One of the questions I get asked a lot by new bloggers, is how can they attract more comments from their readers.  So, that’s what this post is all about.

I have posts here with as few as 6 or 7 comments, many with over 80/100 comments and one post with almost 700 comments.  Here are a few of the things I have discovered about comments, which you might find useful:

1. You don’t attract comments, simply by inserting “what do you think” at the end of each post.
2. It’s a good idea to give your fellow bloggers a thank you for commenting on your blog.  For example, if a blogger comments here and they include their blog’s URL, they get a link at the end of their comment, which promotes their most recent blog post to all my readers.Check it out, it’s in that box at the end of each comment.  The software I use is called CommentLuv.
3. The posts I write that ask questions, typically attract more comments than those that give answers.
4. If someone is kind enough to comment on your blog, take the time to respond to their comment (if it requires a response.)  Many bloggers ask people for feedback, then pretty much ignore most of them.
5. The more heavily you moderate your blog, the fewer comments you get.  If all comments are held for moderation before they are published, your comments section will lose momentum.  It can take hours for people to see their comments published on moderated blogs and then hours longer, to see replies to their comments.
6. Some of my most read posts have the fewest comments.  This is interesting, as one of the reasons bloggers like to get comments, is to show how popular their blog is.  This is the most read page / post on this blog, BTW.
7. The more often I write blog posts, the more comments I get – Though the FEWER I get per post.  When I was getting 100′s of comments per post, I was only blogging 4 or 5 times a month.I get more comments these days, but they are spread over a lot more posts, as I currently write 4 or 5 times or more a week.  So, overall comment numbers are higher, but average comments per post are down.
8. Only a very small percentage of blog readers, actually comment.  So, even if you have the correct balance in place to encourage comments, you will need a sizeable readership before you get a high volume of comments.

There are many, many different blog comment strategies and the key is to find the right balance for you and whatever you want to achieve.

Members only

For example, a number of bloggers use a members only approach to comments.  You have to join their blog before you can comment, by registering your contact details (and getting them validated.)  This is sometimes called the velvet rope approach and is intended to create a feeling of exclusivity, whilst eliminating comment spam and trolls.

Seth Godin’s blog strategy

Some bloggers have copied Seth Godin’s blog comment strategy, to completely block his readers from commenting on his blog.  From a marketing perspective, this approach is not as crazy as it may first seem.  If you want to discuss something you read on Seth’s blog, you will probably do it on Facebook or Twitter etc; which spreads the word about Set’s blog and generates more new readers.  If you made that same point on Seth’s blog, only you and his existing readers would have seen it.

If you are a blogger: What are your tips for encouraging readers to comment and get involved?

If you are blog reader: What motivates you to want to leave a comment?

Related posts:

1. What’s your opinion on this?
2. A short comment on short comments

I wrote a post a while ago, where I asked why Seth Godin was not using Twitter, to ‘tweet’ with his many fans and why he banned comments on his blog.  Seth was generous enough to come over to my blog and (ironically) leave a comment.  Whatever you happen to think about Seth’s position in not allowing comments, one thing is certain – his strategy works well…. for him!

But, could the same strategy work for a non-celebrity too?

Seth Godin’s blog comment strategy

Seth’s decision not to allow people to comment on his blog posts, means his readers have only one alternative, if they want to discuss or debate what they have just read.  They have to take that debate to; digg, FriendFeed, stumbleupon, facebook or twitter etc. Seth provides easy links below each post to encourage this and make it super-easy to spread his superb content.

The end result is that new people, who have never heard of Seth Godin or his excellent blog, (but who use one of those social bookmarking / social media services), will find him!

Although Seth has an alternative reason for banning comments on his blog, his strategy is perfect for a well known celebrity.  It helps drive a massive amount of NEW people to his work and requires a fraction of his time; as he has no comments to filter or respond to.

Why Seth Godin’s comment strategy wouldn’t work for us

Because he’s famous, Seth avoids the one pitfall, which you or I would have if we banned comments on our blogs – Being slammed for failing to connect with our readers! Famous people who blog, don’t actually have readers - they have fans!  Readers and fans are completely different.

Seth’s fans, for example, are used to paying in order to read his books, which is a one-way experience – just like his blog.  He produces material – they read it – end of story. Equally, fans are far MORE likely to want to connect with Seth, by being seen to be forwarding his work on their social networks.

Could you or I use a version of Seth’s strategy on your blog?

I think that most bloggers can use a version of Seth’s approach; by occasionally closing comments on selected posts.  This might be particularly effective if the post is either controversial or makes a significant announcement (or both!) The effectiveness of this strategy will depend on a few things, including; the number of readers your blog has, how many of them are actively using social bookmarking services and how easy you make it for people to share your posts.

However, for you or I to close the comments section for every post, as Seth has done, is NOT something I would recommend.

No related posts.

A number of people contacted me yesterday, with a link to this post on Seth Godin’s excellent blog. In his post, Seth warns people about using Twitter. His argument is that it’s easy to be misunderstood, so you should avoid it for anything important or controversial, unless you want people to “assume you are an ignorant jerk and move on.”

Twitter would look very different to Seth Godin

I believe we have to look at this through Seth Godin’s eyes, if we want to understand his point and see why he doesn’t use Twitter.  Of course, Twitter would look very different to Seth, than it looks to you or me.  He hasn’t got hundreds of ‘followers’ – he’s got millions of ‘fans’ who would love to chat with him.

As you might already know, Seth Godin has banned people from commenting on his blog.  He says the primary reason he has banned comments is because:

I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning.

If Seth is genuinely as obsessive about this as he suggests, with the huge following he has, he would find it impossible to use Twitter the way we do. People often disagree with what you say and it’s easy, as he points out, to be misunderstood.

Seth Godin is a very clever man and a superb writer too.  However, in my opinion, I think his reasons for not using Twitter and for warning people about it, are perhaps less relevant to the rest of us, than they are to him?

I believe Twitter is a great form of communication for 99.9% of us.  Believe me, lots of people get a great deal from Twitter; including me and most (if not all) the people I chat with there.

I also think that Seth’s good friend and business associate Robert Scoble @scobleizer, proves that you can be controversial on Twitter and people will not just ‘move on’ – As Seth stated.  Robert currently has over 40,000 followers and can be extremely controversial in what he says about business, politics and technology.

Over to you!

Have you found Twitter useful? If so, in what way has it helped you or your business?  Share your thoughts, and include your Twitter username, if you would like people to contact you!

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