First time blog visitors are loyal readers in waiting. They deserve a little special treatment, too, and it’s not hard to impress them if you make getting to know them a priority.
Some of these are more suited to blogs whose primary readers are bloggers, but the first two are suitable for all blogs.
1. Create a Custom Landing Page Just for Them
Nothing screams “Welcome!” better than a welcome mat that’s been personalized just for you. That’s what Stanford Smith of Pushing Social has done to welcome people who visit his blog by way of his guest post at Copyblogger. It’s very easy to do.
Just create a special page tailored to fit the readers of the blog you’re guest posting on, and then link to it instead of your home page in your bio. A quick, easy, and incredibly intelligent thing to do. Plus, it’s deep-linking from a (presumably) high-ranking, high-quality blog, which will increase the landing page’s page rank over time. That’s smart blogging!
Try creating ones for visitors from HubPages, Squidoo, EzineArticles, or any place else that sends you a good bit of traffic that is likely to convert to loyal readership.
How Pushing Social Welcomes Copyblogger Readers
2. Offer Something Totally Free
Just as a reminder, free means
- Free of obligation.
- Free of charge.
- Free of stealth marketing tactics.
- Free of hidden fees.
- Free of teaser copy, with real stuff hidden behind an obligation.
- Free of crap.
- Free.
Does anybody give anything away free these days? Yes. Lots of people and companies do. It’s okay to charge something, such as an email address, sometimes, but every now and then you might want to throw something in there that is quite literally free.
3. Contact Them Personally Via Email, Twitter or Facebook
This only applies to people you know (or can safely assume) have visited your blog. Here are ways you can tell:
- They leave a comment on your blog.
- If they are bloggers, they link to your blog in one of their posts.
- If they are on Twitter, they share a link on Twitter and say something to go along with it.
Contacting people who do those things is a little step that can go a really long way. If you run a business blog and you have a community manager, this can be their job – to reach out and connect. Otherwise, it’s yours. If you don’t have to time to sit down and write a personal note to every new visitor, installing something like the Thank Me Later plugin for first time comments will work, also.
If someone links to your blog in a blog post, go visit that link and at the very least, say thank you. If their blog is new and they have a brand new community with little interaction, they will appreciate the gesture.
When someone retweets your posts, you can say thank you. Bundle it with other thank you’s, if you don’t want to bug the heck of people who are following you (no need for an individual ‘Thank you for your RT’ especially if you have 20 of them or something like that). Of course, you can’t thank everyone, but it’s something you can do every now and then.
People get annoyed at the Thank You’s, and to that I say: please take a muscle relaxer and chill out.
4. Visit Their Blog and Share Their Posts or Comment
If your visitors (and primarily your first time commentators) are bloggers, spend some time visiting their blogs and if the content is good, share it. Or, you could leave a comment if you feel like it. Again, these are little gestures but because they are so rare, doing them will make your more approachable and likable.
5. Keep Your Community Active
Engaging readers and allowing readers to engage with each other is the best way to breathe life into a blog community. Here are some easy things you can do:
- Install sharing icons so readers can share your post across social channels (I’m still shocked at the number of people who don’t do this)
- Use a threaded commenting system, so readers can reply to other people’s comments (Thesis theme has this by default, as well as DISQUS and Intense Debate systems. Otherwise, you can install a plugin for WordPress)
- Use polls from time to time
- Install a Recent Comments type of widget in your sidebar to show commenting activity
- Install Top Commentators to share premium link love with those who engage the most
- Respond to comments
- Publish weekly wrap-ups, focusing on your niche, or on your community of readers. Link out liberally.
Other Things that Impress
What else do you think impresses first time visitors? What impresses you, when you read a blog for the first time?
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thanks for the interesting article
Well, nothing attracts our followers rather than warm welcome as you said. And cool contents stuffed with quality with suave web designs could attract all and gets more traffic in my view too. And all your 5 tips to attract the fresh visitors were goddamn great literally. 100% agree with your views!
Yes Tia, I really agree with you. Because if I don’t give value my visitors, then why should be with me or my blog. Nowadays it seems many bloggers don’t give value to their visitors. Its bed.
Thanks for this info. It truly raises the bar of courtesy for blogging.
Tia, I just found your site this week and want to say I am delighted. You are providing totally great content in a very accessible manner and are really so good at including people and getting them involved. I am looking forward to learning about that from you:-)
Thank you for the fresh and useful advices, the ones on custom landing page for visitors and freebies is especially helpful. Building relationship with visitors is very useful as well, but it’s by far the hardest part as it’s most time consuming. I see that in this regards you’re doing very well =)
Such an informative post! This is the kind of thing that impresses me when I visit a blog.. honesty and personality! If the post is just a generic post.. chances are, I might not even get to the end.. but when the author can throw in a bit of personality in the mix.. and still keep the post informative, (like you’ve done here), chances are, I’ll stick around and read more!
