As bloggers we strive for certain things to validate to us that we are on the right track. And no, I’m not talking about PR here either. When you post on your blog you mainly want for three things to happen.
- You want for your readers to give you feedback and share with you what they think in regards to your post.
- You want your reader to become a long term visitor by subscribing to your blogs RSS feed. Whether that is by RSS reader, email or bookmarking.
- You want your readers to recommend you to theirs by spreading the link love.
But what happens if we happily blog away thinking that we are doing great, when in reality we could do even better by asking for reader feedback?
I’ve had this same dilemma recently. I wonder what you (my readers) don’t tell me that could help to serve your needs even better!
To solve this dilemma as a blogger we can do a few things. We can ask our readers constructive feedback questions on what they think about us and why they keep coming back to our site. Here are some sample questions that might help you to understand your readers needs better.
Why Do You Enjoy Reading My Blog?
When others visit our blog on a regular occurring matter, we can normally assume that they enjoy what we blog about. But this knowledge alone really isn’t enough to keep growing as a blogger.
If you know from them directly
- why they keep coming back
- what is it particularly that attracts them to us? Is it our writing style, our wit, the information we share, the length or shortness of our blog posts, the theme we use, the way the blog is designed (clean, uncluttered, free of ads)…, the competitions we hold, the knowledge we share, etc.
By knowing this, we can improve our own blogging by giving them more of what they want and also discover a pattern of what people are looking for in general when they visit a blog in our niche.
Is There Anything Else You Wish I was Blogging About or Not?
Despite the fact that your readers are obviously happy by visiting your blog,(otherwise they wouldn’t come back) I strongly believe that we can always give them more of what they want. But how do we know this, unless we ask?
- ask them specific question on what exactly they would like to see from you added to your blog. For example, Shivaranjan asked me to add an email subscription box to my blog to make thing easier. (I’m in the process of doing this shortly).
- or maybe something you do as a blogger really annoys your readers but they are being too nice to mention it in fear that you might take offence.
Don’t be afraid to ask them even if it means negative feedback! It is the negative feedback that helps us to grow and become better. I’m not saying it isn’t nice to get positive and reaffirming comments, but those do not serve to help us pick up mistakes that annoy others.
As My Reader, Do You Get Enough Value Out Of My Blog To Happily Share With Others?
If your readers like what they see, they normally help you to promote your blog by either blogging about something you said themselves, linking to you or using social networking buttons to help spread your message.
What all well know bloggers have in common is that they are a popular commodity. Everybody quotes their every word somewhere in the blogosphere. This helps the original blogger to get more visitors and long term readers if they like what they find.
But if you don’t have social networking icons on your blog, or some way to help your readers help promote you (gee, that was rather a mouth full) then they find it very hard to do this and often don’t bother.
This "lack of" (buttons, icons) on your blog can be enhanced by getting the feedback from your readers.
- often we aren’t even aware of things missing until they get pointed out to us.
To finish of, I would like to ask ALL OF YOU to give me your feedback, good and bad. Don’t worry, I won’t be offended by getting a negative feedback. I shall see it as a means to make this blog even better for your convenience.
There is only one thing I ask of you, and that is to be constructive!
So please, take a couple of minutes and let me know how I can improve my blog for your benefit.
If you feel too self conscious to use the comment section below in fear of criticism, then you are welcome to use my contact page to let me know in private. I look forward to getting as much feedback as possible from all of you.
Thank you
Monika
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Hi Monika,
I like reading your blog because it has a nice personal touch to it. To me that means, we are having a personal conversation, even if you are writing in the 3rd person.
I come back because you post on a regular basis and seem genuine on getting loyal readers vs customers.
If you write something that is inspires me, I will probably pass it on my readers.
I personally love to receive comments on my blog and enjoy giving them.
Cheers!
Hey Monika,
Really interesting post on understanding the readers and improvising your self to make them more interactive.
The tips you put out are really good and helpful.
[...] Monika tells you about 3 Things Your Blog Readers Don’t Tell You. [...]
Monika-
It is good that you added the e-mail subscription form and it would help me keep track of the comment updates on your posts.
Chessnoid, Keith & Shivaranjan,
Thanks for the good feedback so far.
I really love to hear the good stuff, it pleases my ego.
But is there anybody at all who would like to hit me with some negative constructive feedback? Please?
BTW, a few more changes are imminent within the week. The blog will look even better if I might say so very soon.
Cheers
Monika
This is a bit late, but here we go:
1) I like your blog’s layout, the tone and structure of your writing, and the content is always interesting.
2) I’m just enjoying your blog for what it is. I’ve haven’t been reading it for very long.
3) Hey, you’re in my blogroll now! Guess I’m OK with sharing!