I think what explains the difference is that the author is a writer by trade -- not a statistician.

The author successful tells a simple story with unexpected tidbits and concrete language (eg "every submission you see here is certifiably timeless") and does a good job following writing best practices like "not burying the lead".

You might be interested in reading "Make it Stick" (it's where I learned about this subject from) if you haven't already -- and/or the Priceonomics guide to content marketing.

Clickbait title probably didn't hurt either.