Readers are one of the most instrumental parts of blogging; the people on the other side of the screen make this whole experience that much more worthwhile. So taking the time to get to know them is SO important, I honestly can’t stress it enough.
Your audience shapes everything from the content that you create to the ways in which you promote it. There is definitely value in being able to describe your ideal reader. If you’re looking to turn your blog into a business, it’s crucial to know your target audience. And if you’re just blogging as a hobby, it’s nice to know the people behind those page views.
Connections in blogging are so important. They help us grow, learn, and create things that we never knew we could.
I am constantly inspired by the comments you all leave, emails you send or ways that we connect off of the blog.
If you’re looking to create more, connect more and share directly to the eyes on your blog, here are some easy ways to better know and understand your readership.
Create a survey / At least once a year, I create a reader survey that helps me get a better understanding of who is stopping by here. I ask questions like: where are you from, how often do you read the blog, and how old are you. I try to gather a good mix of demographic and behavioral information. Why? Because, when I’m ready to create more content, I can use those responses to help me write stronger posts and share it where my readers can see it.
Start conversations in the comments / Use the comments on your posts to spark conversations with your readers. Ask them questions about how they plan to use the content, or ways other posts have helped them.
Reach out personally / If you notice some readers always responding to social media posts and commenting on blog posts, reach out to them personally. Send them a quick email thanking them for the support and asking them for content suggestions. Ask them why they began reading your blog in the first place and what keeps them coming back.
Be a good reader / Most of my readers are bloggers themselves, and I love getting to visit their spaces and get a better sense of who they are. If you really want to know and understand your readers, go check them out! Read their blogs, leave a comment or too and show them that this is really a two-way connection.
Not only does getting to know your readers help you to create stronger content, it helps to grow community.
How do you get to know your readers?
(image via this pin)
These are some really helpful tips! I’m always looking for ways to get to know my readers more, so I’ll definitely be giving these a try. I also really like your advice about being a better reader. At times it’s tempting to just skim through blogs, but I’ve found by slowing down and spending more time reading, I learn so much more and make stronger connections with writers and bloggers. Thank you for sharing this advice! 🙂
So glad you enjoyed these tips! I always enjoy reading your comments here, Olivia 🙂
Of course! You create super helpful and awesome content! 🙂
Love this! This is very helpful! I’m not looking to turn my blog into a business per se but I would love to grow my readership and connect more with my readers! Thanks Amber!
Finding that connection with your readers will definitely help with growth!
These are great ideas. I swear, nothing makes me happier than an email from one of my readers. I’ve been making a conscious effort to send quick emails and notes to other bloggers just so that they can feel the same way! Also completely agree with the comments suggestion – some of my best post ideas come from comments that people leave.
I know what you mean, I love hearing from readers so so much!! I think that’s another reason why I love having the newsletter, because I can directly communicate with readers who really love the content here!
Love this post! I’ve seen a few bloggers do surveys, but for some reason, I never thought of doing one myself. I guess I just figured I didn’t need to or that not many people would respond. After reading this though, I definitely want to create one sometime in the nearish future 😀
I definitely recommend using Type Form when creating your survey! It makes it super interactive for users and has a great design 🙂
Great tips! I’ve been feeling so uninspired lately, that I’ve been letting my readers fall to the wayside. Time to make some changes and connect again!
I’m excited to see the upcoming changes you make!
These are great tips! Connecting with my readers is so so important to me, because I believe that the community is the best part of this space. Otherwise, I’m just talking to myself. I love connecting with people, especially on Twitter because it’s such an easy forum for conversation!
I love Twitter for connecting with followers, too! Especially loving twitter chats these days.
I recently found out that Twitter’s analytics classifies your readers by all sorts of things, which I thought was pretty cool. I should probably be using that knowledge to cater to my readers a little bit more. Thanks 🙂
Oh that’s great info to have! I’d definitely use it to your advantage 🙂
Wonderful tips, thanks for sharing. I think I might do a survey by the end of the year since my blog is relatively recent but I’m trying to be a daily good reader and interact with the blogs I follow. 🙂
I second that.