Update: I ran this post last week but apparently used the Wii image twice, so it didn’t make much sense. Here it is again with the proper images.
In case you need a reminder to run with your judgment rather than your data when the latter looks off, here’s a fun example courtesy of the Link Attraction Factors Keyword Tool by Dan Zarrella. Here’s how the tool’s described:
Enter a keyword and the tool will return data on the average number of
links accumulated by stories popular on Digg that mentioned that
keyword.
I ran a few tests, and it was hard to come to any conclusions right off the bat. It turns out that if you want to get a lot of links out of a digg post, skip the Wii and write about deadly diseases.
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Show comments Hide commentsThanks for checking out my tool.
The point is that sure, a story about the Wii may be easier to get on the front page with, but it won’t attract as many links as a story about malaria will.