This may be contrary to what a lot of people tend to believe about blogging but your readers really don’t want “How To” posts. There’s nothing wrong with posts like “How to install a WordPress Blog” or “How to build a list”. They’re cool and they may get you some search engine traffic but it’s really not what your readers are looking for…
You may be thinking to yourself, “But Matt, I’m a reader of your blog and I want ‘How To’ Posts.” You may think that’s what you want now… but it’s not really true…
In all actuality, people really want to see real world case studies… They want to see examples of exactly what worked for someone else so that they can take those ideas and those actions and implement them themselves.
When you were taking math classes in school, what was the better way to learn? Did you like it when your teacher said, “this is how you do this math problem, so remember it.” or did you prefer to receive the explanation of why it worked and how it would be applied in the real world? Maybe that’s not the best example… But you probably learned a heck of a lot better when you received the explanation as well as the application. This is what real case studies actually do. They give true examples of the application.
Not only do case studies give the “how to”, they give examples of exactly how the specific technique was applied in real life. They prove to your readers that the results that they are looking for really can be achieved by taking the same actions that you took.
What would you think would make for a better blog post?
Example A: How to build a mailing list really fast.
Example B: How I built my mailing list from 15 people to 2,000 people in 2 weeks.
One of those blog post titles sounds more appealing to you, doesn’t it?
Both of those blog posts are going to teach the exact same topic but one of them backs up the “how to” with real world results. This IS what your readers want to see. They want that “how to”… But they want it with a little bit of results to prove that something actually works.
I came to this realization when I looked over and saw what my current most popular posts are as of writing this. 2 of my top 5 posts are How I Got To Where I am Today and How I’ve Done What I’ve Done. I’ll admit that these aren’t the best titles for blog posts, however, they both have one thing in common… They are both stories about how I did something. They aren’t necessarily “how to” posts. They are posts about real world achievements and how I achieved them.
When you take a look at the success of the popular blog, Shoemoney, you’ll realize where its success came from. Go back to some of his oldest posts, right when his blog was starting to grow, you’ll realize that they are all case study posts about how he achieved various successes through PPC and ad campaigns.
If you step away from the internet marketing niche and look at something like the health niche… The blogs that get popular are the ones from people who were, at one time, out of shape and have done what it takes to get their bodies back to where they want them. One of my favorite health blogs is a site called ZenToFitness.com. Many of the posts on this blog are case studies of how they managed to overcome issues with their weight and health. They give you the steps by showing you how they implemented them themselves.
When people rethink their “how to” posts and convert them in to case study posts, they will find that they are creating material that people really love to read and can really get excited about. Think about this when you’re writing your next tutorial. You will be surprised at how much better of a response you receive from your post.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Do you prefer when how-to posts give real world examples in the form of case studies or do you think standard how-tos are good enough? Please leave your comments below.
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Hi Matthew, proof is always a good way of backing up your titles and posts. You are exactly right about show casing what you have achieved with the methods you are writing about. Most readers will want the numbers and the facts, give it to them, the title is a great place to start.
Pete
Hello Matthew,
It’s true that people want to learn what you’re doing especially when if gives a good result backed up with proof. However, that not easy to discern as there maybe more happening in the background than meets the eye. The truth factor is probably crucial as it may take a while of doing & doing before the results comes in.
Cheers
Interesting viewpoint, Matt.
I wasn’t convinced until I read through the article in its entirety. And I must agree with you.
How To posts could be regurgitated from elsewhere, or could be unproven theory.
One thing to note though, is that newbies will not have a lot of personal case studies to share.
When this is the case, they could do one of the following:
1 – Interview someone a few steps ahead of you, and provide that as a case study
2 – Opt for narrative blogs, that describe what you’re doing currently. You may not have results yet, but you will engage people by bringing them along for the ride.
Thanks for the mental nudge, Matt.
Season’s greetings in advance!
Bolaji.
Great points. In my opinion, people have no place writing “How-to” posts if they’ve never actually done what they’re teaching. You’ve pointed out some great alternatives for people who don’t have as much experience.
Matt
Great points Bolaji!
Hey Matt,
Got this one spot on! Personal examples, how YOU accomplished certain things, will always be more interesting than regurgitated, generic crap any idiot can lift from Ezine Articles and replicate on their own blog.
There is SO much of this crap out there and the bloggers who write them are dumbfounded when nobody CARES about yet another “how to write a blog post” blog post…
I have had some success with a few posts which take fairly dry subject matter, like JV Giveaways and turn them into something exciting because I put my own experience into it.
That said, I am going to add some meaty “how to” tutorials to my blog over the next year for SEO/traffic purposes but these will be more like features/resources than traditional blog posts.
David
That’s what I’m talking about David. Resources!
Hi Matt,
Great post. It’ so true how people want real world examples, rather than hypothetical situations. I guess it’s the whole “this person can do it, so can I” scenario.
It really does give so much power to the post or tutorial.
Totally agree that this approach neutralises anyone taking your post and “regurgitating” it for themselves. When it’s personal you and your experience, they can’t take that.
So this in effect makes it great on two fronts, 1 is that it teaches people real world examples, and second, people can’t plagiarize your stuff.
I’m also off to create some “how to” tutorials, but giving real world personal examples so it remains my property, and only my property…
David
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I have watched a lot of video in trying to learn an Internet marketing business and the best teaching I have received is an over the shoulder look at what the person is doing as he is teaching. I consider these the best ” how to” videos and there are not a lot of marketers that do this or
those that do are not good at it. Fortunately I have found some marketers who are very good at it, so I consider myself quite lucky in this respect and it also gives me the path I will follow in teaching this stuff myself. Paul
Hey Folks,
This is a great post. Digg It, Like It, Tweet It….Share IT for goodness sake.
Makes a lot of sense to me Matt. Personal experience and social proof are what we like. Thanks for sharing this idea…
hi Matt,
This is a really timely post for me as I have just recently reformatted my blog and begun posting on a more regular basis. I really had not given much thought to how I write what I write, but I had planned on writing case studies in 2011 and I am glad to hear that others find them most useful. Thanks for doing the research for me on that!
Matt, I agree with the idea that site related, solid content is always the key to any blog. But having personal information about your life is always good for any site. People are interested in who you are and therefore, how they can relate to you. Too many marketers just put the business out there thinking they want to be all business. Sharing your vacations stories and photo’s, ideas on other interests and things you’re going through make you a real person. People would rather deal with a person than a corporation, or at least I do.
Jay