Once you get your visitors to your blog you naturally want them to browse your blog and ultimately come back later. Post and article series are a great way to encourage your visitors to browse around by providing them with many posts and articles on the same topic. Once you pull them in with one post, they will keep reading on to your other post to gain more information and come back for more information later.
So what is a post or article series? Basically it is a bunch of post that you create on the same topic, but cover different aspects of that topic. My favicon series is an example of a post or article series. Once a visitor views one post in that series, they click on other topics in that series to continue to learn about favicons. You can see at the bottom of the post I have links to the rest of the articles in the series.
You may already be creating post series on your blog and not even realize that just by simply linking them together you can encourage your visitors to browse your blog. Before getting started on linking your blog posts or creating a new post series, consider the following tips:
Do:
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Choose a topic that you can write a lot about. Pick a topic that will allow you to at least have 4-5 good posts.
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Plan out what each post in your series will be about. You can always add or remove, but having a general idea will help you know where your series is headed.
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Make each post in your series have an excellent title. Title your series post just as you do any other post, make them interesting and search engine friendly.
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Link to each post in the series. Within the post you should link to the other posts in the series. There is a great plugin called In-series that will do this for you automatically through your WordPress admin section.
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Provide something valuable in each post. Make sure that each post in the series offers something to your visitor.
Don’t:
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Cover everything in the first post. Try to spread out your information throughout your series so that visitors want to come back to get more information.
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Spread out your information to thin. Just as you shouldn’t cover it in one post, don’t give them so little information that they don’t think you have anything valuable to share.
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Create a series with only 2 posts. A series should contain at the very least 3 posts but I see a lot more visitor browsing and return visitors with the higher number series.
Post series can be created over a few weeks or even months and will still provide you with more page views and bring your visitors back to your blog for more valuable information. Series also will establish to your visitors that you are an expert on that topic and will come back to your blog when they have any questions or need help.
This post is part of blog writing project at Daily Blog Tips (there is a jar in this post, but it is not blue). Get your posts up, it ends on the same day as my writing project!
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i tried writing a pillar article, it included a 5 part series for increasing blog traffic. I think it some-what helped my blog but I didn’t plan it out very well and there wasn’t very good “flow” between the articles. I think properly planning out your pillar articles is key. great post
Yeah I didn’t have a flow either between my series besides keyword linking within the post. It didn’t seem to make a difference. I was planning on linking them by hand, which I did do a few but that become very hard to keep up with. When I got that in-series plugin it helped a lot and I can see in my stats people looking around! Plus you don’t have to have “huge” pillar articles, you can have simple quick tips or lists too.
I’ll try to put my life into series! LOL!
Good plan. I think it’s a law of physics that no one can resist coming back after a “to be continued.”
That’s a good point. Sometimes article type postings can lose the attention of people with short attention spans, like I. Although, lately I haven’t been following my own advice…haven’t some of my posts gotten a little longer? I must change that!!
Good post. I like to do series, but if you want make them quality, it can be a lot of hard work, esp when you’re not a full time blogger. I did one in the past called the Start Blogging Series and it just about killed me.
I think I need to do another one soon. (#);)
I’ve been planning to write post series for a long time, so your article was an additional encouragement for me.
Nevertheless, since I tend to write too much when I’m enthusiastic about an idea, I’m afraid my series would be too long, making my readers bored. How can a blogger tell when it is time to put an end to her current post series?
Posting a series or a follow up sure keeps the viewers back for more!
@Susan: I don’t think they are too long, because they are very informative and provide a lot of good information. But if you think they are, you can just mix it up a bit. Do a long one, than a shorter one.
@Karen: Do you mean post length or series length? I’ve seen some series go on and on, like for instance “Best of” because it is an endless topic. I think if you are seeing less interest in that series or you aren’t able to come up with anything new to share, you might want to lay low on that topic for awhile. You never know if you will get inspired later!
[...] provides tips on gaining page views and return visitors using a series of posts. Oh yeah, don’t forget the group writing [...]
Great idea Sarah,
For some reason I did this on my articles site, but never on my blog so far. I’ll have to get thinking now what I could do. Thanks for the inspiration.
Monika
Nice article Sarah ,This has also encouraged me to start a series soon . And that also reminds me of the DBT group writing project .
Glad to inspire you guys to writing a series of post. It really has helped my own page views and also give you some ideas you can write about in the future. I get stuck sometimes and I can just fall back on those series!
I do series at my HYN website those have gone very well. I took a break for the website for about seven days so I’ll have to post again the thing is I get traffic even when I don’t post. I started that in May and it usually receives more traffic than my main website.
I think of that site as a resource so I don’t really need to post daily for people to benefit from it. I like that.
Very helpful post, Sarah! What do you think about the length of time in between posting each part of the series? Should it be a factor, and if so, how much? Thanks again!
@Sarah: I meant series length. Thank you very much for answering my question.
I’ll keep your tip in mind.
@Opal: Sounds like your series are working out great for you! Series can benefit people even if you don’t post that often, as long as you provide a lot of information around that one topic it tends to draw people in.
@YC: I like to give 2-3 days inbetween each series posts, when the focus is on page views and returning visitors. But I really think it depends on the topic, as sometimes if you leave cliff hangers and wait too long your readers will loose interest. I am doing an Insiders Guide to all things web hosting right now and I have no set time for these, some have been days or even weeks inbetween. The focus on this type of series is mostly for a resource for people to read and not to bring in immediate page views/returning visitors, but certainly overtime as the series builds up.
@Karen: Great, hope the series posts work out for you. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
[...] a multi-part post series to build traffic and readership, look no further than Sarah’s Tips On Gaining Page Views And Returning Visitors Using Post Series at [...]
Thanks for the tips Sarah. I have heaps of posts in drafts that I put to one side because they were too long. Now, I’m going to split them up into a series as you suggested.
[...] Gaining Page Views and Returning Visitors Using Post Series by Sarah - When I wrote my Start Blogging Series a while ago it just about killed me. No lie. But, it remains one of my bigger hit posts to date. Here’s why you also should jump into the “Series” mix. If you liked this post, do the world a favor and share it! var addthis_pub = ‘HFD04246WCU7F8PG’; [...]
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Hey great article. Series posting is a great way to not only stretch out your content, but it also gives you an opportunity to, if you space them out, put more thought into your content and deliver a better overall product. It’s a beautiful thing. Great post.
Hey there,
Just wanted to mention that the URL you’ve given for In Series is somewhat dated now — I’m maintaining the plugin over at REM State now.
Happy serial writing.
Thanks for the updated link, I’ve updated the post for the new one so visitors don’t get lost! :c)
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It was nice to read your post. I’ve personally tried post series in one of my blogs. It really works if you plan everything before hand and write in user friendly way.
Thanks Sarah!
Stumbled!
Glad you liked the article and thanks for the stumble. Series really do work well and I’ve seen a lot more page views since I installed the in-series plugin and linked the articles directly together.
I need to install that plugin that seperates the pingbacks from comments soon!
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I am totally in agreement with you.
You had pull me with one of your great old post, and now I won’t stop myself keep reading on to your other posts.
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Yes, your right I think that is one of the greatest tricks about blogging and also creates great internal link structure and building for search engines.
[...] Tips on Gaining Page Views and Returning Visitors Using Post Series by Sarah caught my interest because I like to write series - I was delighted to learn about a plug-in to manage series posts. [...]