{"id":206961,"date":"2024-02-22T21:59:10","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T21:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/22\/how-to-create-a-sense-of-anticipation-on-your-blog\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:21:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:21:44","slug":"how-to-create-a-sense-of-anticipation-on-your-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/22\/how-to-create-a-sense-of-anticipation-on-your-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create a Sense of Anticipation on Your Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"How

People read and then subscribe to blogs that they think will enhance their lives in some way in the future<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Many bloggers create a sense of anticipation on a blog quite instinctively \u2013 but there are numerous things that you can do quite intentionally to create anticipation and increase the chances of someone subscribing.<\/p>\n

So how do you convince people that something that you\u2019re yet to create<\/strong> is worth signing up for?<\/i><\/p>\n

Today I want to share one effective strategy for building anticipation on a blog with some practical ideas on how to implement it. Like yesterday\u2019s post \u2013 it\u2019s not rocket science \u2013 but it is something that has worked for me.<\/p>\n

Highlight Current and Past Quality Content<\/h3>\n

Probably the most convincing argument to a reader that you\u2019ll write something that they can\u2019t live without in the future<\/strong> is to have already written something that they have connected with.<\/p>\n

Your current and past posts are your most effective advertisements for a continued relationship to those arriving on your blog. <\/em><\/p>\n

As a result \u2013 one of the most effective strategies for creating anticipation on a blog is to put your best content in front of those visiting your blog \u2013 show them what you can do and let the quality of that work speak for itself.<\/p>\n

Think back to to blogs that you\u2019ve subscribed to lately \u2013 if you\u2019re anything like me you\u2019ve subscribed in most cases as a result of reading a post you thought was helpful, interesting, entertaining\u2026 etc<\/p>\n

Most of us click the RSS feed icon or subscribe link based upon the quality of what we already read in the hope of seeing more of it.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the lesson here?<\/h3>\n

Actually there are two lessons \u2013 one is obvious and the other many fail to do.<\/p>\n

1. The obvious one is to write great content and to do it regularly \u2013 its got to be your number 1 priority as a blogger.<\/p>\n

2. The less obvious one is to put your best content into the view of those who are yet to subscribe to your blog \u2013 particularly first time visitors (who are crucial to target if your objective is to build the number of subscribers to your blog). Let me share a few ways you can do this.<\/p>\n

How to Highlight Your Best Content<\/h3>\n

There are numerous ways to highlight your best content so and in doing so give people reason to subscribe to your feed.<\/p>\n

\"DPS

In having these sneeze pages I not only increase my page views \u2013 but I show new readers to my blog just how much I\u2019ve already covered and hopefully increase the sense of authority and credibility that I have.<\/p>\n

The subscription rate from users hitting these sneeze pages is extremely high (note \u2013 I have prominent ways to subscribe on these sneeze pages and the pages that they link to).<\/p>\n

2. \u2018Best of\u2019 Sections<\/b> \u2013 Another is to create sections in your sidebar or front page that highlight your best work. Check out this example from a previous design of the ProBlogger website, where we this is the \u2018Best of ProBlogger\u2019 section on my front page<\/a> of this blog. This section is \u2018hot\u2019 \u2013 quite literally. Check out this heat map (taken a few months back using the CrazyEgg<\/a> tool) of this section to see how many people click on it.<\/p>\n

\"Heat

The benefits of this are numerous \u2013 but ultimately it\u2019s about driving people to previously written quality content. My observations are that it\u2019s these popular pages where many subscribers to my blog come from.<\/p>\n

Since this screen shot was taken, ProBlogger was redesigned to create different themed sections that highlighted various themed articles even more. You can read more about how and why we changed the design of the ProBlogger website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. Landing Pages<\/b> \u2013 Another strategy is to use a plugin like Landing Sites<\/a> to sense when a reader is arriving on your blog for the first time and showing them other posts you\u2019ve written on the topic they are searching for.<\/p>\n

This works well \u2013 particularly if you have a large archive \u2013 because someone arriving on your blog not only sees one post on the topic that they\u2019re looking for but numerous (increasing the perception that you\u2019re a comprehensive source of information on that topic).<\/p>\n

\"How

4. Interlink Posts<\/b> \u2013 You should be regularly linking to your previous best quality posts in new posts. In doing this you constantly drive people to the pages where they see writing of a quality that is likely to convince them that you know what you\u2019re talking about. The more pages that they view that they find useful the more chance of them subscribing.<\/p>\n

But Wait There\u2019s More<\/h3>\n

The key to the above four techniques is to send new readers to your highest quality and most helpful posts and then to present them with opportunity to subscribe on these posts (update<\/strong>: here\u2019s my post with more tips on how to build anticipation on your blog<\/a>).<\/p>\n

However this highlighting content isn\u2019t enough on it\u2019s own.<\/p>\n

It will definitely work to some degree but there are numerous other ways to create anticipation on a blog and to these I\u2019ll be turning my attention tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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