So you’ve launched a blog for your small business, but comments are low or non-existent, and you’re mostly embarrassed by your site’s daily traffic stats. What can you do?
First of all, don’t be discouraged. All small business blogs start somewhere, and there are plenty of things you can do to encourage participation on your blog while building website traffic and adding subscribers. Follow these seven tips, and you’ll start to notice a difference right away.
Write About Current Topics
Evergreen content does have its place. It’s great for building long-term traffic and bringing new visitors in through organic searches. However, it isn’t exactly controversial, and because of that, it doesn’t lead to many comments or encourage extended conversations. Balance your blog content with a mix of timeless and trendy posts.
Reply to Individual Comments
When someone comments, engage them and nurture real conversations on your posts. Replying to every single comment isn’t necessary either, particularly when visitors simply type, “I totally agree!” However, thoughtful commenting on posts can be encouraged when you acknowledge your readers’ contributions.
Invite Guest Authors
You don’t have to be a celebrity blogger to attract guest authors. In fact, most of the time all you have to do is ask. Plenty of people out there would be glad to write for your site in exchange for a brief blurb or bio and a link back to their site. This practice introduces your blog to the guest author’s audience and builds readership.
Take a Stand
When you write about current issues in your field or niche, you don’t have to be fair and balanced. Share your opinions, make recommendations, and be open to letting others disagree with you. A passionate discussion in your blog comments can be exactly what you need to add some fire to your blog.
Ask Questions
You may have noticed that a lot of your fellow bloggers are ending their blog posts with questions. It’s a great idea, and you should do it, too! The mind starts automatically answering the question as soon as it is asked, increasing the likelihood that your readers will get typing.
Switch Up Your Style
Don’t be afraid to try new things. See what happens when you post a photo without any text, publish a fun poll, share a personal story, or post a video interview. Switching up your content will keep people wondering what you’re going to do next.
Link to Other Blogs
When you link to other blogs, those authors will often stop by to see what you’re saying about them. Sometimes, they leave comments. And sometimes, they are inspired to write a blog post about your blog post. How do they know you’ve blogged about them? Well you could tell them, but they will likely receive a notice of your trackback through their blog platform. Plus, lots of people monitor mentions online using Google Alerts.
In the end, you should remember that there are lots of different ways to measure the success of your blog, and that obsessing over daily hits and unique visitors is pretty futile. Resist the temptation to compare your blog with others. If you only have five readers, but all of them are actively engaged, you should pat yourself on the back for a job well done and keep the content coming.
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