So you’ve written great articles offering advice, instructions, commentary and satisfying conclusions on a variety of subjects. You’re proud of your work and you’ve put a great deal of time editing and syndicating it. Yet you find that the response to your work is somewhat lacking. “Where are all the comments?” you ask.

Don’t get discouraged by the lack of comments below your posts. Building a dedicated readership, let alone one that’s ready to share their thoughts and opinions, always takes time. But there are effective ways of encouraging comments on your posts without being too pushy about it.

James Chartland, in his blog commenting article for Copy Blogger offers several pointers on getting your readers to spill the beans:

1. Don’t close your articles off too tightly If you simply conclude your post by saying ‘that is that’ (in not so many words), you aren’t leaving enough space for discussion. While you want your articles to be complete and meaningful, you also have to indicate that you have some interest in hearing other people’s thoughts, not just in writing your own. You might want to try to end your article with some ambiguity as to what is coming next, or present a challenge for your readers to consider. To present this challenge, you can…

2. Pose an open-ended question Chartland encourages bloggers to pose open-ended questions to their readers, as it will invite them to talk about themselves and their experiences. If you’re article is offering a solution to a problem, you can wrap it up by asking if it has made a difference. Its important that your question isn’t too open ended as well, as simply saying “what’s your view” might be too vague. Your wording has to be precise if you want to compel the reader to contribute.

3. Relay personal experiences in your posts when appropriate If your writing is primarily just presenting cold hard facts, you may get a limited response. Often people make the mistake, as Chartland notes, of talking at people instead of talking to people. Put some emotion and personality into your writing and your readers will follow suit in their comments. Readers want to know that they can engage in an actual discussion that is lively and fluid, rather than just posting comments on a static page.

4. Respond to your comments to keep the conversation going If you start getting comments, keep the conversation going by answering any further questions (and use those answers to pose more open-ended questions!). Getting involved in your blog comments shows your readers that you genuinely care about what they say. This will further motivate them to continue talking to you (and read your blog).

5. If your questions aren’t generating any responses, try different tactics If you find that wrapping things up with cues for discussion aren’t working out as you had hoped, you might want to take a different approach. Perhaps your questions are too direct or specific and your audience isn’t sure how to respond. Try different wordings, tone of voice or even have some reward system for the first few comments. Contests are a creative way of generating discussion.

Hopefully, this advice will steer you in the right direction when it comes to generating reader feedback. When we look at popular blogs, especially ones that specialize in Web 2.0 advice, we tend to find that there are stones deliberately left unturned in the articles, giving ample room for enthused readers to give their input or ask questions.

What blogging strategies have worked for you?