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Bigger and better. Writing in a superlative world.

Social media is chocked full of the “best” “most” “must read” content that we’ve ever seen as writers attempt to pull focus from the social stream to their website.  As a writer, it is your goal to get people to read your content but you need to make sure that you’re delivering the promise that you make in your title. Before you super size your title, make sure you can deliver the beef. {click to tweet}

Providing value to your readers is an important concept to remember when blogging. Your readers don’t care about your blog traffic, Alexa rating or ad revenue. When someone clicks on a link to come to your site, give them what your title promised. If you offered “The biggest list of WordPress plugins ever,” serve that baby up.

Some posts that lived up to the hype in the title:

56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest by Beth Hayden for Copyblogger

56 ways

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the shares on this post! And it led to a book deal for Beth for Pinfluence: The Complete Guide to Marketing your Business with Pinterest.

Top 10 Ways to Breeze Through Laundry Like a Boss  on Lifehacker

top ten

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Most  Desirable People to Follow on Google+

Guy

 

 

 

 

 

 

This got a nice share and it made Guy's life so that was a win!

It’s important that readers trust your message and they know inherently that quality counts. Some blogs try to push the envelope by posting multiple posts per day losing quality in the process and some provide really fantastic content all day like Lifehacker. At 12 Most, we published one really great post per day following the model set by Social Media Examiner. Readers know that they can expect good content that’s well edited and interesting once a day, Monday through Friday like clockwork.  Mike Stelzner has said that each Social Media Examiner article goes through five edits prior to publication. Consistency is important for readers and knowing they can check the site for something new to read and share provides value to your readers and benefits your blog.

Being realistic in your title keeps it real for your readers. Clever, SEO friendly titles can greatly improve the traffic to your website however, just make sure that you’re also serving up the goods and satisfying readers by providing an entertaining, interesting article. These readers will come back for more, share your content and sign-up for regular updates. If you overstate your case and under-deliver, you could have alienated a reader making your blog a one-hit wonder for them.

Show respect for your readers by delivering what you promise and live up to the title that you created.  {click to tweet} You’ll build your readership, create an interesting conversation around your content, and grow as a writer. You want your blog community to trust you and your content, this starts with the very first click.

Have you ever clicked on a link of a great sounding post expecting a finely crafted latte but instead getting a luke warm cup of tea? Did you go back to the site? Give up on the blog? I’m interested to know how you feel about this and what you do when this happens, please share with me in the comments below.