- Make the URL shorter: URLs ranking #1 have 50 characters on average.
- Add content types they haven’t: Include graphics, animations, interactivity, and / or video. Interactive content converts 2x better than static content.
- Create a better title: CTR has a .67 correlation with ranking.
- Make it simpler to read: The average Flesch Readability score of content ranking #1 was 76.5 (easily understood by 13- to 15 year old students).
- Make it better structured: Users want their answers fast. Content ranking #1 had a bulleted list 78% of the time.
- Make the font bigger: Pages ranking #1 had 15.8px font on average.
- Make it faster: On average, pages ranking 1 – 2 had the smallest max image file size of the top 30 results.
- Make it more visual: The average article ranking #1 has 9 images.
- Source professional photos: High quality images get 121% more shares.
- Include an image every 75 – 100 words: These articles get the most shares.
- Use floating share buttons: Floating share buttons increase social traffic by 27%.
- Include a tall image: The average page ranking #1 has 12,000 pins, and 800px tall images get 57% more pins than average. Also, tall images (infographics) make it easier for outside sites to link to your content.
- Make it more linkable / shareable: Pages ranking #1 have more links and shares than competing pages.
- Link out: Sites ranking #1 link out 50% more than position 10. Reaching out to 3 – 5 people mentioned on your post can increase shares by 3 – 5x
- Make it longer: The average resource ranking #1 has 2,416 words.
Share socially at the optimal times:
- Facebook: Thurs – Sun, 1 – 4pm
- Twitter: Mon – Thurs, 12 – 3.5pm
- LinkedIn: Tues – Thurs, 5 – 6pm
- Pinterest: Sat – Sun, 8 – 11pm
Do better cold outreach:
- Send emails on Monday and Tuesday (Monday converts 80% better than Thursday).
- Send emails from 9am – 2pm PST to catch people at work.
- Don’t share the link in the first email to bloggers (this increased conversion by 63%).
- Keep your emails around 80 – 90 words (short, but not too short).
- Pitch at least 30 days in front of popular holidays (bloggers schedule 30+ days in advance).