Skilled anglers go where the fish are. A lake or river, a tributary, or a place in the ocean can look like it’s the perfect fishing ground. But you can’t catch a fish if there are no fish to catch. So the successful fishermen find out where the fish have been hanging out and then go there.
Do the same with your list building making efforts.
You can create an enormous opt-in bribe people can benefit from. If you offer this incentive in an opt-in form on a site that has little or no traffic, the best content in the world won’t get any fish on the hook.
Determine which blog posts attract the most attention.
Check your comments
A simple way to do this is to check the comments at the end of your posts. In general, posts with the most comments are the ones with the most traffic.
If you have a WordPress blog or website, WP Statistics is a free, popular plug-in that tells you a lot about your web traffic. Install the plug-in and then check back often to find the blog posts that get the most traffic. Google Analytics does the same.
Content upgrades
Now that you have applied several methods to localize your high traffic areas, how do you come up with great ideas for updating the content? A content upgrade is nothing more than a special offer where you provide bonus content in return for someone subscribing to your email list.
This is a relatively simple process. Read your blog post as if you were a web surfer meeting it for the first time.
- What does it talk about?
- What does it deliver to your readers and web surfers?
- What are the values and benefits someone receives when they digest this content?
As you read, write down ideas and think about what kind of resource or content would be a logical extension of what you just read.
Perhaps your most popular blog post talks about the benefits of walking for a healthy heart. A useful content enhancement could be a short and straightforward checklist that promotes daily walking. You could also offer a 10-day email challenge that takes readers from couch potato status to 10,000 steps per day in just 10 days.
The next step for your readers
The idea is to come up with a logical extension of your popular blog posts and websites. Keep it short and easy to digest, and your readers will quickly see some value in the content you offer.
Checklists, resource guides, quick-start guides, brief reports, and challenges are all effective content upgrades. Offering them will help you build your email list while strengthening your reputation as a knowledgeable leader in your field.
