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How To Engage Your Reader For Conversions And Traffic

Are you a blogger or an affiliate marketer? Do you write content for your site but wonder how to engage your reader? As you know, engaging work brings in visitors and increases conversions. In light of this, let’s talk about how to make your work engaging and draw in your reader.

I am a poet. I thought my poetry was pretty good. So, I started a website and decided to blog inspiration and personal growth articles along with my poetry. I put my thoughts down and published the article and I thought it was rock-solid. Boy was I wrong!

Oh my! As I progressed, I learned more about writing and how to best reach those who want inspiration. As my knowledge and courage increased, I looked back on my previous posts, in reality the words I wrote were horrible.

Can you relate to the horror I felt when I looked back on my stories a couple of years later? Or maybe the thought of writing cripples you, so you haven’t tried to put words to paper.

Well, no fear because I am here to help you feel more secure, in addition, we will talk about how to engage your reader and make your writing more exciting.

What Is A Conversion?

A conversion is when a person follows through with a goal on your website. When you have a product for sale, and someone visits your site and clicks to purchase that product it is known as a conversion.

What Does It Mean To Engage?

Before we begin I want to have a better understanding of what the word engage means because with a full understanding, I always find it easier to apply the principles.

According to the Merriam Webster:

 to attract and hold by influence or power

 to hold the attention of

Engaging someone is to hold their attention; in other words, you want to attract their attention and hold them in the power of your words. You want them to stay on your site longer and keep reading.

To engage your readers, you will need to hold their interest by writing a story or giving information that will keep them spellbound, captivated, occupied, and devote their full attention to what you are saying.

5 Steps To Lay The Groundwork

  • Show integrity
  • Research and knowledge
  • Be truthful
  • You are here to help
  • Show concern

Engage Your Reader – Show Integrity

Always operate your website and your blog with an ethical code. Do not duplicate other work. Act in kindness at all times even when others are unkind to you. Have a moral character to stand by your values of right and wrong. In addition, be an individual who also follows an accepted standard of conduct.

Always respond with thought when answering comments and questions. Never lash out in the face of anger.

“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” 

W. Clement Stone   

Research And Knowledge

When you find a subject to write about, research it to learn all there is to know. Know your subject inside and out. Become knowledgeable, so you can gain trust and engage your reader. Not to mention, help them understand your story through your written words.

If you write reviews, never call a product a scam unless it fits the definition of a scam. Try to convey your post in a positive light.

“Knowledge is Power.”

Sir Francis Bacon

“The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others.” 

Jon Locke

Engage Your Reader With The Truth

Always tell the truth according to your research and opinion. Be ready to retract a statement if you are proven wrong but stand your ground if you are correct and truthful. As well as, make it known when it is your opinion and when it is fact.

People know when someone is lying. Consumers who shop online are astute and have had to develop other senses to determine if something is the truth or a lye.

Never say you used a product unless you do and always state if you do not know rather than making up an answer.

“Truth is the ultimate power. When the truth comes around, all the lies have to run and hide.”

Ice Cube

You Are Here To Help

You are writing and developing a business to help others. If you believe it is to make money only and you put this first, you will fail. Engage your reader by helping real people solve real problems because shoppers are turning to you for an answer.

Be there for your reader. Reply to their comments in a timely fashion and find answers for them.

You are writing to help your reader, so let that be obvious in your approach.

“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.” 

Kalu Ndukwe Kalu

Show Concern

When you write to help others, then your concern will be real. Engage your reader by caring about them and creating trust.

Fake concern is detected in a split second. Empty words to appease a person are hollow and they will see right through it.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” 

Leo Buscaglia

How To Engage Your Reader

Now that you have laid the groundwork of who you are, it is time to learn to engage your reader.

Here is a list of 5 tips you can incorporate into your blog post that will capture your audience and keep them interested.

how to engage your reader pin

5 Tips Of Engagement

  1. Capture their interest
  2. Shocking news
  3. Tell someone else’s story
  4. Easily accessible
  5. Have faith in  your work

How To Engage Your Reader By Capturing Their Interest

With the groundwork, engagement has started. Online shoppers want to follow a person who has integrity and they can trust.

