No bloggers like to see their blog post lying alone in the blogosphere, without any visitors or comments. Do you like to see that happen to your blog post? You just need to do your part by making your post as sticky as possible. Glue your visitors once they landed on your blog. Catch their attention. Make them stick longer than usual. How do you make your post sticky? There are few criteria you need to take note of:
- A catchy headlines/title
This is what attracts your visitors to find out more about your post. Whether your visitor finds you through search engine, RSS feeds, link post by other bloggers or any social bookmarking sites, a well crafted headline helps in increasing the click rate on your post. Your post titles can be:
- Funny
- Creative
- Controversial
- Straight to the point
- Deliver a promise
- Benefit your visitor
- Include keywords
It takes a bit of creativity if you want uncommon post titles. However, if you are like me lacking of creativity, a straight to the point title is a pretty safe bet to draw your readers in. It immediately tells what your post is about. Alex Whalley is one blogger whom i think has lots of creativity in crafting a catchy post title. You can visit his blog to have a glimpse how he do it.
- Format your post
Whenever i see a post consist one full paragraph full of words, i like to faint. It’s just like having a rock pressing against my heart. I simply can’t breath. Can you? It’s so important to break down your post into small paragraphs, yet i see people making this mistakes when they publish their post.
You are chasing your visitors away if you do that. Your awesome article that you take a lot of time to create will just vanish, giving them no chance to express themselves. Some notes to consider:
- Make use of header and sub-headers
- Use more simple words
- Write short sentences
- Be concise
- Write from reader’s view
- Make use of list and bulleted points
- Use bold, italics and underlining to emphasize your points
Having a well formatted post make it easier for your readers to keep up with the flow. Your reader’s interest is maintained along the flow so you won’t lose any readers.
- Intrigued your visitors with a seductive opening
Your opening lines of your post plays a very important part whether your post is read or unread. An attractive opening normally has a higher chance of your post being read from start to finish. Below are some types of opening you can consider:
- Start by sharing your personal experience
- Ask your reader question
- Use metaphor or quote
- Create some urgency
- Have a controversial statement
- Imagine a scenario
You can make use of the above to catch the attention of your readers once they are drawn to your post by your title. One of my favorite is asking a question. Which is your favorite? Do you have any other opening line to share with us?
- Include images
A post without an images is like food without any nutrition for your growth. Images speaks more than a thousand words, in fact more than it according to this post written by my friend Adam Paudyal. Image is able to give you a break from reading large block of letters. It makes your post more scannable.
Most blog visitors are judged to scan through blog post without reading the full content. A relevant image is helpful to chant your readers to read up your post. There are few sites which enable you to find images for your use. Most common ones are:
- Google Image
- Flickr
- IStockPhoto(You need to purchase credits)
Read terms and conditions before you start using any image else there will be an infringements of copyrights.
- Interlink post from your archives and other bloggers
Another great way to glue your visitors is to interlink post. Not only post from your archives but also useful and related post from other bloggers. You shouldn’t have the mentality of think “why should i be promoting post from other bloggers”
Once your reader click on the link to read up the interlink post, he will remember to return and finish up your post thus making him to stay longer. Interlink post gives your reader a break from the post flow, reducing tendency for him to cut short his reading.
Create a sticky blog post not only reduce bounce rate. It has a higher chance of turning your visitors to become your loyal supporters by gluing them to stay longer in your blog.
Are you making your blog post sticky?
How do you glue your readers to your post?
Please leave a comment to share with us your thoughts.
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Twitter: stevescott1
Lye,
I like your blog post a lot. It was in fact, “sticky”.
I totally agree that looking at Alex’s site to get title ideas for great place the man is truly a master of interesting titles that make you laugh and grab your attention.
You mentioned the quickly but I think another major way of gaining traction on article are actual list posts. People love 10 reasons why this or 9 reasons why that.
They know exactly what they’re getting and it keeps them reading
Steve recently posted..Sherlock Holmes on How to Overcome Internet Business Failure
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Steve,
Glad you like it. I wonder how Alex did it. Always tempted to click on his post.
List post is one of the most popular post. Just the title alone will attract a higher rate of clicking.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Hey lye,
Thanks for another awesome post!
I believe everyone wants there post to be sticky and keep their readings stuck too them. The thing is that’s hard for most people to do. Your post goes over many key elements to keeping your readers attracted. The first thing you should worry about is creating an interesting title. I believe that’s why you mentioned it first.
I also hate trying to read post that have no formation. Everyone should of learned how to format your writing in the 5th grade. That pretty elementary for you not to format your articles at all.
No one likes to read a big blob! Another key point I would add is developing your style of writing and sticking with it, because your readers come to your blog to read your writing.they don’t come to read a replication of someone elses.
Thanks again!
God bless,
William Veasley
William Tha Great recently posted..Use of Online Marketing Strategies for Small Business
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi William,
The title is always the first reason that attract visitor to read up the post. That’s why it’s the most important.
