How To Make Your Blog a ‘Sticky’ to Your Readers
This is a guest post by an awesome kid named Melvin Dichoso.
Do you ever wonder why big bloggers never lose their followers? Why it seems like they always get chased even though they’re not really doing anything special? Today I am very elated to share to you guys how you can keep your readers for the long haul.
Getting readers is easy. In fact, I can get 50 new people every day to read my blog. What is a bit tricky is how to make them stay for long. If you’re blogging you’d easily notice the trend of new readers following you, then after couple of months not following you anymore and stuffs. It happens for reasons like sometimes they started liking other blog content more than you or maybe you started adding those intrusive ads that they became annoyed and etc.
Fact is, it’s very possible to let your readers be readers for a long time. And here I’m going to list down three factors why very few bloggers manage to get their readers reading and following their blog for life.
Over Delivering
Over delivering is simply stuffing your readers with superb and timely content. You don’t need to do it every day (timely) but still can have a huge impact on your readers’ loyalty.
Try writing superb content every once in a while (superb content means an article with more than a thousand words). Or maybe get them to read a series posts of yours. You can also do well by providing walkthrough guides and articles. Either way as long as you are over delivering, you’re not gonna have any problems with keeping them staying.
The problem though is that not too many bloggers do well with over delivering. Are you one of them? Maybe it’s time to prove me wrong.
Transparency
Being a transparent person is one quality I admire a lot. One of my favorite blogger with the name of Shoemoney is probably the most hated person out there (along with Chow). He receives flak a lot of times, some claims he is fake, some thinks he is retarded but who cares? He just shows himself transparently, just writes his stuff as what his mind dictates.
I recently wrote a post entitled “It’s not about controversy, its just being me” which received a really good and warm response from different people. The truth about being transparent is that you are letting people realize that you stand for something. I mean surprisingly not a lot of people stand for things. Most of the times they follow the majority, they prefer to be like the many.
Being transparent is crucial as you cannot please everyone. There will be times that you’ll be hated but that are all part of the process. Be yourself and your readers will thank you soon.
Rewards
Most people mistakenly think that by saying reward, it’s about physical gadgets. It actually is not. Not a long time I ago I wrote about how to show appreciation to your readers and in that post I emphasized that small ways can mean a lot to them. A simple comment back to their blog, or a re-tweet on one of their posts can mean a lot to them. As a result, they are more likely to feel that you’re not just a blogger, but actually someone who’s a friend.
Try to become accommodating to them, be as nice as possible and they’ll feel their special. As a result, they’ll keep coming back for more.
Conclusion
These are three simple yet every effective means on how to make your blog like a sticky to them. Building a blogging relationship is no different from building a personal relationship. You are benefiting because they are benefiting too and they would start liking you and your blog because of simply what it is.
Article Written By Melvin
Melvin is a young blogger and internet marketer who is in this space since 2007. He writes @ MelvinBlog.com where he shares all his useful stuffs. He has recently done an eBook entitled Blog Marketing for Fame which has received a lot of positive responses. The eBook is free for newsletter subscribers so subscribe now!Melvin has written 6 superb article(s) on this blog
May 9, 2010
10:59 pm
writing a series is a good tip. must have something good to tell then as well though, otherwise you write for noone
and thats not what u want
wannabe´s last blog ..How To Get Much More Sex In Your Marriage
May 9, 2010
11:05 pm
I’d never of thought that only three points would be important, but, very they are and I’m trying to adhere to these most of the time, tweeted, stumbled etc the post for you, ciao for now
Karen @ Blazing Minds´s last blog ..How To Make Some Revenue With URL Shorteners
May 11, 2010
4:26 am
Thanks for liking this post Karen. Maybe you could share other points that I might left.
Melvin´s last blog ..How MelvinBlog Dot Com Really Makes Money
May 9, 2010
11:26 pm
A re-tweet or a comment back is good way to retain readers.
