Diversifying Your Articles To Sustain Reader Interest

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This is a guest post by Brandon Connell, an SEO Consultant, Web Designer, and Blogger. Brandon can be found at BrandonConnell.com where he teaches you how to Make Money Blogging

I have spent a lot of time thinking about diversification within blog posts and articles that I publish on sites like Associated Content. The reason for so much thought on the subject is because every blogger on occasion struggles with keeping reader interest.

Readers like to go to a blog and find something fresh to read. If you write about the same thing all of the time, then chances are that you will seem ‘stale’ in the reader’s eyes and your commentary and reader interaction will suffer.

I understand that it seems weird that I bring this up, especially when your blog niche may be hard to diversify. Take my “make money blogging” niche for example. There are a lot of these kinds of blogs, and staying unique is rather hard because pretty much everything has been said about the subject. I said ‘pretty much’… There are ways to change up the way you write about these topics which allow you to stay unique. Here I will share some of them with you.

#1: News-Blending

Recently I posted about a big news issue here in America. It was about an older family in Tennessee who’s house caught on fire. The fire department refused to put out the fire because the homeowners forgot to pay the “subscription fee” for fire service in that area outside of the city limits. I related this news story to blogging by showing how important it is to have compassion for others and help your fellow bloggers. That news story was a hot topic, so I banked on the fact that it would draw some attention.

You can find new topics to blog about within your niche by utilizing a news story to it in some sort of way. It takes a little bit of imagination, but with practice you can master this technique.

#2: Share, Don’t Be a Todler

I have a 10 year old and a 6 year old boy. I cannot stress to you the amount of times you will hear me repeating myself that they have to share with each other and stop fighting. Compare your situation to you being the 10 year old, and your readers being the 6 year old. SHARE!

Another recent post of mine involves a self-published interview based on reader questions. I wrote out a massive 1,000 plus word Q&A article. This allows me to be transparent with readers and share some personal information about myself. I plan to do more of these kinds of posts because I love to share things about myself that help readers to get to know me. I have had a bad social life in real life since I was a kid, and establishing friendships as an adult is vital to my mental health.

Share yourself with your readers to let them know that you are human. There is nothing wrong with dropping your shields for a moment in order to gain some reader interest. It may even open up some new opportunities for you.

#3: Be Sarcastic & Humorous

People love to laugh, and a little bit of reverse psychology. That’s why I wrote an article on my blog titled “how to give up on your dreams” which specifies ways to sabotage your blog and business efforts.

If you can use some humor every now and then in your articles, you will establish loyal readers and subscribers. Alex does this all the time. And no I am not talking about the way he speaks funny because he’s Austrailian.
(Editor note: Thanks, I think )

#4: Help Your Readers

Are you naturally a person who loves to help others? Then this should come very easily for you. There were times where I recognized that a fellow blogger needed assistance, and I offered my help. One of them got hacked and their hosting was hijacked. I offered my technical expertise in order to re-secure their blog and get them back into business. Another time, I offered advertising assistance to a blogger I felt was about to give up in their efforts even though I knew that they had potential in their chosen niche.

You may come across a reader or a fellow blogger that needs your help. What are you prepared to do for them?

#5: Show Your Worth

Your readers want to know that you care about them. What are you doing to show you care? Do you come out with new products for them on a regular basis? Do you send them valuable tips via your newsletter or are you just sending them spam?

Long term readers become long term because of the methods you use to establish your worth. My subscriber count rises daily because I work hard to ensure I provide value to my readers. Those who know me and have followed me for a long time know that my readers come first. I rarely post affiliate reviews or try to actively make money with my blog. I inadvertantly make money because I include affiliate links that are relevant within my articles. I also link to useful products within my ebooks. I make my money without intruding on the reader experience.

What are you doing to show your worth to your readers? Please take a minute or two right now to actually think about this.

#6: Know What You’re Talking About

It sucks to come across a blog where you found “some” useful information and then to notice that this person knows nothing about their niche. It sucks horribly! I like to go to blogs related to my niche all the time, and some I have put on my blacklist simply because I know my niche well and when I see them providing dis-information, it really eats at me.

A recent article of mine I submitted to Technshare and am waiting for publishing speaks about establishing yourself as an expert. One of the fundamentals of qualifying as an expert in your niche is to actually learn everything you can about it and get your hands on experience under your belt. Without that, you may not know what you are talking about and you are ruining your reputation as a result. Without knowing your niche, you cannot retain reader interest.

The cool thing about knowing what you’re talking about is that it allows you to utilize all of the other things I listed and diversify your blog.

Find out more about how you can diversify your blog, increase your traffic, and ultimately your income. Download Brandon’s FREE Ebook (click on image) and learn how to effectively and realistically make money blogging today!

Your Turn:

Keep your readers interested by keeping them on their toes. Let Alex and I know what you do in order to keep your readers interested?

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Tagged as: Article Marketing, post humor, reader interest, staying unique, unique perspective