If I visit each commenter’s site, and email them, and leave a comment for them at their site…I am up all night. I know, I tried it. And I was no good as a mother to my 3 children and I was falling asleep at my job.

I suppose that the thing to do is just turn off comments, but I don’t want to do that.

Is there an easier, faster way? I am so behind on comments right now, that I’m getting a headache when I see the numbers. It creates a negative reaction in me now, b/c I see it as work.

If you have any ideas, please let me know. I’m thinking of posting only after I get back to all the commenters from the previous post. What do you think of that idea??

I love your blog, and am subscribing to it now.

Thank you.

Thanks everyone for your comments, and helping me prove my point!!

Very very well said. Thanks so much!

This is a controversial one. Nevertheless, I still try to reply to comments that just say “Great post!”, even if the person commenting most likely wouldn’t see the reply. It just looks good to other readers, since they see that I do try to interact and do care about those reading my posts. Also, just in case the person commenting does see the reply, it encourages them to read more articles and keep interacting.

Duane, i think when starting the blog, that’s the MOST important time to leave comments. Why shouldn’t you? I mean, the quantity isn’t so many that it’s impossible, so why not?!

Vicki, I’ve done the exact same thing. I don’t want to talk to a brick wall. Thanks VIcki!

Could be just you 😛 Nah just kidding – I’m sure a lot of people may feel that way, but a lot of people see the number, and immediately forget about it when starting to engage in the post.

Thanks Stylo! I think setting up a schedule for when to respond to comments is the best way to go, definitely.

Don’t worry about the spam numbers, I have the same issue. 😛

Yes indeed, Jamal. it’s great for keeping good relations with people online. Thanks!

Hey John – here I am! Hehe. Cheers dude!

I’ve actually stopped commenting on blogs where the author doesn’t reply to any comments.

On the social proof side, I confess I feel cheated when I go to read the long list of comments on someone’s post and discover that at least half of them are their own! Maybe that’s just me…

sTyLo’s comment 🙂

Thanks for the great info.

I think comments are important, but replying to them shows not only the “love” but that you have thought about it as well. Often there are “many correct answers” to any given problem and admitting that you don’t necessarily know (or have stated) everything also gives you credibility.

I try to reply to all the comments on my blog – but akismet seems to get more spam than I get comments 🙁

Thanks again,
Dave

There are a lot of “robotic” blogs out there now, and replying does make us stand out and become more personable.

I hope you’re feeling better from your lipo. Hehe.

Thank you Alan, and like you said, it does show appreciate but also helps for SEO – what more can we ask for?

Thanks for leaving a response, Eric. I think the question you ask is probably the most important thing people should ask themselves as bloggers, especially those who are wondering why they don’t get as many commenters on their posts as others in the same niche.

This is very true and I’ve experienced this benefit lots of times. It helps to know some of these small things that add up to getting more traffic to our blog. Responding to a comment is the least we can do to show our appreciation even if it is just so say thanks for your comment, appreciated or thanks for dropping by.

Haha – yes, that would probably be a little much 😛

I think bloggers who don’t recognize their readers shouldn’t really be blogging in the first place. Your thoughts?

Ahh – gotcha. Thanks for the reply Mike. I definitely agree with you on the “last word” for letters to the editor. It can be tough to read those because they are just reiterating what was said in the article sometimes. Cheers!

I edited my comment before I submitted it — I did the cut, but not the paste — and truncated it too much. What I left out was that I would try your advice because I have noticed that replies to comments do generate more comments. Essentially, I agree with your point, but I didn’t communicate that.

My thoughts about the “last word” are a hold over from print, specifically newspapers, where letters to the editor (and that’s what I consider comments to be) are published without comment by the paper. There’s a few reasons for this.

The main reason is the letters column is the readers’ space. The editor has all the rest of the paper to make his point. Not commenting on letters builds the sense that the newspaper is a forum for reader opinions. A well-written story or editorial should not require clarification (my last comment is an example).

