Hooray! You just finished your first blog post. It’s awesome, it’s well-researched, it’s going to get a lot of views, comments, and shares. There’s just one teeny-tiny problem. No one’s reading it.
It’s frustrating and discouraging, to say the least. You’ve spent hours writing your post and made sure it was perfect, but no traffic is coming, or if there’s traffic, people leave as soon as they click. Content writing isn’t just about putting articles and content out there for others to read, it’s also the foundation for your blog, brand or business online. Great content is what top media outlets and news websites rely on to create the massive followings they have today,
So, why aren’t people reading your blog post? You’d be surprised that the reasons are pretty simple and obvious. In this post, we’ll tackle the reasons why your posts aren’t getting the high reader engagement rate they deserve (and strategic steps to improve).
- You’re Spooling Out Chunky Paragraphs
Long, chunky paragraphs are intimidating. There, plain and simple. It’s important to make reading easy for your target audience, and blocks of paragraphs will kill any chances of high engagement rate.
NationServe Garage Doors posts garage door and overhead door related blogs every week and they share, “Avoid writing more than three sentences per paragraph, and use bullet points to cut long paragraphs into bite-size reading.”
- Your Intro is Meh
Your intro is the most important part of your blog post. If you fail to capture your readers’ attention on your first sentence, it’s likely they won’t even finish the rest of your post. Your introduction should be compelling, short, and direct.
You’d want your readers to keep reading and wanting more as they read every sentence. Write a strong opening, be it a question, an interesting fact, a thought-provoking situation—an introduction that’ll grab readers’ attention.
Another tip, shared by Royal Essence, is to share a personal story and withholding an important piece of information. This technique will spark readers’ curiosities compelling them to read the rest of your post. Teasing your readers is a tricky yet powerful strategy, and when done properly will improve your bounce rate.
- Your Post is Too Long or Too Short
First impression is important. This is also true in the blogging world. Let’s say you have a killer title of, “SEO Case Study: How to Get 100,000 Visitors to Your Site in 12 Months.” Who doesn’t want 100,000 visitors to their site? But then people arrive on the actual post and it’s just a 300-word summary. A case study should be detailed and comprehensive, and not just written in a few words.
There’s no ideal word count, but a rule of thumb is it should align with your title or topic. If your blog post calls for a thousand word, in-depth discussion or if it’s just a straightforward topic that can be explained in 250 words, so be it.
- Your Blog Post Is Lacking Headings and Subheadings
Think of headings and subheadings as quick reference points for the readers. They serve as strategic points which guide readers throughout your post, from introduction down to your conclusion. Without headings and subheadings, your blog post wouldn’t be as structured and organized, it’s like reading a never-ending paragraph.
A great heading is short and concise, not more than five words. It should be compelling and snappy. Think of it as a quick intro to every section of your post. Of course, too much is never good so avoid overdoing it. Not all paragraphs need a subheading.
- Your Blog Post Takes Too Long to Load
If your page takes more than eight seconds to load, your visitors will likely click the close button. Web users have little to no patience in waiting for a blog post to load. Reader experience is more important than a new, nifty functionality, or a fancy theme. If it makes loading pages sluggish, it has to go.
As web developers in Edmonton FREE Branding & Digital shares, “To make your site load faster, make sure your images are not too big and newer plugins are not slowing down or interfering load times.” — once you start following these actionable tips and content creation methods, you too will likely start seeing more audiences stay on your site longer.
These are some of the most common practices being used by website owners and bloggers today. To learn more about what’s working in the world of user engagement and SEO, be sure to read through some of these expert tips provided by top bloggers from around the world. Each interview provides in-depth information on not only how they create content for their audience, but also how they are using SEO and link building to rank higher in the search results in the process.