The Ultimate Guide To Blog Comment Traffic

Ultimate Guide To Blog Comment Traffic

The Ultimate Guide To Blog Comment Traffic

Ultimate Guide To Blog Comment Traffic

Blog comments can be traffic-building vehicles for your blogging campaign if you create effective blog comments.

Don’t bother with drive-by comments. You know what I mean. The thin, worthless, 1 line offerings obviously intended to get a quick link without too much effort from the blog commenter. Drive-by comments go directly to spam, wasting time for every party involved.

Even worse; publishing 1 line, thin, drive-by comments kills your reputation among fellow bloggers. Not exactly a traffic driver, right?

If you put in the time to create meaningful, thoughtful, thorough comments you can build friendships with powerful bloggers and boost your blog traffic in the process. The secret is in knowing how to create traffic-building blog comments versus Plain Jane, run-of-the-mill offerings that barely raise an eyebrow.

Follow these tips to boost your blog traffic through effective blog commenting.

Why Blog Comments?

One of the best reasons to comment is for the word of mouth endorsements and links. People come to your blog specifically to comment. This means they want to see your face and what you’ve written.

Your traffic will increase, and you’ll get regular book sales from the endorsement or link alone.

 

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Creating Traffic Building Blog Comments

In order to get your blog comments talking, you need to start by creating an effective blog comment strategy. You’ll get traffic from these links, and your readers will grow more comfortable in leaving their comments.

Take a few minutes to brainstorm a list of potential blog post topics. Take a look at some of the top comments on blogs you read regularly.

Traffic Building Blog Comments

We’ll focus on comments written to one particular blogger. Let’s say you’re reading the blog of Nicole Senft. Nicole was recently featured as the Best Old School Mom. If you visit Nicole’s blog, you’ll see the keyword suggestion tool. Click on the blue “suggest this” button to drop your guess into the box.

You’ll see the suggested keyword. But Nicole hasn’t used that specific phrase. That’s why she’s using the drop down menu. By selecting the drop-down menu, she gets control of her post’s SEO and the phrase’s ability to get a link from the algorithmically ranked sites.

Be specific and mention your subject line. Nicole does the rest. The keyword is your Google (or Bing or Yahoo or any other search engine) bound. It’s a link magnet.

Helpful Blog Commenting Tip

Helpful Blog Commenting Tip

Don’t be short. (Or long.). You want your readers to read your blog post or provide comments about it. But people usually read a blog post for 5 minutes or less, depending on the topic and how quickly you can make it interesting for your audience. You want readers to stay and read on for a while, not skim.

More importantly, readers quickly forget blog comments. Very few people will sit through a whole entire 5-minute blog post. Besides, who really needs to? Most of your audience reads blogs for 1-2 minutes, tops, and quickly goes back to their Facebook or Twitter feeds. The point is, you can’t waste readers’ time on page after page of blog comment drivel.

Why Blog Comments Are Important

Unlike social media, blog comments provide a permanent record of your post. When you post, you’re writing it down. When you’re done, you can’t take it back. Blog comments create a permanent record of your blog posting.

More importantly, it’s important that your readers stay connected with you. You want them to know you, and staying in touch with you will result in regular traffic.

The Blog Commenting Strategy

Here’s how to create traffic building blog comments: Create a comment policy. Your policy will set the tone of the blog commenting community. Some sites will allow you to review and approve every comment in an effort to prevent spam. Some sites will simply accept all comments.

 

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The Art Of Writing Killer Blog Comments

Let’s get to the nitty-gritty.

Follow these steps to leave captivating blog comments.

  1. Read the blog post
  2. Read the comments
  3. Add value

1. Read The Blog Post

  • Never post a comment without reading the blog post or the article.
  • If you don’t have the time to read the post, do not comment.
  • When you leave a comment, it means you have read the post and you either like to add something or criticize or want to ask something.
  • By leaving a comment, you are sending a hidden message to the blogger that “Hey, I have read your blog post and I’m sharing my thoughts ….”
  • There is absolutely no point in leaving a comment without reading the article.
  • If you cannot read the post, just scan it. Try to get the gist of it.

Read The Comments

2. Read The Comments

  • The best comment is the first comment. Try to be the first commenter or maybe the second or third.
  • If there are comments posted by others, read them.
  • It might be that someone has already added the point you are trying to add.
  • Or maybe, you can add to the discussion already in process.
  • Most of the time, there is a discussion underway in the comments where everyone is adding to the discussion. If you will write a new comment out of the blue, the admin will probably ignore it.
  • Understand the situation and see where things are heading before you think of adding your voice.

3. Add Value

This is the crux. Add value. Add a point. You can do one of the following:

  • Ask a question
  • Share an example
  • Ask for more details
  • Add more details

Anything else will be considered spam, obviously. You must have a solid point to add to the discussion if you intend to get noticed and to drive traffic. If your comment is generic, it appreciates the blogger and adds no real value, you will not get a single visitor.

And this is the reason why your blog comments are not doing anything.

Try To Stand Out From The Crowd

Add a comment that will surprise the blogger and the readers. Even if you have to do research and read a few more blog posts to compose your comment, don’t hesitate to do so.

