How to Get School Blog Readers to Stick Around

You put a lot of work into getting students, prospective students and families to your blog.

You devote time and resources to building an audience. You work on creating a strong and interesting social presence. And you might even promote your content through email and paid advertising.

Creating and sharing content is no joke. But what’s harder than getting readers to visit your blog?

Getting them to stick around.

Sometimes we’re so focused on getting people to our blog that we forget to focus on getting them to stay.

So here are a few simple ways to keep those hard-earned eyeballs on your content a little longer:

Write an Irresistible Call-to-Action

Readers are readers – not mind-readers. Attention spans are short, so if you want your readers to take action, you have to ask them to take action.

Every post you write should include a straightforward call to action. What should your reader do when they reach the end of your article? Don’t leave them hanging – or they’ll go hang somewhere else.

Learn more about what goes into writing an awesome call to action in School Website Calls-to-Action: Everything you Need to Know

“Wine-Pair” Your Content

You know when you go to a restaurant, and they oh-so-generously provide their wine suggestions with their menu items? Yeah, that’s strategic. They want to be helpful, AND they want to make it as easy as possible for you to splurge on a bottle. Smart.

Do the same with your content. Include similar blog posts at the end of your article, under a section labeled “You may also like…” or “For more information on…” (See the bottom of this post as an example.) This will make it easy for interested people to stay interested.

Offer Post-Specific Downloads

Make your most important posts even more powerful. Take posts that are popular or important, and create a piece of gated content specific to that post.

For example, if you had to cut out information from the original post for brevity, or because of its complexity, turn that information into a checklist or tips sheet, for example, so readers can continue exploring the topic.

Make It Easy to Explore

Make sure you blog isn’t a black hole that, once a reader falls into, is impossible to escape. Because they will escape – by closing their browser window.

There are many ways to enhance your blog’s user experience:

Divide posts in categories
Consider creating dynamic navigation menus that offer a glimpse into each category’s content
Tag your articles appropriately
Make good use of your sidebar space – offer up popular posts or enticing links to important content

Include Links

Whenever possible, include links within your article to additional content on your blog or website.

Want an example? I already gave you one in #1 above. There, I’m linking to a past blog post, and spelling out the title. But you can also include internal links within a sentence itself when you mention a key topic, to keep your audience engaged. See what I did there? 🙂

Those are just a few simple ways to extend your readers’ time on your blog or website. For more tips on how to create and share a story your audience loves, just click on “Subscribe Here!” below.