Not so long ago I posted a blog about Chuck Norris. Shortly before that I posted about an online web design service called browsershot.org.

What have the two in common? Nothing really, but they both have a similar effect on traffic to this blog.

Here’s the skinny…

When I posted the Chuck Norris blog I also submitted it to some social network sites (digg, reddit, stumble…). My traffic spiked considerably for a few days. I was surprised at the popularity of the subject. But social networks have a tendency to move on and so does the traffic they bring (in most cases). However both the posts mentioned above still continue to draw regular traffic to my blog everyday.

Here’s what I have learned:

Make Them Laugh

Popular humour can draw visitors. Personally I’m terrified that Chuck will discover who I am and roundhouse kick me to death. But offer something that will make people laugh and there’s a good chance they’ll find it, either by referral, by search or by social networks. Humour does not have to be an actual joke. It can be in the style of writing etc.

My writing lacks both humour and style. This is a serious blog.

Give Them What They Are Too Afraid To Ask For

Browsershots.org enables web site designers to see how their site will display in multiple browsers across multiple platforms. The popularity of the browsershots post made me realise that there are a lot of web designers out there that don’t know how to check there sites across multiple browsers.

This is interesting because there’s much talk about web standards and cross browser compatibility in the web design community online. I mean all designers know this stuff, or at least the talk in forums suggests they SHOULD know! Maybe those who don’t know are too embarrassed to ask their fellow designers for advice. Not knowing this stuff quickly becomes unacceptable and rather than ask, web designers are keeping their mouths shut and thinking ‘I better find out how to do this myself’.

That’s why they’re finding my blog post on the subject. Because I’m telling them something they feel they can’t ask their peers about.

Something To Ponder While You Should Be Working

• What questions are people too afraid to ask in your industry?
• Can you answer their (unasked) questions in your blog/website?
• Can you do it in an entertaining way?

If so you might have a killer traffic combination. Just like a double foot roundhouse kick to the chops from Chuck Norris himself!

If you have the guts to comment to this post work away. Or why not subscribe to my RSS feed? I did.