Are you struggling to make your blog readers return to your blog? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Twitter only had a retention rate of 40% when they experienced massive growth, compared to FaceBook and MySpace who accomplished 70%, according to nielsen blog post. It’s safe to say that even most popular websites like Twitter in this case, experience difficulty in getting repeated traffic.
With all the efforts it takes to attract fresh readers, once you get them to your blog, you need to keep them interested in your blog. Here are some helpful tips for encouraging your visitors to stick around and come back to see what your have to tell:
1. Attract the Right Audience
In order to get people returning, you need to attract the right people in the first place. If you’re using ad-networks to advertise your blog, you should combine this effort with direct advertising on specific niche websites. Ad networks gets you wide reach while niche content sites get you more targeted traffic.
You should look for content sites or blogs that would appeal to your target blog. If you’re stuck on where to advertise, you can buy Ad Space at a Banner Auction website. Unlike automated systems, Banner Auctions enable you to selectively handpick your ad placements and deal directly with site owners.
2. Contests
Everyone loves to win prizes, especially when the entry is free and without any conditions attached to it. Contests are a great way of promoting brand awareness and discovering more about your target market.
When running a Contest, make sure to provide something appropriate and relevant to your blog if you wish to attract the right readers. A free iPod for example for a fat loss blog would be quite unproductive and most probably a waste of your resources and efforts.If you just wish to attract as many people as possible, regardless of targeting potential people, then offer something general like cash prizes or any cool gadget.
Making your Contests regular is also a good idea to get repeated traffic. This keeps users interested and coming back to enter.
Here are some more tips for contests:
- Announce the winner on your blog and send an email to all entrants advising them of a new challenge;
- Become included on contest sites to get more contestants;
- Provide users the opportunity to send contests to a friend or to promote it any way they can;
- Give an extra entry if they perform any bonus steps;
- Limiting the number of entries is strictly not advised;
- Give a time limit for accepting entries.
3. Discounts and Freebies
Everybody loves a great bargain. Many people are searching for good discounts & freebies. You can blog upon latest discounts on various domain registrars or web hosting, if you are running a webmaster related blog.
The Key to success of this method is that you have to do it as many times as possible so that people will keep looking around your blog for latest discounts coupons and freebies.
4. Hints, Trivia, Tips, & Advice Columns
Providing regular tips on your target audience’s areas of interest is a great way of generating repeated traffic.
For example, if you are running a blog related to herbal medicine, offer regular natural healing remedy. You can also provide “thought for the day”. This will keep your viewers returning to find out more remedies or trivia every day.
Providing advice columns establishes your blog as an expert in the field. Remember, people are interested in reading questions submitted by ordinary people and seeing the guidance that has been given to him by you.
5. Start a Discussion Forum
Connecting your blog to a Discussion Forum allows users to discuss their idea and their experiences will make them appreciate your blog and feel like part of a community. Starting an Discussion Forum is very easy but it’s difficult to handle it. Make sure you take full care of both i.e your blog and it’s discussion forum otherwise it will results in bad effect on your blog.
Keep That Traffic Flowing
Implementing interactive and informative aspects to your blog will not only add fresh content, but will also attract return visits.
Sustaining repeat visitors has many benefits to your blog such as it helps to build trust, make more money blogging, build a stronger community, helps to establish yourself as an authority blogger for more success.
Now, let me know your Favourite ways of getting repeated traffic. Are there any more ways which you would like to share on this blog? Let me know all that by Commenting below.
A come back viewership is more important than the one time viewrship. And if you able to bring your reader visit your blog again. Then it is surely an achievement.
Thanks
.-= Dwarkanath Rao´s last blog ..Sager NP8760 Notebook |Review and Specifications| =-.
And that’s why commenting or giving freebies is not perfect technique. Should we make routin contest in way to make them still active? Then, the “budget” is a problem.
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Nicely said. i often ponder over my analytics to see if there is any increase in returning visitors. That takes a lotta time to achieve. If I get 50 visits a day only 2 or 3 of them is returning 🙁
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Interview with S.Pradeep Kumar of HellBoundBloggers =-.
That’s maybe you depend on contest strategy. Giving freebies also not too effective in keep reader back again after their get the freebies.
Contest and freebies is most effective on catch one time viewership. But for keeping it in a long term, it’s not effective.
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Of course I agree, But it helps in the increase of our traffic rank but nothing else.
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Google Introduces Real Time Search In SERP =-.
Not just traffic but also a link. Do you know what is the purpose of SB best promoter contest? I’m sure it’s to get more and more link/exposure. Am i right, typhoon?
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
yeah, you are right on that 😉
Yes Akira, it gets a back link and do you know why Typhoon says to apply for the best promoter, since he would like to make sure the link is not from some bad neighbourhood. Hope I read ur mind. Am I right, Typhoon?
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Win $180 Cash Prize and more at SmartBloggerz =-.
It surely is to get more back links. It is wise to have that category too.
I think attracting the ‘right’ audience is definetly the big one, though in saying that anyone who passes by and is interested enough in reading becomes the ‘right’ audience. I don’t think there is a set criteria to attracting just the ‘type’ of people you want to your blog, as you’ll get a variety of people from different paths, and background passing by, gaining new information and being inspired.
They key is not to have any limitations on this, and just be open and count yourself lucky that you are touching everyone in the big wide web.
