18 Ways to Increase Engagement for Your Content

Creating Engaging Content

Are you failing to see the engagement you want on your posts?

Have you been struggling to create quality content that generates traffic and appeals to your audience?

Here are 18 ways you can improve your results by creating engaging content on your site and social accounts.

Use More Visual Content

Visual content has a much higher chance of being shared on social networks. People are more likely to engage with photos through likes or comments as well. Every article should have at least one image. Video content such as product demonstrations, interviews, and how-to videos are relatively easy and low-budget to create.

Repurpose Your Content

Look at the content you already have available and repurpose it for a different audience. Find your most popular posts and repurpose them into infographics or podcasts. Turn a video into a blog post. Look for ways you can craft new pieces of content from what you already have.

Only Use High-Quality Images

Instead of relying on Google Image Search to find photos, search stock photo sites for higher quality photos that can better represent your brand. I prefer using a paid subscription with iStock, but there are cheaper alternatives. There are even a few good stock photo sites where you can find free images:

• Canva
• Unsplash
• Pixabay

Share Customer Testimonials

Encourage customers to write and submit reviews about your products or their experiences with your services. Many people are happy to share their opinion in a review or testimonial.

Tag Influential People

If you’ve quoted an influencer or blogger, tag them in your work so that they see it. When you collaborate with others, they are more likely to share and promote your work.

Add Social Share Buttons To Your Emails

Put social buttons in your emails and newsletters, and ask your subscribers to share your content. You could even create a dedicated email campaign asking people to follow you on your social channels. They may then share some of your content.

Use Hashtags

Use relevant hashtags when you post something on your social accounts. Keep hashtags concise, and don’t use overly broad hashtags like “happy” or “love” as these are incredibly saturated.

Respond To Comments

Stay engaged with comments left by fans and followers. This shows that you care about their thoughts and opinions, allows you to monitor the comments, and gives you insight into what your followers are interested in. Social media is meant to encourage discussion, not be a platform for you to lecture or sell to your readers.

Write Directly To Your Reader

Use “you” to make each reader feel like you are speaking directly to them. Invite your readers to participate in a discussion, rather than simply lecturing them. Encourage them to share their tips or experiences in the comments section.

Grab Attention With The First Sentence

The first sentence of your post should grab the reader’s attention so that they want to keep reading. Ask a question or share a surprising fact or opinion.

Use Proper Formatting

Don’t waste your first impression. Each post should have an attention-grabbing headline and first sentence, an exciting or relevant image, and short paragraphs that are easy to read. Lots of people skim articles; appease them with subheadings, bolded words, internal links, and pictures.

Keep A Keyword In Mind

While writing, try to align your article with a keyword or phrase. Search Twitter for people asking questions about your word or phrase so you can answer their questions in your piece. Another great place to look for problems is Quora. Once you’ve written a blog post answering questions, you can post the link as a response to Quora questions.

Good Content Is Better Than Short Content

You expect readers to dedicate their time to reading your work. Make it good. If a piece of content is informative and well-written, people will continue reading it no matter how long it is. Long posts are more likely to have a higher amount of value.

Write With A Goal In Mind

Good content that doesn’t have a purpose or inspires action is useless. Write to achieve a goal, whether that’s to encourage email subscriptions, product purchases, or something else. What these actions are is up to you to decide. If you want readers to do something, make it easy for them with only one step between the article and the action you want them to take. Add in the appropriate links and buttons and make them easy for readers to see. Know what you are trying to achieve with every piece of content.

Vary The Type Of Posts You Write

Try to create different styles of articles so that your readers don’t get bored. Promote a product one day, the next share a story. Focus on a video. Address a customer testimonial. Discuss recent events. Keep readers interested in your content by creating a variety of post types.

Give Your Audience A Takeaway

Provide an additional benefit to your readers. Offer a downloadable whitepaper or ebook in exchange for email addresses. This gives readers a “freebie” and gives you the chance to nurture a lead.

Make It Personal

Rely on your interests and strengths to create quality content. Get excited and passionate about your topic. Inject your personality into everything you create. It adds a unique flair to each piece of content.

Conduct Research

Research and fact-check your information before posting it. Add in any relevant data, evidence, or links that will back up your article with credibility and proof.

Put these tips into practice to make creating engaging content much more natural. One final tip - don’t neglect your conclusion. It’s your last opportunity to make an impact on the reader and encourage them to follow through on your desired action.

Happy content creation!