15 Strategies to Boost Engagement on Your Blog Posts

What is engagement?

Before getting to the details, we must know what an Engagement is.

Engagement is any activity that people do to interact with your blog post.

Engagement may include a "like" reaction or comment on your post. It may also be sharing your post on other social media sites or referencing your blog to its contents. 

Engaged readers are people who regularly and actively engage in your blog posts. But of course, they usually need to read your blogs. 

They buy the products you offer, benefit from, and even enjoy the content you post. So they become regular visitors to your website and subscribers to your newsletter.

 

Why is engagement important to you?

Okay, so that's engagement, and those who regularly engage in your post are engaged readers. So what?

Imagine you're finding a specific step-by-step walkthrough of something. You found it on a particular site. You saw that the instruction was convincing.

But there were no reviews, likes, ratings, or even comments. 

Would you quickly dive in to follow through? Or would you take a step back and think first for a moment?

That's one thing blog engagement does; it builds trust in your brand and products.

When you get a good amount of engagement, search engines will see your site as active and working. So, they put it in higher ranks on their search results list.

You attract more traffic and revenues when you're at the top of the search rankings. It, in turn, gives you a stronger brand.

 

What are some effective tactics for increasing engagement on blog posts?

Below are the tips on how to write a blog that will increase blog post engagement.

 

1. Write compelling headlines

The human attention span is approximately 8 seconds. Within that short period, it's a must that you capture the interest of your readers. That way, you can get them to skim through your blog and read through the entire written content. 

Headlines are one the first and biggest occupants of your blog post. It will also be your site's title tag in the search engines. It's the first thing your readers will look out for and base it on if the content is good.

It would help if you took the time to make a good and catchy headline.

But how do you do this?

a. It must be concise

Make it short, like their attention span, but make it mean they get your topic's gist.

Try keeping it less than 60 characters long.

b. Begin with Keywords

Keywords are terms like what people search for or are interested in. Placing them at the beginning will catch their eyes to your headline as their interest is there. 

c. "Less is More" in Keywords

It's tempting to put more keywords to attract more traffic. 

But this can be counter-effective to a compelling headline. Use the just right amount of similar keywords in your headline.

d. We need a little Controversy

Most people love chaos, a challenge to the status quo.

Putting up a bit of controversy will pull them to hear what you say and see if you can disprove them. Just be cautious not to overdo it, or you'll face negative feedback.

 

2. Use visuals such as photos, videos, and infographics

85% of shoppers say they consider pictures about the product when buying. 

It is a sign of how big visuals contribute to the quality of your content.

For sure, blog posts, in substance, are written content. 

But you're always free to use and add visual media, like images and videos, on them. These media fortify your points and entertain your readers.

Visual media aids in understanding a written topic. They help visual and auditory learner audiences to understand you. 

Also, you become unique when you add these elements to your blog. And uniqueness is one of the things engaged readers are looking for.

Just keep in mind that:

a. Simplicity is Supreme

Like keyword use, there is just the right amount of visuals you can incorporate. Bombarding your readers with too many pictures and videos can give a negative impression. After all, they're mainly for reading.

b. Consistency is Key

Ensure that your visuals align with how you want to brand yourself and your site. Does the visual's color palette coincide with your site's color palette? Is the video or infographic's tone in line with your blog post?

Do you already have images of your own related to your topic? You can incorporate them in your blog to prove you're genuinely hands-on with your topics.

Need a hand in editing images? Have ease before posting on your blogs with the help of our background remover.

 

3. Break up your content with subheadings and paragraphs

Long paragraphs tend to bore readers, no matter how valuable the information is. It's because the human brain is lazy by default. 

It will stop reading when overwhelmed with the number of words it needs to process.

So when writing your blog posts, keep your paragraphs short. Make a paragraph of around three to four sentences.

Also, use subheadings to help your readers know what point of the topic they are when reading your post. These subheadings often cause your readers to remember what you wrote in that blog post.

 

4. Ask questions throughout the post

Questions demand answers. And answers facilitate learning and better memory retention. 

Ask questions about your topic, as this invites your reader to have a conversation rather than a lecture. 

You can ask questions that let them examine what they already know.

If you're a vegetarian cuisine blogger, you may say something like, "Did you know you can make cookies from soy pulp?"

You can also use questions that would put your readers in the perspective of your analogies and points.

"Say a friend approaches you about investing in a plan that promises to triple your money in a week.  Would you buy it?" is another example if you're a personal finance or self-improvement blogger.

 

5. Include a CTA at the end of your posts

Call to Action (CTAs), as the name suggests, are sentences or phrases that encourage or invoke your readers to take action.

These actions may be what they want to start or continue things to do. If they are on the verge of experimenting, encourage them to do it with the guide you gave them in the blog post. It will appeal to them as you're not only blog posting but also intend to give them warmth and value. 

