Many quality articles have been written at Associated Content and other online venues about SEO, keywords and other tools for succeeding an online writer. Here’s an oft overlooked factor: article count to page view ratio. Typically, new writers’ main goal is to crank out the content. And that’s essential; aspiring writers need to establish an article content base to succeed. After the honeymoon phase of writing, contributors begin to think about page views.
We all want and need those nebulous page views to succeed and profit from a career as a free-lance writer. That’s a given. Page views make us money. But there is a formula which is often ignored. That formula is what I call the content to page view ratio. Ignore or overlook this ratio and your success as a writer will be seriously jeopardized.
Here’s the bottom line: each article on your content roster should have an average of at least 600 page views to be considered successful content. Notice I said average number. That’s where the ratio comes in. The number of page views you’ve achieved compared to (or divided by, speaking mathematically) the number of published articles, should be at least 600:1. Some of your articles may have far fewer page views. But if your average page views are 600 per article, you are progressing.
Why is the average page view ratio so essential? Simply put, if you’ve published one hundred articles but only have 2,000 page views, that’s an average of 20 page views per article. If you are brand new to publishing, it may take some time for your articles to get circulated. But if you’ve written these articles over a period of several months to a year, it’s time to beef up those page views.
A high page view average also shows to Associated Content, advertisers and AC partner sites that your articles can generate income for you and for them. It shows that readers are interested in your work. It shows that you are capable of writing content that attracts readers. To put it bluntly, it shows that you are serious about writing for AC. You’ve probably noticed that AC is willing to publish a wide variety of content. AC is the platform. If you can prove to them that your work is circulating, well read and significant, AC is more willing to offer you upfront payments, partner calls for content and other opportunities for writing. At times in my writing career, I’ve purposely held off from publishing and concentrated on boosting my page view to content ratio.
600 is the bare minimum average, however. Averages of 1000-2000 page views per article is the ratio to work toward. And don’t stop there; keep boosting that page view average in any way that you can. Blog your articles. Add them to Twitter and Facebook. Favorite and subscribe to other contributors articles. Read and comment upon other contributors work. Become active in forums. Join writing groups.
For more on writing articles online and general writing helps, visit me at www.thewritersgarden.blogspot.com. All the best to you in your writing endeavors.
