Get Interactive

• By Erica V.

One of the best parts of blogging is the immediacy of interacting with those who’ve read your post and who have followed you with each update. While we’ve posted about getting more comments in the past, directly engaging your readers with a question, poll, or activity is a fun way to get to know your followers. If you’re looking to add more interactivity to your blog, why not give these tips a try?

For a more interactive element, try adding polls or surveys to your posts. A quick poll is a direct prompt that doesn’t require a lot of work from your readers, and is also a great way to change up your usual post format. PollDaddy is automatically built into your WordPress.com site, so just clicking on the Add Poll icon in a new post will allow you to create and customize your own poll.

Looking for a more wordy interaction between yourself and your readers? Competitions, contests, and challenges will bring people back to your blog for updates, while also building a more substantial connection between yourself and your blog’s followers. For example, the site Field Notes From Fatherhood is currently holding a photo competition, and Go Jules Go holds a monthly giveaway based on creative comments in response to a monthly prompt. You don’t need to give away gifts or items, a simple shout out and thanks gets the message across. Similarly, teaming up with your readers to tackle a monthly challenge helps build camaraderie, and can even provide a built-in buddy system.

Sharing personal stories, confessions, and memories can prompt your readers, and new visitors, to share their own stories with you. You may even find that some of your more personal posts will bring new audiences to your blog.

While building your readership takes time, activities and prompts are a fun break from the norm. They also give your readers something direct to respond to, which can calm the nerves of those who are more prone to lurking than commenting.

Do you have any fun methods for engaging your readers? Have you ever tried a competition or contest on your blog? Or have you teamed up with your readers for a challenge?