It will pay off in the long run.

Driving traffic to your blog is not that easy, you know it, right?

Better invest time in crafting blog comments. Do research. Try to collect more information, facts, and statistics. Write a compelling comment as if you are writing a cover letter.

Yes, it will need time.

Effective Blog Commenting Strategies

Use A Powerful Blog Commenter Name

Make sure your blog comment title is good and the use of keywords makes your comment visible. For example, “I wanted to point out an error on your article http://www.wanttostartblogging.com/seo-guide/,” makes your comment a lot better than a simple blog comment with only a couple of words.

Do you know what makes the difference between people who comment on blogs and don’t? Those who add value, answer questions or comment on something they agree with.

High-traffic blog comments come from high-quality comments with smart answers.

Effective Blog Commenting Tips

Keep your comments short and sweet, less than 10 lines.

Keep your comments specific to the post or topic at hand.

Spend a few minutes reviewing your blog’s best blog comments.

The Advantages Of Blog Commenting

The Advantages Of Blog Commenting

Blog commenting is not for everyone. There is a time and place for ad hominem attacks. Some bloggers simply don’t have time for them. Many bloggers don’t understand them. So the point is that I really don’t care what your motivation is. Blog comments are generally less enjoyable than a post, so if you don’t want to spend the time, don’t.

But there are lots of reasons to blog comment. The most important one is that your blog is the perfect place to generate traffic. People on the fence are the most susceptible to trying out your ideas.

The secret to blogging comment traffic is that you can both build traffic and promote your blog simultaneously.

The Challenge. In order to actually generate traffic to your blog, you have to know what to say.

Tools For Effective Blog Commenting

Here are the tools you need to make effective blog comments:

Google Chrome: This is the most popular browser, and is the best tool for reading and posting comments.

This is the most popular browser and is the best tool for reading and posting comments.

Disqus: This system is all about comments and works with most blogging platforms. This system is all about comments and works with most blogging platforms. Comment Rock: This tool monitors the open and click-through rates on comments. This tool monitors the open and click-through rates on comments.

Pulselocker: This tool requires registration to create and manage your comments. This tool requires registration to create and manage your comments.

4 Blog Commenting Mistakes To Avoid

There are plenty of mistakes we make while posting comments to blog commenting sites. Let’s discuss the most important things to avoid while posting a comment. Here are the most important things to avoid while posting a comment on a website:

1. Over-Optimizing With Your Keyword In The Name Section

You must not insert too many keywords in one comment. Try to focus on just one keyword when you write a comment. Make sure your comment is relevant to the blog under which you are writing a comment.

2. Not Using A Full Name In Your Comments

One of the biggest mistakes people make while commenting below a blog is that they do not show their real name or full name. Fake, suspicious, and robot-like commentators are not allowed everywhere. You have to look and feel human when you are commenting on a blog.

Using A Fake Or Inactive Email Address

3. Using A Fake Or Inactive Email Address

Do not use a fake email, suspicious email, or inactive email because they will not take you seriously. If you do not appear to be a legitimate commentator, that website administrator may remove your comment.

4. Using An Email Address That’s Not Connected To A Gravatar

Gravatar is a service for providing globally unique avatars and one has to register on Gravatar to be able to comment on WordPress-based websites. If you want to freely comment below WordPress blogs and WordPress websites, you should make an account on Gravatar.

Get your blog comments system up and running. Begin by building your blog comments system. Your blog will have to have content, some sort of comments, user registration, security and other factors.

Writing the code for the blog comments and figuring out how to integrate with WordPress

Get your blog comments program from the WordPress.org theme’s comment text view. This method is probably the easiest and fastest option. It’s free, reliable, and there are a lot of good blogs and blog comments plugins that you can get. But this method is only reliable if you follow some basic rules. Here are a few rules to remember when it comes to plugin installation on WordPress themes.

Effective Blog Commenting

5. Get A Gravatar

Gravatar With Blog Comments

If you haven’t yet signed up for Gravatar yet and added your image, do so. Right now. Absolutely no excuses.

If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years and don’t know what Gravatar is (just kidding!), it’s basically a tool that displays your profile image on any WordPress-managed blog you comment on.

Pretty cool, right? I thought so.

Remember: faces and logos stand out a whole lot more than some lousy default icon. You can brand yourself, build blogger-to-blogger relationships, and increase traffic.

This blog commenting thing gets cooler all the time!

6. Get There First

Which comment do you usually read – the 1st or the 51st?

The 1st? You got it.

On any and every blog post, the first comment ALWAYS gets the most visibility.

Only a small percentage read the comment section in any case. A lot smaller percentage actually scroll all the way down and read all the comments (including the 51st).

Getting their first and being the first one to add a comment to the blog will usually result in huge exposure for you and your blog.

To stay on top whenever a blog post gets published, subscribe to their RSS feed (nearly every blog worth commenting on will have an RSS feed).

Reply To The First Comment

7. Reply To The First Comment

Here’s a sneaky little trick.

