The reframe from "how do I get more views" to "how do I help people discover content they'll love" is a small wording shift that changes the actual behavior it leads to. I keep catching myself optimizing for the first question by default.
Thanks for posting this! This aligns with my experiences of connection magnet posts doing so well - aka the posts that request the algorithm "summon" people in similar niches. It's a collection pot for people to come and subscribe to each other - and hopefully pay.
This is amazing your work is amazing been wanting know how the algorithm works on substack mate I am a subscriber and also supporting you mate is there 100% evidence that this works short term and long term
Hi Mack - I appreciate the insight on how to get views on notes. Your notes will get more views and engagement if you thoughtfully add something to an existing busy conversation. Whether that will translate to more subscribers may have to do more with how what you comment on aligns with the topics you write about in your Substack.
Anytime I’ve opined on content that was not in the sweet spot of my publication, I’ve gotten zero subscribers from the note’s views. On the other hand, my very first essay went viral and got lots of reshares and subscribers without me writing any notes about it.
It’s a good reminder to be careful about participating in conversations and promoting other writers when the topics align with what you write about. Then it’s generosity because it amplifies your message. If the topics don’t align, I think it’a a dissipation of your energy and just another way to waste time on social media.
Thank you, Lisa! I absolutely agree on the value of alignment. And your point about the potential dissipation of energy is a great way to frame it. The content we share and engage with helps from to the Substack users who we are and what topics they should mentally attach to us. We should definitely be thoughtful in how we approach this. I honestly could do a bit job at this.
Very interesting article! Your thesis is logical and certainly aligned with Substack’s business model!
But my experience has been the opposite of what you describe. I get the most engagement on text-only Notes…my restacks and links get waaaay below average views.
Interesting! If I remember you restacked one of my early articles and only added ‘Bookmarked!’ and I got 2 Paid subscribers from it! Your endorsement worked because your audience values your opinion.
But you are very disciplined and strategic about your text-only Notes, Karen! You aren’t using them to self-promote, which I think is the type of text-only Note that performs the worst.
Your text-only Notes are like knowledge nuggets, I can definitely see why they do so well for you. Hmmm…I may have to steal your format 🤔
Question—I often restack parts of people’s articles that I like. So not links specifically, but quotes of their stuff that really resonated. Does the algorithm care for that or not really?
This was such an interesting read and very useful. The only part that confused me was the part where you talk about restacking, as in another group with another Substack mentor they told me I didn’t restack that much. I now feel that advice was incorrect, it’s just so confusing and hard sometimes when starting out on here and getting different advice.
Thank you, Manisha. I understand. I personally use restacking as a way to potentially introduce my audience to a voice I want others to learn about, or share a topic/post that I think will create value for others. So while there is a real algorithmic benefit to restocking others, I really don’t consider that. I am more concerned with sharing good info from good people. The organic benefits are worth it.
That’s exactly the reason I restack. If I read an article and I find it really interesting and important to me I believe my audience would find it interesting too so when I got that advice, I was really confused. Thank you for replying to my comment.
Thank you Mack, this is exactly what I love about Substack! No grind needed, I feel like even if I post 5 notes per day vs 1, the intention behind them matters more than the volume.
Which also sometimes means that I reall, really put in the effort and nothing happens 🤣 but that's part of the game and I love it!!
"Think about that for a second. The platform is rewarding generosity. Not gaming. Not hacking. Not posting at optimal times or using the right hashtags or engineering the perfect hook." It's such an incredible, magnanimous concept! I'd heard the algo promoted engagement, now I know it's true! Thanks Mack!
Thank you, Jeanine! It’s very true, and what I love about it is this rewards people who are natural connectors and community-builders. It’s why I think Substack is such an underappreciated gem, if more people knew there was a social media site where the algo actually worked WITH you instead of against you and rewarded you for being friendly, everyone would be here :) Appreciate you reading, now go use that algo to your advance :)
You’re welcome. One way you can track this: let’s say you spend 30 mins a day engaging on Substack. If you spend 3 hours tomorrow, look at your traffic for that day, and the next. You will likely see a noticeable lift in traffic both days. I always do, and the thing is, I am spending most of that extra time on OTHER people’s content. Yet I help drive up engagement on other people’s content, and somehow views of my content goes up?
Strongly suggests the algorithm is boosting me for simply engaging with others. Fun experiment to try.
The reframe from "how do I get more views" to "how do I help people discover content they'll love" is a small wording shift that changes the actual behavior it leads to. I keep catching myself optimizing for the first question by default.
Support to another is although an uplift to yourself, we are the world.
Thanks for this article. Very helpful and I always appreciate what you share.
Thank you, Lee! Have a good weekend!
Appreciate you, Mack.
