Blog Comment Strategy
Ever wondered why you don't get as many comments on your blog posts as you might otherwise like?
Today, I'm going to share a really simple strategy which will you to get more blog comments.It's all about reciprocity.
People reward other people who help them.
Want to know how to get more blog comments?
Comment On Other People's Blogs First
When people see that you've left a comment on their blog, they're usually inclined to return the favour.
After all, every blogged is in much the same boat.
So, spend some time commenting on the blogs of other people in your niche (there are fewer benefits to be had for commenting on blogs outside your niche).
Make sure you add some good comments, not just stock answers. Too many bloggers look for any opportunity to make something as spam. Things as simple as showing that you know the other blogger's name (and linking back to your blog, rather than another site), all go together to make you look like a real person.
Not Sure How To Find These Blogs?
The very best thing to do is to find a blogged who already gets a load of comments on their posts.
Then find all the commenters.
These are people who are already proven to take the time to comment on other people's posts.
Comment on all of the blogs you've picked up (so long as you can add something valuable).
You'll soon start to get traffic and comments back (and maybe even one or two guest blog posts).
Start Today!
I look to return the favour and comment on the blogs of people who comment on mine (so long as I understand the niche and can think of something useful to say).
Leave a positive, clever and/or insightful comment below.
No related posts.
Thom,
You are 100% correct on this.
Here's another strategy that you can use: you're probably on a few mailing lists, right? Well, most of these marketers have blogs too, right? Find them and start commenting on their posts, even if you are the only one to do so. They will take notice and start visiting your site also.
I also agree with your take on the blogs that get a lot of traffic. Go post comments on them. As long as you can stay on topic with the post the people that visit and read others' comments will start visiting your blog and leave comments also.
Keep up the good work my friend.
Thom,
Thanks for this post. It's a strategy I've tried before, but unfortunately, I failed to follow through and keep at it, so my results have probably not been what they could or should be.
Your post has renewed my commitment to this simple but effective method, and I'm going to try to make a point of commenting on blogs every single day from now on – starting with this one.
I love having comments on my blog. Its sad though that the majority are spam, trash and totally unrelated to my blog post. But when I find that one true comment from someone who actually took the time to read my blog! Oh what a great thing! Thanks for the article. I'm gonna take it to heart and start commenting!
Freeworks
at http://debtorsdiary.com/freeworks
Very good ideas here. I read a lot of blogs, emails and receive tons of newsletters and very rarely make comments. I guess that has to change. I will be making comments from here on out.
Thanks for the info.
Hi Thom
Thank you so much for your valuable advice. To be honest, I'm quite new to this blogging business and did not kow what to do to get people to my blog. Your tip is valuable and I appreciate it. I was on the verge of giving up blogging.
Now I will certainly try what you have suggested. The problem these days is no one gives real advice.
It is always good to comment on other peoples blog. You will not only get the favor back but it also helps you increase your knowledge and polish your abilities and skill. Commenting on blogs I think is really of great benefit.
Hi Thom, I comment on lots of blogs (linked to yours some time ago via Peggy Baron's blog) and the majority of bloggers do indeed reciprocate, it's true. A few friends and I ahve been running a '100 blog post comments challenge' during August, we signed up 100 people who all agreed to visit and comment on each others blogs. The nice part is that we all discovered a load of really interesting blogs we will visit often in the future!
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Thanks thom. See what I mean; forget to leave my web url after commenting. I'm sure I can learn a lot from you now that have subscribed to your Newsletter. I guess I still don't know what exactly I should put on my blog.
http://tinyurl.com/2v8humoactly
Hi Thom,
Thanks very much for your valuable advice. I will follow up on it to see if I can get some traffic to my blog.
I'm a newbie and very inexperienced in the blogging world. Would appreciate more advice from you and fellow bloggers out there
Blog commenting is a great way to get exposure and visitors, for sure.
The unfortunate thing is that it's also promoted as a great way to build backlinks by a lot of slightly grey- to black-hat infoproducts so as a blog gets more traction, it gets harder for the blog owner to filter the good comments from the useless ones.
