Like most writers who are just starting out I have tried my hand at a wide variety of articles in order to increase my readership and to find out  kinds of articles most interest readers. In order to make money you need to know what sells.

While almost any well written article will earn you some income and attract readers there are some articles that inherently holds more interest to the general public than others. For the last two months I have been categorizing my articles by subject matter and keeping track of the readership for each category of articles. This has helped me determine what my readers are most interested in.

Here is what I have discovered.

Articles on making or saving money are read the most.

Craft articles, especially those explaining ideas on making crafts for gift giving and thus saving money are very widely read. More than half my readership comes from this category alone.

Articles explaining how to make or increase your writing income was next. While these articles are far less than those in the craft category they still have done quite well. These articles of course are targeted to a specific audience, those wanting to write for profit, so they don’t have the general appeal of the craft articles but still are worth writing.

Other money generating or money saving articles have also gained a large readership, regardless of what site I have written them for. These articles have included everything from budgeting to articles on How waiters and waitresses can make better tips.

Vacation spots

The second largest readership comes from those articles describing different vacation venues and things to do once you arrive. While I have only written a few articles on this subject they have surprisingly gained me a lot of readers.

Interesting People

I have written only two articles on unknown but interesting people I have met, yet, these two articles have attracted a couple of hundred readers. This is definitely a type of article that I plan on writing more of in the future.

Humor

While my attempts at humor have not gained the greatest readership, they are still up their in the ratings. They have beat out articles on political and news commentary making them another avenue to pursue.

Pets

Articles on pets seem to also acquire a lot of readers. Whether I write about why a pet is a good pet to own, or just a story about one of my own pets animal lovers seem to enjoy and read these articles.

While every writer needs to find their own passion and subject matter hopefully my experiences will give the beginning writer a place to start their own exploration and will help the more experienced writer take a look at their own articles to determined where their largest readership bases are.