- Image via CrunchBase
I recently wrote this guest blog post for EditMe, a wiki where regular people build websites.
We’ve all been there: we’ve got a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, you name it…..you’ve got traffic….. but no one’s giving you any love. No “comments” love. No “click” love. No “Facebook Like” love. No “Twitter Retweet” love.
Is it you?
Well, it is, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that your content is bad itself. It may mean you haven’t given people a good enough call-to-action, a reason for them to do more than just read what you put out there and move on. It doesn’t mean that they walk away dissatisfied, or unfulfilled. In fact, you may very well have left a good impression on them. But you could be doing more to get them to interact.
So, you ask, what are some ways I can make people want to *do* stuff with my content? How can I get them to react to it, or even to share it? I’ve listed a few ways below, and would love to hear from you some of your success stories.
Way Number One: Question Them
Assuming that your content is actually good and offers value to your readers, and that you’ve distributed your content enough that it has eyes reading it, getting your audience to take that one step further and process your content increases the likelihood that they’ll want to react to it in some way. What I’ve found to be an effective tactic - as a practitioner and as a reader - is asking a question.
Whether it’s in the middle of a blog post or at the end, or as part of a conversation on a social networking platform, a question forces your reader to pause and think about what’s being discussed. Quite literally, the act of reading a question provokes your brain to actually ask it of itself, and therefore mull over answers. This is a much more active process than simply reading, which can sometimes be very passive as we skim, consume, and move on through the piles of content we see each day.
Additionally, asking a question invites your readers to a discussion, and shows them that you want to have that discussion, while also empowering them as capable and knowledgeable contributors to the discussion topic.
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