BTW, I keep coming back to your blog. I know I commented on a couple things just now.. I then left and went to another blog, and saw one of your comments there, and was pulled back again to this post!
Keep up the great work.. Woman Power all the way! Haha
i love the idea of the custom landing page…cheers
I regularly do the fourth point and I am doing it. I am impressed by the first point that to create a welcome page for everyone unique from where they are coming.
That way we give the readers that they get spl attention.
Good one
Thanks, Senthil!!
I don’t know about creating a landing page for them but visiting their sites and commenting/tweeting their posts works just fine for me as it’s easy breezy
Hey I just commented and tweeted this post
. lol
LOL Thank you! I wish that was easier for me. I don’t have as much time as I used to have.
Tia,
You are right on with all these 5 tips of ways to impress first time visitor and I couldn’t agree with you more. The landing page, giving free stuff, building relationship are huge for any blogger.
Hi Justin, thanks for your comment! Yes, those things together are basically like a power engagement plan for blogging.
Tia, you’ve made a very good post here. I think the common thing about each of your points is engagement and networking. Welcoming ppl to your blog, allowing comments and interaction between commentors, contacting ppl and retweeting posts are important elements of engagement that will build followers and let ppl know who you are.
Engagement is key. We work so hard to get readers – why let them slip away? Thanks for your comment!
Building community and maintain it is the most valuable aspect of blogging life. You have pointed out really worthy tips – all those five. I’m using Thank me later plugin to remind the one who comments in my blog, but I’m concerned, it should not send too many emails to irritate. So maximum only one email per day!
Hi Suresh! I’m right there with you. I hate getting bombarded. I set up Thank Me Later to send only one email EVER not just one per day. I feel that if they want me to bug them they can subscribe to my updates, LOL.
Otherwise I stay out of their inbox, because I’d prefer people stay out of mine.
Impress me enough, thanks for the article
.
We all would rather speak up in communities that speak to us. No one wants to put something out there that goes completely unacknowledged.Thanks for the article. I liked reading it
You’re welcome!
I’m not a blogger but I do read them. I have a thirst to find out things I don’t know. I do though run a website. I concur and I know the value behind making people feel at home and giving them a reason to hang around a while and to maybe book mark you and return regularly. Building a rapor and when possible finding means to interact with visitors in a virtual must. Never underestimate the value of returning some love and visiting a visitors site.
I Suppose the Thank Me Later plugin makes up a avid path of connecting with your commenters – it is altogether automatic and so does not require whatsoever input by you
Thanks for the article. I liked reading it
Great post man. I really enjoyed the points you have listed here. I have to say that you will no doubt impress your visitors by following the points listed above.
interacting with fellow bloggers or blog readers keeps the community alive and you motivated for writing every other day …
It does! And it inspires new ideas.
Wow, these are all fabulous tips Tia. I agree with every bit of this post,thanks for the share. I guess Thank Me Later plugin is an awesome way of interacting with your commenters. Great find!
It is. It works well, too. I make sure to only send one message.
I really like your post and i admired it. I am impressed because of the fact that the information this blog contains is of great importance and i haven’t read it anywhere else and i am again thankful to you. I’ll be back to read more………..
really a great post… it’s my first visit to the site and i say i m quite impressed with the quality posts… thanks for share…
Thanks for your comment!
I use numbers 1, 2 and 4.
I never contact people personally as they might consider that as spamming them and trying to get them to but something, it works for some but at the same time it may alienate others.
Good point, Zarko. It definitely depends on their comment – like if it asks a specific question you could go the extra mile and email them. I’ve gotten a great response from the Thank Me Later plugin which sends a thank you message out after a comment is left. People have replied saying that they were psyched to get a follow-up!
Saying thank you when someone does share something about you or your product or your website really goes a long, long way. It builds a bridge towards a more fruitful relationship, it says you’re a person who repays good for good and many other things. It’s only two words but it speaks volumes!
It does not matter what site or page I go to of yours, you always make people feel welcome. You have a great way of sharing yourself that makes people feel like you have been life long friends. I think it has to do with your design of your site. It is not cluttered and you do not throw alot of flashing lights or signs everywhere. You always answer my questions and that is very important. You have helped me out alot over the last few months.
This is very helpful, Tia. I haven’t done any guest posts until now, but I have sent some already and I will use your information
Hey Tia,
Excellent and useful post! …I am only slightly biased
In case your readers are wondering, the special landing page almost tripled my email subscriptions. It’s a keeper. Although I would love to do this for every guest post, I only have so much time. So I focused on a page for Problogger and Copyblogger for the obvious reasons.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts!
