Have you ever been ‘talked at’ instead of had someone ‘talk with’ you in a real life conversation? It doesn’t feel good to have someone talk AT you.
It leaves you feeling like you might as well not have been there at all.
Blogs can be like that and in this post we explore the power of asking questions on your blog and I share 7 types of questions you can ask to increase reader engagement.
The 7 questions are:
- What Do you Think?
- How Do you Feel?
- What Will You Do?
- What is Your Opinion?
- What is Your Story?
- What is Your Experience or Example?
- What Have you Been Working On?
Of course there are plenty of other types of questions – what type do you ask and how do you find people respond?
Note: you can get the full sized version of this video at YouTube here.
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What is Your Experience or Example? is the most comment one I use and then say “please share in the comments below”. At the moment that seems to be working as my comments are growing.
I do like “What is Your Story?”.
Excellent, as ever, Darren.
Andrew
I always try to end with a question to encourage the reader to comment.
Ask for your reader experience is a good way to encourage participation.
The best way is to, if appropriate, tailor the post to encourage a reaction (positive or negative) will always get a response.
David.
Hi Darren,
Generally, I’ll end each post with a wrap-up including an open-ended question that requires some thought and engages someone to be specific in their response. Here’s an example from yesterday’s Guest Post on my blog ThatGirlisFunny.com
“Bravo Marcelle! Thank you for sharing your thoughts so candidly. We want to hear from everyone else! What are your thoughts on aging and letting yourself out of the “age box”? ”
Asking specific questions, helps with catching clever spammers who leave brief, chatty comments that aren’t specific and could apply to any post. They get instantly deleted.
It is so hard to engage a reader for more than a few minutes – there are so many “pulls” on a person’s time. This is a nice list of questions to hopefully spark a conversation.
I noticed that I get the most comments when I post something relatable and ask for readers’ input. Like this recent post, where I asked readers if they switch hands for their fork after they finished cutting the meat.
http://www.motherhoodinnyc.com/2009/11/happy-thanksgiving-your-manners-suck.html
I normally try to encourage them to post a comment. I need to try and ask more questions.
I liked all of your questions, and I will incorporate more and more in the future. Most of the time, I ask a variation of “How did it work out for you if you’ve tried this?” but that is a bit wordy, so should give some of yours a try.
Extremely helpful, thanks. Will use.
Hi guys
Questions are good way to let your readers interact with your posts or give their opinion. I usually place the question at the end of my post for them to make their response. I seldom place it at the beginning for an introduction and let my reader give their point of view with the question I place at the beginning.
Kind Regards
Sam
X
Yes, very helpful.
I haven’t asked yet that much, because my blog ist still very young and I am afraid of asking, but nobody answers … :-)
But you are right, sooner or later one must ask to get interaction.
One of the most powerul ways to keep a conversation going is to use Open-Ended Questions. I use them all the time.
The thing is one can ask questions all day long the hard part is to get the questions answered.
Asking about experiences/stories is the best way to get readers interacting. I noticed this when I made a poll first time on blog.
The seven questions are good way to start and I am sure many bloggers will find these helpful.
“What type do you ask and how do you find people respond?” is a good one, Darren.
I find just having a comments section with “Please leave any questions and comments” doesn’t work much except when I use such a question: “Tell us what you’re thinking?” this pulls the reader into the discussion and they feel they really need to have their say.
I like questions on blogs that ask for readers’ experiences and their versions of doing things, or how they fixed a particular problem. I always end up contributing ;)
Truly this is a good post and it will definitely help beginners increase their user engagement, but i truly don’t think it is so useful for advanced bloggers. You may have to use different ways.
I love ending with a question, especially if it is a topic I don’t know a ton about. I often get great ideas for posts from comments. There is a real difference between wanting the readers to think you care about their thoughts and actually caring about their thoughts. Readers can often tell.
