Are you commenting on other people’s blogs to grow your own readership?
This is often a good strategy when your blog is brand new – and it’s a great way to start building relationships in your niche.
Too many bloggers, though, go about commenting the wrong way.
If you leave comments that don’t say much more than “great post!” then you’re wasting your time (and everyone else’s).
Here’s how to develop an effective commenting strategy:
#1: Think Quality, Not Quantity
Don’t treat commenting as a numbers game. It’s far better to leave five thoughtful, insightful comments than fifty quick-fire ones.
If your comments:
- Are only semi-relevant to the post.
- Make it clear you didn’t even read the whole post.
- Are full of spelling mistakes and typos.
- Or simply come across as very superficial
… then there’s a high chance they’ll end up stuck in a moderation queue, deleted, or even marked as spam.
#2: Choose a Few Blogs to Focus On
While it’s good to follow quite a few blogs in your niche, so you know what other people are writing about, it’s best to pick just a handful to focus on when you’re commenting. Three to five is about right.
That way, you can comment (thoughtfully) on most of the posts that those blogs put out, which will mean that other readers – and the host blogger – quickly start to recognise your name.
You don’t necessarily have to focus on the biggest blogs in your niche. In fact, you may well find you get more traction from blogs that get (say) 10 comments per post rather than 100, as your comments will be more visible.
#3: Try to Get In Early
On large blogs in particular, the first few comments will, naturally, be the ones that get read the most. By keeping an eye on your RSS feed at the times when your target blogs typically post, you’ll have a good chance of getting your comment in before the discussion has gone far.
You can overdo this – if you’re the very first commenter on every single post on a blog, it might look like you’re trying to dominate the conversation. (Or it might just give the impression you have no life!)
#4: Say Something Relevant and Interesting
Rather than writing something very general, be relevant and interesting. Your comment doesn’t have to be really long (a sentence or two is often enough), but it should add value to the post and the conversation.
Here’s an example of a bad comment:
This is a good informative blog I came across for writing some good blog posts which can attract more readers…
It’s generic, it doesn’t really say anything, and it’s not even very well written.
Here’s an example of a really good comment. This one’s from Raspal Seni, commenting on David Master’s guest post a few days ago. He’s been leaving consistently great comments on DailyBlogTips for months (thanks, Raspal!)
Hi David,
Nice advice. Nowadays, the 5 seconds has been shortened to 2 seconds. I read this at some blogs and heard it in webinars too. So, I made my main blog load under one second.
There’s another tip I read which says if you have short 2-3 line paragraphs at the stat of you post, more people are likely to read the post. They don’t like long paragraphs at the start of your post.
I like 1 and 2. Long long ago definitely makes the ears stand and gets us curious to listen to the whole story. Making our post like a story is a great art and trick.
And, not to forget the importance of great headlines.
Raspal suggests a correction to a statistic David uses (though he does this in a polite way), and he offers a new tip about using short paragraphs at the start of a post.
#5: Use Your Real Name
Almost every blog “no-follows” comments, so there’s absolutely no SEO reason to use a keyword for your name when leaving a comment.
Most blogs will delete comments with “names” like “Pay Per Click Marketing” or “keston boiler repairs London” or “night clubs” (just a few spammy comments we’ve had recently!)
Use your actual name, not the name of your blog, or a keyword related to your business. If your comment is interesting and useful, readers will click on your name to find out more about you.
Those are my tips … but I’m sure you have more to add. Leave a comment below (following the advice above, naturally ;-)) to share your ideas.
Thank for the nice tips.
I appreciate your work. Before i made many mistake on commenting on people blog such as wrong spelling and grammar. But now i try to change my bad habit.
I like the recommendation for not to use Website Name in the Comment section and we should be quick to comment with the proper lines as soon as an article is posted. Thanks for help.
Wow, this is truly what I need at the moment. I’ve always thought blog commenting is numbers game (I think I read it someplace else) and some time ago I even used keyword as my “name”! I stopped the spammy behavior as soon as I saw some negative impacts on my SEO stats.
Now I know I was completely wrong and silly. Thanks so much for the insight. Kudos!
Good Tips Ali & Appreciate your work.
I Agree with all these good tips, now a days many people are utilizing comments medium for the sake of SEO & Backlinks this leads to bad customer experience.
Commentators should concentrate on high quality & useful websites rather than commenting on every post without having any subject knowledge.
Please treat ‘Comments’ medium as knowledge sharing & doubt clarification Medium.
Thanks,
-Narendra.
I strongly agree with your suggestion. Comments should provide value added such as discussing what is being discussed in the article. Not preamble that sometimes praised the article does not give any information. Comments should contain information, either pro or con, or add new information.
Hi Ali !
Great post really and feeling glad to learn some quality tips for commenting.
One of the most annoying behaviour of commentors I come across everyday on my blog is using the targeted keywords which compells me to mark their comments as spam. So I too would agree with your #5 of using one’s real name.
Because I think the purpose of commenting should not be only backlinks, traffic, SEO or anything else like these. A better idea would be to treat commenting as interacting with a knowledgeable like minded people and expressing your views.
Thanks !
Thanks for the great tips. I also do the guest blogging but sometime i do keyword as name just becoz the blog is related o my keyword otherwise i use real names.
But from now i will use real name instead of keywords.
If you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t say anything. I feel like that applies to commenting as well as everyday life, but instead of nice maybe constructive.
Great advice. But I have to admit I violated #5 in my early days as a blogger. Since I operated a political blog and didn’t want to risk being fired for my views, it was a pragmatic decision. Still, in 2005 it helped to brand my blog and as it gained more readers, guessing my identity became a bit of a parlor game in Virginia political circles.
