Before I went to BlogPaws I promised I’d share my tips for Engaging Your Reader with you, my readers. My session was a little different this year than the last time I spoke. This year my session was a ten minute table discussion with nine different people.
I wrote a quick outline of talking points I could hand out to attendees, but tailored the individual discussions based upon a questionnaire I e-mailed to them.
The reason I did this is reader engagement is different for everyone. Some folks want more readers, some want more comments and some people to return to their blog.
For me, it’s a combination of all of the above, but also about building a community. I really feel this blog has a great sense of community. I notice when I’m reading your comments that some of you comment on previous comments. It’s like a little neighborhood coffee klatch.
Once a while back when I was trying to get a feel for what my blog is about, Jen from My Brown Newfies said something like, “Your blog is like Cheers, where everybody knows your name.” That was a huge compliment for me and it really set me on the path to where I wanted to go with this blog. (Thank you Jen! XOXO).
So enough babbling, here are my tips on Engaging Your Reader.
I’d like to engage you in feeding me some treats. Thankyouverymuch.
Keep in mind this is an outline of talking points.
Keep content relevant to your mission statement.
- A blog about training dogs should have posts about training dogs.
- Product reviews should have relevancy to mission statement. (A blog about dog training should have products used for training dogs.)
Write with authenticity.
- Use words you would typically use in conversation. (Many people say reading my blog is just like sitting down and talking with me.)
- When sharing facts, link back to your source.
Write about topics that instill passion in you.
- Passion shines through in writing. People will connect with your passion.
- Editorial calendars are useful in scheduling posts and jotting down ideas for future posts.
- Did you read a blog that touched your heart? Bookmark it for future use.
Connect with other bloggers.
- Link back to a post that inspired you.
- A well thought out comment adding to the discussion will encourage others to check out your blog.
- Connect with other bloggers on social media.
- Ask for another blogger’s help if you are stuck on something.
- Collaborate with other bloggers for special blog hops or events. ( example: Caring for Critters Round Robin.)
Don’t engage in too many blog hops.
- Non-blogging readers may not understand (or care) what blog hops are.
- Don’t become predictable, it’s easy for someone to blow off reading your post when you become predictable.
I want to try and express this a little better, as I’ve heard this may seem like I’m against blog hops, which I’m totally not!
Blog hops are great, I love blog hops, heck the best blog hop I know is Thursday’s Barks and Bytes hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and yours truly. 🙂
Blog hops are a great way to connect bloggers (or readers) with other bloggers passionate about a particular topic.
For instance, Barks and Bytes is sort of like gathering around the water fountain at work on Monday and catching up with your co-workers. It’s a great way to connect with other bloggers and work on building your own community. Fit Dog Friday is amazing if you are looking for tried and true tips to help get and keep your dog in shape. Tasty Tuesday is the place to go when you are looking for treats to spoil your dogs.
I’m just saying, you want to be cautious about when you join a blog hop, why you join and how often. Don’t join in just to join in. Join a blog hop because its message speaks to you, you think it will interest your readers and because you have something to add to the conversation.
Do you have any tips for engaging your readers? What does engagement mean to you?
Discuss.
I love reading your posts, because it feels like I’m getting to know you!
Since I’m new to the blogging community, these tips really helped! I haven’t discovered my own methods for reader engagement but I seemed to get good feedback on my recent DIY post. What you said, about keeping content to your mission statement, is really good. I have a variety of dog-related posts planned but I think I might need to consider what the main focus of my blog really is.
Thank you for all your helpful tips!
Thank you for posting this! I would really like to get better at engagement. I also love your blog because when I read it, it DOES feel like we’re sitting down with a cup of coffee and just talking. It’s awesome.
Hi Lauren – I love your blog, too! However, I’ve discovered I can’t comment on your posts because I don’t have one of the required accounts. Is there any way to get around this?
Great tips. Delilah has a good point, though… I rely on my cuteness to keep ’em coming. 🙂
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Great reminder about blog hops. They’re a wonderful way to meet fellow bloggers when you’re starting out. But many of my readers are not bloggers and all the “bloggy” stuff doesn’t mean much to them.
Another problem with blog hops? Those linky tools slow down your page loading which makes your blog irritating to people in a hurry (basically, everyone). 🙂
Sounds like your engagement session was a good one. I’m sorry I missed it.
There are some drawbacks to joining a hop. BUT there are also many positives. I think bloggers need to weigh the pros and cons. When I started blogging back in 2009, it was customary to help promote other bloggers. Someone would link to you and you would pingback to them. Sadly this is no longer the norm, but at least a hop provides an easy way to do this.
Those are all great ideas, and good reminders for all bloggers. Whether you are new to the game, or have been round a while, you have to keep it engaging.
We try to keep a basic schedule so readers know what to expect and when to expect it, but we like to use variety in our schedule. For example, not every Monday is mischief, and we like to put things in our posts to keep readers coming back to see what crazy things we are up to next. Honesty about what we do and with the readers and engagement are also big for us.