Capture their interest with color. Use photos that pertain to the article you are writing to extend their attention span. In our world today, there is so much technology and the world moves fast. The mind and eye will not stay on written content for long without something stimulating. With this in mind, photos with color will grab their attention and keep them on your page.

Use power words to engage your reader, for this reason, I put together a list of power words by Jon Marrow as a reference.

How To Engage Your Reader With Shocking News

Engage your reader at the beginning of your blog or your title with a shocking piece of news.

You see shocking titles on the news every day. Just the other day I read this one on CNN, “The new iPad Pro is a deceptively major upgrade.” So is the iPad a deception or are they trying to catch our attention to tell us about the upgrade?

CNN captured our interest so we will open the article and read more.

You can also use some breaking news to capture interest. The object is to wake your reader up with the opening line or title.

Tell Someone Else’s Story

Use the incredible story of a friend, colleague, or someone in history to engage your reader and set the scene for your blog, in addition, use power words to generate emotion.

Example: Joe Smush was a pretentious man. He always had a new business deal he wanted to share with everyone. He would exaggerate his income to the world. So naturally, when he ran across a company that he loved and tried to tell us about it, we brushed him off.

He would often tell us of the brilliant mind-blowing technique taught within this company. He had to be naïve if he thought we would fall for another of his scams.

Oh wow were we surprised when we saw his jaw-dropping 6 figure tax return for the past year.

So you see how this, along with your power words, can make your reader want to go further to see how Joe Smush made this kind of money?

Easily Accessible

round image of laura

Easily engage your reader by helping them visualize a real person behind your writing. Tell a short story about yourself to show your vulnerability. Let people know that you struggle and you are not perfect.

I have been an affiliate marketer for almost 4 years now. Has it been easy? Not always! I have put into motion dedication, perseverance, and consistency. It has taken discipline, but I am here with you today even in the face of trials to tell you it is worth every second of my day.

Ask questions of your readers and answer promptly.

Are you willing to work for your legacy? Can you learn and expand your capabilities as you create an online business from home?

Then use a couple of paragraphs answering these questions and give a solution to the problem.

Use photos of yourself on your website so your reader can relate to you.

Have Faith In Your Work

So what if you are new at blog writing. Researching your topic will give you strength and show authority. Keep writing until you get your point across. Know that you are putting your best work out to millions. As time moves on, you will improve but right now know that your work is exceptional.

Never compare yourself or your work to someone else. You are unique, and your work comes from inside of you. Be proud of yourself and what you do.

You are your brand, a ROCK star, and an entrepreneur.

Now go out there and write an engaging post or article. Entice your reader to continue and learn more.

The Laura Method

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20 thoughts on “How To Engage Your Reader For Conversions And Traffic”

  1. Hi Laura –
    I completely agree about the importance of being an ethical writer.
    I’ve seen so many websites that are so obviously marketing copy thinly disguised as helpful web-pages. The way that such posts are written makes it clear that the website owner only cares about people clicking on their affiliate links.

    I love some of your tips about engaging the reader.

    Taking the time to research your topic and present it to your readers in a way they can clearly understand shows that you care about them and that you want to help them to learn something new.

    Sure, we might include affiliate links but they should be there because of the article, not the other way around (where the article is clearly written to support the affiliate links).

    I must admit, my weakest area is telling other people’s stories. I’d really like to improve on that one.

    Reply
    • Hi Phil, Thank you for stopping to comment on Engage Your Reader. Your comment is so important to me and for all who see it. If each one of us is honest in what we post, we will follow all of the other suggestions I have written here. Also, research is the second most important because without it we can’t be honest.
      Telling other peoples story becomes more comfortable as we grow because we run into more people who have a story. We each have a weakness, and if this is yours, then you are doing very well.
      And yes you are so right on the statement, “Sure, we might include affiliate links, but they should be there because of the article, not the other way around (where the article is clearly written to support the affiliate links).” We are here to help and serve others, not promote ourselves.

      Reply
  2. Really good information. You know, it’s a lot easier to tell the truth and be up-front that it is to lie and ‘tell tales’. I like your integrity. I really appreciated the list of power words. Thanks for all the information. Just shows you there is no get rich quick way to earn an income. But it looks like you’ve enjoyed every step of your journey. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Thank you so much. Yes, lies will always catch up with us. Honesty is still the way to go. You are welcome for the power words. 

