Curatti

Curatti On Air: How The Power Of Commenting Benefits Bloggers

  • Alice Elliott

    • If you want to draw the right kind of attention to yourself in the blogosphere, the best way to go about it is to comment on other blogs.

    That’s why when I participated in this Curatti On Air Interview (see below) I was extremely keen to talk about commenting (as well as other aspects of blogging):

    In the interview I mention my commenting book and my latest 90 Days Challenge to Commenting Mastery. Now I don’t usually plug my own stuff, but once you’ve read the rest of this post and realise you need to perfect your commenting skills, this is a great place to start.

    Commenting benefits even the non-blogger

    You can start on a commenting regime even before you begin writing in your own blog. Some writers prefer to guest post, but I think it’s much quicker and easier to partake in a round of constructive commenting.

    And commenting can be a great way to hone in on your writing skills. Just like Twitter, you have a limited space to have your say. But even though it’s a bit more than 140 characters, there’s still a knack to writing a comment that is meaningful, proactive, readable and suitably enthusiastic enough to be accepted and welcomed.

    Not only is the practice of commenting altruistic and forthcoming, it can be beneficial as well. The infographic below shows the importance of how commenting benefits a blogger, even before they blog:

    Get noticed

    It’s important to get noticed in the world of blogging if you are to gain any new readers. The right way, of course, is to provide value through excellent content that can make a difference to your readers’ lives.

    And this can be done via commenting, by providing worthy, relevant feedback to a post to make the blog’s owner notice you, as well as the other readers and commenters.

    Commenting benefits bloggers who can easily flit from blog to blog showing their appreciation. However, remember to prove you’ve read and properly understood the post by writing something worthwhile that everyone will want to read.

    Build relationships

    Not only is it useful to read lots of different blogs to get ideas for your own posts, it also introduces you to the other bloggers in your niche. However, these writers should not be treated as ‘competition’, but as potential collaborators.

    Commenting should be altruistic in nature. This method of supplying constructive feedback is a great way of building a relationship with other bloggers. And these new connections could have positive connotations in the future.

    Only leave worthy contributions in the comment box. Because if done correctly and with the best intentions, you’ll find commenting benefits bloggers for more writing opportunities later on.

    Build relationships with other bloggers by commenting on their blogs.Click To Tweet

    Reciprocal visits

    You can use commenting to drive more traffic back to your blog. But this will only happen if your comment has succeeded in creating a notable impact.

    Leave a comment that adds value to the post, fills in any gaps left by the blogger, or continues the discussion in a helpful and constructive manner. Commenting benefits bloggers if sufficient effort is made to offer a contribution that provides a good impression.

    Once you’ve captured the attention of the blog’s author and other readers, they are then more likely to click onto your blog’s link visit your blog and read what else you have written.

    Have you read it all?

    Readers who fail at commenting are usually those that haven’t bothered to read the post thoroughly beforehand. You can easily spot them – they miss the point or totally misunderstand the main subject matter of the post.

    These kinds of people are intensely irritating. To avoid becoming one yourself, read the post carefully before your think about writing your comment. After all, its only common courtesy to pay suitable attention to the author’s hard work.

    If you are going to succeed in effective commenting, take the necessary time the post deserves. It really isn’t worth skim reading it – gaining its full meaning will result in a comment that is relevant, suitable and worthy.

    Get some new ideas

    Continuing on from spending enough time to read the post thoroughly, this also applies to the other comments as well. This will stop you from repeating what has already been said, or allow you to express yourself in a different or better way.

    However, all this reading will not only mean you can learn something new, but may even generate some new ideas you could use in your own blog. Sometimes other comments are great sources of information that you could take advantage of.

    If you find yourself compelled to leave a lengthy comment, hold fire before submitting it. It’s not a good idea to write too much, or you may overshadow the blog’s author. Copy your extensive comment into your own blog and make that into a new post. Then précis your original comment to a more appropriate size.

    Commenting can generate ideas that can be explored further in your blog.Click To Tweet

    Showcase your expertise

    Source

    If you want to find a great way of exhibiting your knowledge to help others, do it through commenting. But make sure this is truly the case, and avoid using it as a method just to show off!

    You’ll find that commenting benefits bloggers if they are able to share their expertise in a way that improves the other readers’ lives. And this content needs to be both relevant and relatable to achieve the best results.

    Blog authors will welcome this additional information if they can see how it helps them as well as their readers. Added value can only enhance the post’s authority and make it more worthy of reading.

    Enhance your credibility

    Leaving a credible comment that enhances the original post can show that you know your stuff and should be taken seriously. This is particularly so if the feedback is extremely relevant to the post’s subject.

    This sort of information sharing can influence other readers, especially if they are impressed by what you have written. Make sure the feedback is relevant and constructive and that it benefits anyone who reads it.

    This sort of additional content is bound to be welcomed by the blog’s author. It will put their blog into a better light, and the backlinks created may even help towards better rankings within the search criteria.

    Commenting can influence blog authors and their readers to take you more seriously.Click To Tweet

    Add more value

    Every commenter wants their contribution to pass effortlessly through the spam filters and be accepted and published by the blog’s author. This will only happen if the comment succeeds in getting noticed.

    Make sure the quality of your comment is of the highest order. It needs to be concise, pertinent, relevant and readable. It needs to be well written, and without typos, bad grammar and strange sentence construction.

    Commenting benefits bloggers if your feedback is able to rise above the other contributions, especially if it provides valuable information or suitably enhances the discussion.

    Acceptable backlinks

    Every time you submit a comment, you generate an acceptable link back to your own blog. This is done when you fill in your details in the information fields with the comment box.

    If other readers approve or like what you have written in your comment, they are much more likely to click on this link to visit your blog. This is another reason why commenting benefits your blog’s traffic by increasing it with relevant visitors.

    These sorts of links are tolerated, because they don’t occur within the comment itself. A comment is much more likely to be classed as spam if it is littered with links. If you need to leave a link, make sure it is highly relevant to the post’s subject, and is helpful to those who click on it.

    Attracts search engines

    Blogs that attract a lot of comments are instantly considered popular by the search engines. This is because their algorithms are programmed to assume popularity means good content.

    So adding your comment to a post increases its chances of being noticed by the search engine spiders. These ‘bots’ also see comments as new content, ready to be indexed as appropriate.

    And if you manage to carefully add relevant keywords to your comments, this will also be picked up by the search engines resulting in a much better search experience for the blog. And who knows, the spiders may even go through your comment’s link to index your blog as well!

    Commenting makes a blog more popular, which attracts the search engines.Click To Tweet

    Now what about you?

    Let me know how you think commenting benefits bloggers. Are you successful in gaining lots of comments, and if so, how does this affect your blog’s performance?

    Alternatively, if you wonder why you aren’t getting any comments, perhaps it’s time for you to go out and start commenting yourself. You need to give before you can receive, and this is particularly so with commenting. If you want to know more, check out my 90 Days Challenge above and in my bio box below.

    And remember to leave a comment below and share this post with your friends, so they also have the chance to voice their opinions as well.

     

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    Alice Elliott

    Alice Elliott (aka Fairy Blog Mother) is an award winning blogger who has been "explaining things really simply" about blogging since 2006. She is also founder of The Commenting Club created to educate the benefits of commenting, engagement and interaction to individuals and businesses.