Welcome to Part 7 of my awesome series and we have discussed remarkable ways to increase user engagement when they arrive on your blog. I encourage all of you to read parts 1-6 before reading this one because I have written them out in order. Effective user engagement is critical to achieving your objective, for example, WITHOUT engaging your readers you won’t be able to convert your readers. It doesn’t matter if your ultimate objective is profit, traffic, subscribers, etc. because all require effective user engagement strategies. Today, we’ll be exploring the following:
- Polls and Surveys
Especially how these will help increase user retention and engagement by simply asking them for their opinion. Just like when you purchase a product at a physical store and customer service matters to close the deal, the same can be applied to online blogging. You have to show your readers you care in order to build loyalty and credibility.
Setting it up Right
The most important part when using this engagement strategy is to make sure everything has been setup correctly and you are utilizing the tools you have to survey your readers. For example, there are two ways you can go about implement surveys and/or feedback. First, you can install an application available through your ESP so when you send out an auto-responder everything will be setup and ready to go. Secondly, you can use 3rd party tools and link to a landing page through your email follow-up. Both are very effective however the one you choose will depend on what you are trying to accomplish. For example,
Your ESP and the application they have partnered with might have some limitations so won’t allow you to ask the right questions and collect the statistics you need. However, some companies who have dedicated themselves to creating user-friendly surveys will provide you a complete solution. They will be more pricey however you will be able to collect all the information you need. Again, what stats and information you’ll need depends on your niche so base your feedback and survey around your nice.
Survey Type and Model
You’ll either have a YES/NO format survey or will require some more information. The good news is from my experience I know you’ll be able to configure both types through your ESP or a third-party provider. All that’s left is to decide the best format for your survey. For example, will you gather information more effectively by using the following?
- Checkbox
- Drop down
- Text field
- True or false
- Radio buttons
Once you have figured out the best format for your survey, you can start asking the right questions to gather the “RIGHT†data.
Setting Up Your Questions
You’ll either get users to engage with your survey either when they land on your website or by sending a follow-up email to your subscribers. However, this is only one part of the formula because you now need to collect the information that’s relevant to your business. Here are a few universal questions I’ve found work no matter what your niche.
- How often do you visit my blog?
- What type of content do you prefer to read?
- Where are you located?
- Have you bought any products through my website?
- Do you leave comments on my blog?
- What changes would you recommend going forward?
- Do you receive too many emails?
These are just a few awesome questions to ask your reader, however this again depends on the niche you are blogging in. Your primary objective should be to find out the right information so you can improve user engagement on your blog. Personally what better way than to ask the visitors themselves how you can improve your blog going forward.