Reconnecting With Your Readers, Blogging Style

I have a confession to make: I am a blog connoisseur. I write ‘em, I read ‘em, and I often reference ‘em.

Because I visit so my blogs during the course of my day, I believe that I have a fairly good handle on what trends bloggers are following and how people perceive their own blogs.

Vastly Overhauled

Several blogs I read have recently been overhauled, some with new templates or names (Political Realities) while others have migrated to a new URL and made other changes (AUP2). Regular housekeeping helps ensure that readers remain interested and engaged, something we need to to undertake from time to time.

We all know what it is like to go through a period of decreased traffic and a drop in the number of comments left. Most bloggers seem to have a fairly good grasp of their site’s analytics and can spot traffic trends quickly. When a dip occurs, responding smartly can bring in a fresh wave of visitors, perhaps new subscribers who will follow your every word.

Reader Reconnection

So, what can you do to help reconnect with your readers? After four years of full time blogging and many more years writing articles across a variety of blogs, web sites, and other new media platforms, I can tell you that all isn’t lost – you can bring back your readers and advance your site if you’re willing to mix ‘n match your reconnection campaign:

Link Bait – I’ve already baited at least two people in this article to stop in and leave a comment: Dominique Small of AUP2 and Larry Jackson of Political Realities. They’re regular readers of this blog anyway, but are certainly worth a timely shout out. Like many savvy bloggers, they know when their site has been pinged and will investigate where that ping comes from. Bait a big time blogger who likes what you wrote and she just may send a boatload of traffic your way.

Steal Content – Ha! I got your attention. This is a sore point for me, because my two automotive blogs are frequently ripped off and by people who live in faraway lands. It goes without saying that stealing is wrong, but borrowing an idea is certainly fine especially if you offer attribution to the source. Freelance writers frequently visit favorite sites for writing ideas including Copyblogger, Freelance Folder, Writing Thoughts, Lillie Ammann’s blog, and elsewhere. You should too.

Advertise Directly – Leaving thoughtful and relevant comments on related blogs, submitting a guest article, exchanging links, and even paying to advertise your blog are ways you can draw in readers. Of course, your site must be professionally designed, well written, and offer a lot of helpful information (please, no drop down ads!) in order to get the attention you want. Never insult your readers, verify facts unless, of course, you are expressing your own opinion about some matter.

Offer Value – By using the word “value” I don’t mean something financial, rather something of importance or worth. Likely, you’re already well entrenched in your niche, but do people recognize you as an authoritative voice on that subject? You can aid your cause by writing for magazines, newspapers and popular online sites, demonstrating your knowledge and skill about a particular area of expertise. Link to those articles on your sidebar to show your readers your “credentials” and to establish value. Alternatively, update your “About” page and offer those links there.

Pillar Articles – I don’t see this term used as much as I did a few years back, but pillar articles are those authoritative writings you offer to your readers that are instructive, informative, and leave the reader with good, solid information that they’ll want to bookmark and share with others. In other words, helpful information that can go viral and go far in defining what your blog is all about.

Pillar articles are generally much longer than the typical 400-500 word post, the information presented is unique, well researched, sourced, evergreen, and just plain interesting.

Your Best

Not every article you write has to be your top writing, but then again if you aim for the best, then you’ll build a reputation for always offering meaty stuff that will increase your following and perceived value as a writer. Particularly for your subject matter.

Consider interviewing sources directly for some of your articles, use personal quotes (in-text citations), reference authoritative sites (including USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal) without lifting excerpts from them. Publish guest articles from well established sources, but give a newbie or unrecognized blogger a chance if you believe that their writings should be discovered.

Lastly, your blog is constantly in motion. New content is written, links exchanged, sidebars changed, and traffic patterns will fluctuate.

Social media engagement can help advance your blog, but only to the point where your readers find something of value to bring them back time and again. So take a fresh, objective look at your blog to see what you can do to make it new and improved.

Photo Credit: Stephanie Hofschlaeger

You Want To Pull In Readers? Tell A Story.

Copywriters know that one of the most important ways to attract people to an article is to write a jam up headline. Admittedly, I’m not the best at doing this as I believe others are gifted with a flair for the dramatic and thus it seems to come easy for them. Then again if you work at it, your headline can pull people in and once you have their attention your opening paragraph will either hook or chase away your readers.

What Lillie Had To Say

What is one of the best ways to capture readers? That's easy -- share with them an interesting personal story.

Last week, I visited Lillie Ammann’s blog and was treated to a delightful article that was far different from what I had expected to find. I’ve “known” Lillie for several years now, an accomplished writer and editor from Texas who is an encourager as well as a very good Christian witness. Lillie truly cares about her readers, acknowledging everyone who stops over by responding to their comments on an individual basis and posting a monthly wrap up where she thanks each commentator by name.

Lillie, who often shares instructive advice including how to sell a book, methods on how to improve your writing, or ways to accomplish a goal, recently decided to share with her readers a personal story about how she began to work with plants (greenery). I’m not going to spoil her write up – you can find it here – but I will tell you that I learned more about Lillie through that one story than I had in all of her previous accounts combined.

What was the difference this time? Lillie wrote a personal narrative.

Readers seem to like it when you write a narrative which is a fancy word for telling a story. It must be my Irish background that has me enjoying story-telling because when it comes to spinning a yarn, the Irish seem particularly good at it. In fact I know that they are – my Irish American father would often share an account from many years earlier and my mother would point out his embellishments! Still, his stories were always interesting, lively and certainly captivating!

Headlines And Opening Paragraphs

After coming up with a good headline, you’ll need to create a powerful opening paragraph that gets the attention of your reader. There is nothing worse than finding that the story fails to appeal in the very first paragraph – you have just one shot to get it right or otherwise risk losing your readers.

How you tell your story is up to you, but you have to give people reason to keep reading. Your story should build as it goes along with each point connecting until you reach the end. Some writers describe this process as setting the stage where you begin to build tension (anticipation) as you move forward.

Taking A Look Ahead

I must tell you that when I read a short story – especially if it is a good one — I will sometimes stop what I’m doing to take a peak at the ending. Not so much to spoil a good narrative, but in order to gauge how the writer plans on getting me through the various steps until the story’s conclusion. I’ll go back and finish reading the story just the way that it was meant to be read, but I’m a student of good writing and love how an accomplished writer weaves his or her tapestry to produce their masterpiece.

Of course, if your story has some sort of sales component to it, then ending with a call to action is important. In any case, you want your readers to absorb what you’ve written, taking in the story as a whole while enjoying the finer points which is exactly what Lillie managed to execute with her green thumb narrative.

Photo Credit: Horton Group