Still worth the hassle though, in my opinion.
Thanks for all the comments. Yes, it is important to leave quality comments, as these will be associated with your name forever more! Like John says, I'd recommend staying well clear of anything that tries to automate blog commenting, as that will do your reputation no favours.
For anyone unclear about where to leave a link to their own blog – you don't have to explicitly put this in the post, as it your url will appear linked to your name. I'd recommend not using the link shortening services for this, as this will remove any SEO benefits you get from this. Off to look through the blogs of everyone who replied now!
Thom
The way I see it, when people comment on your blog and you reply back to their comment, it becomes a CONVERSATION. I personally don't write just to hear myself talk, that's why I don't produce a blog post everyday.
Maybe some of the blogs I place comments on don't REALLY understand reciprocity, or maybe I'm just not commenting enough. I take care though to write a little bit of thought-provoking content and I never post a useless comment.
I agree wholeheartedly that if you want something… you've got to GIVE it first. It never hurts to make a few more friends either!
Thanks for the tip.. hope to see you on my blog too!
Thanks David, yes I've been on your blog before and will definitely go on there again! It's one of those well designed and well structured blogs that you clearly put a lot of effort into.
In fact, I've had a look at everyone's blog who posted (well, the ones that were blogs, some are sales pages) and made comments on the ones I could. I ran into a few roadblocks which made it more difficult to leave comments, and these are ones well worth considering when leaving comments:
- niches – I'm not well versed enough in weight loss (for instance) to leave sensible comments which don't seem out of place. It's probably more valuable linking to blogs in the same niche, which, in this case, is internet marketing.
- autoblogs – these aren't that useful to comment on, especially when some of the posts are autogenerated advertising.
- ease of posting – any blogs that requires me to register an account or learn a new system will receive fewer comments. I'm looking for ease of commenting within an environment of familiarity. Self hosted WordPress is by far the best for this.
Anyway, let me see what I know about 'Debt Free Marriage'.
Thom
Thom,
You say that my site's URL is linked to my name, hence I should get a backlink from my comment.
However, you have made the link nofollow, unlike the blog of say Nick Stewart's, which offer dofollow links.
It seems that it would be a incentive to leave comments if the links were dofollow instead of nofollow.
Wai, thanks for the comment, going do-follow is something I've considered. The current set up is just the default. I know moving to do-follow needs special plugins to set up, so it's something I'd have to look into properly and weigh up all the pros and cons before making a decision.
The vast maority of blogs are no-follow and I don't think that's a bad thing. I'm more than happy to comment on a no-follow blog. I'm not doing this for a backlink (the latest SEO analysis suggests that Google ignores these kind of links anyway, as they just get hammered by comment spam). Commenting done right is much more for exposure, traffic and relationship building.
If I read an interesting and well thought out comment, I click through to the blog of the comment writer and look around. This is the same on my blog or someone else's blog.
So, don't let the type of backlink put you off. The point of the post is to encourage you to start commenting and building those relationships, whether this is on this blog, or on the blogs of other people.
Thom
Hi Thom,
It's the SIMPLE things that always seem to work. I love your strategy. Something I have been doing more recently on http://www.nlplive.com is telling the reader that I want their comments, and sometimes I even tell them that future articles will be based on their questions and comments.
That works wonders!
Keep up the good work!
Mr Twenty Twenty
Whooooo yah!
Great post Thom!
I love to comment on other blogs. You might have notice. I don't get as much traffic from commenting as I do from forum marketing and article marketing. But I love to comment and join in on the discussion.
One of my hottest traffic gysers is posting on social network sites. I just cruise around and find a cool page post a comment if the site would let me and include a link back to my site.
I've noticed when I comment on other people's blogs they often reciprocate. Great strategy. Thanks for the reminder.
Excellent idea! I've already started implementing your idea. It is very easy to do and it's free!
I think this strategy leads to more authentic and thoughtful experiences on the internet.
Well said! I need more comments on my book blog so that I can gain exposure and meet other book bloggers. I like commenting on people's websites. This is a cool way of presenting yourself and your blog. Thanks for the tips!