In addition to interacting with your site visitors through comments on your blog posts and pages, there are a handful of other simple things you can implement on your website that will engage your readership:

• Polls. Polls are a way for your readership to feel involved in your story – they allow a reader’s voice to be heard, however anonymously, but are also a great tool for finding out more of what your readership wants from your site. Rather than wonder if your readership wants more content about subject “x” – either mine your data to find out whether it’s successful, or just ask them through a poll. There are a number of free, simple, poll generators, but PollDaddy is a great place to start.
• Photos. Just like you can use a Flickr RSS feed to place your own photos on your blog via tags, you can invite other people to tag their photos with a keyword you will use to display photos on your blog. This is a great way to invite audience participation whether it’s around creating something, going somewhere, or any number of common experiences. If you’re concerned that people might take advantage, then create a Flickr group where you approve membership to add photos to the group, then base your feed on the group’s content. Photos are a great way to feel connected to an audience, and videos as well!
• Competitions. Ask your readers to come up with the best way to do something, then give an award for the best answer/submission. It doesn’t have to be a big giveaway – people love to get stuff for free, no matter how small, and if a competition brings you a large audience, it’s well worth the investment. Your giveaway could be some free time with you if you’re a consultant, or a copy of your book if you’re an author, or a coffee mug with your logo on it no matter who you are.

Related posts:

1. Advertising: Putting yourself out there and accepting ads on your own site
2. Getting your book reviewed