Hi Darren,
I really like what you’re saying. Coincidentally, I asked a question of my readers this very morning!
http://bit.ly/5QjVj8
Cheers,
Bruce
I’m glad I discovered Darren Rowse before I launched my own blog. Writing about shoes may not seem like rocket science, but there’s no reason not to follow a great advice like this. Thanks!
Thank you Darren. I don’t know where you find the time to cover so much fantastic information for us — You’re the best!
I ask these questions and more on my blog and sometimes get feedback…
As a fairly new blogger (1 year to date hooray!) with a pretty exciting yet demanding job, I write a weekly blog which works well for my work-life-family balance. I have noticed that since I made the commitment to blog on a regular basis (31 Day Challenge gave me that push) rather than intermittently, my traffic has increased but my comments have been sporadic.
Honestly, I am just darn grateful to have a blog which has opened doors to meeting many amazing people online. I am in this for the long haul and have tried many free and a few paid options for blog growth/exposure.
I have also done some research to see what some top bloggers feedback looked like in their first year and I will say I am in good company… It’s all good and we can only get better.
My advice will be to keep asking the questions, networking, increasing content, learning with Darren and other pros, sharing views and plugging away at your blog and the rest will follow.
Have a great week all!
Cheers,
Eliz
Did you notice that all of Darren’s examples include the word “you”, but not one uses the word “I”? People like to read material that thewy can relate to – especially if it affects them. This is especially true if you are looking for feedback.
Live. Love. Laugh. Learn. Leave a Legacy.
I too am learning to ask questions. Recently when sharing about a new editorial calender for WordPress users, I asked how this would save them time, and if they’d use it. I had people who don’t even use WordPress answering the question and then pining that there wasn’t something similar for their blog platforms. :-)
Getting people involved has always been hard for me, seeing as how most of my posts are informational. I’m trying to loosen up a bit and bring more of myself to the content to help the readers feel connected, then ask them questions like you’ve described!
Thanks for the post, I have been looking for ways to get my readers more engaged. I will use some of the tips and see if my engagement improves.
Jenn
Btw You Urself asking this question “what type do you ask and how do you find people respond?” so u can see the respond ;)
To Get Response you need to Have a Blog With Good Number of readers(traffic) nd this can work well as time passes nd ur experience as a blogger increases :)
Brilliant post. I’m going to start using these questions immediately. It’s critical for your readers to get engaged and I have had trouble hearing back from them. I get frequent comments through email, but not back at the blog. This will help a lot. Just a little grease to spark the conversation. I can see how this will start something.
This reminds me to make my questions open-ended. Excellent list.
And I find when I share a little story, people like relating anecdotes from their similar experiences. As in, “Anything like that ever happen to you?”
I agree with this… honestly what are we doing as bloggers if we’re not building relationships. Granted, some people are in it for the money, but providing quality content is all about sharing and being shared with. Its not a one sided game.
Sometimes I just inform people at the end of the posts that comments and reactions are welcomed but I am going to start implementing some of your suggestions.
Great post, thank you.
That’s some great advice Darren. I was imaging you, the problogger guru sitting there listening to that guy talk and talk and I felt so sorry for you! Doesn’t he know who you are haha.
I’ve done a few things lately that got some good responses. One: I created a how-to video and then asked people to post a link once they took the advice. It was great to see people applying my ideas into their own shop.
Another thing was to poll people on what sort of information they want to see more of on my blog or via an e-book. I wholesale jewelry full time and so I assumed most people would be interested in that, but instead they wanted to know how to advertise so that gave me some great direction for blog content and e-book outlines.
Thanks for the great video!
~
I always try to ask these type of questions at the end of the post. I think it helps to encourage comments.
Dear Mr.Rowse:
I agree that I should ask questions to engage my readers more, but where and when exactly would I ask those questions?
I guess I am struggling with that issue. Some of the more typical ideas that people have mentioned are asking a question at the end of the article, including a question in comments?
Is it even beneficial to do for a blog in it’s initial stages? If somebody could help me out with those questions it would be great.
Best,
Tomas
Thanks for the great list of questions.
