Getting traffic to your blog is only half the work you need to do to ensure the success and longevity to your blog. Keeping that traffic is the other half.

One way to keep your readers coming back to your blog again and again is to engage them. Make them feel like they are part of a community. Make them feel invested in your blog. Make them feel an emotional connection.

There are many ways you can encourage more engagement with your blog, starting with producing compelling content — the gold standard for all your marketing efforts. Here are 5 ways you can encourage more engagement with your blog:

Be Yourself

People respond to a blog that shows off some personality. While informational articles and how-tos are helpful for readers and will draw them into your site, writing in a way that shows your personality will draw them in and encourage them to return.

Be yourself and write in the same style that you would speak. Be appropriate for the style of your blog, but don’t be afraid to show who you are.

Take a Provocative Stance

While reasoned, middle-of-the-road commentary might be sensible and logical, it can also be quite dry and boring. However, if you take an extreme position, you are bound to invite commentary on both sides.

Taking a provocative stance on an issue will tap into your readers’ emotions and incite them to share their own opinions, sparking even more discussion with other readers.

Call to Action

Often, you need to ask your readers to do what you want them to do. Want to hear their comments? Ask for them. Want to hear their opinions about a topic? Ask for them.

End each post with a call to action to encourage more comments. Ask for readers’ thoughts on the post, ask them to share their experiences, or ask for their alternative viewpoints.

Reply to Comments

Consider this: If you were to say something to someone and that person just stared at you and did not reply, would you keep talking? Or would you walk away? Most people would walk away.

Your blog is just like a conversation. When readers leave comments and you don’t reply, you are effectively ignoring them — or just staring back at them without saying anything. You should make it a habit to reply to all your comments (ok, maybe not the ones that simply say “great post!”). Doing so will encourage readers to become part of a conversation with you, and to feel engaged by the discussion that is happening on your blog.

Reward Comments

Sometimes readers need a little incentive to comment on your blog. You can offer it by allowing readers to include their links in their author line (or using plug-ins like Comment Luv that allow search engines to crawl those links), highlights the top commenters, or even hosting a contest for the most prolific commenters.

Taking these steps will show readers that you value their involvement on your blog and that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to promote that involvement.

Finding ways to encourage reader involvement on your blog will help promote its longevity and its success. The more your readers feel involved with your blog, the more they will return, helping you to sustain and promote your traffic.

What other methods have you used to encourage reader involvement on your blog? Tell us in the comments!