You’ve written some useful posts, been promoting them on social media, and engaging with people, but you still can’t make your new readers stick around. They come once and bounce away.
It is an extremely frustrating feeling.
Wouldn’t you like to create a loyal audience of readers that will return to your blog again and again? That way, you don’t have to spend a ton of time marketing and promoting your blog.
Instead, your readers will visit you every time you’ve published a new blog post.
In this article, we’ll go over a few easy things you can do to convert new visitors into loyal readers that keep coming back.
1. Start an Email List
When you ask readers to subscribe to your blog, you ensure they come back whenever you publish a new post. Plus, you get direct access to their inboxes. And not only can you get users to come back to your blog regularly with email marketing, but you can even turn those subscribers into customers.
To get people to subscribe to your email list, you first need an email optin form. This is a form that you add to your site where visitors can sign up for your newsletter by providing their email address.
Most effective email optin forms also offer something on top of just signing up to the newsletter, such as a free guide, report, or coupon. These offers are known as lead magnets. They work because most people are more than willing to provide their email address in exchange for something valuable to them.
When you build an email list, your subscribers will become your biggest fans; they’re sure to return to your blog again and again.
2. Make Sure Your Blog’s Mobile Responsive
With everyone going online with their smartphones and tablets, you’ve got to make sure your theme choice and web design support them (that’s called being mobile responsive). Believe it or not, there are still some sites out there that aren’t mobile-friendly, so don’t assume yours is okay. You can use a tool like BrowserStack to test it out.
You can also browse responsive WordPress themes and install one on your site. Again, test it out with BrowserStack to make sure all the pages and features work the way you expect.
When users have a great experience on your website, they’ll be more likely to return.
3. Make Your Content Easier to Read
If your blog posts are a giant wall of text, no one will stick around to read it. Instead, format your blog posts for readability to give them a better experience by:
- Writing shorter sentences and paragraphs (2-3 sentences per paragraph is ideal).
- Use logical headings to help people who want to scan your posts.
- Use bullet points (like this) to break up the text.
- Use images with purpose to illustrate a point or demonstrate a concept.
Bonus Tip: Use a Readable Font
The font you choose for your blog will directly impact how long people will stay on your site and if they come back. If it’s hard to read because it’s too small or too flowery, that’s not helping.
Consider the audience of your blog and if they have special needs that you can accommodate with the right font.
4. Suggest Other Posts to Read
Keep your readers on your blog for longer with related post WordPress plugins. These plugins will link to other relevant posts readers could be interested in and displays a link to them for easy access. It not only helps your readers but also increases your
Some of the most popular options include Try Yet Another Related Posts Plugin, Better Related Posts Widget, or Contextual Related Posts. These plugins will display links in a variety of ways, including at the end of relevant posts and in a widget in the sidebar.
5. Show Your Face
While your blog should be about your readers and appeal to them, that doesn’t mean you should hide behind it. By showing your face, you’ll make your blog more authentic because people see who’s behind it.
You can do this with a profile picture in your author bio, which might display at the end of every post.
You can also display your picture on your About page, giving a behind-the-scenes glimpse into you and your life outside the blog.
This will help your readers feel connected to you and build a better relationship with you as well. When they feel like they know you, they’ll check in on you more often.
6. Add Push Notifications
Aside from letting readers know about your latest blog posts through your email newsletter, you can also use push notifications. Push notifications, or web push notifications, are very effective at increasing repeat visitors to your site and boosting engagement.
Push notifications are notifications that can be sent to straight to the user when they have their browser open, whether on desktop or on mobile. So, even after a user has left your website, you can send them a targeted message that encourages them to come back.
Setting up push notifications might seem complicated, but it’s actually not. There are a number of WordPress plugins that will help you set up push notifications in just a few clicks.
7. Listen to Your Audience
The final tip to get more return readers to your blog is to listen to your audience. Write about the topics they’re interested in and want to hear more about. Actively encourage feedback from them in comments, via social media, and even email. Only by hearing directly from them will you understand their challenges, their goals, their lives, and how you can help.
You can create a simple survey to find out more about them. Ask them in your next email newsletter. Read through your blog comments to see if there are any recurring themes or questions. Discover which posts are popular with your readers through a website analytics tool.
These are only some of the things you can do to increase visitors to your blog; these are merely some simple ones you can implement quickly. Give them a try and then share your experiences in the comments. And enjoy all of your new, repeat visitors!
Desk of blogger -DepositPhotos