I keep hoping Sam will carry the load (like he does when we go to the hospital) but so far, he’s not been too keen on making life less stressful for an inveterately shy humanoid. 😉 These are awesome tips, Jodi, thanks for sharing.
These were fabulous tips! Thank you for sharing!!!
One of the reasons I blog is to have some place to log my agility progress. While I know some folks enjoy reading about it, esp. when I get video, I am pretty sure a lot of eyes glaze over when they see my title start with “The Weekend Report”….but hey, I am being true to my purpose.
One of the key things that brings me back to a blog over and over again is humor. If someone can make me laugh/smile consistently, they get my vote! I try to reciprocate as much as possible.
My most predictable feature is also my most popular: Wilson’s Wordless Wednesdays….It’s a good challenge for me and brings in the most comments and viewers by far!
I keep hoping my dogs will do something cute or funny like Delilah does so I can engage readers by a narrative, but it never happens. My dogs need a session led by Delilah.
these are all wonderful tips. Another thing I try to do to increase engagement, is to respond to as many comments as I can. You would be amazed at how many bloggers do NOT do this and nearly every “Blogging 101” item that I read, lists that as one of the top things on their “must do” list. People like to feel as if they are appreciated and heard………on Dakota’s blog I am not nearly as good about responding (because I do not get alerts when people comment), but on Cody’s blog I am quite good about it.
I am proud to say that every brand I have been (and am) aligned with, listed “engagement by ME and my readers” as being more important than actual numbers.
A brand once told me, “I would rather advertise on a blog that has 50 ENGAGED readers, than one that has 5000 who are doing nothing”
Thanks for the tips! We’re slowly but surely building a more interactive group of readers which is what I was hoping for. 🙂
Good post. People always tell us if the post is long, rarely will they read it. We would like to do a poll
Lily & Edward
I find younger people do not want to read much. They would prefer short text with pictures and video. However, SEO best practises Tips always seem to include a point on “minimum 300 words, and longer if possible” This is an issue on our Gallery or on posts that are just a snapshot and caption for example. Susie
Great post!!! I have gotten so bad at replying to peoples comments on my blog, that was my new years resolution to respond more and I’ve failed at it. I blog each day and I run out of time which is a lame excuse. If someone asks me a question I answer it on their blog because really do people remember to search back to see if you answered their question. I know I don’t have time for that unless it was something I really needed a answer to. I do a blog hop each day which your right I need to switch it up as I don’t think it helps me get any more followers but it does help me with a plan for the week.
When a post sparks comments from people that don’t usually comment, I try to figure out why – but I can’t say I’ve figured it out yet!
One thing that I would add is that if you join a hop, engage with the other hoppers. The idea of a hop is to help build readership, but if you don’t engage then others will not engage with you. Hops are great tools for people that need direction or suggestions for post topics and a great way to meet new bloggers.
Great advice in each of your tips. As a new-ish blogger, I’ve found connecting with other bloggers has been one of the most surprising and rewarding parts of blogging. I’ve learned so much from reading great articles and sharing thoughts and comments with my fellow dog-loving bloggers. I also think your advice about writing with authenticity and passion is spot on!
I loved reading this post and the comments. I feel like I just got my own 10 minute sit-down with you and some additional help from everyone else. Thanks, Jodi!
Great advice. Although I guess I’m predictable since I pretty much only blog on M & W so I join Mon Mischief and Wordless Wed.! Oh well….
The Cheers comment nails it on the head perfectly; and what makes it so awesome is that I get to not only read your awesome posts but now I recognize most of the commenters and it really does feel like a real community.
These are all great tips, Jodi! Thanks for sharing them with all of us!
When I first started my blog — about 5 or 6 years ago — I didn’t think about a “mission statement”. And honestly, I still don’t. But I was blogging to keep an online journal of whatever time I might have left with Callie and Shadow so I could have more than just photo memories. I had no earthly idea of what a “blog hop”. I just knew my life revolved around my dogs, to a lesser extent the humans in my life.
Then I happened to notice Lauren’s blog about Desmond. And she was just a few sections ahead of me in the dog obedience training instructor course. So I left a comment and we started “chatting” about our struggles with the course. And then somewhere along the line I “met” Pamela and Honey at “Something Wagging…” and you, Sampson, and Delilah. Before I knew what had happened, I had a whole slew of online animal-loving friends. While I’m not one for conferences (after being required to attend several over the course of my professional years), I do enjoy reading everyone’s posts about BlogPaws.
And, I agree wholeheartedly with Jen and Jen about your blog being like Cheers. Which is why I love reading it. I would say the same holds true for my other favorites.
My inspiration Kilo the Rescue Pug is sitting on my knee and just deleted my long (and obviously boring) post. What is challenging to me is to reach beyond the blog groups, which have been a wonderful start, to a broader audience and engage them. I started with TV and became fascinated and involved. Now I blog daily and want to grow. XS