Don’t most of us want more comments on our blogs? Even the companies I work with almost always mention ‘getting more comments’ as one of the top concerns for their blog.
And it’s easy to see why we’d want more comments, after all, if our readers leave more comments, it has a lot of benefits for us:
- More comments means more people will be likely to comment
- More comments means more people will be reading the post, and spending time on our blog
- More comments means there’s a greater chance of the post getting more links and retweets and being shared on other social sites
- All those extra links and retweets means more traffic
- We just like to know that people like the content we are creating
So we all know the reasons why WE want more comments. Commenting is one of the key actions we want our readers to take when they visit our blog.
But have you ever asked yourself what’s in it for the reader? What does the reader get from commenting? Because if commenting is the action you want your readers to take, you need to give them a reason to. And when they do, you need to acknowledge them. Here’s some ideas:
- Answer as many comments as possible. It’s not a coincidence that I leave about half the comments written here. And when I leave comments on other blogs, if the blogger replies to me, that makes me more likely to leave another comment there.
- Promote the comments that your readers leave. You can do that in the post, or even when you share a link to the post on Twitter. I often link to each new post I write 2-3 times on Twitter. Normally the first link is to the post itself, but often when I tweet out the post the second time, I will point out a great comment that someone left. If they are on Twitter I might tweet ‘Love this comment by @BethHarte on my post about time management and social media!’
- Add a Recent Comments plugin or something similar that displays the most recent comments left. Readers like to see that you appreciate their contributions, and that’s a very simple way to do this.
- Write posts based on comments left, and point out the reader that wrote the comment.
The point is, you’ll get more comments if you give people a reason to comment. So don’t look at it as ‘here’s how I benefit from more comments’, but think about what your commenters get from the deal.
How have you increased comments on your blog?
Really great tips, Mack. I’ve also found that sometimes I get great comments in other channels (Twitter, FB, even email) and either ask the commenter if it’s ok to post on my blog or request they do it if they want to. It’s a simple way to make sure great comments get seen by all readers.
Thanks again – great post!
Jeannie ah the ‘fragmented conversations’ debate! I’m glad you mentioned asking people that leave comments in other places to please leave them on your blog. I want to get everyone else’s take on this, do you guys think this is a good idea?
Mack,
I like the idea of trying to consolidate conversation in a common place. I know that there will always be fractures, but it’s nice to try to keep the blog as the place where most of the commenting and replying occurs – kind of like having it be the hub while the other channels are spokes. Just my preference though, I’m sure there are cases where conversation on a Facebook fan page makes just as much if not more sense.
BTW, I really like your idea and practice of calling out and promoting great comments to keep engagement moving forward.
.-= Eric Hoffman´s last blog ..Do what you love… =-.
Thanks Eric! I would love if all the feedback on my content was centralized. But I think if you try to ‘force’ that on the people leaving that feedback, some of them simply won’t LEAVE feedback. I think the key is to be active where the conversations are happening, not to try to push the flow back to where you want it.
You’re welcome Mack. I don’t know that for forcing feedback to a blog, what I would like is more along the lines of suggesting that people comment on the original post, but recognizing that this won’t always happen and doing what you suggest and being active where the engagement is happening. I think we’re both on the same page on this one! 😉
.-= Eric Hoffman´s last blog ..Do what you love… =-.
I’ve been thinking about this subject for the past several months and I think there are several things at work here. Let’s start with a couple: 1) In general, people don’t leave comments. There are multiple reasons for that. 2) Bloggers want people to spend more time on their sites & increase page views/revenues. They see commenting as a means to that end. 3) The time & effort required by bloggers to induce & then maintain induced commenting is in most cases non-trivial.
So let’s be honest; Is the primary goal of commenting to increase page views/revenues or increase user engagement/participation around the content of the blog? I’m not saying both aren’t possible collectively, but given the choice which would you rather have?
It’s important to answer that question honestly because I think it’s at the root of the problem. People don’t leave comments because there’s very little value proposition for them, because his or her comments reside in a place outside of their primary social graphs. And people are incentivized by the psychic rewards they receive from sharing/interacting with their primary social graphs and/or their aspirational social graphs. And most of the time neither of those social graphs are hanging out on and including comments on your blog.
This may sound counter-intuitive, but I believe that the answer to increasing user engagement is actually to enable and encourage commenting off-site, possibly even within the closed environments of the reader’s social graph. In order for someone to comment they have to read the post in the first place, so an off-site reference is going to end up with a site visit. You can always employ a comment aggregation service to bring all the mentions back to the blog for presentation without forcing me the commenter to do more work for you.
Because at the end of day, I contend that the real goal is to increase both consumption of the content and the discussion surrounding the content. There shouldn’t be a reason that the discussion has to occur on the source blog’s site. This result is the difference between organic interaction and manufactured/induced interaction. The former is sustainable, the latter is not. We’re working on a couple experimental solutions to this problem that sustainable value to both publisher and reader.
