When someone lands on your blog for the first time, you want them to stay as long as possible.
In he last two ProBlogger Podcast episodes, I’ve shared some tactics for finding readers by first asking yourselves some really important questions, and by discussing two types of content that you need. In today’s episode, I talk about how you keep those readers there by building a sticky blog. What I mean by that is having your blog set up so there is something that motivates readers to explore it further, making the decision to return and keep connected in some way, which I think is a fundamental component of any successful blog.
I always say it’s much better to find a new reader and hook them into becoming a regular than it is to have to find fresh readers every day. This is really how readership grows over time.
In the podcast, I discuss the ways you can make your blog completely irresistible to first-time viewers. From first impressions to subscription options, I go through all the things I believe a blog needs in order to be sticky. How can you build anticipation? What kind of content works for recurrent traffic? How can you drive interaction from your audience? What are their incentives to stick around?
Click here to listen to the episode 35 of the ProBlogger Podcast and view the show notes, and as always, I’d love to get your feedback on this episode.
This is exactly what I needed. I have so many new readers everyday and it take hustle. I’d like to figure out the perfect formula to keep them coming back.
Hi Darren,
I love this idea and wrote about it today in one of my eBooks. I visited the idea of turning a new buyer into a return buyer, into a long term, lifetime buyer. This leads to increasing sales and you’ll have a brand fan in your corner, a person who will spread the word for you, and that leads to even more buyers. Turning surfers into readers requires you to build a list and to make your blog inviting. I enjoy branding my blog because building something unique gives surfers a reason to return to my blog. If you make your blog one of a kind it can become sticky, and you’ll gain an increasing number of loyal readers in the process.
Thanks for sharing.
Ryan
Great mini post Darren.
I’ve definitely noticed this on a specific blog by Matthew Woodward. He has a ‘sticky post’ which is this HUGE in depth post about building a successful blog. It is the blog post that caused me to find his blog originally, and therefore the blog post that caused me to explore his website further (and I’m now a subscriber).
However, it also has to be noted that you would need a significant audience for this to work, unless your main sticky post was the cause for huge amounts of traffic, like Matthew’s.
I know that he advertised that sticky post on a lot of niche related forums, which obviously causes a large amount of traffic (It’s ‘stickied’ on the forums too!)
This is really an interesting episode Darren,
Getting readers to stick on your blog and to keep coming back over and over again is really very important.
The point you made that its best to have repeat visitors than to always be hunting for new visitors is also true. And its also easier that way.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your extremely informative podcasts. I travel a lot during the summer and listen to your podcasts during my driving time (via Bluetooth of course!). I am implementing so many of your suggestions and now have s clear picture of how I’ll move forward with my business. Many blessings, Cathy McCarthy
Thanks for sharing this post Darren.