fbpx

Got crickets?

We all know the feeling. We write an awesome post, put it out into the ether, annnnnd … nothing. Nary a comment, a like, a retweet. It’s like you threw an amazing party with fancy dips and even a two-liter bottle of Fresca and sure, people came, but they didn’t even talk to you. And they certainly didn’t tell anyone else about your party.                                     

Are you getting the metaphor or do I have to hit you over the head with it? YOUR BLOG IS YOUR PARTY. You don’t want passive party guests. So today as we continue to follow Problogger’s 31 Days to Building a Better Blog, we’re talking about calling our readers to action. Let’s change those uninvolved readers to active, engaged members of your community. And to do that, you might just want to ask them to do something.

It doesn’t have to be something big. In fact, you should start small. And it shouldn’t be something outside of your comfort zone. Suddenly asking people to click on a mess of affiliate links if you’ve never worked with brands before is going to turn your regular readers off. As with all of the work you’ve been doing this month on your blog, your calls to action should fit seamlessly with the niche and purpose you’ve so carefully developed. Here are a few ideas:

Get people talking

Everyone’s just standing around awkwardly? Nobody wants to hang at that kind of party. You want people to comment on your posts. Maybe if you had just listened to your mother and ASKED NICELY already, people would. But it has to be more than just “Hey, I’d love a comment!” Engage in a meaningful dialogue about your content. Ask your readers to share their experiences on your post’s topic. Invite them to offer tips or advice. Writing an opinion post? Open the floor for readers to weigh in. [And please make it easy to comment. Turn off comment moderation and Captcha and optimize your blog for mobile platforms.]

Invite your readers to stay awhile

Convince people to linger, read, love you, and long to be your BFF. Encourage readers to dig deeper into your archives. Link to previous posts in a current post and ask your readers to click for the back story. Tell your readers about other posts you’ve written on the same topic. Readers who invest time in your blog are readers who will subscribe and return.

Be sure they tell everyone about your party. Did I mention the fancy dips?

You don’t just want readers to comment and run away. Oh no. You want everyone to talk about your blog/party in school the next day because it was, like, SO AWESOME. So ask them to share your stuff. Be sure you have sharing buttons at the bottom of your post for the social media sites that fit your audience, but maybe jazz up your tagline. Instead of a simple “Share this” or a row of icons with no explanation, let’s all go in today and change the title on our widget to something more intentional that fits our blog’s personality. (See what I did there? I called you to action, people.) For me? I’m thinking “Share my freaking post!” That might not work for you.

I’m calling you to action now

Do it. Write a post calling your readers to action. Problogger has lots more ideas on the types of actions you can use. Link it up below. Use the comments to share other experiences with engaging your readers that have worked (or not worked) for you.

Looking for this week’s writing challenge?

It’s over here being hosted by Chad Simpson. For the third week, if we reach 30+ entries on the challenge grid, unlocking the invitational grid and the editor picks, we will send copies of Chad’s new collection of short stories (as well as the other two books he’s mentioned in his guest series) to the jury prize winner. Submission guidelines just for you.



Pin It on Pinterest

Share This