Hi!
Last week I showed you some examples of things that people do wrong at the end of their blog posts.
These are really common mistakes,
So don’t be alarmed if you’ve been doing any of them,
Most people have!
In this week’s email
I’m going to show you how you can do it better.
Adding these things to the end of your blog post will give your readers the very best experience
And make you more money from each one.
So, let’s dive in…
1. The wrap-up paragraph.
Here’s what not to do…
This is just fluff
And it implies that your reader wasn’t paying attention because you’re just repeating what you already said.
Here’s what to do instead…
The aim of this paragraph is to get the reader to read one more post.
Because not only will that double the value of that reader in terms of how much ad revenue you make,
But it’s a great signal to Google that the reader loves your site!
2. The related posts section
Here’s what not to do…
Nobody clicks these because they look like ads and they’re not very helpful.
Plus, if you generate them with a plugin, you’re killing your site speed.
Here’s what to do instead…
These are hand-selected, so you have more control over which article links to which.
In here I like to include:
- High-value affiliate posts
- Articles with click-worthy titles
- Anything that needs a link but doesn’t fit naturally within the text
3. The social icons
Here’s what not to do…
Most people aren’t quite sure what would happen if they clicked on of these,
So they don’t click them.
Here’s what to do instead…
This is a screenshot from my site.
It’s obvious that these buttons are for sharing.
The result is that this one article has been shared 15,300 times.
This isn’t a plugin.
I made it with a free tool called Share This.
The tool creates a single line of code that you place into your website template.
This is super easy to do with a ‘Hook’ if you use GeneratePress as your WordPress theme like I do.
4. The comments form
Here’s what not to do…
I do like having comments because people often use them to tell me if I’ve made an error or if there’s something I didn’t cover.
But this form is overwhelming!
Here’s what to do instead…
The standard GeneratePress comments form is so much cleaner and simpler, with no plugin needed.
I have over 100 comments on some of my posts.
And people have to scroll past all of these
(While the sidebar and sticky footer ads are in view)
To leave their own.
Ker-ching!
5. The previous and next links
Here’s what not to do…
Here’s what to do instead…
Nothing!
I just disable this, there’s enough going on down here already.
6. The crappy mailing list signup
Here’s what not to do…
This form gives you no reason to join the mailing list, at all.
Boo!
Here’s what to do instead…
This example is from email king Matt Giovanisci.
(Make sure you’re following him on Twitter)
He gives you a really great freebie
In exchange for your email address.
Signups galore!
7. The tags
Here’s what not to do…
Displaying tags is pointless in 99% of cases.
Here’s what to do instead…
Another big fat nothing!
Easy, huh?
Now, add this to your to-do list 🙂
– NSL
P.S. I’m about to take a month off to go travelling around Europe.
I am a travel blogger after all!
So I might have to skip a couple of these weekly emails, I’m not sure yet.
But I’ll be back soon.
Don’t miss me too much and happy holidays!