I think you could do a template and use it for every blog
I think it’s especially important to contact your clients personally. The extra outreach is really significant to a person and they’ll definitely remember you in the future. An extra step that is certainly worth taking.
Interesting read, thanks for sharing! The idea of adding a landing page designed for first-time visitors definitely seems interesting. Making something specifically for someone is always a good way to draw attention. On the other hand how you make that page can make the difference between scaring potential subscribers away and getting them to join your community.
Hey Daniel – That’s VERY true. lol Sometimes people are better off just having the landing page be a really interesting post – something that they compose just for those readers. And they should turn comments on.
Great tips, everyone could use more visitors. thanks
Really great tips, Tia! That COPYBLOGGER ROCKS!! banner is really outstanding and would really bring people in. LOL. I guess I need to do more of #4.
Hey Gloson – At least you’re getting around now. I’m very curious about your post title in the Comluv field. That’s why you should get around more!
Haha… thanks Tia! I’ll certainly do my best to get around more.
I’ve submitted this post to SERPd, by the way, and it got popular >> http://www.serpd.com/sem/5-ways-to-impress-first-time-visitors/ .
Hope you could join SERPd! It is a new and really cool SEO-and-blogging social media website!
Cheers!
Gloson
It is truly much important for your visitor to have a spot in your site. It will make them feel special and feel wanted. It will also create an eagerness to visit your page again and again.
Agreed, Andy! Thanks.
These are some good tips never taught about the idea of contacting them personally or the special landibg page i believe these ideas worth a try thanks for the heads up
Thanks! Let me know which one(s) you think you might try. Then let me know in a month or so if you notice any difference!
Hey Tia,
Sometimes I have a love/hate relationship with these posts, because although there’s lots of great info, they also represent a lot of work for me to do in the near future to implement the good advice! Aaargh (hurts so good…)
Anyway thanks for the article, this has given me lots to do.
-John (who needs the weekend, anyway) Garrett
LOL John you are too funny. But ugh, I feel ya, blogging is a lot of work. And I have more than one. I pay the most attention to this one, and as a result, it’s growth is much better. The others it’s more about keeping them alive. lol
Tia -
Wow. You are a full bucket of genius. That be some good stuff.
Deliberate grammatical errors aside, I think the landing page idea is…wow. Just incredible.
I want to ask you about your “free” idea – I’m definitely game for that, and have found good free ebooks and reports…that are actually really, really good (writing a couple myself – one for a client and another for me).
But my question is: would including an affiliate link violate the spirit of what you’re driving at? I’m not nearly at the level you’re at with blogging – have no list like a dolt, yet – but it seems that would be a good, freeish sorta thing.
What do you think? It seems from this idea you meant, “No, free!” As in, “No link!”
Which makes me want to scrape my boils with potsherds. If I had either boils or potsherds (had to go Book of Job just because).
I’ll tell you what impresses me about your blog:
Your titles and content. I mean – I’m impressed with what you know – you’ve got skills – but I sorta look past all the rest. It’s impressive, sure (who isn’t impressed with Thesis or good blog design?)…I dunno.
I get impressed with someone’s blog because they have something to say, I guess. Which you seem to do just nicely, thank you very much.
Thanks, James.
Hmmm, regarding the free thing – I guess that yes, including affiliate links is okay. It’s acceptable in blogging, which is free of obligation for most, so it would be the same!
Nice tips, Tia. However, first time visitors are often hard to keep track of. Sometimes they just arrive and go. But your tips have helped me in knowing what I am missing.
I have a question for you. Why do you put the comment form above the comment section? This is the strange arrangement and a first time I see it
Hey Mike!
Actually that is the placement for DISQUS, which is pretty popular and I’m sure you’ve seen it; it just probably doesn’t look the same since DISQUS has a different set of graphics and all.
My comments are sorted newest to oldest. If they were sorted the other way, I’d put it at the bottom. But now that you raised the point, maybe I’ll ask everyone what they think!?
I prefer to keep the comment box by the rest of the social sharing information, so that’s why it is there!
Decided to change it. lol It was weird to me after you pointed it out.
Hey Tia,
Another great article. I have actually been trying to liven up my blog a bit and add more value to new and old readers alike. You’ve mentioned it in the past in articles but didn’t list it here; the plugin that emails first time commenters and says thank you and welcome to the community etc, is a great touch. I think your blog was the first time I actually saw that one and I remember it so it was effective! =)
Awesome! Yeah, I got a handful of emails and still continue to get them, as a result of that plugin. People are genuinely surprised. I just hope it doesn’t become something that gets abused! That would be the total opposite of the point of it, I think.
I’m going to check out your blog’s new liveliness.
Cheers,
Tia
You have always made me feel welcome. I love to read your post because I think that you are always trying to help people out. I believe that if, you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want. I think you are a person that does this. I like the way you share.