.-= Jeff Pester´s last blog ..SocialMedia411: Enough, Google – Just Buy Twitter Already (SAI): http://bit.ly/cVMcXY [Seriously. But $2 Biiion wont get it done] =-.
Hey Jeff, you’ve got a thought provoking point there. I’ve been wondering about the user engagement of commenting and realise that much of the engagement comes in the form of tweets and re-tweets – off site like you say.
What I’ve been trying to do now is to aggregate the tweets on my blog via Backtype Connect. Still, it feel a little weird when a tweet shows up on my blog as a ‘comment’.
On an unrelated tangent, I tried implementing Disqus (to increase comment functionality and ease of use) and was really frustrated with it. It couldn’t import my comments and customer support was terrible. Has anyone else got similar experience with Disqus?
David, I honestly don’t like it when tweets are counted as ‘comments’. It’s like seeing that a post has 65 comments, then clicking the post to find out that not only are 57 of the comments actually tweets, but they are mixed in with the 8 comments, so it’s hard to keep track of the conversation happening in the comments.
Good point, Mack, which is why I recently installed such plugins to include social media reactions with truer blog comments and later nixed the plugin.
Further, I wish a comment could be coded as by someone other than the author. So, each time you post a reply in these threads, your overall comment number doesn’t increase.
Yeah.. I may disable that. I’ll see if I can find a plugin that doesn’t inflate my comment count and share it if I do.
Jeff I would challenge your assertion that there’s nothing in it for the reader if they are leaving a comment to a blog ‘outside of their primary social graph’. I think this is actually a big ADVANTAGE to leaving comments, because it exposes YOUR blog to a new audience. Case in point, I have the Comment Luv plugin enabled, and when you left your comment, it added a link to your most recent blog post, along with the title. Now everyone that reads your comment, will also see that link, which means by commenting here, you’re going to drive traffic back to your blog! So assuming that you like more traffic and potentially new readers, this is a good thing, right?
Mack, I appreciate and respect your perspective, but the vast majority of people don’t have blogs and have no need and/or desire to drive traffic anywhere.
.-= Jeff Pester´s last blog ..SocialMedia411: Enough, Google – Just Buy Twitter Already (SAI): http://bit.ly/cVMcXY [Seriously. But $2 Biiion wont get it done] =-.
Oh I agree with this, but I would also think that of the people that don’t have a blog but DO read other blogs, that most of them have commented before on a blog.
But even if someone doesn’t have a blog, there is still an incentive for them to comment, simply as a way to voice their own opinion. And I think it’s up to the blogger to lower the participation bar (see my previous post), and to put readers in a position where they are more comfortable commenting.
Maybe I am out of touch, but I don’t think there’s many people out there that read blogs regularly, that have never commented on a blog. If they have commented before, why did they? What prompted them to take that action? I think this is why we need to look at this issue of leaving comments from the POV of the person doing the commenting, not by focusing on what’s best for us (the blogger).
I recent wrote on my blog about commenting Why and How to Comment on a blog post. I really think a lot of people just don’t get why they should comment so I outlined some good reasons. I’m wondering when is the best time to schedule a post to get the best exposure and response from readers.
Ruth I think it’s a good idea to test it by publishing posts at different times of the day. You can look at your stats and start there, the hours that are highest for traffic would probably be the best times to publish your posts.
At least that’s what I do 😉
Mack, I’ve been perplexed about the timing of posts since I started blogging about a year ago. It’s a great point. However, how do you accommodate the global audience? Finding time to post around a crazy busy work schedule finds me posting early morning or late in the evening — neither of which are great times here in the states. What do you see as an optimal time?
It worked! 😉 Always gettin it done with provocative posts and innovative ideas, Mack. I’m still referring to/thinking about your social media rock star post.
Thanks Alyce!
I agree with Jeannie. Great tips.
One more thing that might accentuate responses is a “thumbs up or thumbs down” or a “like/dislike” button. Warning/Confession – I am lousy at application :))
Thanks Mack.
Cheers,
Prince
.-= Prince´s last blog ..Twitter vs Facebook =-.
Prince do you mean adding a like/dislike button to the post, or the comments? I have to say I’m not a big fan of either idea, especially not of adding a like/dislike button to comments.
What do the rest of you think?
I think the Disqus platform (www.disqus.com) does commenting the best. You can “like” comments and a user’s comments are aggregated across all Disqus-enabled sites. It’s a great way to get to know someone through a reputationally-based system and it acts as a warehouse of all my previous comments on the system. For example, here’s mine: http://disqus.com/uniquevisitor/
.-= Jeff Pester´s last blog ..SocialMedia411: Enough, Google – Just Buy Twitter Already (SAI): http://bit.ly/cVMcXY [Seriously. But $2 Biiion wont get it done] =-.
The problem with Disqus (and I presume Intensedebate, though I haven’t tried it) is mobile devices are prevented from adding comments due to the way it’s coded.
