Having a blog is a great way to interact with people on a personal level and they can get a good idea of who you are and what you’re about just from you blog.

Obviously they can find out about you on the many social networking sites but a blog has a more personal feel about it.

So how can you interact with your readers and get a conversation going with them through your blog?

Today I am going to share with you the 3 plugins that I use to interact and build a relationship with my readers.

All are very easy to install and I’m going to be honest, one isn’t a plugin at all but more on that in a bit.

If you’re new to blogging and WordPress you may be thinking “what the hell is a plugin”? Very simply it is a piece of software that will enhance the usability of your blog. Depending on the plugin people can share your content, post comments, connect with you on other sites etc

There are literally 1000s of plugins out there but I am going to start with just 3 that will make your blog so much more exciting.

Disqus Comment System – this is a must plugin which will allow your visitors to leave comments, ask question and for you to respond to them. It will also allow you to visit those people’s blogs as long as they have a Disqus account. You could also use CommentLuv which is also good and it will show your readers last blog post, however I personally think that Disqus works better for my site. Well recommended.

Fast and Secure Contact Form – This is a cool little plugin that you add to a separate page on your blog and allows visitors to contact you direct. This is very powerful if they want to ask questions, get advice or just send you a personal message. The plugin is CAPTCHA and Akismet protected which will help with SPAM protection.

Opt-in Web Form – This is not a plugin but a widget which you can set up the form using Aweber auto responder. I have included this because it’s the way to get people onto your list and start to build a relationship with that list. By offering something of value in exchange for a name and email address they get some free training, ebook or something else of value. This is where you can make an income from your blog and is an absolute must to have on your blog.

Well that my 3 pluggins you should have on your blog to communicate with your readers and build a relationship with your readers. In my next post I will be talking about my 3 favourite plugins for sharing your content on the social network and connecting with people on these networking sites.

Thank you very much for taking the time to view this post. Please leave a comment and share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon and Google Buzz. As a special Thank You I would like to offer you a “FREE gift” just for stopping by my blog.

I wanted to share this blog post with you as a follow up to “Do You Know What Your Blog Comment Means?” where I talked about how important it is for you to leave a comment on other people’s blogs.

Well today I want to turn the tables and talk to you from the bloggers perspective and what you should do with that comment.

So you have spent a long time writing a great blog post and find you have 30 comments that all need to be read and approved. Simple enough, 30 minutes and you’ll be done.

But wait, what about your response to each comment. You may be thinking that’s going to take up far too much of my time but this is a practice that I would strongly recommend that you do.

There are quite a few bloggers out there that do reply to each comment made on their blogs and they will tell you the power of doing this simple little task.

Responding to your readers tells them that you are in fact another human being and not somebody who will be here today gone tomorrow. It shows that you truly want to build a relationship with your readers.

It’s also polite to respond to your comments.  The person who left the comment has taken the time to do so and it’s only fair you do the same.

The other great thing is that it show Google activity on your site and activity is a good thing. Google will list your site higher in its rankings as a site that has lots of activity is better than one that just has content posted every week or so.

You don’t need to write an essay, if they have made some good points pick up on that. I always thank them for visiting and wish them a great day.

Ideally you should reply to your comments within 24 hours, 48 at the latest. I have had people come back to my site just because I replied to one of their comments.

It cost more money to find new customers than it does to sell to existing ones and the same can be said for your blog. Finding new readers is harder than keeping your existing readers so please look after them because they will look after you.

They will share your content, thus bring more visitors to your site and more comments, sales and more importantly more credibility.

Thank you very much for taking the time to view this post. Please leave a comment and share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Reddit and Google Buzz. As a special Thank You I would like to offer you a “FREE gift” just for stopping by my blog.