Thanks, Maggie. I really appreciate those kind words! I’m glad you like this blog and feel like it’s a place you can come back to and be part of the community!
Cheers!
Tia
+1 on what Kathy said. It’s the little things that can really make people feel like your special and not out just to make a buck.
Thanks, A! I agree with you both. Little things go a long way.
Paying attention to the little details like making someone new feel a little special really does go a long way. Goign out of your way to do something out of the ordinary is like getting a card from a friend for some special occasion that nobody else ever thinks to send a card for. It is endearing. Maybe not as much as a card, but I think you get the point.
I get it!
Thanks for that great analogy. It’s not even something that has to be done every single time, for every single visitor. I think it’s just about setting up your blog to be a place that actually goes out of the way to make it enticing to return!
This is a great post. First Impression is always the best impression and thanks for sharing this post . I am now following your post.
Thanks!
It never occurred to me to create a custom landing page for people who visit my site from Facebook, Twitter and guest blogs. Sounds like a lot of work but knowing how well customized landing pages work with PPC ads, it makes so much sense!
As for what impresses me when I read a blog for the first time, white-space! I appreciate reading articles (like yours) that are well organized and easy reads. Things like numbered lists, bullet points and clearly defined headers not only help you with SEO (as you’ve pointed out in other posts) but they make for an overall enjoyable read.
Hey Sherryl – I feel ya there. You’d love the new blog, webbedink. I’m all about white space there!
BizChickBlogs started out with so much more than it has now. Growing blogs are like hair, you have to trim them about every 6 weeks! lol
Thanks for sharing. Sorry you ended up in moderation; I’m changing my whole thing around and took off Akismet as it’s driving me completely bonkers.
Hi Tia,
Creative post here. I like the idea Stanford shares….has a nice little personal twist to it, with some flair. I follow a few of your tips and would add to respond to each and every comment, no matter if it’s 5 or 100. Every act of kindness is repaid. As for those annoyed by Thank You’s they haven’t learned one of my secrets to success. Gratitude is a conduit to good.
Thanks for sharing your insight and have a great day.
Ryan
Thanks, Ryan! lol Your secret to success is nicer than my advice.
Have a great day, too!
Great post. As a newbie I always appreciate if I comment on another blog if the blogger who wrote the post comments back if I have asked a question or contributed to the discussion.
I answer all my comments on my own blog and visit the blogs of all my commenters and comment there. Spreading the luv in the community.
I have received some really welcoming messages when I have first commented on a blog and they are the ones I now interact with the most.
Patricia Perth Australia
Hi Patricia! Yes, that most total sense. We all would rather speak up in communities that speak to us. No one wants to put something out there that goes completely unacknowledged.
That said, there are some blogs I will comment on regularly even though I know I’ll never get a response back. I do that because the content calls for it.
If it’s good stuff, I’ll say so.
What impresses me more than anything else is if the author of the blog post at least acknowledges any comments I have left. Many don’t.
You’re right; many don’t do that. I think it’s becoming more common now, especially with the threaded comments capabilities. Still, I think there will always be those who don’t do it. If it’s a question of time/being busy, I think they should just hire a community manager or a virtual assistant to do it, then. It’s worth it to keep a conversation active.
I appreciate your comment, Judy!
Thank you, Tia – I couldn’t think of any way to put my comment that didn’t sound as if I was hinting for a reply!!!
Hi Tia
This is really cool. I like what Stanford has done with the landing page. What a great idea…and very profitable. I would love to have something like that but I haven’t a clue how to create one…help!
I agree it’s extremely important and wise to go out of our way to make an impression on our first time readers. One thing that impresses me when I visit a blog for the first time is the welcome I get from the owner. This and well written, engaging and fluent posts will ensure I keep coming back. Just like yours
Thanks, Michael.
To add a custom landing page, just create a new page with all of the wording that you want, and perhaps include an image that’s customized for that page (like the example above). Then, take that link and replace the one that’s going straight to your home page with it.
Another place this is popular is Twitter, although I think doing it for your guest posts is probably more worth the time and effort!
Awesome, thanks Tia!
I think the Thank Me Later plugin is a great way of getting in touch with your commenters – it’s completely automatic so doesn’t need any input from you (except tothoughtfully craft the email) and offers a second opportunity to your commenters to subscribe to your feeds or make them aware of special offers perhaps.
Agree. I use the Thank Me Later plugin and have gotten good feedback!
Google is stealing your CommentLuv back link!
There is a setting that you can change so it doesn’t do this. I will find it for you.
Tia, This was happening to me and Kristi Hines had a post about fixing it. That was a good catch on your part noticing that for Dave!
1) Go to Feedburner & click on the name of your feed
2) Analyze (tab)
3) Configure Stats
4) UNCHECK “Item Link Clicks”.
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