The perpetual bloggers’ dilemma is how to earn loyal followers when there are so many talented, informative voices out there. Finding a niche topic is a wise choice, along with offering a clever view. But what if your specialty or passion is a subject that may be a little crowded?

I’m a big fan of quick tips – and today appreciated learning about the 80/20 rule in blogging. “Compounding posts “– or posts that build readership over time – outperform “decaying posts” – or messages that spike in popularity right away, with little residual interest. Compounding posts have several characteristics in common, as described by HubSpot’s Mimi An in her well-researched report “Compounding Blog Posts; What They Are & Why They Matter.” In a study of 15,000 companies’ blogs, she learned that one in ten posts can be classified as compounding, but those earn nearly 40% of the blog’s traffic. Those are pretty impressive patterns!

So how do we personal bloggers reap those benefits? Consider the following:

1. Headlines: use the terms “how”, “what”, “why” and “best” and include between 6 – 13 words.
2. Content: keep your topic and audience broad.
3. Topics: select evergreen themes that will remain relevant for extended periods.
4. Purpose: answer questions or provide advice.

While these may seem like rather obvious tips, I’m confident it takes practice to consistently demonstrate these tactics throughout your blog. The message here isn’t to limit your style to compounding posts, but to be mindful of offering these anchor messages amidst your more trendy shares. I’ll check back in on this topic in a few months to see if I can see a difference in my posts and readership!