Your blog readers visit once, and then vanish for all of eternity. Sound familiar?
Getting a steady stream of visitors to your blog can be a challenge. This means that once you get a visitor, you want to do everything possible to keep them on your site and then entice them to come back for more.
This article shares 21 ways you can keep your readers coming back, over and over again.
1. Collect their email
I’m putting this tip at the very top of the list, as it’s the single most important strategy you should be using. In fact, this is the #1 strategy we use to keep our blog readers coming back for more.
An example of a free offer on our site
The best way to move your readers to your list is to create and promote a free offer (a gift to your prospective customers or clients). Infoproducts works especially well – this could be an eBook, whitepaper, guide or other downloadable product.
The beauty of this strategy is that you can continue to connect with your readers week after week, promoting your blog posts and directing them back to your site.
2. Link to related posts
Do you offer multiple blog posts on a similar topic? Make sure you include a link to other, relevant posts (e.g., “If you enjoyed this post, you may also like….”). This WORKS!
Not only is it GREAT for SEO, it provides a better user experience for your visitors, increases your page views and keeps your visitors on your site longer.
3. Write guest posts for other popular blogs in your niche
Guest posting can be a great way to reach a new, targeted audience, and to re-connect with people who may have already visited your site.
Example of a guest post I wrote on the MasterCard blog
Identify sites in your niche that have a similar target audience to your own, and ask if they accept guest posts.
When writing your post, be sure to link back to a dedicated landing page in your guest bio so you can collect new visitors’ emails!
4. Respond to comments
New readers love it when they know that you read and respond to their comments. Everyone wants to have a voice and to know that their voice is being heard.
This is fantastic way to honor and show appreciation for your readers. PLUS, it’s a fantastic way to get to know your readers.
5. Show some personality
If your writing is dry and boring, your blog is going to be forgettable. Make it UNforgettable by injecting some of your own personality and humor into your posts!
The key is to be genuine. Don’t just copy someone else’s voice or style, just because it’s worked for them. Let YOUR opinions, voice and personality shine!
6. Suggest related or popular posts using a plugin
If you have a WordPress site, install a plugin like WordPress Related Posts. It will add a related posts box at the end of your posts that will suggest other content on your site.
This is a great way to increase page views and the amount of time visitors spend on your site.
7. Write a blog series
The first post in my blog series, How To Make Money With Your Website
Instead of writing a bunch of unrelated blog posts, why not write a series that will keep your readers coming back for more? Write a multi-part series that promises in-depth information or guidance on a specific topic.
8. Participate in industry-related conversations
If you want your blog to stay top-of-mind, you’ll need to regularly participate in conversations happening in your industry. Comment on other blogs, in forums, and of course, on social media.
Not sure how to find these conversations? Use a tool like Social Mention or Hootsuite to engage in some “social listening”. Search for keywords related to your business or industry, then participate in public conversations where you think you could add value.
You can also link to your blog posts in relevant conversations, driving traffic back to your site. Just be careful, as not all groups or forums allow you to promote your own stuff!
9. Create monthly summary posts
This is a fantastic way to highlight some of your best content from the month. But even more importantly, it’s a quick and easy way to repurpose your content and showcase it in a unique way.
An example might be: “Our Top 5 Blog Posts From January”. Provide a brief overview and link back to each of those posts.
These types of posts showcase to your readers that you consistently publish great content throughout the month – and it’s a GREAT way to get your readers engaged with more of your posts.
10. Promote your posts in your own Facebook or LinkedIn group
Creating your own Facebook or LinkedIn group is a great way to get your audience engaged with your business. Provide a safe place where they can come to ask questions or discuss topics you can help with.
For instance, if you’re a parenting coach, you can create a private group where parents can come to get support for common parenting issues. Bonus: This gives you the chance to share links to your blog posts, providing value to your members and driving traffic back to your site.
11. Get other well-known bloggers to guest blog on your site
A guest post by Zach Kitschke on my blog
Having a well-known blogger write for you is a great way to attract visitors to your site.
Not only will your visitors be eager read the posts, your guest blogger will likely also promote the post to his or her audience. This pretty much ensures a big influx of new readers to your site!
12. Frequently add new blog content
If you want your visitors to keep checking back, you absolutely must regularly add new content.
And it’s no longer enough to just add short (e.g., 400-word) posts to your blog. The key now is to write longer, more in-depth posts that tackle issues your readers really care about. I cover this in detail in my post, How To Write Blog Posts That Drive Traffic From Day 1 (please link).
13. Submit your blog posts to social bookmarking sites
Sites like Reddit and Digg can be a great source of traffic. Make sure you submit each new blog post to these sites, and include social bookmarking share buttons on your blog.