Mark @ Web Design Services´s last blog ..e-commerce
May 10, 2010
1:38 am
I did not mind about socialize my blog when I was blogging on blogspot, but after change my blog to wordpress I come to know the benefit of socialize my blog. The most benefit we get when we interact with people while blogging. I now more active on social media site like digg, stumbleupon, mixx etc.
chandan@work at home blog´s last blog ..Say good bye to blogspot blog
May 11, 2010
4:28 am
Nice to hear that Chandan. In my opinion that is mainly because the ease of use of those things in WordPress. Like for instance, blogger doesn’t have plugins like socialize while on wordpress you can do all those things at once without having to sweat that much.
Melvin´s last blog ..How MelvinBlog Dot Com Really Makes Money
May 10, 2010
1:43 am
Over-delivering is a great way to guarantee that when visitors land on your blog they have plenty to dig through and find helpful information. With so many other blogs within the same niche, the best way to put yourself ahead of other blogs is to create timeless content – over-delivering information over the other blogs.
May 10, 2010
2:32 am
Over-delivering is very important. There are way too many blogs talking about basically the same things over and over again all the time. Stand out from the crowd by writing something of true value and it will go a long way. Great tips! Thanks!
Trent Brownrigg @ Earn Money´s last blog ..How to Make Money Right Now
May 11, 2010
4:29 am
Thanks Trentt. That’s exactly the point of overdelivering ever since. Unfortunately, not a lot of bloggers can really provide it.
Melvin´s last blog ..How MelvinBlog Dot Com Really Makes Money
May 10, 2010
5:52 am
Good tips, especially the transparency part, since most bloggers these days use other persona in writing for marketing reasons and others do tend to disregard this one. The other two should come naturally and a no-brainer for bloggers. these two are the most effective factors in building a strong reputation for your blog. But if I were to choose 1 from these three, hmm I’ll be focusing more in over delivering, giving your readers more valuable and informative content constantly is more than enough to make them stick with your blog.
May 10, 2010
9:16 am
well written and all the points made sense to me . my best point was the Transparency one .
bloggers without revealing any personal info is like “one of 2 million bots” trying to blog .
blognseo´s last blog ..Secure Your WordPress Blog Using Antivirus Plugin
May 11, 2010
4:30 am
lols, interesting point. Again blogging is connection with other bloggers so at the end of the day, its hard to build relationships without telling really who you are.
Melvin´s last blog ..How MelvinBlog Dot Com Really Makes Money
May 10, 2010
2:38 pm
This is a really great article. True with quality contents, you can reap alot of followers and subscribers. But as you have said, don’t flood them and reward them. This is nice
Kharim´s last blog ..5 Common Mistakes New Bloggers Make
May 10, 2010
4:30 pm
Excellent post. I’d add “uniqueness” to the list. Create content that stands out from the crowd, and your readers are going to stick to you like glue.
Andy @ FirstFound´s last blog ..New Google Interface is Live!
May 10, 2010
5:33 pm
I don’t want to spoil this great post Melvin but I think this formula just doesn’t work for every blogger and their blogs. I mean there are so many blogs that provide superb articles, that are much more nice than other bloggers yet they fly under the radar. For me I think what is worth telling here is that bloggers must first work HARD on building loyal readerships, growing their traffic. Then when they start getting people, thats when these three things would work out well for them.
I don’t know I’d like to know your opinion on this.
Breeme´s last blog ..Promotion is a Limitless Topic in Affiliate Marketing
May 10, 2010
8:32 pm
These are all good points, I reckon offering free stuff like reports and ebooks will also help. Especially when you announce the offerings well in advance, so that your readers are eager to read it once it arrives.
Jorgen Sundberg´s last blog ..How to Get More LinkedIn Recommendations
May 13, 2010
9:36 am
Thats always a great tactic but oftentimes people subscribe for the free stuff and then immediately unsubscribe after getting what they want..
Melvin´s last blog ..How MelvinBlog Dot Com Really Makes Money
May 10, 2010
8:37 pm
Personally I’d say over-delivering has lot less to do with the length of the articles then it does with the actual content within the articles.
I’d much rather stick to s blog with quick to the point action posts, then the long drawn out articles that seem to go nowhere.
