Do you ever wonder if your readers are paying attention to your blog? After all, it can be an exhausting process. You pour your heart and soul into each post only to have it sit there with very little feedback from your audience. It’s easy to feel like you’re talking into a vacuum. There isn’t much we can do about how another person responds to something.
We can’t force anyone to like our ideas or agree with our points. But what we can control is how much attention they pay while reading our content. Do they understand the point you’re making? Are they interested in what you have to say? Do they even finish reading it?
You blog because you want people to read it. But how do you know if your blog is reaching the right audience? How can you tell if your readers are paying attention?
How do you know if they even understand what you’re trying to say? Every blogger has experienced this feeling at one time or another: You write a post, upload it to your blog, and then think – Did anyone actually read that? Are they going to understand what I meant in this article? Do they care about what I have to say?
That sinking feeling when you’ve just published a new blog post isn’t necessarily normal. It usually means there’s something wrong with the way you’re writing.
The good news is that those feelings are easily fixed with a few small changes. Read on to discover 7 surprising ways to find out if your readers are paying attention to your blog
Ask Your Readers to Review Your Blog
One of the easiest ways to figure out if your readers are paying attention is to ask for their feedback. This can be done in the form of an email survey after every post or through a commenting system that allows your readers to vote on posts with a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” rating.
You might not get a ton of responses, but the ones you do get will be incredibly valuable. The best part is you can use these comments to improve your blog’s quality as well as your readers’ engagement.
Understand your audience
The first step in knowing if your readers are paying attention is understanding who they are. Know what they like, what they hate, and what kinds of things motivate them.
This can be done by reading and interacting with your readers on social media, doing some research on your audience, and polling your subscribers.
Social media: Followers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are great sources for understanding who your readers are. You can get a sense of their interests and what they’re talking about. You can also engage with your readers directly and poll them for information.
Research: Finding out how your readers consume content is important. What sites do they visit? What blogs do they read? What types of content do they spend their time consuming? Knowing these things can help you tailor your posts for your audience and keep them engaged.
Polling your subscribers: Another way to get a sense of who your readers are is to poll your subscribers. You can either do this directly through your email list or use a third-party service like Polldaddy.
Run a Google Analytics Check
One of the best ways to determine if your readers are paying attention is by checking your Google Analytics stats. Since all blogs are different, it’s best to check your blog’s Google Analytics for the past two months.
Google Analytics will show you the amount of traffic your blog is getting, where that traffic is coming from, how much time these readers are spending on your blog, and what kinds of content they’re favoring.
This information will help you discover how many people are reading your blog, how long they’re staying, and what content is attracting the most readers.
Use Polls and Surveys to Find Out
Polls and surveys can be used to not only get a sense of your readers’ opinions but also to see if they are paying attention. By asking questions you can get a sense of the level of interest in your posts.
If you want to know if your readers are paying attention, conducting a survey is a great way to find out. There are several online survey platforms that you can use to conduct your own reader engagement survey.
If you want to know if your readers are paying attention, conducting a survey is a great way to find out. There are several online survey platforms that you can use to conduct your own reader engagement survey.
This can help you understand if they are understanding your ideas and if they are interested in what you’re publishing. Surveys are another great way to get a sense of your readers’ engagement. You can use FormScape to create a survey that asks readers how they feel about your blog posts, how interested they are in your niche, and why they visit your site.
Watch Where Readers Are Clicking
When readers are on your blog, where do they tend to focus their attention? What content are they reading first? Where are they clicking most often?
This can help you determine if your readers are paying attention. If you notice that readers are clicking on a specific type of content more often than others, it’s a good sign that they’re interested in that type of content.
Look for keywords and mentions
When you publish, you might include certain keywords or phrases that are relevant to the post. This is common in the blogging world.
These keywords can help your readers find the post, but they can also help you understand if your readers are paying attention. If you see these keywords showing up in your feedback and social media mentions, you can be sure that readers have read your post.
Read the Comments
The comments on your blog can be a great way to determine if your readers are paying attention. The comments on your blog posts can give you a good indication of where your readers are coming from, what their interests are, and what they’re looking for in your content.
The comments on your blog posts can give you a good indication of where your readers are coming from, what their interests are, and what they’re looking for in your content.
Run an Editorial Meeting After Publication
After you publish a new blog post, schedule an editorial meeting with your blogging team. During this meeting, you can discuss how well your current content is resonating with readers.
If your team members are confused about a particular post, it’s a good indication that the readers are as well.
Find out what’s working
The best way to find out if your readers are paying attention is to look at your analytics. Find out how many people are visiting your site and how many of those people are reading your posts. You can also look at your social media engagement to see if people are reading your posts and then sharing them.
The actions of your readers are the best way to know if they’re paying attention. If you’re seeing high engagement rates and click-through rates, then you know your readers are paying attention.
Through these metrics, you can see which posts are resonating with your audience and which ones aren’t. You can then make changes to those posts to ensure your readers are getting the most out of your content.
Ask your blogger network
Another way to find out if your readers are paying attention is to ask members of your blogger network. Reach out to other bloggers in your niche and ask them if they’ve seen any signs that readers are engaging with your content.
You can also ask them what their readers are doing while reading their posts. The answers to these questions can help you understand if your readers are paying attention.
Watch for actions
While reading, people will often unconsciously react to what they are reading. You can watch for these reactions to see if your readers are paying attention. You can also take notes on their reactions. How fast do they read?
Do they take notes? Do they underline or write in the margins? What types of questions are they asking? All of these actions can help you understand if your readers are paying attention.
Wrapping Up
Reading your own blog posts is a great way to determine if your readers are paying attention. The more you read your content, the more you’ll pick up on things you want to improve. Even if your readers are paying attention by reading your posts, that doesn’t mean they’re actually understanding what you’re trying to say.
You can use a few of these methods to ensure that your readers are actually getting the information they came for. Now that you know 7 surprising ways to find out if your readers are paying attention to your blog, it’s time to put them into practice.
The next time you publish a new blog post, try one of these methods to determine if your readers are actually reading.
