By Jim Connolly
People often ask me for blog ideas - ideas they can use to make their blog more successful and more fun! In this first ‘blog ideas’ post, I am going to give you 3 ideas on how to get the most from your blog’s comments section.
Comments
It seems that many blogs struggle to get their readers to leave comments. I spoke yesterday with someone who gets three times as many blog visitors as me; yet she has only had 5 comments left in the past 6 months! In my experience, there are 3 simple things you can do, which will encourage people to comment.
Firstly, DO NOT MODERATE comments before they are posted! People like to leave a comments and then see it immediately posted to the blog. This encourages people to debate within your comments section, because they will be able to read replies to their comments and respond to them quickly.
Very occasionally, a comment will be left that’s just totally inappropriate and these can be ‘post moderated.’ In other words, the offending post can be quickly deleted after it is posted. Thus far, I have not had to remove a single inappropriate comment. Regarding blog spam - This blog is uses Akismet antispam software; which catches about 99% of all the blog spam sent here. I get the occasional idiot pretending to post a comment, which is just ‘link bait’ to get people to their get-rich-quick-scheme and these are always deleted.
Secondly, let people post comments that disagree with you or your point of view! The whole point of a blog is for people to take part - and people all have different opinions, so let them share them! What opinions do YOU have about encouraging people to participate with a blog and leave comments? Let me know by leaving a comment below! (Sometimes, it’s good to ask people to comment - when the subject, like this one, requires it:) )
Thirdly, reply to comments! If someone is good enough to leave a comment, you should take a moment to respond to it. This is a great way to develop a bond with your readers and all the top bloggers do it! It also helps you get the kind of feedback required to make your blog a success.
Filed under: Marketing | Tagged: blog ideas, comments
I get very few comments on my blog. I moderate everything and that does mean that sometimes theres a day or two between someone posting a comment and me allowing it. I think that might have out peopoe off after reading your post jim.
Thanx Hannah.
Hello Hannah,
If there is a day or two between when people post a comment and when that comment appears, it will probably put some people off posting comments again.
People will often visit a blog, comment on something and then check back during the day to see if people have responded to their comments. If the comment doesn’t show up for a couple of days, they will probably assume that the comment was deleted.
All the best!
JC
Great blog Jim. I always thought that if a blog wasnt getting comments it just meant that it wasn’t getting any viewers - no?
Hello Leon,
Some blogs get stacks of viewers but very few leave a comment. I used to think the same as you Leon; until I saw the stats behind a few extremely well-attended sites and how few comments they got.
Jim Connolly.
A fourth option is to ASK people to leave comments. Tell them that you’re interested in their view and would love for them to leave a comment - It might just encourage that first comment which then encourages some more.
Gregor
Gregor. He already said that in his second point mate.
Hi andrew
I think Gregor meant to say that asking people to comment was worthy of being a point by itself; as opposed to added to an existing point.
It certainly can help drive up comments if you ask people to contribute to the blog.
Jim Connolly