I wonder whether you have read this post The Content Pyramid: Healthy Portions of Posts for Your Blog by Pat Flynn. Seriously after reading it, it gives me a lot of thoughts and i find the post truly inspires.
Reading blogs authored by authority bloggers can teach us lots of things if we pay attention to their post details. How many of us actually classified our post into a pyramid? I seriously doubt so.
Pat classified his post into four tiers:
Bottom Tier – Consist of case studies and how to
Second Tier – Left brains (Analytical + Rational) & Right brain (philosophical + Theoretical)
Third Tier – Voice and Recommendations
Top Tier – Personal
Though there are four tiers of different type of content but what i want to focus on is the Bottom tier. Bottom Tier is the most important type of content we need to have as it forms the foundation which push the blog growth. Post in the bottom tier is timeless which few years down the road, people will find it useful anytime they read the post.
In other words, they are the pillar articles. These are the content which promises huge results and sharing whether the methods work or don’t work.
According to Pat Flynn:
“These types of posts really do become the foundation of a blog (aka. pillar articles) and without them you’re making it that much harder to stand out from the crowd and become a leader in your niche”
“If you’re lacking in this part of the pyramid, all you need to do is take action and create your own case studies”
“They don’t just happen on their own”
That really sums up why we are finding so hard to stand out from a big pool of bloggers blogging the similar niche as us. Are we writing too many analytical and theoretical post? Probably we think these type of post is enough to bring us to the level we desire.
What we are lacking of are posts about case studies and how to articles to back up our claim. What we are doing now writing post related to our niches, the ultimate aim is to create a case study of our own.
Taking action and create our case study
Most of the popular blogs especially Glen Allsop focus on how to articles on things he recently did and gained huge results. The other blogger who came close in my mind is blogtyrant.
To create a case study require certain knowledge on the subject or you have experience achieving the targets that you have set. It’s not as easy as we can imagine, else every blogger will become the leader in their niche. Some case study require us to work very hard and see results in certain period of time. Onibalusi is a perfect example of this:
How I Really Build A Successful Blog In 8 Months
Though there are other factors which can influence the success of a blog, it can’t be deny having a blog full of pillar articles will help your blog to go viral easily. If your blog is facing a stagnant growth, writing posts on case studies and how to articles will kick start your traffic again. We have to find ways to create them.
Eventually through hard word work and persistence, we may be able to reach a milestone and become a case study article of our own. Nobody can predict when that will happen. We have to keep our passion alive and keep going.
How is your content pyramid?
Have you written any case study or how to articles?
Does it have any effect on your traffic?
Please leave a comment to share with us.
Share and Enjoy
I appreciate your kindness if you can share this post making use of the share buttons below or at the side. Alternatively, any retweeting of the post is helpful to my blog growth. Thank you very much for doing so. I look forward to see you soon.
Cheers.
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This was good Lye, some excellent bloggers here and it clearly shows the benefits of case studies, something I honestly hadn’t put much thought into and it makes plenty of sense. Pat is such an exceptional writer and if the guy says it, it true, plain and simple.
Thanks again.
Marcus
Marcus Sheridan-The Sales Lion recently posted..How To Use Deadlines To Beat Resistance To Writing
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Hi Marcus,
I hold high regards of Pat but he really tells us what we are lacking. People tend to love case study which can help them to see results.
Appreciate you dropping by to comment.
Lye
Hey Lye,
Very Interesting article. Writing case studies have some awesome benefits. You’ve made an point about case studies.
I totally agree with Pat on what he said. These days blogging is very hard at least when it comes to a mmo or blogging tips blog because every other blog on the internet is about making money or getting traffic. So it’s very important to write pillar articles or case studies to stand out from the crowd.
Anyways, Thanks for sharing this great article. Just voted it on Blokube.
Have a great day.
