The 5 most popular blog posts in the world. Why you loved them. And other learnings.
One of cool things about doing business online is that you can measure and analyze nearly every aspect of your business.
Being a Physics graduate and uber-nerd, this kind of thing makes me very excited.
So, if you were to say:
JJ. What are your 5 most read blog posts? And why do you think they were more popular than the others?
…then I would say…
#5 – 10 Simple Things That Will Immediately Increase Your Quality of Life
What is it? And why will you like it?
It’s an light-hearted list of 10 easily applicable things you could do right now to make your life rock a little more.
It’s amusing and (a little bit) helpful.
Why was it popular?
People love lists because they can scan them. Many of the most popular posts on the internet are in the format of a list.
Many of my posts go on and on and on and on.
This one doesn’t. It’s a nice bite size piece of internet fun.
I hawked it around Twitter a little bit and it got re-tweeted a few times. (That means that other people liked it and sent the link to their friends.)
Why did it do for me?
Yes. Thank you for asking.
I picked up 10 more RSS subscribers and 4 V.I.P. e-mail subscribers the day this post was published.
It helped to reinforce my brand message that learning should be fun.
#4 – How to Market Test your Business Idea in Under Ten Minutes
What is it? And why will you like it?
It’s a veritable Market Testing Kit in a box.
It’s a 7 minute video.
A slice of earth shattering value.
If you have an idea for an online business, run it through these tests. If it comes out the other side with 5 yeses then your idea has a great chance of being profitable.
If you do the things in the video, I’ll be expecting lots of praise and adulation when you make your first million. Thanks.
Why was it popular?
Because it’s bloody brilliant.
Because it’s a video. Lots of people like video on the internet. (I’d much rather read than watch video, to be honest.)
It got Dugg a few times. (That means people told other people it was awesome on the website Digg.com).
It was promoted on Twitter and Facebook. (Thanks everyone!)
I also flogged it to death in my Jalopy Gang V.I.P. Newsletter.
What did it do for me?
People got to see me and hear my funny accent.
I got the opportunity to connect with them in a new and powerful way. This is important.
It brought in a small amount of new traffic to my website from Digg and YouTube.
It reinforced my core brand theme of giving massive value. Gosh, I’m generous.
#3 - How to Write a Super Crazy Awesome Blog Post
What is it? And why will you like it?
It’s a how-to guide to writing blog posts which people will actually read and enjoy.
Why was it popular?
It’s a How-To guide. These are great blog fodder.
It has a good title, which explains exactly what it’s about and describes the tone of the piece.
This knocked about on Twitter a little bit. Some people thought it was funny and useful. Others thought it was an opinionated, naive and one-sided account of blogging. (I agree.) All attention is good attention in terms of generating new visitors.
Many of my readers are bloggers themselves. A few readers sent a link to this post to their friends and family.
This post was as viral as I’ve been in the last two months…
What did it do for me?
It brought me new fans – people who still read the blog today. (Hi there! Looking good!)
It reinforced my core brand themes of making learning fun and giving massive value.
I’d only written about ten blog posts at the point I wrote this. Acknowledging this in the post, I set myself up as an apologetic authority.
#2 – An Important Decision to be Made
What is it? And why will you like it?
It’s a challenge to bring yourself fully to the decisions you make in life – in particular your decision to start your own business, or not.
Why was it popular?
It underpins everything we talk about here.
It was the second most popular post on the site, despite having a really sucky title.
The reason? As one of my first and my most commented post, a link to it was always available from the front page of the website. (I have since removed this link.) This shows how effectively you can guide people to the content you want them to see.
What did it do for me?
It introduced my own personal story. It set the tone for the rest of the blog and helped to set the foundations for the brand.
#1 – How to fix your visual editor after a Wordpress 2.8 upgrade
What is it? And why will you like it?
Hmmm…. It’s a nerdtastic guide to fixing a common bug in a common piece of blog software. It has computer code in it and everything.
I don’t even understand half of it.
Why was it popular?
Lots of bloggers recently upgraded their Wordpress software to version 2.8 and encountered a problem with their visual editor.
I posted this on the day after the upgrade was released. I have been the second most popular google search result for Wordpress 2.8 Visual Editor for the last week and a half. This brings me a lot of traffic.
What did it do for me?
It wasn’t really… It was an interesting experiment in search engine optimization, but that’s about it.
It’s not impossible that, rather than fixing their problem, one of these visitors will stick around on my blog, realize it rocks and become a raving fan.
But it is unlikely.
It’s cool to look at the visitor graphs though! 
Hope you enjoyed that little journey.
See you soon!
JJ Jalopy.
13 comments so far
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Comment by Mike Hawke
24 June 2009
I liked #3 the best.
Mike Hawke
Comment by Newport Beach, Widow Support, Bereavement Counseling, Divorce Recovery, Grief Support, Orange County, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Irvine
24 June 2009
I’m thinking the ones featuring pix of WINE and COFFEE were most personally moving for me… well more than the one on fixing the latest version of WP. Which I took as a wonderful WONDERFUL warning NOT to be on the cutting edge downloading the latest and greatest! lol!
Also ones featuring the BELOVED Mrs. Jalopy! ?
Where’s the red wine, please?
See you in Vegas in the next year!
Best regards,
April Braswell
Comment by Anthony Lemme
24 June 2009
They were all winners my friend. Any one of them with lightning bolts gets my nod!
Anthony
http://www.anthonylemme.com
The Most Powerful Personal Growth and Mind Development Tool on Earth
Anthony Lemme´s last blog ..Self-Esteem: The Magic X-Factor
Comment by Darryl Pace
25 June 2009
JJ,
hey, man, 3 and 4 were the best for me. good, good stuff dude.
Health, Fitness — Darryl Pace
Fitness Product Review
Darryl Pace´s last blog ..Lose Fat and Gain Muscle Simultaneously?
Comment by Pam Schulz
26 June 2009
All were great, but I loved the test marketing in 10 minutes.
Pam
Expert Houston Retirement Planning & Wealth Management Services
Comment by Lisa McLellan
28 June 2009
I have to admit that content is not as important as the length of the post on most days. Since I have an extremely short attention span, I read very slowly and I have about 10 minutes a day to read, blog, and comment I prefer posts which are short and to the point! I know, I know, maybe I should write a little less myself! hahhahaha
Your posts have all been great! Keep up the good work.
Lisa McLellan
Babysitting Services – Babysitters and Nannies
Comment by Steve Chambers
2 July 2009
They’re all good.
Steve Chambers, The Sales Expert
The Sales Eagle Solution – 6 months to dominate your market
Comment by JJ Jalopy
4 July 2009
@Mike – Yeah, me too! Thanks dude!
Comment by JJ Jalopy
4 July 2009
@April – Mrs. Jalopy does always liven up a post, doesn’t she?
If I need some glamour and sparkle to a post, all I need to do is add Mrs. Jalopy!!
@Anthony – Thanks bro… It’s been a while since I got out the lightning bolts… Look out for more coming soon!
Comment by JJ Jalopy
4 July 2009
@Darryl – Cheers bro. I really enjoyed those two too…
Comment by JJ Jalopy
4 July 2009
@Pam – Me too! I enjoyed doing that… I’m thinking of tidying it up a bit, adding some worksheets and selling it as a download – Market Test in a Box!