One of the great things about blogging, that in a way “come with the territory”, in an opportunity to encourage comments and create very vibrant communities of like minded people. However a blog owner you probably know that it takes time and hard work to foster discussions on your blog. In fact every one of us has a few posts on our blogs with zero comments.
photo credit: kk+Here are what I consider to be the most helpful things you can do and widgets you can use to encourage comments on your blog.
- Ask. Asking your visitors to react in a form of a comment to what you have written is the easiest thing you can do. In fact, you can even modify your template in such a way that every single post will end with an encouragement like this: “I have spoken, now is your turn!”
- Respond to comments. Some bloggers respond to every single comment, while others respond to many comments at once. However you decide to respond to people commenting on your blog is completely up to you. But doing so you have an opportunity not only to acknowledge the comments made by others, but also to answer additional questions and ever criticism.
- Allow your readers to follow the conversation(s). On this blog I use a plugin that allows the author of the comment to subscribe to subsequent comments on the post he or she just commented. The plugin is called Subscribe to Comments. Every time the new comment is entered the subscriber receives and e-mail containing the comment. It keeps him or her updated without actual need to visit your blog.
- Comment on other blogs. Yes the golden rule works in here as well.
- Link to other blogs. If your post was inspired by another blog, make sure to link to that blog. Not only it’s just the matter of being kind, but often times you will find that the author of the original post will come and comment on your writing.
- Use threaded comments plugin. I find this plugin to be really useful because it allows to respond to a particular comment.
Unfortunately #3 and #6 meant only for WordPress users. But the other four steps may help to increase the comments on your blog nonetheless.
If you have not put much effort into encouraging conversations on your blog, now is a good time. You will not regret it.
You're right! You have to think for some ideas that could open a conversation to your readers. More people will leave their comments if they find it interesting.
You’re right! You have to think for some ideas that could open a conversation to your readers. More people will leave their comments if they find it interesting.
Andy – I am presuming that is your name. Welcome back. The blogging becomes more interesting and exciting when you begin to receive more comments.
all right…but add also “eliminate no follow”…you can gain a great quantity of comments if you specify this on your blog
all right…but add also “eliminate no follow”…you can gain a great quantity of comments if you specify this on your blog
It also invites a lot of spam and bunch of people with name like “used car sales” 😉 if you know what I mean. “Pluming Corse Andy” is a good example, but since he has been twice to my blog I am letting it go…. And I do hope his name is Andy 😉
It also invites a lot of spam and bunch of people with name like “used car sales” 😉 if you know what I mean. “Pluming Corse Andy” is a good example, but since he has been twice to my blog I am letting it go…. And I do hope his name is Andy 😉
Andy – I am presuming that is your name. Welcome back. The blogging becomes more interesting and exciting when you begin to receive more comments.
Hey Vlad . . . great post! I learned the hard way the the elimination of No Follow can become a real headache. Even though we removed the plugin, we're now on a thousand different lists as a blog that allows follow . . . as a result, we get TONS of comment SPAM. It is a PITA to say the least!
BTW – I haven't yet added the threaded comments plugin, but plan on doing it soon. See you around!
Hi Josh,
I am in favor of removing nofollows, bu you do you need to prepare yourself for surge in spam. It may become real problem with a blog as big as yours. However there are some dofollow plugins that will not remove the nofollow unless a person left certain amount of comments.
Just wanted to tell you that threaded comments can slow down the page load for the posts that have 50+ comments. Not that significant though. I had one posts with 150+ comments and still was ok. Just wanted to give heads up.
Hey Vlad . . . great post! I learned the hard way the the elimination of No Follow can become a real headache. Even though we removed the plugin, we’re now on a thousand different lists as a blog that allows follow . . . as a result, we get TONS of comment SPAM. It is a PITA to say the least!
BTW – I haven’t yet added the threaded comments plugin, but plan on doing it soon. See you around!
Hi Josh,
I am in favor of removing nofollows, bu you do you need to prepare yourself for surge in spam. It may become real problem with a blog as big as yours. However there are some dofollow plugins that will not remove the nofollow unless a person left certain amount of comments.
Just wanted to tell you that threaded comments can slow down the page load for the posts that have 50+ comments. Not that significant though. I had one posts with 150+ comments and still was ok. Just wanted to give heads up.
Yeah, I agree too to remove the “nofollow” attributes. Maybe all comments should be moderated to know whether the comment is spam or not.
Hi Vlad! I'm back again.. Don't worry I'm not a spammer! Yeah, Andy is my real name.. Thanks for having me here! 😉
Andy,
You are pushing your luck. Is “Cold Play Tribute King” you name as well?
Do you really think I am stupid???
It takes two or three times to be reported to Akismet and you will not be able to post on hundreds or even thousands of blogs again.
Consider yourself forewarned.
Yeah, I agree too to remove the “nofollow” attributes. Maybe all comments should be moderated to know whether the comment is spam or not.
Hi Vlad! I’m back again.. Don’t worry I’m not a spammer! Yeah, Andy is my real name.. Thanks for having me here! 😉
Andy,
You are pushing your luck. Is “Cold Play Tribute King” you name as well?
Do you really think I am stupid???
It takes two or three times to be reported to Akismet and you will not be able to post on hundreds or even thousands of blogs again.
Consider yourself forewarned.
Hi Vlad, I got your email. I just want to say sorry, not my intention to mess with you. I was just making some favour with friends when I post and link to their websites. I won't link to other website if you would prefer me not to. I really apologize and I feel so sorry!
Hi Vlad, I got your email. I just want to say sorry, not my intention to mess with you. I was just making some favour with friends when I post and link to their websites. I won’t link to other website if you would prefer me not to. I really apologize and I feel so sorry!
Andy,
We all make mistakes. I urge you to never do that again if you want to be successful online. Especially if you are looking to build a long term value for your websites.
Andy,
We all make mistakes. I urge you to never do that again if you want to be successful online. Especially if you are looking to build a long term value for your websites.