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Is this a good article?

by Socialbakers
55 replies
Here is an article about Facebook and I thought that I might grab your attention for a while for you to read it and give me some feedback.

Article: Facebook - The Most Popular Social Network - Socialbakers
#article #facebook #feedback #good #socialbakers
  • Profile picture of the author CurtisSWN
    It looks fine, my question is what is the point of the article. If I just want to get some info about Facebook, I get everything right there and I move on; and you've just lost me. The point of articles here is to capture a lead eventually leading to a sale, and multiple sales down the road.
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  • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
    The article was way too dry for me ... couldn't force myself to finish it .. sorry.
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      I have to agree with Troy here.

      I was bored rather quickly and didn't bother to finish.

      It read like a 9th grade homework assignment for writing a report on the founder of Facebook.

      I wasn't sure of the point of the article either. Adding some flavor to it might make it a little easier to digest, but the whole point of the article needs to be made clear in the very beginning of it.

      Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author matthewthomas
    I have to agree with everyone else, from a business stand point that was a useless article unless you where trying to sell a class on FB history.
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  • Profile picture of the author pablierix
    Articles are defined as small pieces of information. They provide insiders information or very in-depth information about a particular topic.
    An interesting article is not an easy task to undertake because it is quite tricky to define the word interesting in the broadest sense. Some things may be interesting and appealing to a section of people but vehemently opposed by another group. As an end result, the article being written will be appealing to only one section of the readers, whom the articles are targeted.
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  • Profile picture of the author Socialbakers
    And could you, please, recommend me, how to write that article (About Facebook history) in an interesting way?

    What would you change?

    The main point of the article was to write a complex article for a specific group of people - social media marketers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
      Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

      And could you, please, recommend me, how to write that article (About Facebook history) in an interesting way?

      What would you change?

      The main point of the article was to write a complex article for a specific group of people - social media marketers.
      So you are writing for marketers? What is a marketer's desires? Do you think a marketer is more interested in the actual history of FB or maybe would rather learn how FB might benefit their marketing endeavors?
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  • Profile picture of the author icoachu
    I use an outsourcer that charges only .003 USD That's 1/3 of a penny per word and the quality is WAY BETTER THAN THAT ARTICLE. I hope you got it for free, man.
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  • Profile picture of the author Socialbakers
    Thank you all for your feedback. However, could any of you tell me, what exactly to change? How would you yourself improve it, so it won't be so boring and dry?
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    • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

      How would you yourself improve it, so it won't be so boring and dry?
      You are probably not getting any responses to this question because the best answer would be to have never written the article at all. "History of Facebook" (essentially what your article was) has been done many times over. None of the information is exactly new or groundbreaking. Find a better topic to write about.
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      • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
        Originally Posted by Joseph Robinson View Post

        You are probably not getting any responses to this question because the best answer would be to have never written the article at all. "History of Facebook" (essentially what your article was) has been done many times over. None of the information is exactly new or groundbreaking. Find a better topic to write about.
        I haven't read it yet, but I think its a relevant topic to have on his site because its about social media. He has to educate his visitors on where these platforms came from otherwise they would look elsewhere, dont you think?
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        • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
          Banned
          Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

          I haven't read it yet,
          You probably should before commenting on the worthiness of the piece.

          Just sayin' :rolleyes:.
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          • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
            Originally Posted by Joseph Robinson View Post

            You probably should before commenting on the worthiness of the piece.

            Just sayin' :rolleyes:.
            In all honestly I shouldn't have to, its about the history of Facebook which is relevant to the site. His niche is Social Media.

            However, I've just read though it quickly and despite it just been a timeline, I don't see a problem on having this topic on a site about Social Media. The idea is to keep people on the site, not let them leave if they wondered where Facebook came from whilst considering Social Media as part of their marketing.

            Also, its simply more content for the site, more keywords etc and that can't be a bad thing as long as its on topic, which it is.
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            • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
              Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

              In all honestly I shouldn't have to, its about the history of Facebook which is relevant to the site. His niche is Social Media.

