Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
There are many different types of blog posts that work exceptionally well for driving an audience. Perhaps one of the most effective for driving traffic and generating revenue are “best of” articles. So, why don’t I write more of these for the website?
Actually, it has a lot to do with the type of person I am as a professional.
There’s no denying that whipping out lists of the best products would generate a lot of interest and affiliate income. Unfortunately, I just can’t bring myself to write them most of the time.
How I View List Articles of “Best” Products and Services
A lot of people I’ve seen on YouTube claim you can make thousands of dollars per month from your blog by writing “best of” articles.
The gist of it is that you find a slew of niche goods and services while affiliating with as many as you can. The end result is generating a decent revenue in those sales.
The issue I run into is that I pride myself on being honest.
If I haven’t tried a product or service, I can’t necessarily call it the “best” of anything. Sure, I can simply go by customer reviews and fake the content. But I don’t feel as though that’s necessarily honest of me to do so.
If I’m calling something the best, it’s because I truly love the product or had a good experience using the service. If someone tried something that I haven’t tested and had a poor experience, I would feel responsible for promoting it.
This is a big reason why it’ll probably be a long time before I actually get a decent sponsor for the YouTube channels. Some of us creators have integrity.
I guess it’s more of a moral dilemma than anything.
Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t write “best of” articles for your blog and make some good money. In reality, they are some of the best types of articles to generate a huge cash flow, as long as you have a good amount of visitor traffic.
I just can’t see putting my name on something that isn’t entirely true from my perspective. I can’t call something the best if I’ve never tried it.
Well, that is unless a client wants that article. And I’ve sold plenty of “best” content over the years.
Why “Best of” Articles Perform So Well
As I said, creating lists of the best products for your niche or industry is extremely effective at generating revenue. Depending on the amount of traffic your site already generates, it’s possible to replace a full-time income in a very short amount of time.
Why do “best of” articles do so well as blog content?
- They are extremely easy to write
- Best Of articles act as reviews in many cases, and 77% of consumers read reviews regularly
- Most companies have affiliate programs that are easy to get into
- Best ‘anything’ often has one of the highest search volumes on Google
Although there are a lot of content types that generate traffic, anything labeled “best” can easily overshadow them. Of course, this also depends if you can build up a good level of authority in the niche topic.
For instance, writing an article about the best office chairs won’t perform as well if your blog is about chicken recipes.
The idea is for a potential buyer to compare various products to decide which one he or she should buy. Depending on the information you provide and the style of how you write, you could essentially convince someone to buy a specific product or service.
Since you’ll use an affiliate link to generate that sale, you earn a commission. It’s actually a quick and easy way to earn revenue.
As I said, though, you’ll also need to work on building your authority before really making a ton of money. This is done with other types of content, such as reviews or perhaps tutorials.
The Downside to “Best of” Articles
So, based on what I said above, writing blog posts centering on the best products and services might sound amazing. However, there are a few things that a lot of experts don’t warn you about in the beginning.
While some of these points might dissuade you from creating your own “best of” articles, it’s still worth trying if only to boost your reputation and engage your specific audience.
Any traffic is better than no traffic.
Extremely High Competition
First off, most successful bloggers understand just how effective lists of the best products are at generating traffic and revenue. As such, the competition for your niche or industry is most likely going to be insane.
For instance, I just looked up “best walking shoes.” Right now, Google has 387 million results, shopping ads at the top, and 10 articles from the most profound websites for walking and running.
This means you’ll have a lot of work ahead of you to actually get on the first page of Google.
A way to reduce the pressure, though, is to focus on products or services that are more obscure. It might help you build momentum.
For example, what if we wanted to sell “best recycled walking shoes?” Well, that reduced the competition by roughly 60 times! This means it’ll be so much easier to rank than compared to a more general search term.
It’s also been my experience that niche products and content often perform well in terms of engagement and interaction.
Sure, you won’t get 10s of thousands of visitors. However, the ones looking for more specific info and products are more likely to click and/or make a purchase.
Most Competitors Are Well Established
Speaking of competition, many of the bloggers you’ll pit your content against are established. This means they’ve been topping the rankings of Google for quite a long time.
And Google prioritizes seniority.
As a result, you’ll need to bring your “A” game to surpass the competition. Sometimes, you can go beyond an established site using the Skyscraper Technique. But this usually works if you’re already pulling in 100+ visits per day.
In any case, new bloggers should keep in mind the sheer amount of competition that’s on Google for just about any conceivable topic.
Takes a Lot of Visitors to Make a Sale
Not everyone who visits your blog post is immediately going to make a sale. According to Monitor Backlinks, conversion rates for affiliates range between 0.5% and 1% on average.
For a much smaller site, say less than 1,000 visits per month, it may even be lower. And that’s just the visitors to those specific “best of” articles.
Just about any method to make money from a blog centers around traffic. After all, no one is going to buy from your affiliate links if no one is visiting the content.
The more traffic you have, the more likely you’ll make a sale.
It Can Take 4 to 6 Months to Build Momentum in Google
According to my own research monitoring my blogs and those of my clients, it can take anywhere from four to six months before something you write today will start pulling in a meaningful amount of traffic.
This depends on a lot of factors such as link building, topic interest, topic competition, search intent, and various other SEO practices.
In other words, don’t assume that by writing several “best of” articles this week that you’ll be rolling in the dough by next Friday. Like everything else revolving around blogging, it’s going to take a bit of time.
Will I Ever Get Around to Writing “Best of” Posts?
Because I do have a lot of things on my plate, I don’t often get a chance to try out new products or services. I’ve been trying to set aside some time to dive into something that interests me.
One of the big drawbacks, though, is that I don’t have a lot of money to buy a product to test it for an article. For me to write “best of” articles for the blog, it would cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
That’s because I won’t write about something I haven’t tried myself unless it’s for a paying client.
Currently, I’m working on the best free writing apps for authors because it doesn’t take a monetary investment. Eventually, I’d like to buy a few products to at least give a proper review.
In any case, I wouldn’t mind getting a few of these on the blog.
What’s Your Favorite Content to Write?
There’s no denying how awesome “best of” articles are in terms of traffic and income. And if you’re not as anal as I am, you can start whipping them out right now.
Personally, I’m more inclined to write reviews and tutorials. They are currently the most effective for all of my blogs. But every audience is different.
What works best for piquing the interest of your readers?
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