After all, who doesn’t want all the pageviews?
But here’s the thing… Those readers are not going to stick around if you aren’t engaging with them and building a relationship.
It’s those relationships that you build that will be key to your success online. That’s what will help you establish a community and create that loyal, trusting relationship with your readers.
If that’s exactly what you want for your blog, you might be wondering how you can achieve it. And it all goes back to one key thing: engage your audience.
7 Ways to Engage Your Audience
The good news is, building that relationship with your readers doesn’t have to be as hard as you’re probably thinking. And I’m sharing seven tips to help you increase engagement and see better results online.
1. Give Your Readers a Call to Action
Providing a clear call to action at the end of each blog post tells your readers what to do next. Think about it… You don’t want them leaving your site without taking that desired action, do you? Of course not!
That’s why you need to tell them what the next step is after they’ve read your post. Don’t leave them wondering where to go from here. You can engage your audience by asking questions at the end of each post to encourage a conversation in the comments section. Alternatively, you can add a content upgrade to boost your email list or promote a product or service.
2. Interact With Your Readers
Once you have readers leaving comments on your blog, don’t let it stop there! If you ask readers questions, be prepared to respond to them when they leave a reply. By encouraging conversation and chatting with your readers, you start to establish a relationship with them and build a community.
3. Interact Off Your Blog Too
Make sure you also take the conversation off your blog and onto social media as well. Whenever you receive messages on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, take the time to reply to those people. It’s such a simple way to engage your audience, but it shows them that you care and that you’re listening.
It’s a turn-off when bloggers think they’re “too big” to respond to your comments. Although, it’s one thing when you’re getting hundreds of comments on every post. But if you’re not on that level, you should be making it a priority to reply to people who write to you.
4. Provide a Freebie
When you offer your readers a high-quality freebie, they can’t help but snatch it up! By giving away a free download, it’s a great way to engage your audience because it gives back to them at the same time. Plus, it gives those readers something to do after they’ve read your post.
They can dive into the eBook you’ve created or start working on that free email course. So, they’ll still be interacting with your brand in some way, long after they’ve left your site. And that’s a huge plus!
5. Ask for Feedback
If you’re confused about what you should be posting on your blog or what kind of products and services might be the best fit, just ask. Create a survey and share it on your blog or ask questions on social media.
There’s no better way to get to know your audience and what they want than by just asking them! They hold all the answers you need to know.
6. Hold Their Attention Throughout Your Posts
Another way to engage your audience is to hold their attention as they read your blog posts. You don’t want them getting bored and dropping off, do you? That’s actually why I developed my course, the Captivating Content Kit for Bloggers. It’s designed specifically to help you create amazing blog posts.
But the basic recipe for this is to start with an accurate, descriptive headline. From there, you need to hold their attention with a great introduction that gives them a teaser of what’s to come in the post. Then, the rest of your post needs to flow from paragraph to paragraph.
7. Be Yourself
Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through in your content. Whether it’s a blog post, an email newsletter, or social media posts, people need to see the real you. That’s what draws them in and keeps them coming back for more.
Be yourself, share relatable stories, and just have fun with the content you’re creating. You’ll enjoy blogging much more this way.