We have all heard the phrase sex sells, it’s true too. If I posted a picture of a certain nature which linked to another page there is no doubting 75% of people would click the link, probably without even realizing that the link will only take you to a past blog post. What would the point be in that though? Sure the click rate would be great but you’d be unhappy and uninterested with page that’s appeared before you.

So while sex sells it may not always be very effective, there is another method though that can be almost as compelling but with twice the effectiveness - controversy.

If you read my article on how to attract new readers to your blog you will remember I briefly touched on the subject of saying what you really think, of not being afraid to put your point across. Some of you may have wondered why I mentioned it but the reason why this can be so important is because people love to debate/argue/share points of view. It’s one of the reasons why forums work so well and have so much activity, if someone says something that other people don’t agree with they feel as though they HAVE to let them know about it, they HAVE to have their say and they HAVE to try and convince the original poster why they are right and he/she is wrong.

That’s all fine and well for forums but how can this help you with your blog? Well that depends how good you are at expressing an opinion. If you can be opinionated when making a post but do it an open manor so people feel as though they are welcome to share their view, then that is exactly what they will do - share their view.

It can be difficult to pull off but if you can talk about something that you know people wont agree with (but some people will) and if you can keep an open mind and encourage people to come forward with their views it can work great. People will post comments on what they think, sometimes huge discussions can occur on your blog which will just intrigue even more people. Readers may even blog about your post themselves saying how much they agree/disagree, they may even post it on other forums and websites to ask what people think - great publicity!

So whats the big picture and why the reference to sex sells at the beginning of this post? Well let me explain it for those of you that haven’t quite understood what I’m saying. To be a good blogger you don’t need lots of flashy niceties and cheap gimmicks, sure the short term benefits will be there with a few extra clicks to your site but if you want to run a successful blog it’s what YOU post that matters and if people are visiting your blog it’s because they want to hear what YOU have to say, even if they won’t fully agree with it.