              However, I've just read though it quickly and despite it just been a timeline, I don't see a problem on having this topic on a site about Social Media. The idea is to keep people on the site, not let them leave if they wondered where Facebook came from whilst considering Social Media as part of their marketing.

              Also, its simply more content for the site, more keywords etc and that can't be a bad thing as long as its on topic, which it is.
              The problem with that thinking is twofold.

              First, who already doesn't know the history of Facebook?

              Second, People aren't finishing the article because it is dry and boring, therefore it isn't keeping people on the site.

              I take it you didn't read the whole thread either?

              Terra
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              • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
                Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post


                First, who already doesn't know the history of Facebook?

                Terra
                A lot of people, my mate who's a builder, my neighbours who haven't a computer, I could go on. I agree with the writing style, its not like an article, more of a timeline that isn't engaging enough. But if you wanted to read some facts on Facebook, its there on the site. Treat everyone as newbies and keep them on YOUR site rather than letting leave and then getting sidetracked.
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                • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                  Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

                  A lot of people, my mate who's a builder, my neighbours who haven't a computer, I could go on...
                  However, it's highly unlikely that those people would be on a website for social media marketing though, now would they?

                  Terra
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                  • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
                    Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

                    However, it's highly unlikely that those people would be on a website for social media marketing though, now would they?

                    Terra
                    Now this is true, my mate can't even turn a computer on properly

                    You can't say however that every person that goes onto that site knows the history of Facebook, it just can't be proven either way.
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                    • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
                      Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

                      Now this is true, my mate can't even turn a computer on properly

                      You can't say however that every person that goes onto that site knows the history of Facebook, it just can't be proven either way.
                      I don't know the history of FB and have been online since there was an online. As a marketer I could care less. I tried to read the article but kept nodding off.
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                      • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
                        Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips View Post

                        I don't know the history of FB and have been online since there was an online. As a marketer I could care less. I tried to read the article but kept nodding off.
                        Ok, then your an ideal customer. You are looking to expand your marketing and you come across that site. If that article was written in a more engaging style that you enjoyed, would you find the topic of that article useful, considering you don't know the history?
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                        • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
                          Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

                          Ok then, then your an ideal customer. You are looking to expand your marketing and you come across that site. If that article was written in a more engaging style that you enjoyed, would you find the topic of that article useful, considering you don't know the history?
                          Not really. As a marketer (op said that was their target) I do not care about their history. I want to know how they can further my marketing efforts today. The most well written article will not keep me on site if it is not shedding light on what I am there to learn .. how it can help my marketing.
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            • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
              Banned
              Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

              In all honestly I shouldn't have to,
              Um, in a thread that asks for feedback on the specific article you should actually read it before commenting on it. Otherwise you just come off as ignorant and looking to boost your post count. Something you should think about in the future (people who see your responses will draw the conclusion anyways, so a bit late to salvage this thread).

              Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

              its about the history of Facebook which is relevant to the site. His niche is Social Media.
              Read the article. It's a basic overview of the site's history. The facts within are well known to the public at large. Heck, The Social Network covered just as much and was at least entertaining. Just because it's "on topic" in your view does not mean that it is helpful. You are ignoring the effect that the content can have on the reader. When someone sees rehashed facts, written in a bland manner it hardly exudes confidence in the site that published the piece.

              It is seen (even if only subconsciously) for what it is: fodder to fill the site. As an aside, you might not have noticed this since you only skimmed the article at best, but the website is attempting to sell analytics software. The article does nothing to lead a prospective reader to the end goal of looking at the products listed or to understand why they would need them at all. In short, the article adds nothing of value to the site.

              Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

              However, I've just read though it quickly and despite it just been a timeline, I don't see a problem on having this topic on a site about Social Media. The idea is to keep people on the site, not let them leave if they wondered where Facebook came from whilst considering Social Media as part of their marketing.
              I think you'll find that most prospective social media marketers already know where Facebook came from (as stated, Facebook isn't exactly a mystery to the public at large). This is bland content for the sake of having content itself, and does nothing for a prospective social media marketer.

              Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

              Also, its simply more content for the site, more keywords etc and that can't be a bad thing as long as its on topic, which it is.
              You have a lot to learn about quantity v. quality content marketing it seems :rolleyes:.
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              • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
                Originally Posted by Joseph Robinson View Post

                You have a lot to learn about quantity v. quality content marketing it seems :rolleyes:.
                I've read it, and despite it not been engaging, its relevant. Btw i'm not looking to boast my post count, I am simply offering my opinions and engaging in intelligent conversations.
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                • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
                  Banned
                  Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

                  I've read it, and despite it not been engaging, its relevant. Btw i'm not looking to boast my post count, I am simply offering my opinions and engaging in intelligent conversations.
                  By not reading the article that the thread is about? How does one engage in intelligent conversation without reading what the conversation is about? I love being enlightened.
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                  • Profile picture of the author mosthost
                    Originally Posted by Joseph Robinson View Post

                    By not reading the article that the thread is about? How does one engage in intelligent conversation without reading what the conversation is about? I love being enlightened.
                    You're not exactly adding much value to the original discussion about the article at this point. - And neither am I by critiquing your off-topic rant
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                    • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
                      Banned
                      Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

                      You're not exactly adding much value to the original discussion about the article at this point. - And neither am I by critiquing your off-topic rant
                      *Looks up to post #16, sees that the OP's question was already addressed by me*

                      Thanks for playing :rolleyes:.
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                  • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
                    Originally Posted by Joseph Robinson View Post

                    By not reading the article that the thread is about? How does one engage in intelligent conversation without reading what the conversation is about? I love being enlightened.
                    Joseph, Ive just read it bud. It's relevant. Of course we can disagree, you could be wrong, or I could. Theres no need to get worked up about it.
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                    • Profile picture of the author Socialbakers
                      The aim of the article was to make it "somewhat interesting". Even though, we are offering a monitoring tool, the purpose of this article was mainly to increase awareness about us among people - just so they know about us and, for example, started to use the tools that are for free.

                      Of course, one of the aims of the article was to include some relevant keywords to improve SEO, because we want to get more people that are interested in social networks and social media marketing on our site.

                      However, I thank each and every one of you for your feedback, however, I just don't see any constructive answer. What I've read so far was just the fact that it is wrong, boring, dry, bland but no one (except one recommending me to add pictures to it) actually recommended me, how to make it more interesting, not so dry, not so bland, not so boring, even though it's about history and mainly about facts.

                      I would be more than willing to update the article and make it more interesting, but no one has given me any suggestions, which part to change, which part was the most hard to read and how would you yourself make it better.

                      What I would like to tell you that it is a company site and we are just not able to write about everything we would want to as in magazines. And this is the fact why I identify myself with MrMonetize's opinion, because I have thought similarly as him.

                      You are right that you can find most of the information on Wikipedia, however, the facts that are on Wikipedia had to be taken from somewhere and Wikipedia surely doesn't have all of the information. For example, I don't think that you would find the most recent information about the number of Facebook users as we offer, etc.

                      Could I just ask you not to go so off-topic - I would like to get as much feedback from you as I can, but I want this thread to be relevant to the topic.

                      Thanks a lot again to everyone.
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                      • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
                        Banned
                        Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

                        The aim of the article was to make it "somewhat interesting". Even though, we are offering a monitoring tool, the purpose of this article was mainly to increase awareness about us among people - just so they know about us and, for example, started to use the tools that are for free.
                        So you're stating that the purpose of the article was to "increase awareness about us among people". Good, glad that's cleared up. That presents a new problem though: your company and what it does isn't even hinted at within the article. You're pretty much banking on the reader finding your products up at the top and actually caring enough to click the links.

                        Probably not going to happen with the content as is. If you wanted people to learn more about your company and what you do, why didn't you write an article on that?
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                      • Profile picture of the author Cali16
                        Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

                        What I've read so far was just the fact that it is wrong, boring, dry, bland but no one (except one recommending me to add pictures to it) actually recommended me, how to make it more interesting, not so dry, not so bland, not so boring, even though it's about history and mainly about facts.
                        The problem is that it's very difficult to explain to you how to make it "more interesting, not so dry, not so bland, not so boring". That's sort of like trying to explain to someone you've just gone on a date with (and don't want to go out with again) that there's "no chemistry" and the other person asks you what he/she can do to fix that... :rolleyes:

                        I think your article is a very good example of the difference between compiling facts and stringing them together in sentences and paragraphs, and the true art of writing. A great writer could produce an article about a head of cabbage that's so captivating his readers will be drooling with eager anticipation as they await his sequel on broccoli. (Corny analogy (sticking with the veggie theme ) but it's the best I can do when I'm sleep deprived.)