I’m reading a book called Inbound Marketing at the moment and they suggest asking questions but they don’t give a list as helpful or extensive as yours.
I know that to date I’ve not asked enough questions at the end of my blog posts and therefore have not generated anything like the comment traffic which I think would be really helpful.
Thanks for the reminder to get on and do it!!
Darren,
Great thoughts. One question I found recently to ask that produces a lot of engagement is: “Who wants an invitation to Google Wave, and why?”
Some type of giveaway, tied to responsiveness to a question always helps. Even if it’s only for bragging rights, not a tangible product.
Thanks.
Nice tip about reader engagement,
My experience has been if I talk AT PEOPLE, you turn them off,
If you talk WITH PEOPLE, there is a far greater chance of them listening, as you already pointed out.
I find it sets the tone of the article too,
Hey Darren,
Looks like your youtube videos aren’t working either. Do you think we should just wait it out, or is this a major problem? Something wrong with youtube and wordpress?
Its very useful blog,i read some articles and like this.I think other blogger like too.
Wow, thanks for the great read! It was worth clicking through the GooReader.
;)
I have traffic and a few comments. I have people signing up for my news letter but I can’t get people to comment on my site. I have asked for opinions and such but I only get the occasional technical question. I will make a what’s your story post but I can’t figure out, aside from that how to get people commenting.
I prefer to use my blog as a learning experience for myself, so I’ll often stick with questions like “What are some ways you do [some activity relevant to the article]?”
Works well. :)
Great one. At my blog i will ask more questions when i write something technical and on blogging and most of the time i receive comments and their opinions and it helps me to write more so that i will make permanent readers.
Great reminders to keep your readers engaged and participating in the conversation. I have not been doing this, but will do so, ASAP. Thanks for the nudge :)
i just write my feelings on mine. i think that’s why i dont have many visitors. SO why cannot i find my recent comment for this post?
This is a great point {or points} and one that I am going to look into further.
I’d love if you would expand on this topic too.
I ask questions at the end of posts, but it’s hit and miss. I know I have the traffic, but I would a little more comment love. Some days I’ll get lots, and other not so much.
I think people love to leave comments on topics they’re passionate about – whether it be current affairs, or even just their favourite sandwich.
One blog that asks really great questions is http://www.notquitenigella.com The posts are structured really well, and then the questions are never obvious… but always intriguing. I wish I could work the way she does. She gets truckloads of comments and has a great little community.
I think a commenting structure like http://www.mamamia.com.au has works well too. It’s very interactive.
Anyways I’ve gone off track and onto a whole different topic.
I like this. It speaks towards the aspect of communication and community building instead of just shoving info at a reader. This kind of reminds me of the earlier post on here, Why Nobody Cares About Your Blog. That article irritated me, but I think it helped.
Asking questions is a good way to encourage comments and discussions.
I usually use “How about you?”.
You just provided good addition in my list..
Thanks.
Do you have statistics in those 7 to know what works best?
Great question…those are the basic questions to build our purposes in blogging, our commitment, our strength, weakness, etc
Darren, you always have the best advice for us upcoming and struggling bloggers! We really appreciate it – thank you!
I have not been keeping up with my blog, been so busy. But I am also working on more of a site than a blog at the moment. I wrote down your tips, I think I can implement that into the site as well. Allow visitors not only to see my work, but have a way for them to share their thoughts, feelings and their own work if they wish.
Always looking for that new way of interactivity for the viewer. I’ve been told add to a game section, which I might!
Asking about experiences/stories is the best way to get readers interacting. I noticed this when I made a poll first time on blog.
The seven questions are good way to start and I am sure many bloggers will find these helpful.
About a year ago I started adding a short “What’s Your Take?” invite to the bottom of every post I write. Blogs are still kind of new in my corner of the Web so I think it helped my readers understand that blogs should include two-way communication. Great post Darren!
Hi Darren,
Out of the 7 questions you provided, whats your favorite? My favorite would probably the “What is your opinion?” and “What do you think?”.