Every year, millions of new blogs go online. The vast majority of these blogs either remain in obscurity or fizzle out after a short while, but a select few make it big and generate attention. With blogs in every niche imaginable, it’s hard to find a topic or area of expertise to cover that isn’t already being contested by others.

Even if you are generating lots of traffic for your blog’s posts, how valuable is that traffic? Are these users engaging in complex actions and behaviors once they arrive, or are they merely reading and leaving?

If you’re interested in transforming your blog’s casual visitors into avid followers, then keep reading to learn more.

Focus on (Search) Intent

It should go without saying, but search engine users and visitors through other means to your website expect that the content actually solves or answers their questions and needs. While search engines are increasingly optimizing visibility and rankings for search intent, merely ranking prominently in select SERPs may not mean the traffic you’re generating is converting in other means. Ultimately, pinging to Google or Bing a variety of content offerings means nothing if most people are leaving your website immediately or otherwise dissatisfied.

Likewise, any traffic generated from other organic or paid marketing strategies that do not find your content to be appealing and informative will result in little benefit. As such, intent is important. Ask yourself whether what users see as a preview is relevant to their needs. If not, a more honest and optimized approach is required.

Supply Additional, Unique Content

Information and entertainment can be provided in a number of ways, but much of it isn’t inherently unique. Especially with regard to blog posts, there is a good chance you’re supplying information that can be found elsewhere and that isn’t unique or otherwise proprietary. What else will attract visitors and – more importantly – keep them coming back for more?

The inclusion of unique content offerings is the simplest approach for this solution. For any information that may be common knowledge or otherwise provided by competitors, consider incorporating this information into videos, infographics or other multimedia-rich offerings that give readers incentive to rely on your content. This can also lead to great opportunities for further reach through shares and earned backlinks.

Embrace Social Elements

When attempting to persuade and generate loyalty, it never hurts to utilize social elements. People tend to trust brands and blogs that incorporate the opinions of others: by using these elements in a variety of ways, you can further drive home your points, validate your brand or otherwise humanize each post in a way that might not otherwise be possible.

Everything – from social brand mentions to embedded tweets relevant to your blog post’s topic – can further enrich the content and create opportunities for engagement. Especially if you are able to integrate your own social media presence into the content, it also affords an opportunity to attract these users on other platforms and integrate them further into your brand’s orbit. While tweets and social blurbs aren’t pinging to Google and strengthening your SEO, they do still provide some benefits.

Generating a loyal following of blog readers who do more than simply read a single post can be challenging, but with these tips in use, you can slowly build a stronger presence within your target audience.