How Starting a Controversy Can Help Get Your Blog Traffic

Did you know that by calling someone out, or calling someone a name, or trash talking you could get a significant boost in traffic, especially if the person you are bashing takes time to respond to you on their blog.  Let me give you a real life example and you’ll easily see what I’m talking about.  I was reading a post on a blog two nights ago and the post could be viewed as a controversial post.  The blogger was criticizing something that he did not like and he was not being subtle, he was letting it rip.  The next night another blogger in the same niche wrong a post criticizing the first bloggers post.  The second blogger wrote about how the first guy was wrong, was being a crybaby, and added a few more sticks to the fire.  Basically, blogger #2 was bashing blogger #1.  What happened next?

Readers of blog #2 started chiming in within the comment section.  Blogger #1 and his readers got wind of this and they jumped on blog #2 and started chiming in on the comment  section.  Blogger #1 than wrote a post about blogger #2.  And comments were flying.  People were bashing people.  It was a friggin mess.  But… but…  the traffic at these guy’s sites jumped huge during this controversy (how do I know?  I casually know blogger #2 and asked him if he could give me a feel for his traffic stats which he agreed as long as I don’t publish them).  Just by looking at the comments section it is easy to see the significant boost in interaction on the site.  An average post on blogger #2’s site gets about 3 comments.  His post that started this back and forth had over 100 comments!

Think about it.  It’s a proven fact.  Look at all the guys in the rap game.  A lot of them have come out and admitted (years after the fact) that their “feud” was really started just to generate hype and sell cd’s.

I’m not telling you all to come out and start bashing people in your blog posts.  I do not do this because you never know when ill will that you create can come back and bite you in the ass in the future.  But, if you are able to work out a planned controversy with another blogger it may be a strategy that works out well for both of you.  People love controversy, and bloggers love traffic.  Just sayin…