31DBBB Day 19: Ask a Question
This is Day 18 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a group project we are doing together in an attempt to improve our blogs and help each other become better bloggers. You can read more about it and still sign-up to participate here. Please subscribe to our RSS Feed to stay updated on the project.
- Day 16 (Monday): Breathe Life into an Old Post
- Day 17 (Tuesday): Call your Readers to Action
- Day 18 (Wednesday): How to use a Magazine to Improve your Blog
- Day 19 (Thursday): Ask a Question
- Day 20 (Friday): Develop a Plan to Boost your Blog’s Profile and Readership
- Day 21 (Monday): 17 Statistics to Monitor on your Blog
- Day 22 (Tuesday): Plan the next step for your blog
Asking your readers questions is one of the keys to build a readership and maybe even a community on your blog. Have you noticed that you are much more likely to leave a comment on a blog or website when the author asks you a question? Today, we are going to spend some time writing a question post addressed to your readers.
Why Ask a Question?
- It gives your readers a sense of interactivity and community. Instead of being preached at, they feel like they can participate
- Increased likelihood of return visits: Think about it, once you left a comment on a blog, you are much more likely to return to check whether someone answered you
- You can gauge what your readers’ opinions are on certain topics
- They can generate conversation between your readers
- Readers’ answers can give you future post ideas
- They are short and easy to write while maximizing readers’ participation
A Few Tips for Asking Questions
- Keep the question relevant to the topic of your blog
- Ask questions that are easily answerable. People are much less likely to respond if they have to write an essay
- Ask question that you would want to answer if someone else asked it
- Ask questions that you can follow up on in another post
- Don’t be afraid to be (a little) controversial. Be careful though to moderate your comments with an iron fist
- Be ready to give your own answer
- Make sure to be involved in the comments. Do not answer a question then fail to engage in conversation with your readers
Assignment
- Write a question post, then come back and post a link so we can see how you addressed today’s lesson
Discussion
- Can you share with the group your current methods for starting discussions on your blog?
- Do you participate (outside of this series) in discussions on other blogs? What makes you stick around?
- Do you feel this series so far has helped you build a better blog or become a better blogger?
12 Comments
For a moment there, I thought you were going to talk about making a plea on a post xD – I did a post on “have you seen this user” but haven’t gotten any response.
I try to finish posts with a question… an open question like “what do you think” or “which one’s your favorite?” But the most comments I get tend to be of “this is my opinion”… sometimes not even responding to what I said… it’s like the post is just a place where they can post without having a blog. LOL
I am currently moving my blog to a new domain and host. I guess this post kind of qualify to this task. http://www.joelburman.com/2010/08/im-under-serious-re-construction/ I guess it would have worked for yesterdays assignment aswell.
Lordy can I ever agree with this – the post I did a few weeks ago where I invited people to ask me any movie related questions about myself was one of the most popular posts I ever did. Pretty sure even when you take my comments out of the equation that it’s also the one that garnered the most comments!
As usual, I have to leave for work and only have a few minutes. I do have an idea for this post though, so I’ll do it when I get home and post the link. I’m still having a tough time coming up with one for Tuesday’s assignment, “call your readers to action.” My action is usually answer a question. I don’t think I have much of a readership yet to do too much more. I have been thinking about it all week though and I’ve trying to come up with something.
It can be something as simple as follow me on twitter or facebook
I over think, but I was wondering if I should make a fanpage on Facebook for my blog? I don’t want to bug friends and family every time with a status update whenever I post something new to The Couch. If I do that though it’s something else to maintain and I think it would look extra lame that I have no fans! What does everyone here think? I’m going to have to catch up over the weekend. I’m supposed to be doing my homework right now. I’m telling my teenager to get it in gear and here I am procrastinating!
My last post for Day 17 of the challenge (a call to action) also suffices, because I asked a question about people’s favorite films. It has only been a couple of days it has started some good conversation. A little later this year I plan to ask another (seasonal) question.
I’ve started adding a question to the end of each of my reviews. It hasn’t stimulated conversation as much as I’d hoped, but it’s getting there. Asking something personal is best, like what was your favourite scene in the movie, or who was your favourite character/villain or whatnot. With so many movies whizzing by, it’s nice to have a chance to reflect before they disappear into the ether. Perhaps we should add questions to our Top 5 lists too…
I think everyone is misunderstanding this assignment once again lol. Here, the goal is to write a question post. Not simply ask a question at the end of the post but make the post itself a question. For example, I could go and make a post titled “What is your favorite movie?” In the post, I might answer my own and explain in a paragraph then open up the floor for discussion. That is a question post.
Well, shut my mouth! I see the distinction – but I think closing a post with a question serves it’s purpose too. Alright – lemme think on that and see what I can come up with.
Where do polls fit into the scheme of things? A number of blogs run ongoing polls that try to keep the opinions flowing.
I’m cooking up a video post that’ll spin out of my queries about organising movie collections, something that almost everybody’s had to handle at one point or another, and folks are probably itching to share their tips on. Gonna take me a few days to put it together. Thanks for keeping us on point.
Another great tip. I should remember to do this more often.
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