                        But that writer probably coudn't explain to someone else how to do it. You can definitely learn to improve your writing, but it may be more worth your time to outsource it instead.

                        As for direct feedback (since you asked)... In your first two sentences there are multiple errors in punctuation, grammar, and so on. When I see that many errors right off the bat on any site, I'm gone. Partly because I don't have the patience to keep reading content filled with errors, but also because, on a deeper level, credibility was lost right away.

                        So, at the very least, have someone edit your work. That's the best feedback I can give you for now.
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  • Profile picture of the author Charanjit
    It has to much pointless facts, looking at the site in whole, how is your article going to help any one have social media success. Their it not one point in their which will help any one become better at social media. Have the top ten facebook tips to improve your social standing.

    Like I said, what is your target market, what can you give them to have them subscribe to your email list.

    If I wanted a history of Facebook I would go to wiki .
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  • Profile picture of the author Tanya E
    Make it a compact article with relevant points and you wil find that it is way more effective. Most people will not be able to finish reading it
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  • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
    I haven't the time to read it atm but your site looks superb.
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  • Profile picture of the author mosthost
    It's worth breaking up the text and adding images to a long article like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author 3iinfocom
    I think you should read this post,

    copyblogger(dot)com/5-step-blogging-plan/

    As a newbie I am not able to post live link, but still thins is fantastic post and I want to refer it to you. So I have given it in this format. Sorry!
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  • Profile picture of the author Socialbakers
    Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

    It's worth breaking up the text and adding images to a long article like that.
    We could do that, but this would result in a much longer loading time. And we don't want that.

    Originally Posted by Joseph Robinson View Post

    You are probably not getting any responses to this question because the best answer would be to have never written the article at all. "History of Facebook" (essentially what your article was) has been done many times over. None of the information is exactly new or groundbreaking. Find a better topic to write about.
    And if we shouldn't write such an article, what topics would you recommend us to write about? We are a company site where it's just not possible to write about anything we want. We just have to cover such topics...

    Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

    I haven't read it yet, but I think its a relevant topic to have on his site because its about social media. He has to educate his visitors on where these platforms came from otherwise they would look elsewhere, dont you think?
    It's exactly as you say. The article is there because we don't want our visitors to look somewhere else for the information. We just want them to find all the relevant information about social media to be present on our site.
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    • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
      Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

      It's exactly as you say. The article is there because we don't want our visitors to look somewhere else for the information. We just want them to find all the relevant information about social media to be present on our site.
      Ive built a lot sites, and you can fill it out with relevant educational articles if your stuck for content, this helps keep the visitors on YOUR site, rather than skipping over to Wikipedia and then getting side tracked. Treat all of visitors as if they don't know what Social Media is. It is completely relevant to the site, I can't understand anyone saying it isn't but thats their opinion, and this is mine. Site looks good btw.
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  • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
    Why does a marketer need to know the history? A marketer is there to learn how face book can advance their marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
    Answer your own question. How long are people staying on your site (bounce rate?) How much money has that article made you to date?

    Of course, since this thread has been going for a couple of days bounce rate will have gone down. We all know you would have never used the "rate my article" ploy to get more people to your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Karen Barr
    I can see the topic is relevant to your overall site content, but the article isn't easy to read. You start off with a brief "history of facebook", which skips around in parts and has some problems with past and present tense.

    Then you suddenly segue into a timeline which basically rehashes everything you've already written. Why not drop the first part and just re-write the article purely as a timeline?

    Since Facebook rolled out timeline, you could even have a little play on the whole timeline theme.
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    • Profile picture of the author Socialbakers
      Originally Posted by Karen Barr View Post

      I can see the topic is relevant to your overall site content, but the article isn't easy to read. You start off with a brief "history of facebook", which skips around in parts and has some problems with past and present tense.