      Reply
  3. What a great post! I first thought engaging your audience meant making them part of the conversation, asking questions and their feedback. But with my training at Wealthy Affiliate, I came to understand that, it is all of that and a lot more. Being helpful to your audience is Paramount. And you only be helpful when you say the truth, when you have integrity, when you show concern,…..and when you can get their attention. 

    So, I have been applying these successfully and it feels great to be helpful to people.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • I am so happy you have found value in this post and even more excited that you can apply these principles in your blog — all the success to you on your blogging journey. 

      Reply
  4. What a lovely post you wrote! I enjoyed reading it, and I could not be silent about your post, so I decided to leave my comment here and say Thank You! For sharing this quality post with others. I have searched for information such as this to help to increase my ability to engage others. When I landed on your website and read this post, it answered all my questions in details. Thank You for writing about this topic and sharing it with all of us. It’s beneficial and can I can use it as a great resource. I will come back to your website again for sure, and I’m looking forward to reading your new posts. 🙂

    All the Best,

    Eli

    Reply
    • Eli, It is my pleasure to help. I would love to hear how these principles work for you in your blogging. Please come back to share with all of us. Thank you for your complimentary comment. 

      Reply
  5. Wow! This was so refreshing! As a blogger myself, I must coincide with you on the updating part. Sometimes I read what I wrote a year ago and am in shock people even liked it. I’m serious! I find it lacks engagement or the content is not updated hence, I have learned new things. I believe we must always be updating our own content. 

    Reply
  6. After reading your article I found myself not only engaged with what you were saying,but also hungry to find out more. You make it sound so easy and it is,especially when you have honesty and integrity behind your words. This is why I like to write reviews. I can be honest and at the same time I can be concerned for the reader especially if I am doing a review on a scam. It allows me to point out to my readers that I am looking out for them.

    Reply
    • Thank you Cathy. I love to write good reviews but when I research a scam it almost makes me sick. I have to be honest so these scammers do not get more hard earned money. 

      Thank you for your compliments. I am so happy this article was helpful. 

      Reply
  7. This is so important! Establishing trust, and just an overall positive environment is crucial to growing an audience! With a loyal audience, the bigger it gets, the more people you’ll be able to help, and of course, the more money you can make! I agree, being able to show your knowledge through the research you have done is crucial to your integrity in whatever field you’re in! What would you say the most important thing to do out of the top 5 you gave is if you can give one?

    Reply
    • I believe that, without a doubt, honesty is the most important. If on is truthful then the other 4 will follow. 

      Reply
  8. Integrity is a hard sell if you have none. Be honest with yourself first and share that honesty with others. People will embrace a character they hate if it’s honest, an example would be watching a news show that is slanted against your beliefs because despite their opinions they offer a fair and balanced voice and have a high degree of integrity in their facts. People will tune in to unpopular beliefs and listen to opposing views if they are not accusatory, defaming, and unethical. Honesty shines through and readers will stay for debate on all else.

    Reply
    • Andy, I have always had integrity, and it is hard for me to believe out world lacks it. But I agree with you that if we incorporate all five steps into honesty, we will be a step ahead of most others. Honesty, above all, is an excellent thought you have brought up and stimulating.

      Reply
  9. I really love the breakdown of how the engagement process really works. I have to say, we think about these things, and know they are the right thing to do, but doing it is another thing. We always want to help our readers to the fullest extent. I totally agree with that. Also, telling someone else’s story is a great approach because we may not have the story ourselves. But, we have friends and acquaintences and can share their stories to bring our point accross and add more value to our readers. I have learned a lot from this post. Thanks for the tips.

    Reply
    • Ralph, you are right when you say that applying what we know is the hard part. There is so much to know. I do hope that breaking it down will help us all to remember it and apply it in our business.

      Laura

      Reply
  10. This is incredible and so thought-provoking Laura.
    I am in business online too and I always try my best to be engaging and I am always honest and feel my credibility is building with more and more people visiting and staying on my site to read my blogs
    I hope people enjoy this blog as much as I have
    You are awesome
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Hello JacRae, I am so happy you found this article informative and helpful. Remember engaging my reader is not something I knew how to do. It is something I have taught myself with the training at Wealthy Affiliate. And you too can learn this process. Thank you so much for your compliment.

      Reply

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