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Luck or Skill?

by Alexa Rooflen
11 replies
I wrote about 25 articles and submitted them to ezine. One of the articles got me over 100 clicks at 54% CTR in less than a week. My other articles? Well most of them performed poorly, some did okay. I submitted them all at the same time as well. So it brings me to my question, do you think that articles performance was just luck, or was it just a very well written article? The reason I ask this is because maybe if it was something about the article, wouldn't it be wise to try and replicate? I find it odd that one will succeed so well and the rest, not so much.

Also, I was wondering what kind of stats do you guys pull from your avg article in ezine?

Thanks
#luck #skill
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Rooflen
    Anyone have any opinions on this?
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    • Profile picture of the author BacklinkExcellence
      I can't offer too much help since I don't deal with articles or article marketing, but I know that 54% CTR on an article is really good. Were the underperforming articles structured similarly? Did they receive the same amount of traffic?

      If you have something that works, definitely replicate it and try to find a pattern to stick to for future success.
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  • Profile picture of the author CatherineC
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    My articles for clients tend to average in the 35-50% CTR range across a wide variety of niches, so it definitely can be replicated.

    I go through and analyze a wide variety of performance metrics to drill-down the data on why an article does well or not, including the CTA (resource box verbiage), the flow of the article's content itself, the headline, and the overall feel of the piece.

    More often than not the positive results were a mix of variables, with the lead variable being the QUALITY of the content itself, followed closely by the resource box lead-in.

    The better quality article you write (here's a hint, it doesn't start out with "Hey are you interested in Dog Training? Well you have come to the right place because you are going to learn a lot about Dog Training today!") haha.

    Those are the two biggies for the performance I've tracked for over a thousand articles the past few months, quality of the content and the flow of the resource box.
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    • Profile picture of the author BacklinkExcellence
      Originally Posted by CatherineC View Post

      My articles for clients tend to average in the 35-50% CTR range across a wide variety of niches, so it definitely can be replicated.

      I go through and analyze a wide variety of performance metrics to drill-down the data on why an article does well or not, including the CTA (resource box verbiage), the flow of the article's content itself, the headline, and the overall feel of the piece.

      More often than not the positive results were a mix of variables, with the lead variable being the QUALITY of the content itself, followed closely by the resource box lead-in.

      The better quality article you write (here's a hint, it doesn't start out with "Hey are you interested in Dog Training? Well you have come to the right place because you are going to learn a lot about Dog Training today!") haha.

      Those are the two biggies for the performance I've tracked for over a thousand articles the past few months, quality of the content and the flow of the resource box.
      Your "articles for clients"...don't you have a sig, thread or something? I'd love to look up what you have to offer. 30-50% CTR is definitely awesome.
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      • Profile picture of the author CatherineC
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        Originally Posted by BacklinkExcellence View Post

        Your "articles for clients"...don't you have a sig, thread or something? I'd love to look up what you have to offer. 30-50% CTR is definitely awesome.
        Thank you for the compliment BE, right now I'm dealing with just a select group. I try to maintain quality above expanding the business as I want to provide maximum value to my customers.

        I'll add your name to my waiting list and PM you once a spot opens.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike McAleer
    It is very much the niche that you wrote the article for unless all were for the same niche. If you hit a hot topic, you will get lots of views. With lots of views, you would hope your article is well written to get clicks.
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  • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
    I'm getting almost 60% on a few articles but it is super hot topic that is not being addressed very well yet by marketers. Developing the idea more to see if its a fluke. We'll see.
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    • Profile picture of the author CatherineC
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      Originally Posted by RentItNow View Post

      I'm getting almost 60% on a few articles but it is super hot topic that is not being addressed very well yet by marketers. Developing the idea more to see if its a fluke. We'll see.
      Trust me, if you have an article that has the headline "My Cure For Pancreatic Cancer" followed by a good CTR for a freebie with anchor text that says "My Guide To Beating Pancreatic Cancer" you're going to get 90% CTR...or higher.

      As you correctly surmised, it's about the niche, the headline, the desperateness of that niche, how well the CTA is written, and how the resource box is laid out.

      That being said however, if your copywriting is on point and your article is perfectly written with an optimal flow, you will achieve a 30%+ CTR in nearly every niche out there...even non-desperate ones.
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  • Profile picture of the author ScrapeBoxMarket
    I would to for skill rather than luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author kianhowe
    To me it all comes down to the content and then keywords. Your title must contain at least 3 keywords. For example "How you can PROFIT from FOREX without spending any MONEY". Those titles will help SEO dramatically. Of course you'll need keywords sprinkled around your article.

    You'll have to find the right balance between keywords rich article and a good content article. A keyword rich article might get many views but if the content sucks CTR will be low. So it's really about finding the balance.
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