Daily Prompt asks: Go to your Stats page and check your top 3-5 posts. Why do you think they’ve been successful? Find the connection between them, and write about it.

Way to be on my wavelength, WordPress!  I was just about to re-post my most popular posts while I finish up with July’s chocolate mousse recipe.

My all-time top three posts are:

3.  The End of An Era  Who could have guessed that nearly every single day, someone has found this little piece of news on a search engine and stopped by to read it?  It boggles my mind.  This post was heavily shared on facebook. Not saying it went viral, just saying a few people got the sniffles for it. See for yourself at https://mycookinglife.com/2012/11/28/the-end-of-an-era/

2. It’s Rasta Pasta Time  There is no such thing as “Rasta Pasta” since Jamaican cuisine doesn’t particularly use pasta!  But the rhyme apparently strikes a chord in a lot of people.  This one, too, is discovered by someone on a search engine just about daily.  The recipe works and besides, who doesn’t like an inspiring action shot of Bob Marley?  Here is the post at https://mycookinglife.com/2012/07/27/its-rasta-pasta-time/

And the number one hit post on Mycookinglifebypatty is:  [Drum roll, please]

3. Preserved Lemons – A Tradition in Moroccan, Mediterranean and Indian Cuisine. Is it the photograph? Is it just that people have heard of preserved lemons but didn’t know how to make them? Is it the fact that I have since mentioned and linked to this post about a zillion times because I love, love, love using preserved lemons in my recipes? Maybe all of the above.  This is certainly one of my favorites so I can understand if it’s one of yours. You can take a look at the preserved lemon post here:  https://mycookinglife.com/2012/07/08/preserved-lemons-a-tradition-in-moroccan-mediterranean-and-indian-cuisine/

Is there some sort of magic in this? Not so sure. Did I possibly hit on the right tags so I could get a good ranking on some search engines?  Perhaps. Great photographs? In my case, I doubt that was the connecting factor. If I had to say there was one connecting factor, I would say it was the titles of the posts.

A good title tells you what the post is about or at least gives an intriguing hint. A good title can be short or long, but is never awkward or obtuse.

A good title gets the reader to click onto the post, which is what the “top post” stats actually reflect. Doesn’t mean they read the whole thing, doesn’t mean they liked it. It just means they were interested enough to see it.  You have to be able to accomplish that if you want anyone to read your stuff!

A good post delivers what the title promises. And that, Grasshopper, is where you either lose them or draw them in.

Master Po

My method in this is to use a “working title” while I’m writing the post and then when the post is finished, I will read it and discover what the final title should be. Because you never know what will develop while writing a post! That way, I am not locked into something such as the school essay assignment, “What I Did on My Summer Vacation.”

My working title for this post was, “My All Time Top Three.”  Definitely too WIDOMSV. I didn’t know what I thought the connection was with the three posts when I started writing. But when I got to the end, I had the “title” theory and changed the title of the post.

What do you think of these titles? Are they the connecting link for these top posts or do you see another kind of connection?

P.S. For you youngins, Master Po is not the In-Charge Teletubby.

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