Also, actions may invite you to read more of your blogs or subscribe to your newsletter. 

Do you have similar content that you already made before your current blog? Encourage them to check that out, as they may have to find a more genuine answer when reading further into your blogs.

You increase your blog post engagement when your readers click through your blogs. And this leads to a rank up on your blog posts.

 

6. Promote your blog content on social media

If there's a first one who's going to do it, it's you.

Promote your blog posts on social media. You are your blog engagement. 

Sharing your blog posts on social media appeals to many audiences that you are confident and excited with what you are about to say.

When blog posting, it's best to use your connections to have engagements initially. When sharing your post on social media, you can also poke your friends and acquaintances to read and engage with your blog post.

 

7. Encourage comments by responding to them quickly and thoughtfully

One of the effects, when you increase blog post engagement, is to appear active in search engines. Active blogs rank higher in search engine results.

Appear and be active by responding to your readers' comments as soon as possible. Always remember to be polite and genuine when responding to them.

It's always a good impression on your audience if you actively respond to them. If they have further questions or are seeking a discussion, they return for more of you, increasing blog post engagement.

 

8. Share other people's content related to yours

Connection is another blog posting strategy to spread your blog and invite more readers.

When you share other people's content on your blogs and social media accounts, you build camaraderie with them. You convince them to share your blog in their created content, so you both enjoy your united audiences' engagements.

Also, sharing others' content related to yours shows how open you are to knowledge and different points of view. It creates an impression to your readers that you're not here to say something but to seek knowledge as far as possible. And you're ready to co-create a community about your topic.

 

9. Take advantage of guest blogging opportunities on relevant websites or blogs

Guest blogging or posting is when you write a blog on another's website.

When you write on others' websites, it implies that the website owners trust you to create content with them. You enhance your credibility with your readers when doing this.

You also get more blog engagement from the websites you guest post from. Subscribers to their newsletter can look at what you say and direct to your website to learn more about your blogs.

Doing guest blogging will increase blog post engagement for almost the same reason as sharing other people's content in your blog. 

10. Create polls or surveys for readers to participate in

People love a sense of interaction and control. Creating polls and surveys is an excellent way to stimulate it.

Create polls and surveys, and ask for your readers' opinions and insights. Doing this will increase blog post engagement as they will enjoy participating in your blog.

You also get yourself to tune in with your readers' preferences. With a wide array of sub-topics for your blog, it's better to know what your readers want to learn and explore more about your blogs. 

11. Create a series of blog posts that are interconnected

Information overload is a counterproductive way to post your blogs. It's easy to get excited and share too much information your readers can absorb.

A better blog posting approach is to cut your subject into bits and series of blogs.

Making such creates a craving for your readers to want more information. At the same time, you give them a space to absorb your shared ideas more completely. 

A blog series works well with cliffhanger CTAs and interactive polls and surveys. It gives suspense about what topic you're going to cover next. Also, considering their poll results give spice to your blogs and your brand as a blog writer.

 

12. Link out to other relevant articles within your post

Your blog statements are as good as claims if you're the only one saying them.

Linking to other relevant articles can upgrade your claims to more convincing statements. When you do this, you prove that your ideas and point of view are not isolated, which has been confirmed by several more articles and studies.

Credibility begets trust, and trust begets repeat visits, hence more blog engagement. And linking relevant articles is an excellent way to show credibility.

 

13. Include an email subscription form for visitors who want updates about new posts

Say, you have a series of interesting blogs, and your readers enjoy reading them.

But they need more time to read them all at a time.

You also still need to finish completing your series of posts.

When this happens, you can set up a reminder program that notifies them of new updates from your blog and recommend what's best to read next based on the blog that they visit.

Provide subscription forms so your visitors can opt for your reminder program and invite them to increase blog post engagement for you.

 

14. Make sure you have share buttons so readers can easily spread the word about your content

Aside from reminders, ensure you have share buttons for your mainstream social media, so your readers can help you spread the word.

Create a share button near your blog's title and comment sections for Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.

Couple these share buttons with your CTAs for your readers to share your blog post.

"Find this blog helpful? Share it with your friends! Click the share button below." This is an example of CTA for your share buttons.

 

15. Hold contests or giveaways that involve sharing blog posts with friends

Prizes and giveaways are another way to stimulate engagement in your post.

There are always going to be people who will be interested in something other than the line of the subject you're talking about.

But you can gain their support to increase blog post engagement.

Invite them to share your blog posts and spread them across their connection circles. And then give prizes and giveaways to some of them for doing so.

Your engaged readers also view contests and giveaways as a good interaction venue that benefits you and them.

 

Ready to Start Your Blog?

These are the fifteen strategies that increase your blog engagement. 

When writing a blog, always remember that even small steps can have large leverage for your interaction with your readers.

Ready your fingers, and spark creativity and wit in your blog posting journey.