      Then you suddenly segue into a timeline which basically rehashes everything you've already written. Why not drop the first part and just re-write the article purely as a timeline?

      Since Facebook rolled out timeline, you could even have a little play on the whole timeline theme.
      This is probably the first really constructive feedback I got. Thank you very much for it. It is an interesting idea about how to make the overall boring topic more engaging for the readers.

      I'm taking that into account, because in a few weeks, our site will be redesigned and that concept will fit into the redesign much better and thus I will redo the article to make it look like Facebook Timeline.

      Originally Posted by MrMonetize View Post

      @SocialBakers

      Have you thought about writing it in the style of an article like your last comment, rather than a timeline of facts which is where it becomes less engaging.

      And considering the smart appearance of your site, you could get your designer to create some infographics for the facts to have inbetween the text as you move down. Pie charts etc.

      Another way would be to recreate the look of the timeline on Facebook onto your site. So the birth date at the bottom, significant dates as Facebook was developed further up etc. People who use Facebook would then relate to that as they see it on Facebook every day.
      As much as I would like to make that topic an infographics, we currently don't have the capacity to do that, as we are currently working on too many things.


      Originally Posted by Joseph Robinson View Post

      So you're stating that the purpose of the article was to "increase awareness about us among people". Good, glad that's cleared up. That presents a new problem though: your company and what it does isn't even hinted at within the article. You're pretty much banking on the reader finding your products up at the top and actually caring enough to click the links.

      Probably not going to happen with the content as is. If you wanted people to learn more about your company and what you do, why didn't you write an article on that?
      I do you think that we don't do that?! However, people are coming to our site from different sources based on the articles we publish, statistics, infographics that are taking from us by media. One of the other sources of visits is through search engines. The aim was to make the people to find the article based on the relevant phrase/word and either try our tool or to look through our statistics.


      Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips View Post

      Not really. As a marketer (op said that was their target) I do not care about their history. I want to know how they can further my marketing efforts today. The most well written article will not keep me on site if it is not shedding light on what I am there to learn .. how it can help my marketing.
      Marketers = bloggers = other bloggers robbing that article = readers, etc.

      Example - you are a historian and where did you learn all of that - you read it somewhere and as a marketer you should have a base of knowledge about what you are doing. It's as if you were doing your SATs.

      Maybe you yourself will not look it up, but there are hundreds of people that would want to find that information. So basically, they are trying to find Facebook's history and they will find our article. The question is, will they find the information they need or not?
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      • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
        Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post





        Marketers = bloggers = other bloggers robbing that article = readers, etc.

        Example - you are a historian and where did you learn all of that - you read it somewhere and as a marketer you should have a base of knowledge about what you are doing. It's as if you were doing your SATs.

        Maybe you yourself will not look it up, but there are hundreds of people that would want to find that information. So basically, they are trying to find Facebook's history and they will find our article. The question is, will they find the information they need or not?
        AS a marketer desiring to make money I do not need to know their history .. just what will help my marketing today. Okay .. you have "hundreds" seeking information .. you know what that tells me?

        You picked the wrong keywords. It is nothing to me if you want to fill your site with info based articles and info searching traffic but I think you will enjoy marketing a lot more if you start targeting buying keywords.
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      • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

        I do you think that we don't do that?! However, people are coming to our site from different sources based on the articles we publish, statistics, infographics that are taking from us by media. One of the other sources of visits is through search engines. The aim was to make the people to find the article based on the relevant phrase/word and either try our tool or to look through our statistics.
        As pointed out by multiple people (and some common sense), people who know/think that they want to use social media as a marketing tool will either 1. Know the history of Facebook that you included in your article or 2. Don't care and just want to know what your company will do for them.

        So, I'm certain that looking at a term like "History of Facebook" or whatever you have found makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside because of whatever the numbers are. But they aren't the people you are looking for. Until you see that, your whole SEO strategy is going to be pretty weak.

