How to Increase Page Views (PVs) On Associated Content (AC): Proven Tips for AC Writers

Many paths to increase page views exist. There is no rigid formula. But a good place to start is to browse through articles by Associated Content writers who have page views in the millions. Look at their topics. Notice how often these writers write. See how they write. Note how they format their work. Though not always the best writers, they know how to write for the Web. And even though writing is not about 'how to increase page views', it is our topic. Here forthwith are a few techniques that crucially helped me to increase page views.

1. To increase page views, make titles explicit. Begin a title with the main subject and add details. Ex.: 'Brittany Murphy Funeral on Christmas Eve; Autopsy Photos Risk Being Stolen'. This title, along with the hot topic, gave my most page views for one article in one day (2,847). My most popular article so far with five-figure page views is 'Adam Lambert American Idol 2009? Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!', published before Adam became a controversial star. Note the order- Adam, first; show's name and year, second.

How much difference can a good title make to page views? In 2008, I published an excerpt from a Jud Thorensen novel as nine articles. I used Jud's name in each title. But as a non-famous writer, I and my hero are not popular search topics. Each article sat with 100± page views for the year. In 2009, I replaced the obscure titles with word terms that were popular searches in Google Trends and still reflected the story. I altered the tags accordingly. The nine articles climbed into thousands of page views each- and are still climbing.

I was able to alter the nine articles because of the Display-Only (DO) feature, which Associated Content implemented in April 2008. DO enables a writer to alter written content and images. The ability to add, delete, or replace images in published articles was added to the DO feature in December 2009. I applaud AC for this.

For articles that you want to alter but are View-Only (VO), simply re-publish them. I re-publish VO articles or revise DO articles for one or more of three reasons: 1. to improve the writing; 2. to increase keyword density so that page views will increase; 3. to insert links to related newer articles. All will become clear.

2. To increase page views, visit Google Trends. The Google Trends page shows topics that people are currently surfing for on the Internet. I usually find a topic that I like, know about, and/or can put a different spin on. Some topics are volcanic and you want to jump on them right away- of course, other writers are jumping, too. But if rather than regurgitate the news, you give it a fresh angle and add unique information, then it is reader-worthy and will attract page views. Be a good researcher. Write well.

If you write a hot news story, don't submit it to AC for upfront payment. Publish it immediately and get the page views. I was one of the first to learn firsthand about the death of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on February 5, 2008. Yet, I didn't know enough details to write about it. Later, after learning more, I wrote up the story and submitted it to Associated Content for upfront payment. It was published later the next day. By then, the Maharishi news had flown around the Internet for 24+ hours and my Johnny-come-lately article was overlooked.

Of countless topic categories, there are the mix of trends, the year-round categories such as product reviews, the seasonal categories such as Christmas, your cherished interests, and your professional expertise. The categories have different page-view patterns. For example, my Adobe tutorials gather daily page views year-round while the page views to my meteor shower articles peak during the shower and then fall off until the next shower. Then, there is the category of creative writing.

Unless the fiction titles and topics are relevant to Internet surfing trends, fiction usually does not increase page views. But you should submit fiction if that's your interest. Re poetry- unless you are a certain Indian poet on Associated Content who not only writes wonderful poems but also self-promotes- expect to get few page views.

Yet, there are exceptions, even for me- my Cosmic Garden Meditation poem continues to gather many page views. Of course, there exist Associated Content writers whose fiction, prose, poetry, and memoirs rake in huge page view numbers. Some of you popular writers have many fans.

3. To increase page views, learn about tags. Tags are keywords and/or phrases that should reflect your title and your article content. They should show up on the Google Trends graph, preferably with a high ranking. For example, if I type 'home cooking' in the 'Search Trends' field, the graph shows an average of '1', indicating low interest to Internet surfers in 2009 and previous years. But if I type in 'down home cooking', the graph shows a sky-rocket interest of '300+' in the latter part of 2009, with little or no interest before that. Google Trends also shows 'Related Searches', which make effective tags. To test out the effectiveness of good tags (and titles), re-publish an old article on a popular topic with searchable tags and titles. See if you consistently get more page views.

Here are two technical notes about the 'Tags' field in the publishing format. 1. Since Associated Content's system turns hyphenated words into gibberish by combining them into one word in the 'Tags' field, replace the hyphen with a space. 2. Ampersands disappear from the 'Tags' field- a space is left in its place. Thus, you may want to use the word 'and' instead of an ampersand.

4. To increase page views, insert links in your articles to related articles you previously published. You may have noticed certain phrases in this article have links that connect to other of my articles- such as in the references earlier to Brittany Murphy and Adam Lambert. And as in the cougar phrases in the next paragraph.

In addition to inserting links from previous related articles into a new article, I also revisit old related articles. If the article is Display-Only (DO), I insert links that will connect it the new related article. If the old article is View-Only (VO), I comment on that article and include the link in the comment. For example, I wrote an article about my encounter with a cougar. Then, I wrote an article with a cougar update. In the first cougar article, I put the link to the update in a comment. Using the comment field this way is a good option for a VO article, although less effective. If the older article had been DO, I could have edited the link into the article.

The bottom line is that article's title, tags, and content should be SEO-friendly. SEO stands for 'Search Engine Optimization'. SEO-friendly articles typically display on the first page of an Internet user's search, certainly within the first three pages. Read Lyn Lomasi's 'Easy SEO Techniques for Online Article Writers' here. Read Crystal Ray's 'Writing Headlines for AC: How to Find Phrases, Check Keyword Density & Google Your Content' here.

6. Exchanging comments on articles with other Associated Content writers won't increase page views by much- unless you have a large AC following. Otherwise, your readership is based on strangers- and on strangers who become your regular readers. That said, I deeply enjoy reading other Associated Content writers' articles and commenting on them. I appreciate the comments I receive. And I am happy in having camaraderie with other Associated Content writers.

I've noticed that some Associated Content newcomers are Rising Stars. I congratulate you on an experience far different from my own. For my first months on Associated Content- I began in November 2007- my page view count was low and stagnant. My account held two lonely pennies. During 2008, I continued to pay no heed to the page-view-improving techniques that in 2009, I began to incrementally integrate into my Associated Content experience. The techniques generated a noticeable increase in my page views. Ergo, I look forward to continue to improve my Associated Content marketability. Yet, more so, I avidly anticipate the learning adventures intrinsic to the pure entertainment of writing.

I was inspired to write of this experiential information for a newly-formed team of Associated Content writers that I belong to- Mind Waves- in the Han Van Meegerin Page View Team Races. But as I wrote, I realized there was too much data to send in a message. Hence this article. I hope you enjoyed my stumbling learning experiences- and will adopt and adapt whatever seems beneficial. And will also check out my 7 Tips to Effect Writing Excellence. Leave no stone unturned.