Writing, Digital Marketing
How One of My Articles Reached 10,000 Views and Rank on Google
Practical tips aside from the fact that it took me almost 10 years
I’m pretty sure you’re used to hearing all the “don’t give up” and “keep on writing” trite, but I’m not here to tell you any of that. I understand how frustrating and disappointing it is to pour your heart and soul into an article, promote the hell out of it, and reach out to several publications only to get rejected along with your 10 reads.
A bit of back story: I’ve been writing since 2012 but after a year or two, I just started writing without publishing my name and posting them on socials. I wrote poems, prose, fan fiction, listicles, and the likes. I also created multiple blogs and shared one of them last year through my Instagram’s ‘close friends’ list. Until 5 months ago, I saw the perfect topic to write of, hyped the f*ck out of it, and got recognized by CEOs, employers, publications, industry leaders, and more. You can read the article here.
Here’s how I did it.
The topic was trending on social media
By the time it was released on Netflix, it started trending specifically on Twitter for a day or two, maybe more (I don’t remember vividly) with a custom emoji, which is hella expensive. The series amassed the curiosity of people online, making the series rank on Netflix, so I, too, watched.
Joining the conversation increases your chances of being seen, which means more brand visibility for your business. That is why when a topic is trending all over social media, not hopping on the trend as a marketer is a hate crime.
I focused on my expertise
You’ve probably read some ‘Emily in Paris’ reviews tackling the culture, values, sex, fashion, and love angle of the show. Since Emily works as a Social Media Executive, I picked that angle because that is the industry I’m part of. I watched it thoroughly, analyzed each scene related to marketing, and wrote about the loopholes I saw with her job and how she does things, then I compared it to how we do it in real life.
Focusing on the angle of your expertise establishes you as someone knowledgeable in that aspect, hence your readers will build trust (and opinions) with your piece. The same goes for fashion writers criticizing her outfits, culture writers pointing out the misrepresentations, etc.
I used SEO-friendly keywords for the title
“Emily in Paris Review from a Marketing Perspective” is clear, concise, and SEO-friendly. Hence when you search for specific keywords such as “Emily in Paris Marketing,” my article comes first. Ranking higher than reputable websites and publications, my title surely played a key role alongside using supporting keywords.
As a result, more than 2.2k views came from Google, which means people who watched the series were searching for that aspect of the show using those basic but relevant keywords.
I made it a conversation-starter on social media
I would kind of consider my piece polarizing. Since it was SEO-friendly, the article was picked up by a member of this specific group for creative and advertising professionals with almost 100k members. According to them, it was the first result when they searched for the keywords, so they decided to post it on the group and tried to start a conversation about my piece. This is the result:
See the almost 6k views solely from Facebook? Always ask yourself if your piece can spark a conversation or else, they’ll just forget it.
I included details based on experience
I have agency and e-commerce fashion experience, so I thought it would be relevant to include them in any way possible. It increases the credibility of my piece. I didn’t just bust the myths whatsoever, I tried to explain it thoroughly for marketers and non-marketers to understand what I was talking about. Of course, there were instances where I spoke based on my personal insights, but I tried to give statistics and concrete proof of why this or that was impossible. (See: Pierre Cadult’s 177k likes and the Influencer event)
I promoted it on the right social media accounts
I used to write a lot but never even promoted one on my social media accounts. I made blogs anonymously just to avoid being known or would share them with very few people. However, I thought it was the perfect opportunity as it was trending, so I promoted it shamelessly. Would you believe that after writing its title, without a clear angle and direction, I already tweeted about it and encouraged my followers to keep their eyes peeled.
In case you were wondering why it has low clicks from Twitter, it’s because my audience is not composed of marketers but people I know in real life. That is why Linkedin and Instagram have many more clicks because it’s where I’ve built a community of marketers.
Now, on the cliche part. Just write, write, and write. Use tools to maximize your reach. Do your proper research. Conduct market research. See what’s relevant. It will give you the best results.
