We all get traffic spikes, influxes of readers flocking to see our latest content because of the social media work we have put in. Guest posting, comments, tweets all these can bring in a spike in traffic, but what happens to your site after this?

Does your site live day to day chasing that traffic spike or does it have enough substance in it to capitalize on these waves of readers?

  • Controversial

There is no doubt that controversial subjects can bring in huge amounts of traffic, but it has to be done in the right way. Don published a post not long ago that brought him huge traffic and become an extremely popular post for him. Now I don’t completely agree with everything said over there, but it created a huge debate and debates like that bring in traffic spikes.

The key to publishing post like that though is to remember who you are, remember what you stand for and why you are writing it. Now on the flip side of this coin is Allyn, who is controversial all the time, I personally like Allyn, he’s different, he makes a massive amount of cash online, but is more than comfortable in letting the whole world know his views on everything and everyone. He stays true to who he is which is the most important thing about being controversial.

If it’s who you are and it’s what you believe in then do it, but don’t pretend just to get a quick boost.

  • Lists

Lists are great ways of getting spikes in traffic, especially if you create lists of websites. Most wordpress owners will know when they get a back link (a link from one website post to your post, like a referencing link) those back links will draw in the site owner which usually results in a comment or re-tweet.Readers like lists, only if they are helpful, either a top 20 or something similar.

Careful with lists though, you need to create a post that has a list on websites to visit that you would actually want to read, contribute and visit those websites in that list, don’t go spamming everyone for the sake of creating a quick surge in traffic.

  • Bones

OK so you have a couple of ideas on how to create traffic spikes, but then what? Your site needs to have some bones to eat, something people can chew on after they have read that first post. If you take my site for example, I have popular posts and recent comments on every page, it’s also fairly easy to navigate.

Another way of keeping new readers is to have a bit of personality in your writing, be personal and above all be honest. Give your readers an education as well as motivation.

So is your site surviving till the next hit or is it capitalizing on new traffic?

Cupcake Helpers
Creative Commons License photo credit: norwichnuts

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