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.
Contest are a great idea to keep readers coming back. One blogger I know hosts contests and prizes for other bloggers. Not only does this bring traffic to her blog but it also helps build a strong community with other bloggers. And another bonus is that these contests don’t cost her anything!
.-= Elizabeth´s last blog ..How much should you pay for a new customer? =-.
Hey, my friend, sorry for long time no coming, I hope you won’t mind. I think that I made a huge mistake in blogging, it makes me lose all my readers. But, anyway, my blog is still alive, being alive is great :).
Good points you have Typhoon, I find that giving out freebies and organizing a contest would be good to keep your readers return to your blog again. I think the key is that you provide something that your readers really want to read. Giving out free ebook and require them to subscribe your newsletter, then they will receive notification whenever you update your blog, then most probably they will visit your blog again. 🙂
Regards,
Lee
.-= Lee Ka Hoong@Make Money Online´s last blog ..What Is Blogging And How Do People Make Money Online =-.
You are right Lee, if we provide my reader some free ebooks or like other then they might be come again to our blog hoping for new.
.-= chandan@work at home´s last blog ..10 tips for increase link popularity of your work at home blog =-.
The contests are a great idea. Aside from that I think the main thing is to provide quality content and interact with your audience and answer questions…its hard work but it pays off.
ya.. great content will be always rewarded.. And contest and writing guest article will in also increase our blog readership…
.-= Deepika´s last blog ..Importance Of Guest Blogging =-.
Pretty nice ideas, I like the freebies and contests I will try to implement it on my new blog.
.-= Galilea Montijo´s last blog ..Galilea Montijo =-.
Hey Typhoon I read many articles and blog posts about how to get blog readers to the blog but, never read an blog post like this about how to retain the blog readers for long period or permanently. I implement tips numbered 1, 4, 5 for my blogs regularly but never tried tip number 2 and 3.I decided to implement the remaining tips after reading your blog .Thanks a lot.
Excellent advice. More than anything else, you need to build trust with your visitors, letting them know that you will continue providing useful content. Contests, freebies, and other promotion will only go so far – visitors will eventually see through this and stop visiting.
More than anything else, you should provide a good balance of content and discussion, convincing visitors (who then turn into readers) that they should turn to you versus a competitor.
This is really a great advice to get loyal readers. It is hard to drive visitors on blog and it is harder to make them coming back again and again.
.-= Rob @ Surveys Articles´s last blog ..Get the gist These Tips and get a hold Unbelievable accomplishment With Online Paid Surveys =-.
I try to write helpful and useful content and hope that people come back. I also have used the contest route and that works good too.
Hey i meet you here :). About your contest, i’m participate also. But i find the winner is announced on dec 1st when the contest is ended long time ago, what happen.
And to all people, make a contest is not just giving a prize but also :
– Thinking concept
– Sponsor
– Prize
– Distribution of prize
– Deadline date complete with the clear timezone
– Winner announcement date
– etc…
.-= akira07´s last blog ..Make or Break – Website Review =-.
Provide your readers a place to posr their own articles. I have created an article dirctory, which is limked directly to by blog. I keep readers around so they can submitarticles.
My article directory is completely free and the links are followed, so google will pick them up. Stop by and visit either site at http://www.jimclarymarketing.com/blog or http://articles.jimclarymarketing.com
Jim Clary
.-= Jim Clary@Article Directory´s last blog ..A Few Ideas About Opening A Vending Business =-.