Increase blog engagement: 8 tips to boost shares and comments

Do you want your readers to engage with your blog? Want them to comment and share your post on social media? Want them to come back to your blog and read your next post? Then you want to increase your blog engagement. In this post, I’ll explain what this is, why it’s important for SEO and I’ll give you 8 tips on how to increase the engagement of the audience to your blog!

So, what is blog engagement exactly?

We define blog engagement by all the ways people can interact with your post. This could be leaving a comment, sharing your post on their Facebook timeline or mentioning your blog post in a newsletter, tweet or blog post. Besides those, it’s a form of engagement to return to your website to read your next post or subscribe to your newsletter.

Engaged readers are those readers who are active on your blog. And you want your visitors to be active. These active users are the people that buy your stuff, read your newsletter and become regular visitors of your website. These people are your most loyal customers, and can also be your brand ambassadors who will help you reach other people.

Why is blog engagement important for SEO?

Blog engagement can contribute to SEO. If your audience shares your post and leave comments on your blog (and you respond to these comments), Google will notice that your blog is very much alive and active. And of course, mentions on social media will also help with your blog’s ranking. If people share your post on social media or talk about it online, this will definitely lead to more traffic.

But how do you increase the engagement of your audience? How do you make sure that people comment on your blog post and share it on social media? I’ll give you 8 tips to increase the engagement on your blog!

Tips to increase blog engagement

1. Be relatable

Always put yourself in your readers’ shoes. What “problems” do they experience? And what questions are they asking online? Make sure to focus on the needs of your audience, because this is what they will recognize and what they’re searching for. This may sound simple enough, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of creating content about your products or services without considering what your customers really want to read about. Write in a way that’s relatable for your reader and focus on their needs.

2. Create high-quality content

Your content should be awesome. Your content should be so informative, funny, or relevant, that your site visitors want to share it with the world. Of course, this can be challenging. But if you take a few steps in preparation you’ll be able to create quality content that your readers and Google will love. Also, make your content readable and appealing with these 10 tips for an awesome blog post.

3. Be consistent

In order to get people to engage with your blog, you should blog on a regular basis. Let people know what to expect. You don’t have to blog every day to create engagement, but make sure the intervals are predictable. If people know that you always publish posts on Thursdays, people might swing by your website on these Thursdays on their own initiative. Think about setting up a content planning to make this easier for yourself or your team.

4. Be original

Make sure your content is worth sharing. The most effective way to make sure that people want to share your content is to write original stuff. If your story is one of a kind, people will be more prone to sharing. Don’t be afraid to share your own unique knowledge about a subject. And because I know that finding inspiration isn’t always easy, I have a few tips to find new blog post ideas.

5. Be (a bit) controversial

People tend to respond to something when they disagree. So, if you want to provoke people to share their point of view on a certain issue, or you want to start an interesting discussion: don’t be afraid to be controversial. Make your statements a little bit bolder and a little less nuanced. Don’t go overboard, though, or you’ll have to deal with a lot of negative comments.

6. Ask for engagement

If you want people to respond to your post, ask them to do so! If visitors are actually invited to comment, chances are much higher they decide to do so. Ask people to share their thoughts on the matter at the end of a blog post, or encourage people to like or share your post on social media.

7. Respond to the engagement

If you do invite people to comment on your blog, be polite and respond to their comments. When your audience notices that you pay attention to their reactions, they’ll be more inclined to come back and visit your website yet another time. Don’t worry too much about having to deal with negative or off-topic comments, as opening the discussion can bring you so much closer to your readers. We also discuss the different types of comments in our article on how to handle comments on your blog.

8. Engage on other blogs

Make sure to be visible on other blogs related to your area of expertise. Comment on posts that have similar subjects as your own posts. If people see you engage on other blogs, they’ll be curious to see what you’ve written about the matter. Do be careful not to use these comments as a way to just promote your products or services, as this can lead to more annoyance than people visiting your site.

Conclusion on blog engagement

In order to collect an engaging audience for your blog you should be a little bold. Make sure to post awesome and original content and add just a little bit of controversy. And, do not forget to invite people to respond! While we’re on the matter… how do you create engagement with your readers? Do you have a hot tip I haven’t discussed here? I’d love to hear your view on this!

Read more: Blogging: the ultimate guide »