4 reasons to blog about Stephen King’s Kindle Single and other trending topics
I was surprised to discover through Google Analytics that one of my most popular blog posts is a very short item about how Bill O’Reilly managed to promote his Killing Lincoln book while a guest on “Saturday Night Live.” (Let’s be honest — SNL’s “What’s Up with That?” fake talk show is not on any book publicist’s list of media options.)
Why has that post generated more traffic to my site than just about any other post? Because it’s about Bill O’Reilly and his enormously popular book. When people search for O’Reilly or his book title, my post shows up in the search engine results.
Ah . . . the power of SEO.
So, when my friend with a new nonfiction Kindle Single grumbled that Stephen King’s new Kindle Single, Guns, bumped his book down a notch on the bestseller list on Amazon, I urged him to blog about it. (Kindle Singles are books that are longer than a long magazine article but much shorter than a book.)
Blog about trending topics
If there’s a development in your book’s topic or your publishing genre, I encourage you to blog about it immediately, too. Here’s why:
- It will drive traffic to your site. Your blog post on a news story will be found in search engines if you’ve written the post so that the words people will be searching for are in your title and/or the first one or two sentences of your post. (This is how SEO — search engine optimization — works.)
- Your post could generate publicity. If you’ve offered a counter-intuitive perspective or expressed your opinion on a breaking story particularly well, your blog could be quoted in the press or you could be interviewed by the media.
- You will look like hot stuff. For example, if Stephen King has written a Kindle Single, that says a lot about other nonfiction Kindle Single titles and authors, doesn’t it? A little bit of his star power is rubbing off on them. In addition, if you’re writing about a publishing development that’s breaking news, you look like you’re plugged into your genre. That’s reassuring to readers (and publishers).
- You will boost your platform. People who discover your blog after finding you when searching for the trending story could become fans. What author doesn’t welcome the opportunity to acquire more fans?
If you have a reaction to a trending news story and can contribute to the conversation, blog about it. Compare the traffic to that post with others and see if it made a difference. If it did — and it probably will — do more of it.
What has been your most popular blog post, and why?
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Sandy…in a few words you explained, clearly and simply, what the buzz is about SEO! Thank you…I’ve read so much about it…now I can actually try it out in my next blog post…you can be sure I will! You helped make sense out of WHY one should blog about trending topics. Yes, Sandy, you rock!
Aw, thanks, Vivian. I’m so glad it was helpful. I’ll watch for your blog post!
Sandy
You are right, as always! I disagreed with a video that Brendon Burchard made, saying that limiting beliefs don’t affect you, which opposed all the evidence I’d seen, and researched.
It was the first time I dashed a post off without checking punctuation, positioning, grammar – or anything . . . and I think it was popular because I threw caution to the winds.
It will never come as naturally to me as it does to you, but I’m at least trying.
Nice job, Linda! Congratulations! Good for you — I’m impressed!
Sandy
I did a couple of blog posts about a friend who went missing in Alaska a few months ago with the simple intention of sharing my feelings and gathering support/prayers for the search. Though they are far from my most-viewed posts because they are outside my usual subject matter, I was surprised to find that those 2 posts are consistently getting at least a few hits every day from google search.
Thanks, Lia! It’s interesting to see what happens, isn’t it? It’s OK to go off topic once in awhile when you have something important to say or share, as you’ve shown. (And I hope your friend is OK.)
Sandy
I’m not sure if this is an example of writing about a trending topic, but it is a story of stumbling on an apparent traffic magnet.
I too have one page on my website that gets more traffic than any other page, even without any intentional SEO.
It’s an article about estrangement, and I get feedback on it from readers literally every day.
The interesting thing is that, although I’m a therapist, I don’t specialize in estrangement. It’s weird to me that so much of my traffic is because of that topic. It’s so random.
Either estrangement is a huge issue or there’s not enough information available on it. Or both.
… which makes me think I should write my next book on the subject!
Tina, is there any chance that it’s your headline? Did you write what people are typing into search engines to find info on the subject?
Sandy
Hi Sandy. No, I’ve never done any of that. (I know: “Bad, bad Tina!”)
It’s just called “How to Deal with Estrangement,” and most people who find the page through a search engine don’t even use that word, according to my site stats.
I’m guessing the page has a relatively high ranking because I included a feedback form at the bottom that gets a lot of use.
That kind of engagement probably ratchets up the ranking, just as it does when people comment on your business page on Facebook.
I never thought about that before now, but I wonder if that’s it.
Hm. Maybe I don’t have to write that book after all…
I asked because one of my most popular blog posts is totally off-topic for me but it was one I really wanted/needed to write. It was about my sister’s excellent cancer care. For my title, I used what I knew people would type into search engines: “Is CTCA too good to be true?”
It didn’t get a lot of comments, but geez, did it get traffic! And I’m glad it did….
Sandy
So glad your sister got excellent care!
I’m sure the traffic was just a cherry on top for you.
Thanks for all the great material you share.
Thanks for stopping by to chat, Tina!
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
I thought I would share this with you…I followed your advice and did a post on Super Bowl Sunday and how parents can use picture book stories and having kids help make the snacks for the celebration to involve the kids so they don’t feel ignored. Posted it on my wordpress blog…did not get picked up there…but did when I posted it to my Google+ page…and it is on page one of google when you search for Super Bowl Sunday…pretty cool.:)
https://plus.google.com/100063135693050941418/posts/YWn6kFqoL7r
This is the original post:http://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/super-bowl-sunday-including-the-kids-with-snacks-and-stories/
So, is it because I put it on Google+? If yes, I will have to make sure I remember to always do that.:)
How cool! Since Google is king, I have to think that posting to Google+ gave it the boost it needed. That’s a very competitive topic, so good for you!
Sandy