While these sites may not always send the most targeted traffic, they will get your content in front of a new audience. And that’s never a bad thing!
14. Optimize your posts for SEO
If you want to continually attract new traffic to your site, you should be optimizing your posts for the search engines.
This means starting off with some basic keyword research in order to find popular and relevant keywords to write about. Once you have a good idea of the topic you’re going to cover, make sure to include your keywords in strategic places on your page: including your title, headings, URL and content.
15. Regularly promote your posts on social media
Are you regularly sharing links to your blog posts with your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. fans and followers? If not, you’re missing a HUGE opportunity to get traffic to your site!
Example of promoting my How To Start A Blog guide on Twitter
Keep in mind that you’re allowed to promote your blog posts more than once! In fact, I regularly cycle through my blog posts, sharing them with different audiences at different times. This keeps my followers engaged, and keeps a steady stream of visitors coming to my blog.
16. Write irresistible titles
Advertising tycoon David Ogilvy claimed that five times as many people read headlines as read the entire copy. This means your headline has some heavy lifting to do!
Make sure your headlines are short, to the point, and clearly convey what your post is about. While clever titles work well in some niches, keeping it simple is a great rule of thumb.
For more tips on writing compelling headlines, check out my post A Quick And Easy Formula For Writing Clickable Headlines.
17. Run an experiment or case study and invite your readers along for the ride
Want to accomplish a certain task or reach a certain goal? Your readers will love coming along for the ride!
This can work well in many niches, like fitness (“The 20 Pound Weight Loss Challenge”), marketing or sales (“How To Get 10 New Clients In 30 Days”) or even in the trades (“Smith Kitchen Reno, Before, During & After”).
Want to see a live example of someone who’s done this successfully? Check out Neil Patel’s recently completed “$100,000 Blog Challenge” series.
18. Use remarketing to remind past visitors what they’re missing
Google AdWords and Facebook ads let you show your ads to people who have already visited your site. This is a great way to re-connect with people who have already visited your site….this means MORE traffic and MORE sales!
Not sure where to start? Check out my post, What Is Retargeting And Why Should I Use It?
19. Add a call to action (CTA) to each post
In each post you write, suggest a further action your visitors can take. You can suggest a related post on your blog, or promote a free infoproduct they can find elsewhere on your site.
This will increase pageviews and time-on-site, and provide a better overall user experience for your readers.
This is also a GREAT way to make money from your blog (link ‘make money for your blog’ to ‘How To Make Money With Your Website Part II’). You can use your CTA to promote an affiliate offer (link to ‘How To Make Money From Your Blog Through Affiliate Marketing’) or to let your readers know about one of your own products or services.
20. Write resource posts your readers can reference again and again
Create a number of posts your visitors will want to bookmark and revisit periodically. These posts are often referred to as “evergreen posts”, as they tend to remain useful and informative over a long period of time.
List posts (especially long ones!) can act as long-term resources for your readers
Some ideas for resource posts include a compilation of industry stats or research, a list of websites or articles on a particular topic, a directory of recommended businesses in your niche, “how to” (tutorial) posts, list posts, etc.
21. Write amazing content
This pretty much goes without saying, but I felt I should say it anyway! If you don’t have amazing, unique content, the first 20 tips won’t work…at least not in the long run.
Make sure you’re writing high-quality content that does a great job of covering a unique angle on your topic. Don’t just re-hash the same stuff over and over again!
There you have it: 21 ways to keep your blog readers coming back for more!
Looking for more tips to build your blog and increase your traffic? Check out my Ultimate Guide To Building A Successful Business Blog
What would you add to this list? Share with us below!
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To write content for audience is very good, this attracts readers more. Write a blog like storytelling and use infographics. This will be helpful much.
Thank you, Felicia! Glad it was helpful for you.
Great suggestions Kim! The tips I need to focus on are communicating in groups, guest blogging, getting contributors for my blog, and engaging in more conversations (like this one). I’ve been reading your blog for a long time but rarely comment. Thanks for putting out epic content!
Thanks for sharing the great tips, friend. I’ll keep this in my mind always.
Thanks for great article! i will bookmark this,
Thanks for writing Such an amazing post. This Post has detailed information about ways to keep blog readers coming back for more. This post will help me improve my content writing.
Thank you so much for sharing. I am too excited for that.
Thanks for sharing the great tips. Keep up good work
That’s an awesome article. I’m a newbie in blogging and I’m sure this article gonna help me to get more and more visitors.
Hello, I have browsed most of your posts. This post is probably where I got the most useful information for my research. Thanks for posting, maybe we can see more on this.
Great article and super informative! I cant wait to put these to work.
This was really helpful, I’ve been writing since last year but didn’t see any growth in traffic. But let’s see how your tips go! Thanks for these.
very nice article keep posting like this..
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