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5 Reasons You Should Start Commenting On Blogs Again

  • Alice Elliott

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    When was the last time you commented on a blog post?

    Go on, own up! I reckon it was quite a while, wasn’t it?

    And yet I bet you’ve been happily commenting away on social media since then. Why is that? Real-time responses? Instant gratification? No moderation? Massive amount of material to comment on?

    These are all valid arguments for neglecting to comment on blogs. However, I believe you are missing out on a valuable source of engagement that could help you more than commenting on social media could. This is why I suggest you should start commenting on blogs again:

    1. Improve Your Blog’s Domain Authority

    Now I’ve put this one first because it is more likely to catch your attention. Show me a blogger who doesn’t want to increase their blog’s DA. There is a very simple way to do this.

    It does involve more writing, but not on your blog. On other relevant blogs. I stress relevant, because it is important for search engines to make the necessary connections as regards subject and niche.

    The writing is commenting. This is much simpler to do than guest posting. There is no need to ask permission, as every blogger will gladly welcome comments on their blog (if they’re open to receiving them).

    There isn’t much writing involved, but certainly, a lot more is needed than a single sentence saying ‘Nice post’. You need to focus on being relevant, constructive and forthcoming. Add value to the conversation started in the post.

    Now for the magic bit. When you submit your comment, include a link back to a relevant post on your blog. Not your homepage, especially if it isn’t relevant. This linking power speaks to the search engines, and the relevance enhances the DA.

    Next, rinse and repeat, several times. Try and do at least five posts a day. If you start commenting like this, I will guarantee an increase in your DA within two weeks if you keep this up.

    2. Build Stronger Communities

    When the blogging gurus reopened their blog comments in 2015 (after a year of closing them), they did so because they had started to lose readers.

    They thought closing comments on the blog (due to unmanageable spam) and moving engagement over to social media would be the answer. And sure, they certainly did have some interesting discussions (with the readers who could be bothered to follow them there).

    But what about the new readers that came to their blogs? They wanted to comment on the excellent content, but found they couldn’t. As they were new, not all of them felt they could move over to social media to have their say without being properly introduced.

    The blogs started to become ghost towns. There was no sense of community anymore. No evidence of social proof that the bloggers had large audiences. A severed connection with the blogger and their readers.

    If you start commenting on blogs again, you will be rejuvenating this sense of community. Bloggers should encourage their readers to respond to their posts. Blogs should be seen as a safe environment for readers to express themselves without incrimination or derision. Regular commenters are like-minded people who back up arguments and enhance it with their own views.

    They will also police against trolls and troublemakers, making life easier for the blogger.

    And getting more comments suggest popularity. This, in turn, will encourage more readers to contribute, as well as attract the attention of the search engines. These are programmed to notice popular blogs, as this suggests valuable, indexable content.

    You may also want to read: 10 Reasons Your Readers Aren’t Commenting On Your Blog

    3. Get Inspired By a Greater Variety of Blogs

    We all need to have at our fingertips a source of interesting subjects to write about in our blogs. One of the ways to get this is to start researching around relevant blogs in your field or niche to get inspiration.

    You will certainly come across some excellent content by doing this. Now you could just glean what you need and leave, at the very least making a note of the URL for reference purposes and perhaps a relevant link back to them from your post.

    Or you could start commenting on these posts. You could do this before you write the posts, to express your appreciation. Or after you’ve published your post with a link back to the source, and a nice comment under their post saying what you have done. This is a perfect way of raising awareness of your recent publication, and getting a new reader who may advocate it to their followers.

    But this is not everything. To be able to write a valuable and relevant comment, you need to read the post carefully first. This does not involve skim reading, but proper perusal of what has been written.

    This forces you to read, absorb and understand good content. You learn new stuff or at least how to write well, get inspired by new concepts, and get properly introduced to an authority within your subject.

    And then by commenting under their posts, you are creating awareness of who you are and what you represent, which is covered in the next point.

    4. Spread Awareness Of You And Your Expertise

    I suspect you want more visibility for you, your business or your expertise. Of course you do! And you may have been happily blogging and guest blogging away to try and achieve this.

    You probably think posting the URL of your posts onto social media is the answer to getting more views. Well, this spray and pray approach will only work if your headline is irresistible and you have a large following gagging for your next contribution.

    The clue is in my last statement – you need to create a loyal audience through relationship building (a bit like #2 above), so start commenting on relevant and useful blogs. Only this time your focus should be on helping people.

    Commenting should be an altruistic affair. If you have to hand valuable information you could share with others, reveal it as much as possible. Remember sharing 80% of your knowledge will get yourself seen as an expert, whilst retaining that 20% which will help you earn the big bucks you deserve.

    One of the best ways of spreading this good news is through commenting. However, this is not a vehicle for self-promotion, but somewhere you provide solutions that could make a difference to someone’s life. Commenters who only harp on about themselves or their business rather than answering the questions asked by others will be given short shrift by the blogger or the moderators.

    Also, avoid littering your comment with links back to your blog, or you will be seen as a spammer. It is the powerfulness of what you’ve shared that should encourage the recipient to find out more about you. And the only link available is the one you contributed when you submitted your comment.

    You may also want to read: Is Blog Commenting a Lost Art?

    5. Receive Reciprocal Support and Feedback

    Blogging can be very disheartening if you’re constantly writing, only to get very little, if any, comments for all your hard work. I know, I’ve been there. It seems that blog commenting has been put on hold since 2014.

    And yet there are some bloggers who appear to get hundreds of comments on anything they publish. Popularity is gratifying for those at the receiving end, and a cause for jealousy for on-lookers.

    But hey, you probably didn’t know how much encouragement these readers have had to comment on these blogs. Every comment has been answered, every reader praised, and all have had their needs met by the posts covering the relevant information craved by this following.

    Give the punters what they want, and they will respond in spades. Ask your readers for topic suggestions for your next post, and then write it for them. Ask for feedback on your posts, and you will know whether you’ve hit the jackpot, or you need to try harder next time.

    Start commenting to provide valuable information to the blogger. You never know, your simple act of appreciation could easily have made their day! It will encourage them to keep on writing, and providing much-needed content within the blogosphere.

    Reward excellence with relevant support. If you become a regular commenter, the blogger will learn to expect your contributions and value them. They, in turn, will want to find out more about you and visit your blog through the approved link in your comments. Hey, you’ve just acquired a new reader! And commenter, if they reciprocate your kind gesture.

    When Will You Start Commenting Again?

    Carefully study my reasons to start commenting again, and see which ones apply the most to you:

    And then let me know the answers to these questions in the comments below. Or report back, especially if you’ve given my suggestions a try.

    Go on. I know you want to!

    And because I mentioned it above, is there a subject relevant to our usual content that you would like to see us write about? Please let us know. We’re all ears!

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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.