How To Encourage Readers To Comment in Blogging.
Did you know that on average, only 1 out of every 10 readers comment on the blogs they read? So how can you encourage your readers to comment on YOUR blog? I gave it some thought, did a little research and discovered some techniques that might prove to be successful.
Ask questions
Including a question in your heading can be an effective way to get your readers to respond because you put a question in their minds from the first moment of your post.
Invite comments
This might leave you scratching your head and wondering how this would help because most readers know they can comment if they choose to. But inviting them to can trigger a response to some extent.
Be a little open-ended
Though it’s good to cover a topic thoroughly, you can leave a little room for your readers to add their opinions or expertise.
Be humble
Readers tend to respond well to posts that show you don’t come across as knowing everything there is to know about a topic. Your readers are more likely to respond to this than a post written by someone who might respond critically to their readers’ comments.
Be gracious
There might be times when your post might have a grammatical or spelling error or one of your readers might have a difference of opinion to your post. Instead of responding in a harsh, defensive manner, take a graceful approach and admit the error or acknowledge that their point of view is valid.
Interact with comments that are left
This will get more difficult as your blog grows but it can be crucial in the early days of your blog because it shows your readers that you value their input. As the activity in your comment section grows, you can be a little less active as your readers will take over answering some of the questions but don’t ignore your comment threads completely.
Acknowledge good comments
When you respond to your readers’ comments and one of them is a particularly good or helpful comment, acknowledge it because this shows your readers that you believe their input is useful and important.
Make it easy for your readers to comment
Some blogs require a reader to register or log in to comment on a post. A lot of readers are put off by this and just won’t bother to comment. I’m even guilty of this at times. I understand many bloggers require registration especially when their blogs get large and widely popular (mostly for combating spam) but this is a call you have to make personally for yourself as a blogger.
I hope these suggestions work well for all of you. Some of them may work for you and others may not. You can decide for yourself which of them to try. And of course, if any of you have helpful tips on this subject, feel free to comment below. icon wink How To Encourage Readers to Comment
