Blogging is a form of social media and for social media to be successful you need interaction. A non-interactive neglected blog will simply die out and become oblivious to the cyber world.
Blogging became popular in the late 1990s and is one of the most effective ways of social networking. Although blogging started out more as an online personal diary, the importance of blogs today for all businesses is significant.
Below are some ideas for you to help make your blog more interactive so it can reach its full potential.
1. Ask for Comments – At the end of your posts, ask readers to share their ideas, suggestions and opinions on the post. You will be surprised at how big a difference this little detail can make.
2. Make Leaving Comments Easy – Don’t ask visitors for their life history just to leave a comment. Just have them leave their name, email and website URL. You also might want to consider not having a captcha or word verification. These can cause problems and end with the person leaving and not coming back.
3. Allow Signatures – If your visitors are allowed to leave a small signature with their URL, it might be the deciding factor in whether or not they will take the time to leave a comment. It is a way of repaying them for their time and participation.
4. Social Media – Be sure to link to all your social media sites and also allow your visitors to share your blog with their followers and fans. You can do this with free social media plug-ins.
5. Subscribe to Comments – Be sure to find a plugin that will allow your visitors to subscribe to comments on particular posts. This way when anyone comments or replies to their comment they will be notified and will probably come back to add to the conversation.
6. Respond to Comments – Don’t forget to participate in the conversations yourself. Respond to people’s comments. Let them know you appreciate their participation and thank them for their feedback.
7. Participate in Other Blogs – Be sure to always participate in other quality blogs. By doing this, you can easily attract people to your blog for more interaction.
8. Watch Competitor Blogs – Always keep on your competition. Study their blogs and see what makes them tick.
9. Moderate Comments – Do not let spammers post on your blog. You do not want your blog looking like a junk pile of comments. Approve only serious and helpful comments.
10. Links and Resources – Provide helpful, quality links, resources and information. Make your blog the go to blog for answers.
11. Update Content – Blogs need regular and consistent updating. People will lose interest if they see the same posts every time they visit. Try to update on a schedule.
12. Freebies – Everyone loves a good freebie so offer them periodically to people who leave comments.
13. RSS Feed – Be sure to add a form for people to sign up for notifications of your postings. Put a simple form on all your pages and posts.
14. Polls – Post polls and ask people for their opinions. Offer a free gift to everyone who participates. People are genuinely interested in public opinions and polls.
15. Contests and Competitions – Try trivia games, scavenger hunts, and other contests to give your blog a little more excitement. People love competing and winning prizes.
16. Event Calendar – Add an event calendar to your site so people can see all the activity your blog has to offer. This will add to their reasons for coming back to your blog.
17. Blog Comment Policy – Add a blog comment policy so people know exactly what to expect when commenting or reading other posts. Things like no profanity, no negative comments, no flaming, etc., can add to your blog’s credibility. Let people know you welcome a wide array of opinions and value all comments.
18. Build Trust and Credibility – Open up to your visitors and let them get to know you. Don’t try to keep hidden because people will not trust you if they feel you don’t want them to know you.
There are many more ways to encourage interaction on your blog so start implementing some of the above ideas and always be on the lookout for new innovative ways to pump up the activity on your blog.
