Running a blog is like running any type of business – you want to offer great customer service and give your readers something to keep coming back for. It’s important to think about all the ways you can improve the relationships you have with the readers of your blog…
- Reply to them
If you receive any messages or emails from readers through your blog, always reply to them. Even if they’ve just sent a quick message to let you know they enjoy reading your posts, take a few minutes to write back thanking them and inviting them to email you whenever they feel they would like to.
- Keep it personal
Don’t try to hide behind an internet persona or create an air of mystery. Readers love to feel like they can relate to the writer, and if you don’t ever give out your name or let them know anything about you, there will always be a feeling of distance. Create a personal email signature that you can use to sign off any emails which you write in response to your followers.
- Engage in the comments..
Not only should you be encouraging your readers to comment more at the end of your blog posts, but you should get involved in the discussion yourself too. People will return to your blog to find out if you have responded to them, and keeping a discussion going will just give people more reason to visit again and say something else.
- Learn about what your readers want
You can do this by running surveys and asking as many readers as possible to take part. Not only will this be very useful for you since you’ll be able to understand and discover more about what they want to see, but it will help your readers to feel like you care about their opinions and value their comments.
- Build relationships outside of your blog
Get involved on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and other social media websites. Have links on your blog to your social media profiles, and respond to your readers and followers whenever they comment on something. This is also a quicker and easier way for your readers to ask your questions or post any quick comments they may have, so you can monitor what is going on and encourage further discussion.
