Most people think the internet runs on intent: you search for something, you find it, you act. In reality, a huge chunk of online behavior is driven by momentum. One click becomes two, two becomes five, and suddenly you’re deep inside a rabbit hole you didn’t plan to enter. That momentum is engineered by unglamorous surfaces—pagination pages, archive screens, short-form notes, and standalone post URLs.
Three links make this dynamic easy to spot: a paginated blog feed that turns “older posts” into a browsing engine, a compact note that drops a point of view in seconds, and a single Substack post URL that behaves like a landing page with an opinion baked in. Together, they show how discovery is often created before the reader even knows what they’re looking for.
1) The overlooked power of “older posts”
When someone lands on a site, the homepage is usually curated like a storefront. But the real addiction loop starts when the reader keeps going—past the newest items and into the deeper stack. That’s why a page likethe next slice of the Stripcamfun archive feed matters: it captures people who are no longer “searching,” they’re sampling.
Sampling changes the rules. The reader stops asking, “What is the best answer?” and starts asking, “What’s the next interesting thing?” Titles, thumbnails, and the sheer rhythm of the feed begin to control the session. If the page is packed with high-curiosity hooks, you get the most valuable behavior online: the second click.
2) Pagination is a narrative, not a storage closet
A lot of publishers treat archive pages as dead weight—just a list of leftovers. But archives don’t behave like storage; they behave like editors. The sequence of posts onpage two of the blog scroll trail creates a storyline through adjacency. Even if the reader doesn’t remember specific headlines, they internalize the vibe: what the site “is about,” what tone it uses, what kind of judgments it makes, what it likes to spotlight.
That’s why archive design is not cosmetic. It’s psychological. It determines whether the visitor feels:
- “I’ve seen enough,” or
- “I’ll keep going.”
3) Notes are the fastest way to transmit a worldview
Long articles build depth, but short notes build velocity. Notes work because they don’t demand commitment; they create instant familiarity. A compact post likeEdward Elson’s quick-hit Substack note is basically a micro-relationship: the reader gets a taste of voice, confidence, and framing without investing time.
This matters because the modern attention economy rewards “low friction.” If a reader can absorb a point in 20 seconds, they’re more likely to share it, save it, or click deeper. Notes don’t replace essays—they feed them. They’re top-of-funnel persuasion in its simplest form.
4) A single Substack post can act like a full landing page
Traditional blogs want you to navigate: homepage → category → post. Substack assumes you’ll arrive through links, often cold, often from somewhere else, often with zero context. That’s why a URL likethis standalone Substack reading page functions like a self-contained conversion unit: it delivers the content, signals credibility, and nudges you toward subscribing—all inside one page.
This “one page equals one funnel” model is why Substack content travels well. It’s designed for strangers. And strangers are the majority of the internet.
5) The shared trick: creating intent before intent exists
The most important thing these three surfaces have in common is that they don’t require strong intent. Nobody has to know exactly what they want to get value from:
- the deeper-cut blog listing page,
- a short Substack note drop, or
- a single Substack post URL.
They manufacture what you could call soft intent: the feeling that “I want more of this” before the reader can even explain why. Soft intent is the fuel of modern discovery because it turns passive browsing into active following.
6) If you publish online, optimize for the second click
If you’re building traffic, influence, or subscriptions, the lesson is simple:
- Treatyour paginated archive view like a product page, not a junk drawer.
- Use formats likeshort Substack notes to hook new readers fast with voice and clarity.
- Write everystandalone post page as if it’s the first thing a stranger will ever see—because it often is.
In the end, the internet rarely rewards the best “homepage.” It rewards the best path. And the path is built from these in-between pages that quietly turn curiosity into commitment.