Retain Visitors with High Quality Content Rich Posts

Photo by: MKH Marketing

You are probably aware that there are a significant number of ways of increasing traffic to your website or blog (click here to see some of these strategies). However once you've started to get a decent flow of visitors you want to keep them. The most effective way of ensuring this is through high quality and content rich posts in addition to updating your blog on a frequent and regular basis. If you get visitors and your posts are of a poor quality then:


 

• Your visitors are unlikely to stay for very long (probably a few seconds);
• Your visitors are very unlikely to share your blog or posts with their friends;
• Your visitors won't click any of your internal links and;
• Your visitors most certainly won't return to visit your blog again

Returning visitors are very important to the success of your blog as they allow you to build a following. A following can be very beneficial to your blog as these users will most likely share your content on a variety of different social platforms. Which in turn increases awareness about your blog and with it an increase in traffic.

Photo by: Saad Faruque via Flickr

So how can you ensure your posts are of high quality and engaging? This can be difficult however if you are blogging about a topic that you have a good understanding of and passion for then this will most likely come across and allow your blogs to be unique and interesting. Below are some quick tips:

• Only blog about topics you have a good understanding of. If you are blogging about unfamiliar topics it is likely you will just regurgitate content that is already available. If you know the topic really well then you can place your own spin and views when writing content. Which will mean your content truly unique.

• Have a passion for your content. Do not write about topics that you don't find interesting. If you are bored by the topic this is likely to effect the quality of your content. If you are truly interested and passionate about your topic this will assist you in writing high quality and engaging content.

Photo by: Owen Brown

• Write a catchy engaging title and introduction. Quite often a visitor may only reader the title and introduction. If this does not gain their interest then they are unlikely to stay on your blog and will move onto another website. Engaging post titles and introductions will keep visitors for longer.

• Add images to your posts. Images can be a really good way of dividing up your post. They may not affect the quality of the content but they can be very influential in maintaining the attention of your visitors. If a post is nothing but writing this may put off visitors before they've read any of your post. When using images ensure you adhere to relevant copyright legislation and credit images where appropriate.

• Try not to waffle. When writing a post you need to try and be direct; avoid jargon; and not waffle. You may lose the readers attention with long winded pointless sentences.

• Keep your paragraphs short. Short paragraphs of around 3-4 sentences can also be an effective way of ensuring visitors remain engaged. Big chunky paragraphs can be off putting and visitors may lose attention and leave your blog.

• Ensure your posts are of an adequate length. Usually your posts need to be at least 250 words long but probably no more than 800 words. If you find your post is going to be very long try splitting it up in to 2 or 3 posts.

If you have any tips for keeping visitors engaged or tips about how to write high quality posts please leave a comment. Anyone who comments with a tip can also add one link to there website or blog.

Please note all images were acquired via Flickr under the Creative Commons License. If you would like to reuse or distribute any of the images please ensure you adhere to this license. Click here for more information about the terms of this license.