Five Ways To Make Your Blog Readers Feel Valued

The idea of having a blog, maintaining and updating that blog, and eventually trying to profit from the blog is nothing new. To do this though, the blog has to achieve a certain degree of popularity. It takes quality content and a decent marketing effort for a blog to become extremely popular, but for those that come and visit a blog to return and participate in the discussion that goes on there, they need to feel that they are valued by the blog owner. A blog owner who knows the value of reliable readers who participate through commenting, knows that these repeat readers have the power to make or break their blog. One of the best ways to keep them coming back again and again is to make them feel valued and appreciated.

Here are five ways to make your blog readers feel valued.

1. Invite Readers to Comment

It seems like a no-brainer, but many bloggers continue to not allow those who read their blogs to then comment on the posts. While it can be time consuming to approve comments and respond to those that need or deserve responses, doing so encourages readers to come back again and again. One of the aspects of blogging that appeals to readers is that they are somewhat interactive, keeping them as interactive as possible is a great way to both attract and retain readers.

2. Invite Quality Commenters to Guest Post

When a blogger notices that they have one, two or even more readers who write exceptional comments that are informative and well written, it could pay off to invite them to write a guest post for the blog. This does a few things, but most predominantly what it accomplishes is making these readers who care enough to reliably comment feel extremely valued. It can also give the blogger a day off as he may choose not post himself that day that he posts the guest blogger’s content. Another way this can pay off is that other readers can see that their comments are valued and encourage them to participate.

3. Publicly Thank Readers

It may be simple good manners, but most bloggers do not usually publicly thank those that regularly come to read and comment on the posts on their blog. This is easy to do and probably can be done either monthly or sporadically whenever it seems necessary. Thanking readers for coming to a blog can leave a good taste in the mouths of those who frequent the blog. This thank you post should be either generic and geared towards everyone, but should also publicly call out a few of the more active readers who make their presence known in the comment section. When leaving a restaurant, waitresses often thank their customers for dining there. When checking into or out of a hotel, the hotel’s staff often say thank you to their patrons. Why shouldn’t bloggers thank their visitors as well?

4. Provide Readers With Freebies

A great way to make readers of a blog feel valued is for a blogger to offer them something for free. This can be in the form of an ebook that the blogger has written, photos or videos, public recognition, or other digital products. Posting freebies that can be found at other sites is also a great way to show readers of the blog that they are valued.

5. Run Blog Contests

Blog contests not only provide for an exciting element on a blog that will attract readers, running a blog contest is a great way to thank loyal readers by giving them a chance to win something. The only way that a blog contest really works though is if the prize that can be won is of good quality and would hold some value with those that the contest is aimed at. Blog contests can even be run regularly, either weekly or monthly, as a way to attract new readers as well as reward loyal readers.

A blog’s success is largely based on how many people come to read it, how involved those readers are, and do those readers come back again and again. Without visitors coming to a blog, and without current readers of a blog coming back, there is almost no point in the blog existing at all. It makes sense then that letting the readers of a blog know that they are valued is something that a blogger should really try and accomplish. The fact that it is a relatively easy thing to do is one more reason that every blogger should attempt it on at least some level.