A few months ago during the redesign of ShoeMoney.com I noticed this area next to our social links:
At the time there was a random post being displayed. Sure, that would have gotten some clicks but it occurred to me that there had to be a better way. Obviously some posts are better than others, and it doesn’t make any sense to rotate through low quality posts when there are the gems that people love but may be a few years old and the new ShoeMoney.com reader might not ever see them.
So here’s what I did:
We went through and tagged a selection of posts that we considered the “Best of ShoeMoney”.
Then I added some simple code to the header file so that it would execute on every page load. The code checks to see if the current page being loaded is a “Best of ShoeMoney” post, and if it is, it adds it to a cookie on the users machine.
if(is_single()) {
$tags = get_the_tags();
foreach($tags as $tag) {
if($tag->name == "Best Of ShoeMoney") {
if($_COOKIE['haveuseen']) {
$seen_posts = unserialize($_COOKIE['haveuseen']);
} else {
$seen_posts = array();
}
if(!in_array($wp_query->post->ID,$seen_posts)) {
array_push($seen_posts,$wp_query->post->ID);
}
setcookie('haveuseen',serialize($seen_posts),time()+(60*60*24*365),'/','shoemoney.com');
}
}
}
Finally, in the template code I run a get_posts() and exclude the posts in the cookie that people have already seen. This way, on every page load they are exposed to a “Best of ShoeMoney” story that they haven’t read yet.
The result?
Posts that were completely dead with traffic suddenly saw a spike when it was implemented:
Send this post to your programmer and have them implement this today for an instant boost in pageviews!
About the author...
ddn – who has written 9 posts on ShoeMoney.com.
David is the CTO of ShoeMoney Media Group. He makes the gears turn in opposite directions.
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{ 109 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a great idea. I was thinking about implementing something like this but had no idea how!
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this! Even though I’m no programmer, I think I could figure out the code. I’ve been looking for social bookmark buttons like those as well.
Good stuff. Between this and “The System” I’m learning more than ever.
The reason I find that hanging around the ShoeMoney blog as well as studying the System is that these little posts are so helpful and supplemental to everything that the System teaches.
The devil is in the details, after all, and no System can teach you everything in one go.
I know right! I’m learning a lot of things because of this blog. And usually I wouldn’t be interested in posts about page views and optimization and codes, but now I don’t mind reading about them.
Awesome idea! I’m in the middle of redesigning my blog so this came at great time.
The random posts or related posts I’ve been using just doesn’t do it for me, and most of the time, the posts shown don’t have anything to do with the current post.
Hi David,
Can this code go anywhere in the header file?
thx
Ivan
Ivan, it has to go before ANY other output of any kind because it sets a cookie in the header. You can pretty much just make it the first thing in the file.
I was wondering about that too. Thanks for the clarification, Dave.
That is so cool. I like the fact that you get to see posts you’ve never seen instead of getting the same “top posts” every time.
Interesting! I am a new reader, and have been going through some old posts. Does this mean you will be sharing some of his old posts over the next several days? I am hoping that this is the case.
Interesting idea, what happens if the user has seen all of the “best of” posts? Does it show a random post in the group?
This is a great idea to drive traffic to specific posts that have gotten buried in more recent posts.
Excellent post! Thanks!
I have to admit, it works wonders! Is that little box on the right hand side a part of it? You know, the one with the “are you scared shitless” picture and that leads you to another post?
Yes, Nicole, that’s the one. If you refresh the page, you’ll notice you’ll get a new link.
Hey, this is the bomb! I can go through all the top posts and not get a single redo. Sure makes it easy for your readers, Shoe.
Good stuff. I’ve used a handful of related post plugins and they all have sucked. Will give this a try.
The first thing I thought of after reading this post was “I gotta get someone to do that for the site.” Thank you for the idea!
Whoops. Sorry about this. I meant to reply to Shoe and then to you.
