, brandable visual design than blog posts do.
That might sound like a lot of work, but it is really not.
P.S. Oddly enough since I pay them money, I had never seen the KissMetrics blog prior to today. Egads. I am taking notes -- there is a heck of a lot there which is steal-worthy. (Note lack of date on posts. Note position of calls to actions prior to comments and on right navigation. Note email submission. Note per-post icon design. Note position of icon next to sharing buttons.)