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Thursday, May 17, 2012

How to Build a Successful Blog

While you may know everything there is to know about driving traffic to your blog, what do you do if none of your readers are actively participating? All the page views mean nothing if your blog remains inactive from a community perspective. Luckily, there are several steps you can take to begin engaging your blog readers and not only get more comments from them, but build a dedicated community of like-minded people who enjoy reading what you have to say. 
1. Content Really Is King 
We hear this constantly – “content is king.” There’s a reason this oft-used saying still persists today, folks – because it’s true! If you want to engage your readers, the first thing you need to do is make sure you’re populating your blog with content that’s not only well-written, but on topic and relevant to your readers as well. By striving to write high-quality posts, you are taking the first critical step towards engaging your readers and making them want to comment on what you have to say. 
2. Ask your Readers to Respond 
In order to get what we want, oftentimes we just need to ask. If you want your readers to respond to your posts, ask them! You don’t have to come right out and say “Please respond to everything I write,” however. Instead, make it easy for readers to comment on what you’ve written by including a discussion question at the end. For example, let’s say you’ve just written a post about the “5 Best Digital Cameras Under $150.” At the end of your post, you can ask your readers to respond with their thoughts on your list, and whether they’d add one you didn’t cover. Sometimes, it’s really that simple to engage readers and get them to begin a discussion! 
3. Respond to All Comments
When you do receive a comment, take the time to respond to them in a timely manner. The only way to continue to actively engage your readers and ensure they’ll become repeat commenters is to respond to each and every comment they make. Ignoring your readers is a serious faux pas, and that’s certainly a quick way to keep them from coming back. While you can reply with a simple “thank you,” it’s nice to add a personal touch to every reply. This lets the reader know that not only do you appreciate them taking the time to comment, but that you read their thoughts and responded in kind. You can also ask follow-up questions of your readers who comment, thereby driving even more engagement and reader discussion. 
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Happy Blogging !

6 comments:

colson said...

These three ( well, actually) five "steps" are definitely common sense to me.

Though their importance depends on what the blogger wants. If he or she first and foremost wants to train his/her writing abilities or if he/she uses the blog as a public diary not of five of them are essential.

Well, anyhow I'm practising step 4 now :).

Setyo-Utomo Said said...

@colson : Fully agree with you, Jerry. Dank je wel !

Anonymous said...

interesting useful post

Pond Leaks said...

You have shared really informative and interesting post i will like to say thanks and also request you to keep post that kind of stuff in your more posts.

Setyo-Utomo Said said...

@Pond Leaks : Really appreciate your comments. Thank you so much.

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