Building relationships with blog readers by responding to comments is a good idea, but I would do it in a way to avoid building a sense that I always must have the last word on something.

That’s interesting Mike – I never really heard anyone put it that way before: “…just efforts to get the last word in”.

I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you on that. For me, that is never my intention, and I don’t think anyone else sees it that way either, besides you…hehe.

Like you said in the end, when you responded, it has sometimes generated more comments. That’s good, because that’s part of the point of responding to comments, to get people to converse and go into more depth than the article had.

Anyways, different strokes for different folks, and I appreciate your honesty and opinion. Cheers Mike!

Thanks Roshan – I made sure to respond to most, if not all of the comments here just to show how powerful it can be. More people comments, and it’s the top post on the front page for comments, which shows the power of social proof. Cheers!

Julius – yep. I mentioned this specifically in the article, and it adds to the overall quality of the content of the post as a whole.

100% agree with you now.

You’ve got some great information in the post and you’ve just showed us how to apply it practically in this comment section.

Great Work!

Thanks Richard! Indeed, we all have our systems of what we do and don’t, but like you said something like this, so simple, can make a big difference. A lot of people fail to see that.

“If you don’t want to answer comments, turn the thing off.” – nice! I like the analogy too – it just doesn’t make sense!

Honestly though, I think what it comes down to is laziness.

Answering comments makes you such a likeable person. It really does make one want to spread the word and retweet the post. Good stuff as always and nice to see you here as well. 🙂

Hey it’s a blog, that’s life get over it and do your job. If you don’t want to answer comments, turn the thing off.

It’s like having a call centre and only answering 1% of the calls, if you have the time

Eliz, that’s a great practice that goes one step further than what I’ve outlined here, that I’m you’ve seen the benefits from already. Small things like that, which don’t take much time, really do make a big difference in the long run. Blog karma does exist 🙂

Great, inspirational story, Gretchen! I love how the small connections we make with people often lead to something bigger and better for us! Kudos to you!

To me, I definitely think it’s the polite thing to do. I mean, if you were making a presentation in real life, and someone came up to you afterwards and said “Thanks!”, it would be so rude to just not say anything. Why should doing this online be any different?

Oh, and I wouldn’t say thhat this blog post disproved itself – you’re just not happy with getting all the emails. Everything I mentioned in the article, however, is being proved as we speak. Already almost 80 comments on this post, by far more than any other of Daniel’s posts on the front page at the moment, so that’s some good social proof right there. Also, I’m sure many of the people who I responded to here are quite thankful that I have, and some probably left comments too just knowing that they are being read and that I’d respond, which again add to the social proof aspect of it.

I appreciate your opinion though. Thanks!

Great question John. I usually wait one or two posts (depending on the volume) until I only answer questions or respond to really insightful comments. On the first day or two, however, I make time to respond to as many as I can. For the social proof aspect of it especially (i.e. if people see a large # of comments on the first post when they get to my homepage, they are more likely to read it.

Hi Deena – as you can see above, I did respond to your comment. I don’t think anyone should limit their blog comment responses just because they are worried about how many emails comments subscribers will get. People know when they click on the subscribe to comments button there is a chance for a lot of emails to come through, and clicking on that button is there own choice. I’m sorry you’re getting all that email, but that’s a side effect to being respectful and answering other peoples comments.

Like I responded to the person you mention in your comment, if people took the time to read my post and comment, I think they deserve at least a few seconds of my time to respond.

Only question is when do you stop replying? Eventually it’s not worth your time just replying if you have lots and lots of comments. What’s your recommended benchmark figure before you think it’s umanageable?

Hey Robert, I do respond to comments on older posts, but not every single one. On posts a week old, I usually only respond to those who have added great additional input, or those who have questions. The social proof aspect is less important because the posts are then below the fold or hidden in the archives.