But anyway, I’m sort of a non-techie so my opinion might not be so very important, but like you, I’ve tried random programs and none of them seemed to do the job.
I’m hoping this works. I want people to look at old links, as well as new ones, on my site.
That’s pretty neat. Do you pre-program a number of posts that the program randomly shuffles through? And if so, how many posts can it hold in queue?
He said tagged, so I was thinking they go back to all the posts and tag it. But it would make more sense if there was a program that does that. That would be easier to do, I guess. No need to go back and click a post, and then tag, and then click a post, tag… so forth.
That’s quite clever… and to think, a non-techie like me understood it! I might not understand how to tweak the code, but I get the general principle behind it.
Thanks for the code, Shoe. I’m familiar with other websites using tags, but i don’t know of any that would automatically recognize if the IP address has opened an option before and be ready to offer a different one.
Tammy, Most blogs have tags, but they’re mostly static. The tags are listed in “tag cloud”, and users can click on a tag and bring up all the posts with that tag. I’m also unfamiliar with the kind of tagging system Shoe came up with, but I think it’s a great idea.
Wow, Shoeman, you can code, too? Awesome.
That’s not Shoe. That’s Dave.
As much as I hate to wax poetic, I can’t pass up a chance to say this: “See, the world is changed by a single person who says ‘there must be a better way’ and dares to find out”.
This is very considerate of you, Shoe. A lot of times bloggers forget that they’re getting new readers all the time, and that new readers interested in their blogs will have to try very hard to get “caught up”. That is, if they find the time and interest. With your new system, new readers are encouraged to discover past discussions and tips.
That was an awesome post. Thanks for the code assist in getting more readers to read old posts. Never thought of it that way. Should be able to get my old past articles to the new traffic sending in. Other than the likewise, “Best of” web page and “Related posts” feed on each articles.
This is quite a good idea. But the fact that you have to go through all the posts and tag them is a bit annoying.
Maybe if you use the view count and number of comments and stuff like that to automatically determine which are the top posts it would be better. But that would require a bit more work I think.
You definitely gave me an idea what to do on my blog (when I actually set it up and post something)
Aha! So it’s happening to you too? I was wondering what was going on.
I was wondering how you did that. It sure helps with the traffic, huh? Great tip again, David! Thanks!
You had to go through individual posts, or was there an easier option where you can tag posts but didn’t have to go through individual posts? I’m assuming you had to painstakingly go through all the previous posts. If there’s more than a year’s worth of posts that would be such hard work.
Oh so these entries were selected. I thought they were completely random. I have a suggestion, though. I think it would be better to add more to the list of entries that show up. Because right now there are about — correct me if I’m wrong, about ten to twenty posts? I didn’t do the counting, I just assumed. Or maybe you do add new posts in the rotation but I just don’t notice.
Shoe adds new popular blog posts, I think. I think I’ve seen new ones? Not sure.
Yes, there are new “best of ShoeMoney” tags every now and then. So if you’re following the blog closely or just want to find out what’s the best stuff so far, it’s nice to keep looking through the collection every so often.
Cool trick. Thanks.
That’s really awesome!!! I didn’t know you could edit that. I thought that if it’s a built-in Wordpress feature you can’t really edit it anymore.
I don’t think I will ever understand codes. But thanks anyway. This is a nice tip for bloggers.
I’m with you. I’d hate to go through all my posts and tag each post that I think should be on the rotation.
Although I don’t agree with the top/best posts having the most comments. Some of those comments could be spam, or there could be same people posting lots and lotsa comments. Kinda like what happened to the Shoemoney theme song post. I think the top posts are the most viewed and most shared in Twitter/Facebook.
Good post. I’m sure even non-programmers like myself would figure out how to do this in their own blogs. Will try to do this in my blog. But I only have a few posts, so that might not be a good idea. Maybe I’d just try it to see if it works right. And then I’d let it go back to the random selecting of posts.
