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:
- You don’t attract comments, simply by inserting “what do you think” at the end of each post.
- 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.
- The posts I write that ask questions, typically attract more comments than those that give answers.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?
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