I wondered, not long ago, what it would be like to write something controversial. Normally, I don’t like to write blogs like this but I figured it might be a neat way to see if this kind of writing is worth it. Would it bring more traffic? Less? What about my revenue? Here’s what happened.

I wrote a post recently called “The Death of WordPress”. Now, before you go crazy and get your rage filled comments outlined, let me tell you that the post was not about putting WordPress down etc. I was just looking in to alternatives but my headline made people post comments without reading what the blog post was really about.

So, how did my experiment turn out?

Controversial Posts Can Damage Your Image
When you think about it, personal or corporate blogs tend to stay away from controversial topics because it can be risky to write them. Even if the post isn’t bad, the title alone can give people an impression about what you’re trying to say. This isn’t always a good thing.

Controversial Posts Create Subscribers
When I write, I usually anticipate my blog getting about a 400-500 visitors. This time, my controversial post was viewed as mainly negative, due to many readers viewing the headlines only. While the number of emails and posts that were being read daily-remained normal, it turns out that many more people chose to simply unsubscribe.

While unsubscribes are common for any site or company, a huge spike in them after posting controversial material has convinced me that this is not a benefit.

Controversial Posts Create Traffic
On the other hand, this was a great post for creating traffic. Compared to a regular post, my controversial post had more viewers. Almost 250% more viewers. Not to mention, my social media was up as well.
For a traffic benefit, controversial blog topics certainly can produce. However, this tactic is better reserved for blogs that are monetizing from visits, advertising or visitor count. None of the visits made me gain and new business.

Controversial Posts Can Damage Your Income
Finally, a topic many don’t consider before posting controversial items is income.

Controversy is often to blame for creating a negative impact on your income. The sad truth is that if people view your image in a bad light, chances are they aren’t going to want to buy anything from you either. This can really hurt sales and your revenue.

For those who have blogs that are based on advertisements or are consumer-based, controversial posts are more than welcome and the traffic increase is likely appreciated. For personal blogs, my blog and probably your blog too, controversial posts should be limited to few, or none. The negatives here seem to far outweigh the benefits.