Thanks for posting this! This aligns with my experiences of connection magnet posts doing so well - aka the posts that request the algorithm "summon" people in similar niches. It's a collection pot for people to come and subscribe to each other - and hopefully pay.
This is amazing your work is amazing been wanting know how the algorithm works on substack mate I am a subscriber and also supporting you mate is there 100% evidence that this works short term and long term
Hi Mack - I appreciate the insight on how to get views on notes. Your notes will get more views and engagement if you thoughtfully add something to an existing busy conversation. Whether that will translate to more subscribers may have to do more with how what you comment on aligns with the topics you write about in your Substack.
Anytime I’ve opined on content that was not in the sweet spot of my publication, I’ve gotten zero subscribers from the note’s views. On the other hand, my very first essay went viral and got lots of reshares and subscribers without me writing any notes about it.
It’s a good reminder to be careful about participating in conversations and promoting other writers when the topics align with what you write about. Then it’s generosity because it amplifies your message. If the topics don’t align, I think it’a a dissipation of your energy and just another way to waste time on social media.
Thank you, Lisa! I absolutely agree on the value of alignment. And your point about the potential dissipation of energy is a great way to frame it. The content we share and engage with helps from to the Substack users who we are and what topics they should mentally attach to us. We should definitely be thoughtful in how we approach this. I honestly could do a bit job at this.
Very interesting article! Your thesis is logical and certainly aligned with Substack’s business model!
But my experience has been the opposite of what you describe. I get the most engagement on text-only Notes…my restacks and links get waaaay below average views.
Interesting! If I remember you restacked one of my early articles and only added ‘Bookmarked!’ and I got 2 Paid subscribers from it! Your endorsement worked because your audience values your opinion.
But you are very disciplined and strategic about your text-only Notes, Karen! You aren’t using them to self-promote, which I think is the type of text-only Note that performs the worst.
Your text-only Notes are like knowledge nuggets, I can definitely see why they do so well for you. Hmmm…I may have to steal your format 🤔
If you do, let me know how it goes!
Question—I often restack parts of people’s articles that I like. So not links specifically, but quotes of their stuff that really resonated. Does the algorithm care for that or not really?
Hi Kala, if you restock a quote, someone can click on the quote and it links to the article. So the algorithm treats it as a restack because it is.
Oh cool, so restacking quotes helps, yay 😃
This was such an interesting read and very useful. The only part that confused me was the part where you talk about restacking, as in another group with another Substack mentor they told me I didn’t restack that much. I now feel that advice was incorrect, it’s just so confusing and hard sometimes when starting out on here and getting different advice.
Thank you, Manisha. I understand. I personally use restacking as a way to potentially introduce my audience to a voice I want others to learn about, or share a topic/post that I think will create value for others. So while there is a real algorithmic benefit to restocking others, I really don’t consider that. I am more concerned with sharing good info from good people. The organic benefits are worth it.
That’s exactly the reason I restack. If I read an article and I find it really interesting and important to me I believe my audience would find it interesting too so when I got that advice, I was really confused. Thank you for replying to my comment.
Great post that explains the inner workings of the algorithm! Thanks Mack!
Thank you Howell!
Great article Mack!
Thank you Howell!
Thank you Mack, this is exactly what I love about Substack! No grind needed, I feel like even if I post 5 notes per day vs 1, the intention behind them matters more than the volume.
Which also sometimes means that I reall, really put in the effort and nothing happens 🤣 but that's part of the game and I love it!!
Thank you for these breakdowns ❤️
I agree sis, it’s kinda fun to try to figure out which post will do well, I usually miss it 🤣
You and me both LOL
"Think about that for a second. The platform is rewarding generosity. Not gaming. Not hacking. Not posting at optimal times or using the right hashtags or engineering the perfect hook." It's such an incredible, magnanimous concept! I'd heard the algo promoted engagement, now I know it's true! Thanks Mack!
Thank you, Jeanine! It’s very true, and what I love about it is this rewards people who are natural connectors and community-builders. It’s why I think Substack is such an underappreciated gem, if more people knew there was a social media site where the algo actually worked WITH you instead of against you and rewarded you for being friendly, everyone would be here :) Appreciate you reading, now go use that algo to your advance :)
Oh, I definitely plan to! Such great insightful info, Mack. Now off to the races!
Thank you Mack. I had a sense about this. I appreciate the article.
You’re welcome. One way you can track this: let’s say you spend 30 mins a day engaging on Substack. If you spend 3 hours tomorrow, look at your traffic for that day, and the next. You will likely see a noticeable lift in traffic both days. I always do, and the thing is, I am spending most of that extra time on OTHER people’s content. Yet I help drive up engagement on other people’s content, and somehow views of my content goes up?
Strongly suggests the algorithm is boosting me for simply engaging with others. Fun experiment to try.