        You know you're wrong too, otherwise there would have been zero reason to start this thread in the first place. So put your pride in your back pocket and pay attention to the writing on the wall already.
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        • Profile picture of the author Socialbakers
          Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips View Post

          AS a marketer desiring to make money I do not need to know their history .. just what will help my marketing today. Okay .. you have "hundreds" seeking information .. you know what that tells me?

          You picked the wrong keywords. It is nothing to me if you want to fill your site with info based articles and info searching traffic but I think you will enjoy marketing a lot more if you start targeting buying keywords.
          For this purpose there many others article in different sections. I repeat again - I want feedback = how to change that. It is pointless to discuss about why not to choose another topic. There are moreover than 40 posts, but only few people were able to write down how to make the article more interesting. We simply want there the article about Facebook history :-).

          To sum up, we will:
          1. redo the article to make it look like Facebook Timeline
          2. add some relevant pictures and more interesting facts as user "mosthost" suggested
          3. separate it into two shorter articles

          Any other ideas?
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          • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
            Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

            For this purpose there many others article in different sections. I repeat again - I want feedback = how to change that. It is pointless to discuss about why not to choose another topic. There are moreover than 40 posts, but only few people were able to write down how to make the article more interesting. We simply want there the article about Facebook history :-).

            To sum up, we will:
            1. redo the article to make it look like Facebook Timeline
            2. add some relevant pictures and more interesting facts as user "mosthost" suggested
            3. separate it into two shorter articles

            Any other ideas?
            You come to a marketing forum asking what to do with an article that is not marketing anything. Several marketers have basically told you to scrap it. Several respected writers have pretty well said the same thing.

            If you want advice about marketing .. come to the WF. If you want to get advice on how to bore the hell out of your audience ... slide on over to DP.
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            • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
              Banned
              Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips View Post

              You come to a marketing forum asking what to do with an article that is not marketing anything. Several marketers have basically told you to scrap it. Several respected writers have pretty well said the same thing.

              If you want advice about marketing .. come to the WF. If you want to get advice on how to bore the hell out of your audience ... slide on over to DP.
              I think we can safely conclude that the advice is falling on deaf ears. People want you to solve their problems, as long as they don't have to change anything and you tell them that their work is just fine. There simply must be some magic interference that is blocking success :rolleyes:.
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              • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
                Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

                However, I thank each and every one of you for your feedback, however, I just don't see any constructive answer. What I've read so far was just the fact that it is wrong, boring, dry, bland but no one (except one recommending me to add pictures to it) actually recommended me, how to make it more interesting, not so dry, not so bland, not so boring, even though it's about history and mainly about facts.

                I would be more than willing to update the article and make it more interesting, but no one has given me any suggestions, which part to change, which part was the most hard to read and how would you yourself make it better.
                Here's a suggestion based on the idea that your site (and product) is aimed at people who want to use social media to further their business endeavors.

                As others have pointed out, the prospects I described either know the basic history of Facebook, or don't care. What many don't know is how Facebook evolved from a way for college kids to keep in touch to what it is today from a business perspective.

                Tell people about the introduction of the fan page, and what it meant to businesses. Tell them about the increasing use of apps to foster communications, build lists, communicate with customers, manage their reputations, etc. - things serious business people might be interested in.

                Add a section describing the current situation, and why monitoring social media matters. Don't pitch in the article - even with the current one, you got that right. Sprinkle in case histories if you have them - which you can then link to more extensive posts, giving you even more content.

                Here's the key - finish with a section on where you think Facebook is going, and how that will affect businesses. Kind of a 'future history', if you will.

                Done well, that kind of article will interest more business readers. It will help brand you and build your authority and thought leadership in your niche.

                Over time, you could do the same thing with the other nineteen "most interesting social networks."
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                • Profile picture of the author Socialbakers
                  Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

                  Here's a suggestion based on the idea that your site (and product) is aimed at people who want to use social media to further their business endeavors.

                  As others have pointed out, the prospects I described either know the basic history of Facebook, or don't care. What many don't know is how Facebook evolved from a way for college kids to keep in touch to what it is today from a business perspective.

