Competing for new readers is a never ending battle faced by business blog operators. So how do successful bloggers continue to compete? Delivering value in a positive manner – using humor when possible – is a simple formula for success. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a difficult challenge for many blog owners.

Inspiring readers to return to the site is one of the major goals of internet marketing, so It is worth exploring just what characteristics win readers’ willingness to return. Businesses must first of course organize the page and content so that it can be found using the search engines. (Some Low Cost SEO methodologies exist to help in this effort.) But once the reader finds and opens one of the website pages, what should happen next?

Meaningful content and ‘value’ are the central content inclusions for any web page or blog posting. Fresh and updated information lures readers back for future visits. However, it is helpful to remember that blogging is to a small degree, a form of entertainment. Entertaining stories that communicate the value are extremely useful in attracting readers and also inspire them to return in the future.

Leading a story with a comic or joke might not be the way to encourage readers to return though. Serious subjects require some degree of serious content. Still, humor is disarming to the reader and allows her/him to enjoy the composition. It is helpful if humor can be worked into the theme. In the end though, the real reasons that viewers will return to a blog or website are fundamentally simple, so blog authors should ensure that each composition includes: Value – providing something of unique value to the reader ‘Move the Ball’ – showing how a reader can quickly make small improvements Support – inspiring the reader to keep facing down challenges and in effect, ‘cheerleading’ helps establish some degree of credibility within the community

Value: Client success stories or testimonials are hugely valuable and should be included in blog posts or on the main web page as frequently as possible. Potential clients and customers want to see how the company has helped others. Story telling is highly useful in this environment, but the author should keep the stories as short as possible – perhaps in the neighborhood of 500 to 700 words. Readers are probably time-constrained, so don’t overrun the reader’s attention span.

Limiting discussion to single points of interest is probably a good idea. This helps keep the composition fairly short. Bold but believable declarative statements are useful to communicate the single point of value as well. Statements such as “save 20% on office overhead by ______” are a meaningful statement that should inspire most site visitors to continue reading. It is also useful to state the value claim early in the piece as that should provide a reader a solid reason to continue to the end of the piece.

Move the Ball: The football metaphor refers to showing the reader how to advance his business – even if only by a little bit. Progress is difficult enough even under good economic conditions, so making small progressive improvements are important.

Support: Motivating prospective clients to undertake actions they might otherwise not want to take requires some degree of ‘cheerleading.’ Advice and support in the face of unknown business challenges always seems welcome to the reader. Including some motivational content or even a small bit of encouragement can attract the reader back for future visits. This also establishes the author as an expert in the field; one that understands unique challenges faced by those in the reader’s line of business.

It is also necessary to specifically invite readers back to the site. Telling readers what to expect next week or offering a teaser about what bit of value they will get if they return in the future is a highly useful tactic.

Acknowledging a couple simple inclusions in each blog post can build the company business blog into a readership magnet. By attracting more readers to the site, the company has a significantly improved opportunity to convert web page readers into customers.

Matthew Stone delivers Low Cost SEO consultation services to clients nationwide. Specializing in link building, blogging and article composition and distribution, SEO Consultants in Denver helps businesses of all sizes increase sales and income using internet search engine techniques.