I love that the suggested posts are your best posts. Best posts don’t necessarily mean the most viewed or most commented. I think the best posts are the most interesting, relevant and substantial. I’ve learned new things by reading those suggested posts. So that was a great move, to change the post rotation from random to selected best posts.
I agree with everything you said 100%. I’ve read some of the posts featured in “Have You Read”, and they were very informative. I especially liked that one post about using Delicious to understand customers. That was a really good post.
Hey Dave – for the social sharing icons, are you using a plugin for those?
That’s really neat. But I have to ask my friend to do the codes for me. Thanks a lot!
Hey Wilma,
Nothing wrong with that, if you have the right people in your corner that can be a huge asset.
Woah that’s a huge difference in traffic. It doubled, more than doubled after you did the changes. Good work, dude. And great tip.
Does this plugin (the Have You Read This Post? plugin) come automatically with the Wordpress theme? Or do you still have to download it? I’m still green when it comes to WP. I used to be on blogger and then decided to switch to WP.
Yup, I think you have to download and install it.
I don’t think any wordpress theme has a built-in related posts/suggested posts plug-in. You can google wordpress plugins, and then download the ones you think you can use for your blog.
I probably said this before but I said this again. I love this kind of posts. Really awesome informative stuff for newbies like me.
Love this idea, Jeremy. Don’t you just hate it when you find a great blog and find that it’s been running for so long it’ll take you forever to find all the great posts – or even posts that will spark your interest?
Whooops! I’m sorry, David. I automatically assumed that Shoe had written the code and did the post. Sorry about that. But it’s great work, and thank you!
I’m a pretty new Shoemoney reader, just started a month ago, so I didn’t know you guys did a redesign. I like your layout, everything is easy to find. And whatever you did with your pages sure worked because now you’re getting more views, which might mean more readers. Good job!
great post dave. I love shoemoney’s blog but I always felt you guys could do so much better if you categorized posts by subject.
Then, let’s say a visitor lands on a page that is related for PPC or SEO category, you could have a slider with thumbnails showing up with more posts in the respective category like here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303695604575182233558434518.html
this way, instead of having just one “have you read” post ,your visitors get to choose from more options and if it’s a first time visitor he is more likely to to stick around much longer. If you have CPM advertising you’ll be getting much more from each visit.
Good stuff. Thanks so much for the tip.
Thanks! Helpful tip. And really easy to follow.
This is a great way to direct traffic to posts that would otherwise become obsolete. Or if you have a blog that updates very frequently, it’s a way to keep important posts from getting lost in the melee. Cool coding, David!
So how many posts did you tag to show up on that box? And how many posts did you have to go through? Probably a lot. Shoe’s been blogging for yearsssss. Or do you only tag the best ones from the last year?
why is my comment not showing up sometimes?
you got something that eats comments shoe.
That happens to me sometimes, too. And the wordpress template’s configured to reject double posts, so I can’t even re-post what I wanted to say.
That’s because you’re usually not contributing to the discussion. lol
And now my post has gone and appeared on a reply I never meant it to reply to! My bad…..
Unfortunately that method would be unreliable. Not all posts with a lot of comments are the most relevant, for instance. It could just be that there were too many people replying to each other in a flame war, regardless of whether or not their comments are relevant. Better for someone to go through the tedium of tagging all the posts and have something truly interesting and valuable for people to read; rather than let an automated sequence do it on the basis of popularity and have it displaying random, more ordinary entries.
It seems that a user-activated “delete comment” button would also be in order here, David. Can we please request this? *facepalm*
The previous post was meant to be a reply to Goran Gligorin.
Agreed. There should be a delete button just in case you’ve pressed the submit comment button too early. That way you can save yourself from the online embarrassment of typos, misspellings, etc.
And an “edit” button too, please. All too many times I’ve clicked on the “submit comment” button before i notice that I’d misspelled a word, or didn’t finish a sentence, or was posting it in response to the wrong comment.