If, for some reason, you weren’t able to beat what’s-his-name to the first comment space, then just reply to his comment.

Your comment will get just about the same visibility as the first commentator did.

However, this might not always work out so well, as some comments are really the type that can be replied to (think comments like “Great post!” or “I wish my blog could be more like yours!”).

Make sure that whatever you say when your reply actually says something. “Good comment!” doesn’t cut it. Oppose one of his thoughts (explain why he’s wrong), add to what he said (explain why he’s right), or answer his question.

8. Answer A Question

Answering a question is probably the greatest tip I could give you.

Answering someone else’s question puts you on the same level of knowledge as the blog owner.

For example, if someone needed to know something about SEO, and you stepped in and quickly answered his question, you’ve basically told everybody that you know the niche, which makes them a lot more likely to click your link, browse your blog, and subscribe to your newsletter.

For a bit more on answering questions in the comment section, check out this YouTube video by Ana Hoffman from Traffic Generation Cafe.

9. Add Some HTML In

Bolding (), italics (), underlining () and otherwise formatting your text goes a long way towards generating more traffic with your blog comments.

Formatted text always sticks out (which is why you’ve read all the bolded words on this page). If a viewer scrolls down the comment section, your comment is likely to catch his/her eye.

10. Remember: Long, Helpful Comments Always Get More Clicks

Period.

Blog commenting is great, but if you don’t have something to say, then don’t say anything.

If your comment doesn’t add value to the discussion, answer a question or express appreciation for the post, then it doesn’t need to be (or shouldn’t) be there.

It’s the commentators who write lots, add value, and sincerely try to help who are the ones who end up leveraging the most traffic to their own blog (even if that wasn’t their primary motivation in the first place).

People naturally connect with people who share their concerns. This is a lot easier to do when you go about your business using your own name. If people want to talk with you, they are more likely to reply.

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Stay Active On Your Blog

To generate great blog comments, you need to be an active participant on your blog. Go out of your way to interact with other bloggers.

What should be in a blog comment?

Always respond to comments that bring new ideas, questions, or in some cases, even disagreement to your post. Answer each comment individually. If you answer all of the comments, your post will be very long and difficult to read.

Say Something To Engage People Who Comment.

Comments should be about a blog post and include personal information. Often, a conversation starts in the comments. Don’t ignore it, stay on topic, and do what you can to steer it back to your post.

Partnership Conversations

You may find that the author of the post, or at least one of the first three blog commenters, has read your book and would be interested in your book. Say so.

This can be a win-win. If the article or blog post makes you think, you may find it useful.

Write Meaty Comments

Write Meaty Comments

One strategy is to add lots of content to your blog comment. This approach requires following a long-winded process, but at least you’re not wasting valuable comment space with spam.

Blog Commenters want good content. They want to engage with it, and they want to see other readers engage back. Your comment should do both of these things. This means creating content, not just linking to it.

When writing your content, ask the commenters to:

Introduce themselves in the most general way possible – “My name is ______” Use phrases like “The #1 book on ____ topic ____”

And repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Personalize Comments

I really hate spam but if you want visitors to your blog to comment, you have to set your sights on your email subscribers. As I blogged about at the beginning of this article, with our drip email system, we automatically reach all the email addresses in our list. This means there’s no need for people to respond.

Set up a custom form on your blog so that you can create opt-in email opportunities to your blog. You can automatically ask readers to leave comments or provide feedback in a form you create. Create a drop-down for users to select from that builds upon one of your posts.

You want your visitors to return to your blog, so the more comfortable they are leaving comments, the more likely they are to do so. They can have more than one comment open at a time.

Be Persistent

Nobody gets a set number of comments – including you. Don’t let that stop you. Set your goal to 10,000 blog comments in 12 months and reach that goal one comment at a time. Why not? You can’t expect to get 10,000 good comments overnight. So, how about 5,000?

When blogging, make it a goal to create more than one comment per post at least twice a week.

Don’t Get So Overwhelmed By The Requests

Overwhelm yourself? No problem. Instead of worrying about the sheer volume of comments that are required to reach the 10,000 mark, focus on quality and the number of people who are reading your posts.

How about 2,500 readers per post? That’s only 300 comments per week – not too much.

Conclusion

Is it worth making your blog comments a traffic-generating machine? Well, I hope so. It doesn’t cost you much. You just need to create great blog comments and stand by your comments. As a bonus, your blog comments may even bring you traffic, business, traffic, new friendships and media coverage.

What about you? Do you use blog comments for traffic? If so, what’s the traffic-generation tactic you’ve found to be most effective? This post is part of our contributor series. The views expressed are the author's own and not necessarily shared by TNW.

I trust you enjoyed this article about the Ultimate Guide To Blog Comment Traffic. Would you please stay tuned for more articles to come? Take care!

JeannetteZ

 

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Your Opinion Is Important To Me

Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? I would love to hear from you. Please leave me your questions, experiences, remarks, and suggestions about the Ultimate Guide To Blog Comment Traffic in the comments below. You can also contact me by email at Jeannette@WorkFromAnywhereInTheWorld.com.

 

 

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