So it’s been some while since you created your blog and you have been testing Google Analytics and visiting Reddit and Stumble Upon as well. And despite all that, your traffic is really low and stagnated. Of course you know the mantra- keep your blog fresh and keep adding content… and you’ve been doing that- still viewership going down! And then there are those stupid competing bloggers that keep getting hits on Reddit and Stumble Upon. It’s frustrating, isn’t it? To help you, I’m going to share some secrets about blogging and how to get those visitors coming back for more.
1. List it out
Lists are easier to read. Plus when you give stuff in points, it gives your readers a chance to quickly glance through the post and still understand most of it. People are busy- they don’t want too much mumbo jumbo. Give them something interesting, and keep it simple.
‘15 Ways to keep relationship working’
’12 Things you should never buy’
’21 Ways to kill your boss’
These lists will keep people engaged and they would want to read your blog too often. Give them good info, and write it in a style that would keep people attracted. Do not write in a dry style.
2. An image is worth a blog post
Images keep the blog more interesting. Plain text gets boring sometimes. Add images to your list. For example, if you are telling them about 12 recipes to make cupcakes, adding yummy images would make all the difference.
You can get many images from the internet. Make sure you do not get copyrighted images. They can be funny, adorable, or just related to your topic to help people understand it better.
3. Keeping it short
This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it mostly works- for two basic reasons.
First, on an average, a reader would give your post about 30-40 seconds of his life. You need to keep him involved for that long. People don’t generally have hours to go through long and boring posts.
Second, if you make a target of let’s say, 2000 words for your post, you would soon run out of stuff to write. And this would make maintaining your blog a burdensome task.
4. Attention-grabbing headlines
I’m assuming that you knew about it, but never gave a thought to it. Compelling headlines do work. If you are writing a blog for dog lovers, ’10 ways to take care of your puppy’ would be a good headline. In fact, ‘how to’ and ‘x ways’ always attract people’s attention. Of course it would go well with a list, as I mentioned in the first point.
5. Avoiding a sales pitch
And then there are some bloggers who keep their sales volume high. They want to sell their products so they keep discussing them. If you want people to read your blog, keep the sales volume low. Even if you ARE trying to sell something, do not talk about it all the time. Give useful and interesting content to your readers and keep them involved.
Try all these tips and see your website traffic increasing. Of course it won’t happen overnight- give it some time and see the magic!
Emily Cartman is a serial blogger and a web enthusiast who loves design and technology. She’s into writing because she loves it. She also loves to play on Wii and PSP. Emily works for website builder Wix.com, a free online platform for the easy creation of customized Flash websites.
Nice and to the point. I agree with keeping it to the point even in longer articles, and making short but useful paragraphs, like the ones with lists you mentioned first. You know that I just published the 20 link building list on Hesham’s blog, that is the kind of thing that people like. It gives 20 tips to do something you need to do, not much beating around the bush, just give the people what they need short and directly. That always get’s traffic 🙂
Lists and images always work! They make your post short, sweet, informative and visually appealing.
I agree with Well thought and well written post. Being focused to the point and just the right amount of description, not too much and not to less, makes it a perfect post.
Fran
I agree, I like the idea with images, and that reminds me I need to improve my blog. I think it’s also good to remember to keep it attractive in terms of design.
Well, some really very useful tips shared by Emily. I will make sure I am following all these tips especially avoiding being sounded like a salesperson from my postings. That is one of the things which requires special attention. Also, attention grabbing headlines and keeping your postings short can really work out in your favor. Great tips..!
Nice read. I follow the above mentioned points.Long posts can be a turn -off at times.
When i am writing my post i try to keep them within a length of about 400 – 500 words short concise and straight to the point. You are right a long post can be a turn of unless it is very informative.
You make some good points about how to keep readers coming back to your site. However, one thing stuck out to me. You say that, ‘..on an average, a reader would give your post about 30-40 seconds of his life. You need to keep him involved for that long. People don’t generally have hours to go through long and boring posts.’ While I agree that, if a post is really way too long, this could discourage quite a few people from taking the time to read it carefully, I don’t see how it would be possible to create a post that would take only 30-40 seconds to read through. An informative, well-written post probably should take at least several minutes to read through. At least that’s my guess.
That 30 – 40 secs means that if you don’t get their attention within that time then they might leave your blog so we need to be able to grab their attention as soon as posible. Thanks for adding your voice to the debate here.
Wow a great post for bloggers. I agree with all your points. Now a days most of the bloggers try to discuss about their own products in the motto to sell it. By avoiding a sales pitch every blogger will get more traffic.
Hi Emily,
These tips you’ve mentioned are most of the basics that one must have when having a blog and trying to make money out of it. Images, posts in list form when it’s necessary, keeping it short, interesting headlines and as much as possible a low amount of sales pitching can really attract readers who would love to come back to your site. Also, maybe providing freebies or rewards to your readers can help too.
thanks for sharing such great information, it’s very wonderful.Great article, i hope can know much information About it.
you’ve post really nice point, Unique article is the best ways in this topic… if you have nice article readers will always keep coming back for more….. Thanks
Your post really helped me to understand the Article. It has great details and yet it is easy to understand.Thanks
Give your readers informative posts that will arise their interest and people will keep on coming back to you. Post contents that people are interested to know. And give a sense of authority to your blogs by writing original content.
This was an interesting and a thoughtful article. Bloggers might have learned from your article how to keep your readers. Even it is a common thing but it will remind the bloggers. If we won’t get new readers but it’s our responsibility to keep our old readers by creating the blogs in which they are interested.