10 Ways To Keep Readers Engaged On Your Blog

People often post on a blog and never come back. This happens for several reasons:

  • They’re not particularly interested in the topic of the blog
  • They found what they were looking for and no longer feel they need to visit again
  • They’ve been distracted by something else before they’ve had a chance to come back

The important thing, if you want people to come back, is to make sure your blog posts are engaging. This way you can get readers invested in your blog and brand and encourage them to read more.

If the information on your website isn’t interesting enough to hold your readers’ attention, people will leave. You may only need to do a little bit of work to make sure they stay on board, but if you want them coming back for more, there are some things you can do with your blog content:

1. Make it conversational

When writing blog posts, try to imagine that you’re having a conversation with someone. If you’re constantly talking down to people, most of them won’t want to read your blog content. Rather, write in a way that feels friendly and conversational.

One tip I have is to read your blog out loud once you’ve completed it. Listen to how it sounds. Does it sound natural? Would you speak that way with a friend? Make changes to ensure that your blog post sounds easy to read. 

2. Talk about what interests the reader

You may have some knowledge or experience that others can benefit from, but if you only ever talk about things that interest you it’s unlikely they will be interested too. People love hearing about experiences that they can relate to. So be sure to share stories and provide information that your audience cares about.

To learn about what interests your audience, conduct surveys, read comments and feedback, or simply ask them what they want to read about.

3. Make sure everything is organized

If your blog posts aren’t organized in a way that makes sense to people then they’ll have a hard time following what you’re trying to say.

  • Make sure that you categorize your blog posts and make your site easy to navigate. This way, people will be able to find what they’re looking for and won’t get frustrated trying to find content on your blog.
  • Use short paragraphs and bullet points when appropriate
  • Use headings and sub-headings to make it easy for people to see where one topic starts and another begins
  • Have a logical flow from the beginning of the post to the end (e.g., introduction, body, conclusion)

4. Make it interesting with ‘you’

People are much more likely to read something if they feel like they can connect with it on some level. Instead of speaking formally and referring to your audience in a vague way, try inserting the word “you”.

Writing blog content with words that address your readers directly will make them feel like you’re engaging them in a two-way conversation. This will help readers identify themselves with your content and feel more invested in what you’re saying.

5. Write posts that are actionable

People like to read posts that they can actually use in their own lives, so writing posts that do this is one of the best ways to keep readers interested. If your blog posts aren’t useful, people may find it difficult to gain any value from them.

To convey value, make sure that you create list posts and how-tos. These are both types of posts that people can use in their everyday lives. They’re also more likely to rank high in Google search results, so you’ll be able to reach more people with your content.

6. Add calls to action

If you want people to take action on something in your blog post, whether it’s subscribing to your blog, signing up for an email list, sharing on social media, or buying one of your products then try adding a clear and obvious call to action.

Your audience needs to be spurred on to do something after reading your post, otherwise, they may just forget about it and move on. By adding calls to action you can increase the chances of them actually doing something.

7. Use images and videos

People absorb information much easier when there are pictures involved so try including as many as possible in every single one of your blog posts. Not only will this make your posts more visually appealing, but it will also help you break up the text and keep readers engaged.

You can also use videos to help illustrate your points. This is a great way to keep people engaged and can be especially helpful if you’re discussing something that may be difficult to understand.

8. Find a great headline

The most important part of any blog post is the headline, so make sure it’s one that will grab people’s attention and encourage them to click through to read more.

A good way to ensure the headline is effective, put yourself in the mind of your target audience and think about what type of information they would find interesting or useful. Then you can base the headline around it.

It’s also useful to leverage a headline analyzer tool. Such a tool works by scoring your headline based on how well it performs against a set of criteria. This can help you to tweak and improve your headlines until they’re as effective as possible.

9. Respond to comments

If people have something to say about what you write, make sure you respond! It shows that the blog post was actually read and also provides a great opportunity for two-way communication. You can use it as an opportunity to answer any unanswered questions or discuss any further points related to the topic.

10. Create a conversation on social media

Add social media buttons to your blog page. Doing this will encourage readers to share your blog post on their chosen social media site. When people share your content, it helps to start a conversation and exposes your blog post to more people. This can result in increased traffic and leads to more blog subscribers.

I also suggest creating threads on Twitter with the main points of your blog. Such content does well as long as you provide actionable steps. 

Conclusion

Your blog’s main focus should be on providing valuable information to your readers. This should give them enough reason to want to keep coming back for more instead of just browsing other sites for their daily fix. If you’re able to provide relevant and engaging content that is always improving then you’ll have a highly successful blog in no time.


Syed Balkhi is an award-winning entrepreneur and online marketing expert. He is the co-founder of OptinMonster, WPBeginner, MonsterInsights, and WPForms.