Uh… guys, I think Wordpress has a template for this, and that’s what ShoeMoney.com is using. I don’t think the people behind the site are allowed to fiddle with the basic controls, such as adding buttons and their functions on the comment control panel.
Uh… Patty. You can do anything you want with Wordpress. Literally.
This is one of the best solutions I have seen for the problem of “buried posts”. Great job, David!
That is one useful code. Thanks, David. I hope this helps bring life to the more forgotten parts of my blog.
So this code is designed to keep the most relevant items up, huh? Nice. Great for people who don’t like missing out on important stuff.
That’s awesome. I think I need a programmer.
That’s a great idea to increase pageviews with the more contemporary articles or blogposts, thanks for the advice David
Good stuff. Thanks for sharing this. Great job, David!
Genius, David, awesome tip! It’s little tweaks like this that keep me coming back to shoe money!
Great little tip – saw this a few weeks ago and had been wondering how to integrate it! Nice work!
Nice idea.
why send this to a programmer? i can do it myself.
Shoemoney, How can I do this without knowing HTML, I just started a wordpress blog and I am in the process of learning HTML……any tips? thanks!!! *I use to use blogspot before which is not to good)
I’ll try this. But if it doesn’t work …. I know where u live
Shoe that’s a great idea, I’ll def have to look into implementing this into my websites in the future
Excellent idea that’s getting sent right to the programmers. We had a simpler version but adding in unseen top posts is a sure win!
Thanks for sharing
I am quite keen to try this and see the results.
Just found this page, and I can’t wait to try though I’m not so good in HTML code.
Thanks Great info
Smooth move, another sweet tip!
“I run a get_posts() and exclude the posts”
Can you explain this query that you are doing and the code you use to generate the excluding? I’ve got most of this working but for some reason I’m not getting the call right. I know how to make the call normally, but not sure what you are doing to check the cookie and display the right post on the template.
Is this only effective on a page refresh? Or does it refresh the page automatically for them? Like a meta refresh. Thanks.
Great stuff. Just putting it out there, if you ever need to ship a car anywhere, and I mean anywhere, look up Auto Shipping Network. They worked wonders for me! Keep up the good work.
One other thing that is a great tool to help you with your SEO and getting more traffic to your site, is to find a company that does free website analysis. When you find a site that can do that it will help you to see what needs to be improved and what needs to stay the way that it is. By doing that you get more traffic to your site which can lead to more click, or more sales, or more customers.
thats a great tip, I only wish some one could build a wordpress plugin. that will be awesome!
I love the post it gives more information about getting page views i vote it.
Well, someone asked for wordpress plugin, i ask for joomla one
That is geeky. Same posts showing up over and over again in related posts is an issue I had always overlooked. May be I was just lazy. Thanks for posting, I will give this a try.
PS: As someone asked here, is there a wordpress plugin based on this code? That is going to help a lot of people.
That’s really simple and really fucking awesome.
Thats a handy idea. I’ll try that on my blog too.
Sweet piece of code. Great idea. Thanks!
Thanks for the tips, I have some dead page which need to have some boost in it.
nice tips bro
thanks a lot
Some guys I hang out with from school use Clickbank, and from what I hear, they’re pretty happy about it. They like the fact that once everything’s set up, it’s all automated and you don’t have to worry about it anymore. That is, if you’re a seller. It looks to me like it’s the buyers that are having a hard time with it.
Smart ! I am thinking about implementing a similar system
Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing this idea and code.
David, I am new to Shoemoney, and this helps me get up to speed. I am loving this community and have found a home.
These tips will definitely increase page views and more helpful for the adsense incomers.
One idea of getting free and instant website traffic is to post your site or blog and ask for help. Is my site looking good, ok?, seo right? http://www.1ainternet.net/ and submit a link and people will visit it.
Very interesting advice!
Thanks for the tips!
Very interesting and useful article. Thanks for sharing this with us.