When we look at our blogs and the “traffic” we get to our blogs, it is my position we should break that traffic down into two distinct categories.

• Visitors
• Readers

Visitors and their presence on our blogs is just the first step in getting “traffic” to our blogs. A visitor may stop by for a short visit to just check us out. They may or may not spend much time on our blog reading our post and/or looking around. A first time visitor may spend some significant time on our blog or they may leave within just a few seconds of stopping by.

Our visitors may come to us from a number of different sources. A visitor might be stopping by because they saw a link to our blog on twitter or some other social media tool. Or they may have seen us leave a comment on another blog and they clicked on our link. The way they found us is not what is important for this post. What is important is how do we get them to take that next step and become a reader.

Readers are more than just visitors. To me a reader is someone who takes that next step and comes back time and time again to read what we have to say. A reader is someone who might visit us more often because they have bookmarked our URL and come back to check on a regular basis if we have updated our content. A reader is also someone who has subscribed to our RSS, which is one of the processes we hope all of our readers do. They may have subscribed to our RSS via a feeder or via email. I like both of these subscribers. However, if I could pick for them, I am almost convinced that email subscribers are better. By subscribing to our blogs via email, we are given an opportunity to share more with those subscribers then just our blog post.

Chances are, our readers are the ones who are taking the time to leave a comment on our post. Or to drop us an email with a question. Our readers are the “traffic” we are connecting with. However, we need to take some basic steps to make that connection so we keep our readers. And it is some of these same steps we can take to turn those visitors into readers who come back again and again.

Step back for a moment and look at the blogs you visit everyday. Ask yourself for a moment why you keep coming back and reading what those bloggers are writing. Ask yourself why you take the time to click on the links they suggest or give up your email address to get a free report or other information they are providing. You are going to come to realize it is because that blogger took the time to make a connection with you. And here are some tips you can use to create that same connection with your visitors.

Making the Connection

Tell them who your are:

One of the first things I do when I visit a new blog is to try to find out who this person is. I like to know who they are. Basically, I want to know their name. If there is one thing that causes me to not give a blog a second look it is when the owner/blogger is hidden. In other words, anonymous. The post on the blog are even written by the “Admin”. And worse, there is no “About Page” either.

What these bloggers forget is the fact blogging is a personal experience for many readers. They want to know who the blogger is and about the blogger in order to establish any form of trust with the blogger. If you are blogging and expect your visitors to become readers, you have to build trust. If you expect those readers to eventually become buyers of your products or services, you have to build trust. You are not going to be able to do that if you are hidden or anonymous. Tell your readers who you are.

Tell them about you:

Just as it is important to tell them who you are, you have to tell them about you. If you expect your readers to come to trust you and have a connection with you, you absolutely have to tell your readers about you. Not only do you have to have an About Page. You should also from time to time tell your readers more. Don’t be afraid to write a post and give your readers a glimpse into the real you. And yes, you can do this without getting too personal.

For example, talk about the town you live in. Talk about a vacation you just took and where. Give your readers an inside look at the real you and you will build an even stronger connection with them.

Show them who you are:

If you really want to make a connection with your readers and show them who you are, put a photo of you on your blog. I did not do this on this blog until the blog had been in existence for a year and we did the redesign. And I have to say, it has helped me to establish a connection with our readers.

People really like to put a name and face together. And they like to actually see the person they are wanting to connect with. My photo was take by a professional during a photo shoot I did last year when I was interviewed about running a business from my home. You don’t have to have a pro take the photo. But you do have to put a photo on your blog. I also use that same image for all of my avatars and photos I use in my online profiles. You will see that same image as my twitter avatar for example. I guess you could say the photo I am using on my blog and my other online profiles has become my brand of sorts.

Talk to your readers:

When a reader takes the time to leave a comment on your blog or drop you an email, you must take the time to communicate back with them. One of the great features of WordPress is the ability to have threaded comments and reply to specific comments left on your blog. I try to reply back to as many of those comments as I can. I also send an email to new commentators when they leave their first comment, thanking them for their comment and inviting them to come back. I have never had anyone complain about these emails.

I also always respond back to emails or contact form inquiries I get on this blog. Again, if the reader has taken the time to send you an email or use your contact form, you need to take the time to communicate back to them. Carrying on a conversation with your readers is one of the greatest benefits of a blog over a “static” website there is. And you are well on your way to maintaining a connection with your readers if you take the time to enter into that conversation with your readers.

One other way I am going to try to talk more with our readers this year is to actually try to see as many as I can face to face. I have established a travel budget this year so that I go to a select list of conferences and meetings so I can see some face to face. We tend to get so comfortable with our online life, we tend to forget to take it a step further and get back to the old fashion way of meeting and connecting with people. In person and face to face. Don’t overlook this in your own blogging experience.

Give your readers ways to connect with you:

Your blog is just one way for you to make that connection between you and your readers. Over the last couple of years, there has been a huge expansion in the number of social media tools and users of those tools. One way you can connect with your readers is to give them as many ways as you can to make that connection.

What we did on this blog when we did our redesign was to give our readers a link to all of the social media tools I use. You will see links to twitter, LinkedIn, FriendFeed and Facebook and I have made connection with each and every one of them.

Final thoughts:

What you are striving to accomplish by using the tips above is to establish and maintain a connection with your visitors so they become readers. And you are wanting to maintain that connection with your readers so they subscribe and keep coming back again and again.

Finally, if you don’t make this connection you are not going to reach that ultimate goal for your business or professional service firm blog. You are not going to convert your readers to clients or customers.

Take the tips we discuss above and try implementing them on your own blog and see what happens. If you can think of other ways that you connect with your readers, leave your comments here. Lets keep the conversation going.

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