Effective Ways To Increase Your Readership In This Becoming Competitive Online Arena

This article is going to bore you to death.

There, got you. Do I have your attention now? If you haven’t logged out by now, then I am successful in keeping you for at least eight seconds. And you stayed on long enough to know that no one is going die out of boredom and in fact, this blog will save your life, in marketing, that is.

Eight seconds. That is how long a person focuses on something like an online content without being distracted. We are worse than a goldfish that can stay focused for nine seconds. This research by the U.S. National Library of Medicine shows that human beings become more impatient through the years. The average attention span went from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight seconds in 2013.

So if you create online content or you are into content marketing, how do you keep your readers and visitors interested?

Before you try to dissect the human brain and why it is so impatient, here is another hitch. Information hub DOMO collated data to show that massive amounts of content and information from the Internet are generated every minute. Here’s a quick rundown: 684,478 of content are shared on Facebook, 100,000 tweets, 48 hours worth of new videos, 347 WordPress blogs, 3,600 Instagram photos, and two million search queries on Google. Again, these figures are by the minute. How do you beat all of that and be the first thing that people search on Google? How do you grow your audience? There is creativity, timing, emotions, urgency, relevance, and just a little bit of sugar to keep your audience hooked. Be patient and read on and maybe we can help you increase your content readership.

Care To Share

This sounds obvious and it is shocking how some marketers still forget to add a sharing component. For your content to be read by many people and shared across several platforms, make sharing options simple and easy. Put it where it can be seen right away. Remember that each share generates a backlink to your content.

Say “Hello”

To improve content promotion, add a “hello bar.” This is the bar seen at the top of websites and they are great in driving more traffic and attention. With the hello bar, you can direct your visitors to sample your content or direct them to a landing page to encourage sales or to showcase your latest post.

Reach Out

The online world is huge and you can’t be alone. Learn outreach strategies and pitch guest articles to other websites to increase your visibility and make more people aware of your expertise. This will also increase your SEO value and will keep you in the loop with influencers and thought leaders.

Be Truthful

Facts are not boring, at least if you don’t want them to be. Increase your content readership by making sure you come up with relevant content that are factual and truthful. Blog as you normally do — creative, funny, and sarcastic. But remember to add some relevant facts to improve your credibility.

If you notice, it seems as if there is a template in blogging. Everyone is trying to sound like a friendly neighbor. Start a real conversation by backing up your thoughts with facts. This does not only make you credible and trustworthy, your viewers will also feel better knowing that they are sharing something factual and true.

Go For Comments

A recent Nielsen survey revealed an unequal participation in the online community. This is known as the 90-9-1 participation rule: 90% lurkers, 9% contribute a little, and only 1% contribute a lot. This means that for every blog, you are lucky to have one comment.

Encourage comments by asking questions and ending with a call to action. It would also help if you start being active in the blogging community and ask for their help. Ask them to comment and do the same for them. Blogging circles are usually supportive so get a commenting buddy. Discussions will drive more traffic to your blog and will help you grow your online audience.

Know Where To Share

It is not only a question of “what” but “where.” Do not share your content everywhere. A specific content is appropriate to a specific platform only so do your homework and find out where your audience is. If you share it everywhere and your content sticks like a sore thumb, people will just ignore it and that will likely hurt your brand.

Be Consistent

Do not mess up with your readers and be consistent. Don’t publish four blogs this week, two next week, and skip the following week. You can’t follow a when-I-have-time blogging schedule and expect to increase your blog readership. Consistent blogging shows commitment and respect for your readers. It will ultimately help you turn regular lurkers to loyal customers.

Google also loves consistency. If you are publishing fresh content frequently and consistently, Google will index your website and you will rank better in search. You know what that means: traffic.

Go The Whole 9

Make sure your content looks good and sounds good. Capture your audience with a relevant photo or a nice, short video. Write your headlines in a way that people are going to want more. Notice that headlines that end with “…and you won’t believe what happened next” are becoming very popular. It sounds like gossip, leave people hanging, and drive curiosity.

Be emotional and make people happy, anxious, and angry. Emoticons won’t cut it. Use words, statistics, news, gripping photos, and attention-grabbing headlines.

It is true that content is king. Make sure that it remains king by making sure people get to read and share it. The online market is getting bigger and more competitive by the minute so you have to make a commitment to remain relevant, credible, and reader-friendly.