As a blog writer, I have several goals, and they all intertwine. Perhaps, the biggest goal is to write what people want to read and share. Firstly, the number of page views directly influences my income. More viewers mean more money. Secondly, and maybe just as important, I can write a thousand articles, but if no one reads them, what good are they? I want my writing to impact people, help them learn, or bring them some entertainment. In order for that to happen, I need people to read the articles. Otherwise, I could write a journal and put it on my shelf for whomever to find after I die.

All-Time Leader

So, if I look at my page views for articles, I can theoretically figure out what people want to read and then I can write more related to that. For example, my all-time, most read article is “Internal Communications at Southwest Airlines Keeps Everyone on the Same Page.” I wrote it in 2012 based on the book, “Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success ” (affiliate link), and it consistently gets between 10 and 50 views a month, which makes it my top article year in and year out. Based on its popularity, I should write more about business communication or Southwest Airlines. I have other business communication articles that don’t perform nearly as well. If I had just 10 other stories like this one, my website would go to another level.

May’s Leading Penguinate Article

This month’s article leading the pack makes some sense. I wrote “‘Dead to Me’: No One Drops the F-Bomb like Christina Applegate” in May of last year. It got 5 page views. However, this May it’s the leading article on Penguinate.com with close to 100 views at the middle of the month. It’s easy to see how this one gets its attention; Netflix released season 2 of “Dead to Me” recently. I wrote other articles, which the first season inspired, and I wrote an article for this second season, but people like celebrities and swearing.

May’s Leading Medium Article

The top article on Medium, “Why ‘Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil’ Is Bad,” is scoring almost 200 page views a day. I wrote the article in October 2019. It released on home media in December, but it is likely the movie’s release to Disney+ that is giving this article its boost. It was my top view and read getter since I published it, but its resurgence was a mystery until I looked at its release dates.

Writing to Go Viral

There’s no magic formula for going viral. No matter how much you implore friends to like, comment, and share on social media, they will only do so if they really enjoy your content. Writing to go viral is a waste of time, instead, the writer needs to write for a particular audience and in such a way that they keep returning day after day. I have yet to master that aspect of the Internet, in part because my articles tend to be so varied in topic. However, if I could build a catalog of articles that got regular visits, I would become a highly successful writer rather than one who is just personally successful. And if I happen to go viral, that’ll be the icing on the cake.