#bloghacks
“The Rule of 3”: Following This Simple Hack and Watch Your Audience Grow
Implementing this will not only grow your audience, but boost your Google page rank, increase the read time for your posts, and propel you towards becoming a top authority in your niche.
I’m going help you out here by avoiding the BS and getting straight to what “The Rule of 3” I won’t bore you a drawn out listicle — nor will I try to milk it for every second of read time possible.
Instead, we’ll simply focus on what’s important. That being said, the single most important aspect is understanding the why of it all. Of course, the what is essential to know as well. . .
But the why is what’s going to help you start to grow your influence rapidly.
It’s a very important concept to understand if your a new writer trying to find your footing, or if you’ve been doing this for a while but haven’t seen the results you expected.
The main thing you’ll learn in this article is how to connect with an audience and keep them around for the long haul.
So Here’s The Deal
Google Algorithms, websites, shit, people in general, all have one thing in common when they’re crawling the interweb. You know what that is?
When they come to a site seeking information on a topic, whatever the topic is, be it financial advice or how to get a girlfriend, they expect you to be an expert.
If they clicked on your link. . .
Oh, man. You’d better have all the answers they came looking for!
Think about it like this. We’ve all been lured to a blog thinking it was the main voice in, idk, computer graphics cards, then this happens.
We finish the short, half-assed article, then head over to the nav menu or the “related content” section to look for more like it, and. . .
WTF?
There’s no other articles on the entire site about graphics cards. Why is that?
This fuc#in person made me think he was the Leo Laporte of blogs. Yet, here I am on his “review” site, and all I’m seeing is irrelevant articles about relationship advice & the best fast food joints to try while traveling to Michigan…?
You can’t do that. Period
Or, as Gavin Newsome would say: “Full Stop!”
Some of you may be wondering: “But Steve, why can’t we write about relationship advice and travel tips?”
You can, nothing wrong with that at all.
In fact, I love going down the rabbit hole on a good modern nomad travel blog, jam-packed with cool tips and hidden intrigues throughout the heartland, but. . .
If you recall, this guy is supposed to be the Graphics Card guy — The same guy who is supposed to help me make the right purchase so I don’t waste my money!
Besides the personal reasons, here’s few practical reasons for why you might want to steer clear from writing about too many topics on your blog:
- 1.) Google hates it and will rank you with the bottom feeders who copy and paste.
- 2.) Websites (such as this one we’re on now) also despise when writers do this.
- 3.) People like you and me, well. . .
We’ll just never, ever, come back to your shitty, unorganized, unimaginative blog again: Full Stop
So, for pete’s sake, pick one (PARENT) topic you know about and stick with it for a while! You might surprise yourself. Also, once you do that for a while, then you move on to phase two.
Second Phase
Now you’re ready to pick 2 or 3 related sub-topics to work with (CHILDREN) so you have some flexibility with your writing.
Another reason, a much simpler but nonetheless vital one: With a few topics to chose from you won’t get too bored and burn yourself out.
It’s a real thing.
But, always remember that the less “children” you have, the better you’re going to rank. It boils down to how modern web crawlers (and the human brain) work.
You want Google to index you. Almost as important as “The Google” is your blogging platform.
You want them to know what topics to recommend you in, right?
How the hell are they supposed to do that if you’re jumping from financial markets to becoming a veterinarian?
Back to our example person’s computer blog.
Let’s say he stuck to only writing about Graphics Cards for a month. Then, he gradually started adding in related topics such as Gaming Monitors and Computer Desks.
He could even get really slick and choose web hosting as his 3rd topic — which not only appeals to gamers, but programmers, bloggers, authors, tech enthusiast, criminal hackers, etc. — You get the point.
Now we’re heading down a path that’s opening up some interesting opportunities. Dare I say that perhaps he joins HostGator’s Affiliate network with Impact Radius. . .
What, why not? Bloggers have to make money somehow got dammit!
Wow, tangent that probably just sent half of you away — good job Steve. Anyway, our boy is focused on the right niches and he’s putting in work. Google see’s he’s a dedicated writer who puts our consistent, quality, original content about a specific topic.
I’ll bet they rank his site high up in the top 5 next time Jimmy from Utah Googles “what’s the best GPU” for his Bitcoin mining rig.
Why wouldn’t they?
His site is packed full of information about Computer Graphics Cards, GPUs, and all kinds of computer accessories.
Yours would be too if that was the only topic you wrote about, right?
You know the best benefit of all? He is quickly becoming an authority in the space — a well trusted source for all things computers.
I know if I needed to know something about graphics cards, you better believe that I’m heading to (let’s call him Winston) Michigan Winston’s blog.
Plus, even if I tried to avoid his blog, it will likely be the in the first 2 or 3 search results no matter how I type the question. It’s inevitable that I’d end up back on your blog.
Wait, we talking about Winston still, or you? I’m confused. . .
Anyway, once you put in enough time and effort, having spent months writing what are sometimes excruciatingly boring articles about new graphics cards, something magical is happening to your viewership.
You ready for it?
You Almost Arrived — The Cementing Phase
After a year or so of the occasional Google for an answer about graphics cards, it becomes almost instinctual for me to click on your blog when it appears in the search results.
Why do I chose you over the others?
Because I’m so used to seeing your site pop up, that even if I’m not the biggest fan of your writing, at least I know you’re authentic.
I trust your reviews enough to make a real life purchase of some expensive computer part. You’ve accomplished this based on the relationship that you cultivated with me over time.
Even if for whatever reason some dickhead like Neil Patel ranks higher than you (because he hires a billion pro to write keyword-packed listicles — BUT, he sticks to a small circle of connected topics — maybe he’s not such a schmuck after all?) guess what?
I’m still scrolling past his shit.
“Why would you do that Steven?”
Because — Do you remember that one dude who we’ve been reading for like a year?
You know, the one who only writes about graphics cards.
What’s his name again…
Winston — that’s right!
Yeah, thought you might remember him.
Where’s my man Leo at?
That guy really knows his shit when it comes to these cards and which ones to buy. Plus. . .
I’m in BestBuy right now, I don’t have time for Neil’s shit god dammit!
It was a short one today. I hope it helped at least one of you. Actually, I know for a fact it helped at least one person.
You want to know how I know that? Because I’m the one it helped! I’m that guy who is constantly switching topics.
I mean, go through my old posts and see for yourself.
They’re almost never cohesive, and the niches I choose to write in are all over the damn place. But, once I showed some consistency (I write a lot about financial markets, stocks, and cryptocurrency) I started to gain some traction.
Imagine that?
Then did a little research and boom!
I stumbled across this invaluable information that will help if you’re struggling, save months of time (years) and headaches trying to “grow organically” if you’re new, and make the entire process of blogging better in general.
Thanks for reading!