Aside from that, you’re pretty spot on, good job.
Now how about a lesson in “easily’ acquiring 50 readers per day.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..A TRUE Make Money Online blog – Part 2 – Choose My Domain Name
May 11, 2010
4:31 am
that would probably come out in the next guest posts or a blog post of mine so stay tuned. heheh..
Melvin´s last blog ..How MelvinBlog Dot Com Really Makes Money
May 13, 2010
9:15 am
I agree. It’s hard to grab people’s attentions these days. needless to say that attention is the currency in the world of blogging. Making an entry too long might risk your blog in driving away possible “loyal followers”. I’d still go for concise yet substantial and informative articles.
by the way, melvin, are you a filipino?
May 11, 2010
2:40 pm
Making a series of useful posts is very good idea. Or you can start a long chapter, with many articles, step by step. This will really involve your readers with your blog.
May 11, 2010
4:28 pm
I’m strongly agree with your point that you mentioned “Reward”. I’ve actually tried this way for awhile and the result surprised me. You may leave a comment on their blog or retweet their blog post as you mentioned, or list one of their blog post in your sunday link love post would work well also.
Well said Melvin!
Regards,
Lee
Lee Ka Hoong@Blogger Theme´s last blog ..400 High Quality Photoshop Grunge Brushes
May 12, 2010
7:55 pm
I have so many blogs that I frequent, it is difficult to get to each one of them every day. The ones I do get to every day are those that have a personal “feel” to the writing. Although the posts may not be what interests me every day, the writing style is enough to keep me interested.
May 30, 2010
12:30 am
Another good way to get widespread distribution is via mailing lists. Now I don’t mean the ones you pay for but instead the ones that are maintained as part of your professional society. For example, I am a computer science professor and belong to a professional group called the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). They have a moderated mailing list which you can post to if you are a member and if the post has something to do with teaching. Since my blog is directed at explaining to teachers how to travel professionally at no cost to themselves or their family (i.e., On The Other Guys Dime, the name of my blog) I asked the moderators if they would post it on the site, which they did. That day 1,100 people were notified about my blog, and I have managed to keep quite a few coming back.
If you belong to a professional society and if your blog might be of interest to the members, see if there is a mailing list to which you can post. Its a great way to reach a lot of individuals who will be very interested in what you have to say.
June 10, 2010
6:07 pm
For me this tip is more applicable to middle type to popular blogs.Loyalty is achieved over time and if you’re not establish yet and you do those things above, there really isn’t any guarantee that it will make your blog a sticky. I think building good readership from scratch is first and foremost the initial step
June 10, 2010
7:27 pm
yes very true. one must keep his/her blog updated on daily basis so that his/her reader dont get disappointed.
the blogger must also appreciate his followers. but i have a question that how can i drive traffic and build relations. i mean how will others know about my blog etc.
Keyur Shah´s last blog ..Black Holes
June 10, 2010
7:44 pm
Well people tend to like unique content .Different from the commonly available stuff.If one has that element is his blog.Then his blog will have lots of loyal visitors.
June 10, 2010
7:54 pm
Another good way also to keep them reading something different from what they are used to. Admit it, you don’t want to eat cheeseburger and fries everyday for a whole week. Same thing applies to the readers, give then something that would hasten their appetite (their eagerness to read) and bring them something new read from time to time.
June 13, 2010
8:57 pm
Great tips! I didn’t know rewards are more than just the prizes. I think you accentuated that point really well by saying that readers appreciate every small things they could ever get..
June 13, 2010
9:03 pm
Gotta be a bit careful with transparency as it can work either ways. In the internet its all abot influence and the moment you become honestly controversial with something and not have people on your side, its definitely something that can harm you equally..
August 13, 2010
6:24 am
What makes a blog successful is a steady base of readers who come back to see the latest updates on a regular basis. These loyal readers love what you write and will always return. In many respects, a smaller group of loyal visitors is better than large group of those who come by once and then never return. To get those loyal readers, a blog needs to be sticky. In other words, those who come to read what you have written will love it enough to make hitting the blog a regular occasion.