~Dev
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Hi Devesh,
That’s the reason why most bloggers find it difficult to generate huge traffic. Most successful blogging tips blog have case study which they tried on their other website such as Digital Photography School of Darren Rowse and Green Exam Acadamy of Pat.
Thanks for the vote and comments.
Lye
Awesome post Lye,
I don’t really put more effort into “How to” post but I’m planning to start doing it now. And see what the outcome will be. Thanks so much for sharing. Have fun
Samuel recently posted..How To Transform Your Business Startup Idea into A Reality
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Hi Samuel,
Will be looking forward to that. Please share with us the outcome.
Thanks for commenting.
Lye
Great post, Lye!
The reason I really like case studies is that they’re something different and unique. There are only so many ways you can present a how-to article, but every case study will be different.
I try to do case studies every so often on my blog, but haven’t done one recently. Gotta get on that!
Thanks again, man. Post enjoyed and retweeted.
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Hi Tristan,
Each case study will bring us different results and i am definitely looking forward to your next one.
Thanks for the comments and RT. Much appreciated.
Lye
Twitter: netchunks
Hi Lye,
Case study articles are really a great way of boosting your traffic as well as the readers but it is really not that easy to write case studies since that kind of posts requires one to be very experienced in the topic and to have good amount of knowledge in that.
Thanks for the great post Lye
Shiva
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Hi Shiva,
You are right. It’s extremely difficult and we need to have a deep knowledge to create it. We should however aim to create one as it has enormous benefits.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Agree with you that the case study blog post offers the strong to our blog. I had written several case study on Google AdSense on my blogging blog. I hope it is enough to become the blog’s pillar.
Dana recently posted..Unlimited Data Plan for AT&T’s iPad 2
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Hi Dana,
As long your case studies show result, it should be enough to become pillar articles of your blog. Great to know you are creating your own case studies.
Thanks for commenting.
Lye
Twitter: AdamPaudyal
Lye, haven’t had a chance to read Pat’s post yet. Definitely going to check it out after this comment.
Case studies and how to’s; I have to keep that in mind Lye. Great article here man. Re-tweeted and shared!
Thank you brother!
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Hi Adam,
I am sure you will have a great read. I am intrigued by that post.
That’s what we should aim for. Hope to read one of your case study soon.
Thanks for dropping by brother.
Lye
Twitter: Couponseasy
To have a post with title “How to” really make a lot bigger impression than other titles. Even on google a normal person who is seeking some information usually search about things like keywords “How to”.
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Hi Riya,
“How to” articles is one of the most popular post that people look for. One important criteria though is the post must provide in depth instructions for the visitors.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Lye,
This year is the year for case studies! I’m working somewhat behind-the-scenes right now a few projects that I hope to release publicly. One of them will be presented for sure, the other…we’ll see. But regardless, I agree 100% that personal experience trumps theory and witty posts.
People love a great story and the more real and relatable you can make it for them, the more authentic you become.
Great insight!
Jon
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Hi Jon,
I will be looking forward to your case studies. These are some practical which the readers can follow and see instant results. That’s why they are popular.
Thanks for dropping by Jon. Appreciate your support.
Lye
Hi Lye,
I honestly have never put the case study in action.
To me personally, it does take a long time, and I have just put it in the corner of my brain and I don’t take an action for that.
That’s my weakness, I have a lack of focus in blogging life.
Thanks.
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Hi Kimi,
If we are to take our blog to next level, we need to think out of the box sometimes.
I fully understand we have to take care of certain things in life which could affect our focus. We just have to overcome it.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
I got lot of information from this post, keep posting articles. Thanks
I never been doing case study posts because for me it’s kinda boring to read about, I’ll much prefer to video posts which are very much visualize and conceptualize. Well then, you made a great article I impress all of those information.
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I didn’t yet doing case study post, but it finds me interesting to try it. I think it helps to generate lots of traffic to your page. I try it because there’s no harm in trying, so I try. Thanks for allowing me to know it!
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