Using bylines on blogs

Lawyers are always asking me how to get reader interaction and comments. It’s tough as your audience is just as scared to divulge confidences on legal issues as you, the lawyer, are. And we can acknowledge lawyer blogs aren’t going to generate the comments that a fast car, sports, gadget, or political blog may.

But Darren Rowse at ProBlogger had an interesting tip to perhaps generate interaction. The use of bylines on your blog.

Darren suggested to a client the “move of his byline (his name) from the bottom of each post (where it was very small and buried among other details) to the top, just under the post title where it was more prominent.”

The result was almost immediate and the blogger concerned reported to me a week later that he started getting much more personal feedback from readers in the form of comments and emails. His overall comment levels jumped by around 50% and they often included his name. It seemed that previously no one really knew who wrote his blog and that just by highlighting his name readers became more sticky and willing to participate.

Like Darren, I’m not going to guaranty a 50% increase but the idea may be worth looking at.