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I love it when I get comments or questions from our readers which give me ideas for blog post. Recently I was sent an email from a reader who wanted to know:
How do I get more comments on my blog post? I have been blogging for a few months and I am just not getting the number of comments I thought I would be getting.
If you are a regular reader of Blog For Profit, you know I talk a lot about engaging in the conversation and “keeping the conversation going.” Comments are a key to this. Not only for the blogger, but also for the reader of blogs. It is this conversation which gives us information to grow our blogs, our businesses and ourselves.
To answer the question, I decided to use it as this weeks edition of “Ask the Readers.”
When I end a lot of my post I use some key words I try to live by, “lets keep the conversation going.” This is a huge advantage for both me as the blogger and you as the reader. The cornerstone to blogging is the fact it is a Web site where you have the ability as a business owner to carry on a conversation with your readers. The conversation you can have provides you as a business owner an “openness and transparency that can create trust and respect.”
If you want your readers to comment, the first thing you should do each and every time you write a post is to ask them to comment.
Your responsibility as the blog publisher does not stop when you hit the post/publish button and send your post to the blog. If you expect to get comments, you have to participate in the conversation also. I try to make it a point to respond to as many of the comments which come into Blog For Profit as I can. If our readers have taken the time to stop what they are doing to leave a comment, I feel I have an obligation to do the same back. If you are not getting comments, stop and ask yourself if you are responding to the comments which do come in. If you are not, then why should your readers leave any in the first place.
One of the keys to getting your readers involved in the conversation and engaged is to give them a way to keep up on the conversation. Give them a way to subscribe to the comments in a post and hopefully they will come back and comment on the comments. On Blog For Profit, we use a WordPress plugin called simply Subscribe to Comments. And readers do subscribe to comments to see what is being said after they comment.
Commenters leave comments for a couple of reasons. One, they want to leave a comment because they do want to get involved in the conversation. Two, they leave a comment to get noticed. And there are tools available which allow you to give both of these commenters something in return for engaging in the conversation. We use another WordPress plugin called Commentluv. This plugin shows a link to the last post from the commenters blog in their comment.
This plugin and the previous one are really no brainers for the blog publisher. You simply install them, set them up and forget about them. They do all the work for you.
This is one of those things people are doing which really just causes me to get angry. You are accomplishing nothing other then keeping busy bloggers from leaving a comment on your blog. And don’t use those stupid CAPTCHA spam filters either. For one thing, spammers are finding ways around them. And two, they are a pain in the butt for your commenters. There are a number of times I have attempted to put in the required letters and it does not work.
If you make it difficult for your readers to comment, they won’t. It is your responsibility as the blogger to moderate your comments.
Instead of using the two methods mentioned in #5, you should be moderating your comments when they come in. And to help you do this, use another WordPress plugin called Akismet. Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You can moderate those comments it sends to spam or not.
And moderate all your comments. Don’t allow them to publish until you have checked them all to make sure they are proper for your blog. I and a lot of other bloggers moderate our comments. And we do so because we want to protect our readers. We also don’t want some of the crap some put in comments to be on our blogs. Your readers will appreciate the fact your are moderating your comments and they will feel you are paying attention too.
Ask questions in your blog post. For example at the end of this post I am going to ask you the reader a question, “how do you get comments on your blog post?” Ask questions, you just might get some answers. You can also ask a question in the blog title or in sub-headers. The key is to just ask questions. People can’t help themselves and they just may leave a comment answering your question.
Leave it open and don’t say everything there is to say on the topic you are writing about. But, don’t be too eager to leave too much out. Your post may not make any sense if you leave too much out. But if you leave room for your readers to leave a comment whereby they are adding something, they will.
I have found when I do a post that might be a bit controversial or where I am calling someone or something out, I get a lot of comments on those post. However, you need to be careful. While some of your readers may appreciate this. Others may be turned off by it and not come back.
Now it is your turn to leave a comment and add to this conversation. How do you get comments on your blog? What tools or plugins do you use? And what blogging practices have you used which helped and/or hurt you getting comments?
I am Grant Griffiths and I blog and co-own a blog consulting and design firm.
I started my first blog February of 2005. My first blog was a blog I used to market and promote my family law practice. And blogging soon became my only form of written advertising. What I also discovered was that blogging is one of the most effective marketing tools available for the small business, home business and professional service firm. In fact, I was am so sold on the effectiveness of blogging, that I am co-founder of G²WebMedia.
#8 and #9 are the hardest to do, in my opinion, but worth it when you can. The thing I try to remember is that people LOVE to give their opinion, so if they see a way they can do that, they will comment. You have to “leave the sides open” so people can jump in and tell you what they think.
