June 16, 2011

• "Related Posts" for Everyone!

  We just launched the "Related Posts" module for everyone!

  

  We've been developing and testing this feature for a while on our own sites, and on some sites we've gotten it to the point where this one module drives over 10% of overall pageviews!

  The technology behind this module is pretty straightforward, but it helps to understand how it works so that you can get the most out of it...

  The "Related Posts" module uses two key inputs:

  1. Tags - the module uses tags to determine whether posts are related. If the module can't find any related posts based on tags, it simply shows a few of your recent posts.

     On our sites, we've found that any post appearing in this module does get more clicks. But the posts that are truly related - based on tags - get a lot more clicks. So, if you haven't been tagging your posts, now is the time to get started! You don't have to think too hard about your tagging; just one or a few tags per post should be enough.

  2. Pictures* - people are more likely to click on pictures than text...

     The "Related Posts" module takes advantage of this behavior by automatically grabbing a sample picture from each post to use in the module. Specifically, it grabs the first image inside each post (excluding non-content images like Xanga smileys) and turns it into a little thumbnail image inside the module. If your post has no images, it uses your profile picture. Even just the profile picture helps drive clicks, but a nice, unique image works much better.

     So if you already use images in your posts, start putting your catchiest ones first. If you don't use images, you might want to consider adding at least one nice image to each post... or at the very least make sure you have a good profile pic!

     *NOTE: the "Related Posts" module uses only Xanga-hosted images for now, but we're looking to add support for outside images too (in case you use other photo-hosting services) - we'll keep you posted on this one!

  For those who don't want this new module, you'll find instructions for hiding it here:

  http://help.xanga.com/topic/how-do-i-hide-the-related-posts-module

  Hope this helps everyone find more great posts!

  Let us know what you think.

  Marc

  • 10:59 am
  • 37 Comments