How to quickly increase blog engagement in 3 simple steps

Your business blog is a top marketing tool that brings credibility to your brand. It is the platform to showcase your expertise, offer solutions to your readers, and increase visibility online. When completely optimized, your blog can serve as a true lead generating and sales machine, bolstering your bottom-line.

However, your blogging strategy remains ineffective if you’re not driving enough traffic or getting people interacting with your content (i.e. shares, comments, opting in). You see, there’s more to simply publishing an amazing blog post and hoping it attracts people to your site. In order for blogging to be a true asset to your online marketing, it must foster engagement and move your visitors to action.

Here are three advanced tips to increase blog engagement and getting more people responsive to your content.

#1 Craft a Catchy Headline

Engagement all begins with the title. It gives the first impression of your blog post, the deciding factor to whether your potential customers will read your post…or not. Therefore, taking the time to craft the best one possible will be well worth your time in drawing your audience in.

According to CoSchedule, the top performing blog headlines include the value readers will get once they click, numbers and/or statistics, and the keyword. Therefore, ask yourself these questions when creating your next title:

#1 What is the benefit my audience will gain from reading our post?

#2 How many major key points are we sharing in the body? Use this number in your title

#3 What long-tail keyword phrase are we ranking for? Be sure that it’s included, preferably towards the beginning of your headline

Also, add some color to your title by using descriptive words like big, free, new, special, unique, strong, and powerful.

#2 Promote Your Posts

As mentioned, you have to be a bit more involved when it comes to getting people to check out your content. You must promote it! The good news is, the more visitors you have on your pages, the better it performs for SEO ranking.

Here is a short checklist you can leverage with each blog post you publish:

• Your email subscribers are 3 times more likely to share your content on social media versus visitors from other sources. They should be the first to know about your fresh blog post. Encourage them to share it with their networks.
• It’s okay to promote your post on social media multiple times. In fact, many people will not see your post the first time you share it. Use a different compelling headline or message when sharing your post link
• Post it in your social media groups
• Leverage live-streaming video like Facebook Live to discuss a few of your main key points to intrigue your followers to check out your full article
• Post on Google+

Your goal is to drive traffic to your blog post so always give a clear call-to-action telling people how they can access your content.

#3 Repurpose Content to Extend Reach

Repurposing is working smarter with your content strategy! By taking one piece of content and converting into multiple forms to appeal to different platforms and audiences, you’re significantly bringing more exposure to your brand. It’s a great way to take an original post and share it over various networks and sites to expand your influence.

For your popular, evergreen and long-form blog posts, consider using these channels to repurpose and increase engagement:

• Quora – Simply post a question on this Q&A site that relates to your article. Answer the question, then share your blog link where they can get more a more in-depth response
• Your Podcast Channel – Convert your post into an audio and upload to your podcast station
• LinkedIn Pulse – Excellent source for B2B brands, keep in mind the professional tone when promoting your content
• Pinterest – Convert your content into an infographic for Pinterest and other social media sites
• YouTube – Create a mini-video for each of your subheadings to expand on that topic
• Webinar – Dive deeper into your topic, opening the floor for questions during and at the end of your broadcast
• Slideshare – Upload your webinar presentation to Slideshare!

Final Key Pointers

Remember that remarkable content always wins. Ensure that your content is always worthy of sharing by staying in tuned with your market so it appeals to their interest. Publish what they want to see. Make it engaging with visuals and interactive content.

Finally, be conversational in your message. Write as if you’re speaking directly to your prospect to make your content relatable. Asking a question or two within your post can prompt replies in the comments, boosting engagement.

Much success.

Ready to ramp up your content marketing for 2017? We are trained and driven to help you get to your next level! Contact us here to schedule a personalized consultation.