How to Engage Your Readers and Get Their Links

I discovered two great posts that taste great together today.

Now it's your turn:

• The chocolate: How to Write a Killer “How To” Post That Gets Attention | Copyblogger

• The peanut butter: Successful Blog - What to Do Before They Ask What Do You Do?

Brian's article on killer "How to" posts is about, of course, sucking readers in with good, informative content.

Additionally, he dangles before us the idea of getting links from social bookmarking sites. Why? How-to articles are particularly popular in those circles. Chocolately.

Liz's post on answering the "what do you do?" question is a little more abstract. The basic idea, however, is answering that question - not with a conversation-ender - but with an invitation to more interesting and deeper conversation.

Which got me thinking: wouldn't it be cool if every aspect of our blogging communication were an invitation for interaction? That's what blogging should be all about, no? If you look around Liz's site, it's clear that she thinks so. Peanut-buttery.

The basic premise behind Copyblogger's article is that a great how-to will get you linked; but in a passive way. He's right, of course...

... but are we passive?

No, no we aren't.

I come from a big family. Big families are all about interaction; and believe me, if you don't ask for anything, you don't get anything.

The internet is more forgiving; but it remains true that those who ask get far more than those who don't.

So you made your killer "How to" title, and followed it with a killer how-two article. Maybe you have a little "Digg This" or "Add to Del.icio.us" flare at the bottom. Sitting there quietly. Passively. Converation-ender? Very likely.

Why not invite readers to interact instead? Engage them - ask for the link. Make them a part of what you're doing. Perhaps something like this:

"If you enjoyed this article, the greatest thanks you could give is by spreading the word! [insert social bookmarking links]"

For a really great how-to post, isn't it worth engaging and interacting with your readers by inviting them to share the knowledge? After all, great posts get buried under the information overload that is the internet every day. We want to minimize the chances of that happening, don't we?

Yes, yes we do.

So, take a tip from Brian and engage your readers with both a killer how-to title and a killer post following it. Take a tip from Liz and don't finish it with a conversation-ender.

And while you're at it, take a tip from me: on your killer posts, engage your readers from start to finish, and let the conversation end with an invitation to bring new readers back to the beginning.

Tags: how to, articles, social bookmarking, digg, del.icio.us, advertising, promotion