Learning the keys to great writing and delivering the best content possible for each visitor is very difficult and even exhausting.

So I created this post that can be used as a reference to popular content on Pat Flynn’s and Corbett Barr’s blog. In an effort to better understand how to write more for Making a Passive Income visitors. The following posts were gathered off of blogs I follow and would recommend you follow as well.

How I determined The Popular Post

Each post was taken from the most popular posts widget on the respective blog. Each post has a brief description to why I think it is popular and has been shared and any useful information within the post.

Researching Factors in Each Popular Post

I found that after reading and writing this post that video and photos are also an important part to report in learning about what makes a post popular. So along with number of comments, social shares, video and photos you will also find total word count. I’ve noticed that the posts with more information do better than those that are generalized.

I believe this is for two reasons.

1. Everyone can write general articles that just barely skim the top of a subject.
2. Longer posts incorporate a lot of information, suggestions, opinions and often tools that can help its readers.

On a side note

I am no expert. I not the content guru or some big shot but what I am trying to achieve is how to write better for the visitors that visit the Making a Passive Income Blog. I do not take any credit for any of the posts that are mentioned below – I am just reporting the popular posts according to each of the blogs widgets I visited.

Enjoy.

Popular Posts from Pat Flynn

Pat Flynn as most of you probably already know is a passive income blogger, who built a income online by accident through another site. Since his first site he has built a few others including the one I follow SmartPassiveIncome.com. Here he gives great information on how to build a passive income through his posts and podcasts. Below are four of his most popular posts.

1. Comments = 1,938, Social Shares = 732, Total Words = 3,862 Photo(s) = 2, Videos = 3
THE Backlinking Strategy That Works has an amazing count of comments, conversations and backlinks due to the effective strategy he created and shared with his readers. He not only writes about his experiences but includes two videos regarding his affiliate products he re-sells and his own backlinking strategy using his pen tablet. Why I believe that this post has been such a success for Pat is that he provides useful information delivers it in a easy manner and then over delivers with the affiliate products.

2. Comments = 575, Social Shares = 1,406, Total Words = 1,123, Photo(s) = 2, Videos = 1
How to Create a Facebook Landing Page has an amazing amount of shares. I was really impressed when I came across how popular this post is. After reading the post and learning that he incorporated not only a self-made video, photo considering its age and irrelevance now that Facebook has changed their site its quite impeccable example of how to write a great post that readers are searching for and want more information about. I also noticed that Pat also updates his outdated information as he did in the post above, including new and outdated information with strike throughs, with new links to the new posts regarding the topic.
His new facebook page updated link is “TIMELINE for Facebook Pages: THE COMPLETE GUIDE” also is very impressive with 535 Comments and 1,522 Social Shares.

3. Comments= 515, Social Shares = 144, Total Words = 100, Photo(s) = 0, Videos = 0
The Only 100 Words You Should Read Today this post, is by far the shortest post yet best call to action I’ve seen. There are no photos, no videos just text, and a great call to action. I would love to see more of this from Pat since he specifically asks people to help themselves and comment below with what they are going to do today to achieve their goals.

I think that this post stands out because it makes others think about themselves and Pat call’s them to action to share a little about themselves and to communicate with other readers. Its a great way to build trust and to understand what his readers are trying to accomplish. Thus a great post but even better way of learning even more about his audience, and what information they may be searching for that he may not have already.

4. Comments = 415, Social Shares = 110, Total Words = 1415, Photo(s) = 1, Videos = 4
Why I’ll Be Using LeadPlayer for ALL My Videos – LeadPlayer is a great video program that Pat Flynn is an affiliate for, thus this post brings him a lot of revenue (I should imagine, his income report hasn’t been posted for September). He describes and shows the advantages of using LeadPlayer through four different videos two of which are not his but he relates them within the post.

Although this post isn’t “epic shit” as Corbett Barr would say, it delivers information and then over delivers through videos as well as examples of how useful the affiliate product is. I’ve noticed that on all of Pat Flynn’s posts he tries to publish a video along with his article as well as a photo. If you don’t believe me take a look! I would imagine that this is great for his blogs SEO.

ExpertEnough.com by Corbett Barr

Corbett Barr is a blogger I really have my eyes on, I have also entered his course on Starting a Blog That Matters. His approach to ThinkTraffic.com, ExpertEnough.com has gained the attention of 100,000 visitors a month in a very short amount of time. Therefore I highly recommend you check out his product courses one of which I am enrolled in Starting a Blog That Matters.

Below are the three articles on Corbett Barr’s site ExpertEnough.com, although unrelated to Making a Passive Income Blog. The information and quality of posts that he writes is literally “epic shit”.

1.Comments = 69, Social Shares = 822, Total Words = 193, Photo(s) = 1, Videos = 0
The Expert Enough Manifesto is something I recreated for making a passive income blog although not in the same fashion. Here is the Link to my re-creation of the manifesto.
The reason I believe that this post and image is so popular is because it provides inspiration, it is a great visual aid that captures you to read it and is a summary of what Expert Enough is all about.

2. Comments = 64, Social Shares = 2,736, Total Words = 1142, Photo(s) = 1, Videos = 0
The Lost Art at Becoming Good at Things – This has to be one of my favorite posts I’ve read by Corbett Barr. Therefore not only do I think that this post is great but I took it a step further and analyzed it even more.

The post consists of thirty-three paragraphs. All of which had no more than two to three sentences the majority being two. All of his sentences were direct and short as well.

Why?
Readers today like things quick and to the point they want to be able to skim and read if they need further information. Corbett incorporates a lot of great points related to the lazy society today. I applaud his post because its just that great.

3. Comments = 60, Social Shares = 252, Total Words = 4,017, Photo(s) = 24, Videos = 0
Do Shortcuts Exist to Become an Expert? Corbett’s post on the becoming an expert through shortcuts is really interesting. He quotes twenty-four different bloggers that have been successful through different struggles and successes. I found this post to be very interesting.

Again Corbett when he is writing the post writes in short sentences, direct and to the point. No paragraph goes over three sentences. The only exception is when he quotes the people he is interviewing.
I’ve also noticed that Corbett doesn’t normally have a lot of photos. However here he has twenty-four. Which makes me wonder if images play as much as a important rule in SEO as everyone online believes them to be?

Wrapping My Popular Post Research Up – For Today…

Researching both Pat Flynn and Corbett Barr has really opened my eyes on how much I need to re-think my approach when it comes to writing.

Here is what I have learned.

• Write in shorter sentences – direct and to the point.
• Have more paragraphs – it allows the reader to skim the post easier and get the information they want
• Write at least 1,000 words or more!
• Try experimenting with adding several photos and only one photo to a post. To see if it makes a difference in social interaction.