Getting Article Feedback Will Extend The Life of Your Articles

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 8:30 am

: Image by volvidejapon via Flickr

Calling all publishers, editors, writers and freelance journalists. Now is the time to breathe more life into your articles. Turn your articles into living pieces that spark measurable debate, get closer to your readers and engage their mind and soul - we’re talking revolution.

As it was in the beginning

Publishers have for many years relied on letters to get feedback from their readers and although email has opened up this method of communication it is still time consuming and difficult to monitor and process, and for the more popular articles, it is either a case of only a fraction of the received correspondence ever being used, or where online comments have been allowed, well written and good comments can be buried under poorly written and abusive comments.

As well as being an overhead for the publisher, it can also be an unrewarding medium in terms of the amount of effort required and response that is received, just consider the number of letters that go unread and unpublished.

As it is now

The Internet has brought new channels of communication and created opportunities that allow us to challenge traditional methods. The Internet is now a mature technology, no longer the preserve of technical geeks but a technology that has been embraced by a global population, young and old allowing us now to re-evaluate the way things are done. Newspapers, trade journals, periodicals and ezines now have the opportunity to change the mental process.

When people read an article that provokes thought they now expect the opportunity to comment either by writing a comment, sending an email or writing a letter. Sure emails are easier but it still takes time to craft an email and time for the majority, is what they haven’t got.

Although interesting a letters page or a list of comments are at best a sample of views or an endless unmanaged list of comments; a letter may be well crafted and well written letter but due to the free text form it is difficult, or near impossible, to measure.

As it should be

Now consider the advantages of linking articles to online surveys where as a publisher you will have the ability to obtain valuable readership feedback in a form that can be easily measured. Communicating with your readers is one thing but having a channel that allows your readers to effectively communicate with you is just as important.

Want a snapshot of opinion? Did they like that article? Did the sentiments expressed in the article have the support of the audience or do the readers have a different view?

Now it’s easy

In the past it would have taken considerable effort to design, publish and collate, a process that was too long winded and justifiable only for the niche and important topics.

However, using sites like www.surveygalaxy.com surveys and questionnaires can be created and published via the Internet by anyone who has a pulse. Professional looking questionnaires and surveys created in minutes make the perfect compliment to articles that prompt opinion and debate.

The advantage over letters, e-mails and comments are that all the feedback is managed and measured and sites like Survey Galaxy will provide you with a real time poll that you can either keep to yourself or share with your readers.

It can even be complimentary to sending an email

Link each article to an online survey and not only extend the life of the article as people have a channel to express their views, but involve your readers in the discussion where they now know their opinion will be counted.

If you think they would rather send an email? - not a problem - just include the facility within the survey and get the best of both worlds.

It’s fast, low cost, and easy to do; it will engage and empower the reader, provide excellent feedback and having established a dialogue you then have the opportunity to link to other related articles.

There is an opportunity to register your view of this article here:- Readership Feedback Survey