Although I didn’t want my real identity out on the web, I would introduce myself at social events to the people I was writing about and it was always fun to see their shock when I did. But I believed people in the public had a right to know who was writing about them, especially if it was critical, so I eventually outed myself and took the risk. For me, it was the right thing to do.
I think with the increase in social media the environment has changed today and more employers are comfortable with their workers writing blogs and comments as long as the employees use common sense. So, there’s less reason for anonymity.
Just to clarify on that point, Karen, it’s fine to use a pen name or pseudonym (and some prominent bloggers do — James Chartrand of Men with Pens and Johnny B Truant of the self-publishing podcast) are using pseudonyms. What’s important is you use something that sounds like an actual name when commenting, not a keyword.
I agree with you that the culture is shifting a bit, though some bloggers do still need to be careful due to their day jobs or professions.
I can confirm the comments. I´ve also seen a lot of useless comments and also getting a lot of useless comments on my blog.
I don´t think it´s hard to write a “good” and “meaningful” comment. Just add you personal feelings regarding this topic to the comment. And I´m sure, the most of us feel more than only “great post” or “good article”
Thanks for the suggestions! I don’t think blog commenting has any SEO benefits but if you know about the topic and leave useful comments for others, you can certainly get gain some exposure. In 2014 commenting should be used for relationship building, not for links.
Hi Ali,
I’m completely agree with you. I think if you are going to post a comment then you have to read and understand the blog other wise don’t comment. Sometimes people don’t read the blog they comment according to the comments posted for that blog.
I’ve seen a lot of useless comments on blogs. I agree with Patty sometimes it’s hard to right a meaningful comment but what if you want to offer constructive criticism- diplomatically speaking of course.
I knew that the comment needed to be more than just “great post” but is it okay to offer additional advice or information on the topic? I do that sometimes but I wasn’t sure if the blogger would appreciate it or not. I want to leave meaningful comments but I’m not always sure what’s okay and what isn’t.
Hi Ali,
Long-time DBT reader, but first time commenting.
Very nice post. I’ve been blogging for almost 10 years now, but I’m sad to say for much of that time I did not take commenting as seriously as I should have taken it. Like with DBT, I would read many blogs, but I wouldn’t COMMENT on them. And as your post points out, commenting on other blogs is a fine way to build your own readership (provided you do it properly).
These are all great tips. One I would add is:
If given the option, sign up for email notifications whenever someone responds to your comment.
Whether it’s the owner of the blog telling you “thanks for commenting” or another reader responding to something you wrote, knowing when someone has responded to you so you can go back and respond to THEM is incredibly beneficial for all parties involved.
Thanks again for the great tips, Ali.
Great post, Ali.
Many fot he bloggers leave generic commens that can be applicable for all sorts of blog posts, using automated softwares. Many of the comments are still relevant but are posted in bulk.
The only way to detect these type of blog comments is, using Commentluv. Thesuers who leave automated comments often do not have CommentLuv luv included.
It is also a valid point that Google also takes account of legth of comment, while giving weightage for the link in the comment.
Hi,
Thank you for your informative article.
Although search engines (specially Google) have been smart enough to distinguish the difference of spamming and proper marketing methods, some people still try to promote their products through spamming, and that’s why Akismet is still the busiest plugin.
Before, the number of comments was used to be a factor for the ranking of a post. But it seems it is not the case for Google anymore, because I deleted the comments in one of my blog’s posts and they still have the same ranking on Google.
Asking proper and relevant questions, and adding some useful tips to what the article writer has outlined, are the best ways of commenting.
Good luck.
Hi Ali
#1 – Excellent post.
#2 – Raspal, I love your style.
Treat comments like content. I do my best to personalize, engage, share my insight and create a mini-guest post each time I comment on a blog.
1 idea to add; comment on authority blogs to make the greatest impact. Think of your blog’s theme, then comment where you can reach as many folks as possible who’d dig your theme, to change the most lives and make the most friends.
I made the mistake of doing a volume approach for a minute there, then I changed my tactic to my old skool, in depth, thoughtful commenting style. It makes more sense. Drive-by comments are ignored, and of course, Google will treat some blog receiving hundreds of backlinks in days with supreme suspicion.
Build friendships through commenting. I think about DBT’s audience Ali for sure, when I comment here, but I think about building friendship with you based on the value I’d adding to this post through my comment. I can help you, and even though I may nail down a few sweet clickthroughs in return, I do not care about what I’m getting.
My intent is to add value, to help, to share my views and to make an impact, all while building bonds with authority bloggers.
Well said Ali. Love all of these points. As a suggestion, worried or impatient commentators can set a stop watch up to go off 5 minutes after you begin crafting your comment. This inspires you to stick around, share your thoughts and to make a quality impact wherever you comment.
Tweeting in a few. Thanks for the powerful share.
Ryan
Though I haven’t published a comment policy on my blog (a half-written draft is ready), I don’t approve useless comments which don’t add value to the post. These days are an exception because I’ve again taken part in a daily blog post challenge. But, otherwise, I don’t approve any useless comments.
I’ve seen some people overdo #3. Like, at a paid computer solution forum, many people would jump and reply within seconds of someone posting a question. They’d try to make money, like greedy dogs jump for a piece of bone. Does that sound good? Then, we shouldn’t have such an attitude. Remember – slow and steady wins the race, not the fast and speedy. 🙂
Surely a bad thing to use another word instead of your real name. These days I’m seeing spam comments from people using Google as their name.
BTW, I don’t even have to see comment names in the spam folder, before deleting them. No avatar means a spam comment, 99.99% of the time. The rest 0.01% are legit comments but still useless ones. In the latest version, comment luv doesn’t accept comments from someone not having a gravatar. No avatars at DBT is a different thing, though.