Agreed fully. Without our own voice and personality in our writing, nobody will bother to interact with us.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Hey Lye, great one man!
It’s a lot like ecommerce in a lot of ways; you have to provide a lot more structure to the post than just slamming everything on the page and hoping for the best.
People look for familiarity on websites and they intuitively read based on headlines because it’s so ingrained in our minds from reading books and newspapers – instead of going against the flow, fully embrace it
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Murray,
No visitors will like to read a large block of letters which will chase people away.
We are bringing our habit to the online publishing world. We are used to seeing the headlines, looking at topics that interest us. We will start reading on what intrigues us.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Lye
Lye,
I like to use a straight to the point title for my posts. Is easier to read and understand, it will help the post ranking better and I lack creativity. Loved the tips from this article
Maria
Maria Pavel recently posted..Salaries Of Certified Nursing Assistants
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Maria,
I am like you. What we can do is to tell our readers what our post is all about.
Thanks for commenting.
Lye
Hi Lye,
Attractive Title is first step which you take in order to bring visitors in your blog. After that everyone knows content is king and you can also design your blog so that it looks very good.
Priya recently posted..Goa Carnival Date 2011 5th to 8th March
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Priya,
We have to make our content easily consume by our readers, don’t we? A happy reader is always a return visitor.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Hi Lye
Who doesn’t love a stick post
Readers will decide if it is or not; so the points you make about the importance of headlines, mentioning other blogger in the post and having short sentences with plenty of space between the paragraphs are all important.
Sometimes I am surprised at what proves to be a popular post on my site. It may just be a topic I have been pondering or a post I have been inspired to write after visiting another site. Somehow it hits a chord with my readers and a great conversation ensues
It does help if we know our readers and often by asking questions or doing surveys, we begin to understand what their needs are and/or what they would like to be reading. Just my 2 cents.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia recently posted..Create Impact- Not Traffic Spikes
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Hi Pat,
You have actually created a voice of your own. You have attracted a funnel of readers who resonate with you. That’s why your post always hit a cord with your visitors.
A survey is useful at times if we need to find out more about our reader’s needs.
Thanks for the comments Pat.
Lye
Hello Lye,
I have mixed feelings about your post. On the one hand you must follow the protocol that a particular media adheres to. On the other hand if there is no originality and you subordinate your personality and style to a set of rigid rules you produce a very mediocre product with no sizzle.
Riley
Riley Harrison recently posted..GOAL SETTING THAT WORKS part 1
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Riley,
This is some guidelines but it is certainly no rules. We just have to be ourselves and understand that we can’t please everyone.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Lye
Nice tips, everyone should copy the layout that you talked about in this post. Great stuff
Edwin recently posted..Giveaway- 5 Amazon Gift-Card
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Hi Edwin,
Thanks for the support and comment. Much appreciated.
Lye
Awesome post Lye, I agree with your points bro. Catchy headline does work fine. And killing your readers with seductive opening is a great way to make your post sticky! Thanks so much for sharing. Rock on.
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Samuel,
All are essential, we just to have to add our own style.
Thanks for commenting. Keep rocking and all the best for the contest.
Lye
Hi Lye
All the points you have listed are spot on bro! I would also include seducing your reader with writing that is both grammatically and technically correct.
Michael
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi Michael,
Spot on brother, who else but you are the best person to talk about writing correct grammar.
Thanks for commenting.
Lye
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Nice post Lye. Making them ‘stick’ is really, really important. Here’s what I’d add:
-Say everything as succinctly as possible
-Use personal experience as much as you can
-Have strong, strong opinion. Keep ‘em guessing what may come out of your mouth next.
Keep up the great work Lye.
Marcus
Marcus Sheridan-The Sales Lion recently posted..Why Blogging is the Greatest Sales Tool in the World Today
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Hi Marcus,
Great to have you here again.
Really glad you have expanded and add your tips and i really love #2. Personal experience is a great way to touch people’s heart.
Thanks for adding your take.
Lye
Another way to make your post “sticky” is by literally making it a sticky post in WordPress so it stays on the front page of your blog. Obviously, this is only for your most important post(s), but it’s something to consider if you’ve got a post you want to promote heavily.
TJ McDowell recently posted..1 on 1 SEO Training For Photographers
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi TJ,
That’s another way of making the post sticky. If we have a post which we want every reader to read, we can do it this way.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
This is a good list of sticky tactics for blog posts Lye. I must admit I keep forgetting about headlines, so thanks for including that on your list……I must do better….
John
Still learning in Leamington Spa, England
John McNally recently posted..Blind Get Rich Quick Scheme
Twitter: Findmyblogway
Hi John,
You are welcome. As long your headline intrigues interest and straight to the point. It should be fine enough.
Thanks for the comments.
Lye
Hi Lye,
You did hit the nail on its head! I really like your post because it is very arresting and can instantly blow off the mind set of readers. Its a rule that in order to catch their interest you should thinks of ways to hook them in.
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