Also, you can’t just write posts and expect comments without networking and building relationships with other bloggers. If you really want to get more comments, form a blog pack (google it).
Michael Martine - Remarkablogger´s last blog post..Top Ten Things to Not Do on an Internet Marketing Blog
Grant, this is good stuff. I will incorporate these tips and let you know how it works out on my blog.
I never really thought about the value of “subscribe to comments” until I started commenting more on blog posts. It really is nice to be able to get notice on when you’ve had a question answered or a particularly bold statement responded to. Of course it also loads your inbox with other people’s comments.
80% of the comments on my blog are just from people “stopping by” so far, but the others are answering questions I’ve asked in the post, and thanking me for the information shared. However, the more I link out and the more I comment on other blogs, the more comments I generate. Commenting on other blogs really is one of the top ways to get more.
Nice collection of tips! I think alongside being controversial, you should also try to put personality into your posts to connect with your readers more.
Corey Freeman´s last blog post..How to Always Have Ideas
Engage the emotions! If you can get your readers to feel something (especially humor), you’ll get a lot more comments. Emotions move people to speak up. That’s a challenging thing to do on a business blog, but on my creative writing blog, it’s been fantastic for getting readers to participate.
Melissa Donovan´s last blog post..Ten Tips for Doing Business Online
Grant, it is all about the conversation. When someone new comments on my blog, the first thing I do when continuing the conversation is thank them for stopping by. Then I engage them in discussion but honestly. If I don’t agree…I say so. If I agree..I say so. If I don’t have an answer…I say so.
I agree with all the above. I moderate all my comments so when others subscribe to my comments they aren’t getting garbage or advertising. After all, everything generated from my blog has my name associated with it. I never forget this
Susan Cartier Liebel´s last blog post..Faculty Announcement - Grant Griffiths
I love what you did with your commentluv styling, looks sweet.
btw.. if you update to 2.5.4 you can encourage comments even more because your commenters will be in with a chance to win a prize just by commenting here and on other contest entrants
check out http://www.commentluv.com on the contest page
Andy Bailey´s last blog post..Intense Debate can work with CommentLuv
Michael - I would agree those are the hardest to do. But I think we need to give it a good try. Right on point to about just expecting comments just because you put up a great post. That is why I love twitter and other networking tools. Gives you a chance to give your post exposure and get them to go read it.
Brian - Thanks and let me know how they work for you.
Corey - I think giving them the option to subscribe to comments is a great way to keep the conversation going. It gives them a way to keep up without having to come back and check their comment. But best of all, it gets more comments as people usually don’t come back to check comments.
Melissa — Point on with your comment — Emotions move people to speak up. You are exactly right.
Susan — You have to engage with your readers and those who comment. Engaging in the conversation is not just for those who read you blog. As the blog publisher, you have to engage in the conversation too.
Andy — Thanks for your comment. We did tweak the CommentLuv styling to fit our own style. Love your tool and thanks for coming by.
I’m having trouble agreeing with # 9. I’m not saying that I would intentionally go out and try to offend my readers, but if you constantly write trying to please everyone, your blog will never develop a voice of its own. Sometimes you just have to stand up for what you believe and that might offend some. Those who are offended are free to leave.
This reminds me of a blog that was recommended to me recently. Even though it has great information, the blogger likes to use expletives in her language and I found it to be very distracting while reading. I quickly learned her blog was not for me and decided to not go back. That being said, I strongly feel that she should continue doing what she’s doing because that’s how “she” does it. It works for her. I’m sure she has huge following and if she didn’t write in her own way, her blog would not reflect her true voice. The very reason that many people DO follow her, is the same reason I don’t.
So I say, don’t be afraid to write in your own voice. Some will love it, others will not. You cannot write for everyone.
Reba
Reba Collins´s last blog post..Can You Really Make Money Blogging?
Reba- I agree #9 is not for everyone and that is exactly why I suggested you have to be very careful if you do a #9 from time to time. There are also blogs I do not go back to after I visit once because their style or methods are distracting too.
Thanks again for reading and for joining in on the conversation
Grant,
Excellent post - thank you!
Number 9 has been pretty effective for me. I recently wrote two “edgy” posts about Twitter that generated a lot of discussion.
I always tell my clients: There’s no such thing as “safe” marketing.
John
Just realized I never said thank you for answering my question! I enjoyed your answer and am working on getting more comments with your help!
Elizabeth Lewis´s last blog post..Does my business need to provide maternity leave?
Elizabeth — I am glad my post helped you in your question about getting comments. Please let me know what you are doing on your blog to get more comments.