                  Tell people about the introduction of the fan page, and what it meant to businesses. Tell them about the increasing use of apps to foster communications, build lists, communicate with customers, manage their reputations, etc. - things serious business people might be interested in.

                  Add a section describing the current situation, and why monitoring social media matters. Don't pitch in the article - even with the current one, you got that right. Sprinkle in case histories if you have them - which you can then link to more extensive posts, giving you even more content.

                  Here's the key - finish with a section on where you think Facebook is going, and how that will affect businesses. Kind of a 'future history', if you will.

                  Done well, that kind of article will interest more business readers. It will help brand you and build your authority and thought leadership in your niche.

                  Over time, you could do the same thing with the other nineteen "most interesting social networks."
                  Perfect! Thanks a lot!
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                • Profile picture of the author jideofor
                  And this is what people couldn't answer? The OP asked for help and hardly could anyone offer answer, despite asking 'how' he could improve the article sevarally.

                  JohnMcCabe, thanks for your time.

                  OP, I think you should spend time studying top blogs and see how they write and structure their articles from start to finish, rather than wasting your precious time where no one wants to offer solution.

                  Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

                  Here's a suggestion based on the idea that your site (and product) is aimed at people who want to use social media to further their business endeavors.

                  As others have pointed out, the prospects I described either know the basic history of Facebook, or don't care. What many don't know is how Facebook evolved from a way for college kids to keep in touch to what it is today from a business perspective.

                  Tell people about the introduction of the fan page, and what it meant to businesses. Tell them about the increasing use of apps to foster communications, build lists, communicate with customers, manage their reputations, etc. - things serious business people might be interested in.

                  Add a section describing the current situation, and why monitoring social media matters. Don't pitch in the article - even with the current one, you got that right. Sprinkle in case histories if you have them - which you can then link to more extensive posts, giving you even more content.

                  Here's the key - finish with a section on where you think Facebook is going, and how that will affect businesses. Kind of a 'future history', if you will.

                  Done well, that kind of article will interest more business readers. It will help brand you and build your authority and thought leadership in your niche.

                  Over time, you could do the same thing with the other nineteen "most interesting social networks."
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  • Profile picture of the author mosthost
    Pictures and videos make blog posts engaging. Believe it or not, people don't love reading super lengthy text based essays.

    Secondly, tell people something they don't know. Find interesting facts, like did you know Facebook's 4th employee was so and so and he went on to found another tech startup.

    If all you do is regurgitate information that can be found elsewhere, no one will engage with your content or share it.
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  • Profile picture of the author MrMonetize
    @SocialBakers

    Have you thought about writing it in the style of an article like your last comment, rather than a timeline of facts which is where it becomes less engaging.

    And considering the smart appearance of your site, you could get your designer to create some infographics for the facts to have inbetween the text as you move down. Pie charts etc.

    Another way would be to recreate the look of the timeline on Facebook onto your site. So the birth date at the bottom, significant dates as Facebook was developed further up etc. People who use Facebook would then relate to that as they see it on Facebook every day.
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  • Profile picture of the author Socialbakers
    As promised, we have worked on the article and have completely changed and remade the whole structure of the article.

    So, here it is Article: Facebook - The Most Popular Social Network - Socialbakers and feel free to give us any further feedback.

    Is it better than the previous one (for those of you, who have read it)?

    Thanks...
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by Socialbakers View Post

      As promised, we have worked on the article and have completely changed and remade the whole structure of the article.

      So, here it is Article: Facebook - The Most Popular Social Network - Socialbakers and feel free to give us any further feedback.

      Is it better than the previous one (for those of you, who have read it)?

      Thanks...
      Better, but still not there yet, IMO.

      I'm guessing that your company may be suffering from what is sometimes called "the Curse of Knowledge". Things which are (to use your phrase from another thread) "glaringly obvious" might not be to people who don't understand the import of those events.

      For example, you have an entry noting the introduction of Facebook ads. Okay, what does that mean for my business? You could expand the entry to spell out that it meant businesses could now place ads on FB pages based on real user-supplied demographics, allowing them to test and tailor their ads for most profitable response.

      You know the benefits, but sometimes you have to spell them out for others.
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