I think Discounts and freebies do help in a way, as it shows that the blogger is wanting to share their gifts with the readers and becomes fun, as they are almost like rewarding the reader! It is the same with contests!
Tips, hints and trivia are what I would call part of life, and when one blogger shares any insight they are immediatetly helping the world and each individual in it, as they are willing to share something that may heal another.
Starting a discussion forum is not something I’m likely to return to, but if one is inclined to spread their blog’s message further, than the discussion forum would be the next stage to gather everyone together and a very good way too!
One last thing to add is to keep engaging and communicating with other bloggers, as that will surely keep the momentum of the exchange alive and give the blogger more credibility to return.
Nice article!
.-= Ana´s last blog ..Peace from within =-.
Though I am nt aware of all those mentioned or making returning readers, I will say that contests are the best one. It drives the user crazy and makes u to stick with ur blog. When I had some small contests I can find this. My traffic had rised suddenly and also the visitors returned often. Thats a cool trick and freebies are the next. i have not experienced anything with others so no comment abou those 😀
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..What Does Google Say About These Websites =-.
Senthil, why not tell me when there is a contest on your blog. LOL 🙂
Agree that contest is effective, but even it’s the most effective, it’s just supportive way since reader will leave again when the contest is ended.
So another point on list above should be done also.
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Good, I will surely inform u when there is a contest and warn my readers that Akira ll come 😀
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..How To Use Facebook Effectively =-.
Then, be wise, maybe you can longer the contest deadline so that the exposure of your site will be longer too, but not too long, you must consider the prizes you’ll give.
Deadline should not be much longer… May be one month will be effective.. But two to three months make readers and participants boring.. So we have to choose proper deadline
.-= Deepika´s last blog ..Importance Of Guest Blogging =-.
Yeah forum discussion is a good way to increase visitors. This aslo helped me to get more visitors..I am trying to conduct contest in my blog…. I am planning for it.. Apart from cash what can we give as prize to the winners.? Can you share some ideas regarding that?
.-= Deepika´s last blog ..Tips To Become A Unique Blogger =-.
Simple tip I would like to give you that it should be related to your niche/topic.
Agreed with you Typhoon!! I have given some beta invites once that gave me enough traffic. 🙂
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Interview with S.Pradeep Kumar of HellBoundBloggers =-.
Which Beta invites you talking abt???
.-= Lucifer@Blog Contests´s last blog ..Prizes Worth Over $1200 @FamousBloggers =-.
I was giving away Google wave invites but not now cos people stopped caring about it. 🙁
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Interview with S.Pradeep Kumar of HellBoundBloggers =-.
Google wave invites is too usual, i can get 10-20 invites per day. Give the reader the unique one. Good luck on attracting reader to come back…!!!
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Oh oh I was able to give google wave invites as it was trending few days before. I wanted to capitalise it
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Google Introduces Real Time Search In SERP =-.
Google Wave invites is a little common so I won’t suggest to make it as prize in a contest.
@lucifer the beta he is talking about is the google wave, you cannot have a google waves unless you are invited by someone who has it.
Senthil conducted google wave contest when there was a demand for that..It was the time when all are in search of google wave. This improved a good traffic to that blog…
So we have to choose giveaway similar to that when there is a need for that in the blogosphere
.-= Deepika´s last blog ..Importance Of Guest Blogging =-.
– Ads
– E-book
– T-shirt –> This is interesting. Make a tshirt where you site name is printed. It can be offline promotion if the winner wear it.
Yes, make it related to your blog topic.
Wait to see your contest 🙂
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Agreed with you. These three are really cool and easy things to give and third one increases our exposure.
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Google Introduces Real Time Search In SERP =-.
Is the t-shirt is 10, and given to 10 people from 10 different country, it would be great :P. Even we know, offline promotion is not effective if we compare it to online promotion.
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Online promotion is always good as it reaches a large audience but u do it from sitting in a single place.
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..How To Use Facebook Effectively =-.
Of course, online promotion is always good since what you is promoting is something online.
Yes, those are cool, but may I say that cash is the ideal prize for contests?
I’m going to launch lifeislikekiwi site on January. Already registering domain and hosting. Now i’m planning to make launchment contest.
Anyway, in way to keep reader comes, my blog concept is “routin contest”. Because it’s routiin, i will make the contest is small and the price range is about $5-$10. Will it effective?
It depends on how many other prizes it gets as sponsorship..
So, do you mean small prize is not effective? Ok, i will looking for sponsorship especially for cash prize.
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Not really not effective but it’s not as catchy on your visitors eyes.
Well do inform me when you launch. May be it ll be effective if you can increase the prize money
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..Google Introduces Real Time Search In SERP =-.
Would you like to be a sponsor if i’m holding a contest?
But to notice, it’s launching contest, so there is no traffic and pagerank yet…Which mean, hard to find sponsorship. But i believe with all technique which i get from SB, i can do it.
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Lets see Bro, If I can sponsor, I will surely do and especially for emerging people like u.
.-= Senthil Ramesh´s last blog ..How To Use Facebook Effectively =-.
Good. If I will have a contest, will you also sponsor it? I would love to hear your answer.
.-= Jenn´s last blog ..Lalalalove Contest =-.
Do invite me as well akira. I would love to join. Is it okay? I wonder what prizes will be, huh?