HOW TO: Interact Effectively With Your Readers

As the cliché goes “No man is an island”. This definitely rings true for your blog(s), for no blog is inaccessible in this surfing world unless of course, you choose to have it so. Regardless of whether your purpose of having a blog is as a platform to share your thoughts and opinions or to generate advertisement income or to build an online business, the bottom line is that there is a need for readers’ interaction. For without any interaction with your blog readers, readers will lose interest and soon, may not return at all. So how do you maintain an effective interaction with your blog readers? Here’s a look at a few of the ways.

Through Comments

The main difference between a blog and printed articles is that there is interaction in blogs. Readers can leave questions or comments and the writer will usually answer them. There are many types of comments that readers leave. Some regular readers might just drop in to say hi, some may be silent readers but was so touch with that particular post that (s)he was compelled to leave a comment and then there are some who so happens to find your blog for the first time and decided to let you know about it. There are also those who wanted to know more and left questions.

But they all have the same purpose i.e. to let you know their opinions. And I strongly advise you to acknowledge these comments regardless of whether the reader will be checking them or not. Alternatively, you could always install the automated reply-to-email plugin. This way, readers will feel that their comments are taken into consideration and feel important. Nothing beats feeling appreciated!

Ask Readers What They Want To Read

Once in awhile, it would be good to check what topics or information or recipes etc that your readers would like to read in your blogs. This is especially true when you are facing writer’s block or perhaps you just want to know if your blog’s direction is what your readers would like to see.

This can be easily done by putting a post asking directly what topics that the readers would like to read next. You may be surprised at the number of replies that you received or the topics that are being requested. You could also put up a survey at the sides of your blog to see which are the more popular topics. Or perhaps leave a question in a chat box, if you have one.

Organize A Contest Or Giveaway

Another way is to inject some fun into your blog. And nothing does this better than organizing a contest or giveaway. You could seek out some sponsors depending on what type of blog is yours or you could giveaway something you bought or made yourself. Yes, the product is important but the action speaks louder. Everyone loves freebies and you can give your readers some interesting stuff to look forward to. And they will help you spread the word about your blog, willingly. This, my friend, is Marketing 101.

Visit And Leave Comments On Other Blogs

Just like we would visit our friends’ home, you should take some time out to visit your reader’s blogs as well as other blogs. This action would make them feel good about their blogs. Not only will you be keeping in touch with your readers, you may also learn a few things or so from these blogs. Having said that, it is sometimes difficult to visit all your reader’s blogs if you are a major blogger celebrity with hundreds of readers everyday. Then again, even these high-profile bloggers do pop over to other blogs every now and then. Why shouldn’t we?

These are just a few of the many ways to stay interactive with your blog readers. Gone were the days where a great article will generate lots of traffic. Today, there are many blogs out there vying for readers’ attention and time. What differentiate your blog from the rest? Readers are what make (and break) a blog. These days, generating new readers may be easy through search engines but if you want to maintain your blog’s popularity, do strive a good relationship with your readers. Without readers, even your best articles would not serve any purpose. And it probably won’t be fun for you either!