“Content” is king, but not all content attracts an audience. The key to success is keeping the audience engaged in the page, and in order to achieve this hosting a blog competition ranks amongst the top reader retainers.

Writing a perfect competition lead page requires some careful considerations:

 

1. Relevance: It is not enough that the contest is relevant to the blog and the times, nobody wants to win a dress from last season’s collection. It should be communicated and positioned as such. Make sure that the header and description of the contest explains in clear, simple, and an easy to understand format, why participating in the contest would be a good idea, essentially you need to hook the reader.

2. Clarity: Make sure to mention the nature of contest, the type of effort required, and the expected time taken to complete, upfront. Many people hesitate to enter fearing that it could take a lot of time to complete, or they would be wasting their time for something that they are not eligible to win.

3. Terms and Conditions: Position the terms and condition very high in the blog post, or somewhere where clearly visible. Make sure the terms and conditions are comprehensive, and cover eligibility criteria, start and end dates, method of selecting the winners, and conditions attached with the prizes, amongst any other rules or criteria. Make sure to clarify the geographical limitation of the prize – for instance it makes no sense to offer a free restaurant meal in London for someone in Glasgow, or a festival ticket in the UK for an audience in the states. The more comprehensive and clear the terms and condition, the greater the chances of people participating.

4. Prize: Let’s be honest, it is the prize or the reward that attracts audience to participate in the competition. The value of the prize matters, but more than that, the excitement centred on the prize, and how the prize is positioned or presented to the readers, makes a big difference. Rather than simply disclosing the price, write about why the price is a good thing – for instance, if the prize is a book, mention it is a new bestseller, a rare classic, a compelling read, or highlight any other feature of the book. Make sure your prize is relevant and desired by your audience.

5. Entry method: The simplest way to run a contest through a blog is to ask participants to leave their answers in the comments section. This can have a spin-off benefit in boosting the search engine rankings of the page as well. However, most times it would be better to go in for a proper entry form, complete with choices, some bloggers use platforms like rafflecopter and that’s not a bad thing.

The intrinsic worth of a contest plays only a limited role in its success. It is how the competition page is written and structured that makes a big difference as to whether the contest is a success. How do you structure your competition pages? Share your advice below, after all sharing is caring.