Are there any specific ways to attract bats to a newly installed bat house?

Intend to target a bat's behavioural patterns, and also their dietary preferences. Many bats like moths and insects and other bats may like fruits and sweets. Check on encylopedia of life www.eol.org for the species of bat most common in your area, or even on wikipedia, to identify their feeding habits and then add that component to the bat house. For example place some fruit (mangoes especially) on a plate. Or install a small solar-powered insect-attracting light which comes on automatically and place it near the bat house. Good luck!

Put a picture of John McCain on the mailbox

I know! Build the bat house on the Navajo Reservation! There are hundreds of bats roosting on the eves of my house every day. My house is a bat house and I see them roosting upside down all around the school building every morning. Keeps the insect population down. I love it. In truth, I don't know much about bats and their habits. There are just so many here and I should learn. When you look at them up close, they are so cute...like little flying hamsters or gerbils. Anything that attacks the mosquitos, flies and moths has got to be good! (An idea I have thought of is to scoop them up while they are sleeping and relocate them in the day time. Would they stay in the area if they woke up in their "new home"????) IDK. Do you see bats often where you live?

Great question! And thanks to "Hero from Yesterday" for the great links. My husband built a very nice bat house several years ago and though we have a few bats around here (which seem to prefer sleeping inside my patio umbrella---sort of freaks me out when it comes swooping out when I open the umbrella, interrupting its sleep. He built it and we erected it exactly according to instructions and cannot understand why we haven't been successful landlords. Hero's link suggest I paint the box black (I live in S.W. Pennsylvania). Apparently the thinking has changed because when the box was built, the plans indicated it should NOT be painted. I will try the paint (and the caulk) and see what happens. BTW, my sister-in-law thinks we're crazy for TRYING TO ATTRACT bats. LOL. I explained to her that the bats are nature's insect control and is a much safer alternative to spraying myself with insect repellent.

nope. just wait. and sometimes it can take up to 5 years.

It is better to build a batcave. If you build it, bats will come. Then you can have a really cool batmobile and batcycle to park in there too.