The best blogs aren’t one-way conversations. Sure, you want to share your knowledge with your audience. But you also want your words to inspire questions and comments.

You want engagement.

Lively, respectful interaction in the comments section is what turns an ordinary blog into a community, and builds a relationship between you and your readers. Each blog’s readership is different, so you should experiment a bit to find what works best for your audience. Here are a few ideas to get you started!

Ask for their opinions and recommendations.

Maybe you’re writing about a new technique or product used in your industry. Maybe it’s a new regulation that affects your field. Maybe it’s a consumer product that you’re promoting. Ask your readers what they think! Would they recommend the product you’re discussing? Do they think the new regulation is helpful or unhelpful? This is a great way to start a conversation in the comments, as different readers weigh in with their opinions.

Include a poll.

The poll could be a simple “yay or nay” question of the day. “Do you do A/B testing for your website”; “Have you ever tried X social media platform?”; “Do you take a yoga class at least twice per month?” – any question is good, as long as it is relevant to your content and audience. You could also pit two answers against each other: “Which do you prefer for time management – journaling or a digital calendar?” Polls are great because time-strapped readers don’t need to put a lot of thought into their responses.

Ask for their advice

Your readers have knowledge to share as well! Ask them how they dealt with relevant challenges in their lives and businesses. If you run a healthy lifestyle blog, you could ask them how they’ve managed to shift to all-natural household products and if they have any DIY recipes for cleaning solutions. If you run a blog about online marketing, you could solicit their strategies for crafting compelling headlines.

Ask for their Top 5.

This is a fun one. Choose a category and ask people to leave a comment with their Top 5 favorites for their category. If your blog focuses on fitness, you could ask for Top 5 stretches or yoga poses. If you run a foodie blog, you could request Top 5 hot sauces. If you write about public speaking, you could ask people to leave links to their Top 5 TED Talk presentations. People love to talk about their own preferences, so give them a space to do so!

How many of these tactics have you already used on your blog?