Hey Ari, I’m not sure that’s correct. May depend on the device you’re using to post. But either way, I’m curious what % of comments come from mobile devices? Any data points there? I’d be shocked if it were any greater than a couple % points.
.-= Jeff Pester´s last blog ..SocialMedia411: Enough, Google – Just Buy Twitter Already (SAI): http://bit.ly/cVMcXY [Seriously. But $2 Biiion wont get it done] =-.
Personally, I hate Disqus, simply because it almost never loads properly for me, and when it does it takes forever to go through. I’ve heard from other people that have the same problem, but I know for most people it loads just fine.
Mack,
Nothing beats the power of suggestion. Good for you. I happened to see your call for comments while passing a page on Twitter and literally couldn’t resist clicking over.
Here’s my thought. And it’s just a thought. Your brand line doesn’t tell me enough about what you do–but I can tell it’s something useful. Put another way, I’m only interested in a quote if I become interested in what you can do for me. Subscribe by email to what exactly? Mack Live doing what for whom? From my perspective, it’s all about offers. Sharpen your offers and you’ll engage more visitors. Put yet another way, give me enough impressive information about you, above the fold, to do an elevator pitch for you. Why not? I suspect you have enough to fuel an excellent short pitch. That’s the standard I’d set for someone doing a website for me.
Free advice and, as the saying goes, worth every penny.
Best,
–Dave
Thanks Dave, that’s good advice and I have been meaning to tweak the site a bit. I am a terrible self-promoter 😉
There are two fail-proof ways to increase comments on your blog:
1) Post a (nested, if your blog allows it) reply to every comment.
2) Visit that commenter’s blog and add a comment back.
Do it over and over, and combined reading/commenting relationships are formed. I have progressively stopped commenting on people’s blogs if they don’t reciprocate commenting on my blog. And, I write about social media so how is that not inspiring to anyone to comment? 😉
.-= Ari Herzog´s last blog ..Share 1 Online Marketing Tip and Win 250 Free Business Cards via PrintRunner =-.
Ari, I do think this strategy is a good one, and also a civilized thing to do. But many high-subscriber bloggers do not seem to comment on others’ blogs.
I want to add that most sign-in protocols don’t provide a link-back to your site, thereby reducing the gain from commenting.
I really loved trackbacks, but spammers seem to have ruined it for the most part, and many blogs don’t offer them.
I also think the topic is a factor. Case in point: I had to finally shut down comments on some posts I had about Curves, because they were becoming a curves forum. Most of my posts don’t attract comments, even as my readership is rising. I think that is partly due to the type of reader and the topic. I just don’t think business blogs engage on a comment level. (Or perhaps it’s me, she said in a self-deprecating manner).
I have been really missing the great vibes of having comments, and the sense of shared dialogue. Many blogs I used to read regularly are now just plugs for a product (book, speaking engagement, etc.) The whole thing is just a lot more work and a lot less fun.
Susan I am seeing the same things you are as far as more bloggers promoting themselves. But I think as long as it doesn’t happen that often, most readers will be ok with a little self-promotion.
What do the rest of you think? How much is too much?
This is a really great post, one of the very best on comments. I read it as soon as you flowed through my twitter stream.
I have never seen Ari’s # 2 point put quite this way. I usually try and reciprocate and comment on someone’s post sooner or later, and now realize the sooner would have quite a bit more impact. Like at once 🙂 With my 2010 New Years resolution of a comment a day on someone else’s post, and to comment on new blogs at least 50% of the time, it’s really interesting to tabulate how many people answer and how many respond with a post. I have been posting on some people’s blogs for a year and never received a reciprocal post. I always thought it was because I was new to blogging (one year now, is that still new?) and I had yet to establish enough credibility to be worthy of association or endorsement; as commenting is a kind of endorsement of the blog or the blogger, isn’t it? @CASUDI
A couple of years ago I set out to leave 100 blog comments in one day. I tweeted that I was going to do this and people started tweeting me links to their posts asking for comments! It was a lot of fun and I found a lot of great new blogs to read.
Think I might try that again soon!
“I have been posting on some people’s blogs for a year and never received a reciprocal post.”
Gut instinct leads me to ask why you are commenting there in the first place. Is it because the content inspires you to comment, or because your subconscious would want that person who wrote it to be inspired to comment on your blog? Just wondering.
.-= Ari Herzog´s last blog ..Showcase Sunday: How RescueTime Tracks Your Online Productivity =-.
Totally great discussion. This is a perfect example of how blog comments can actually create an enriched experience and actual community. Don’t know if you meant to or not, but you’ve proven your point here in spades. Going back to the “fractured” discussion – I think it’s important to not be afraid to go where your readers are, so going back to their blogs (as Ari pointed out), or going with the flow on the Facebook fan page can all work. But all readers will engage as we did here if the blog comments are there to fuel the discussion! This one’s been fun, Mack. Thanks. 🙂
.-= Jeannie Walters´s last blog ..Consider Yourself an “Undercover Boss” =-.
Jeannie THIS is a great point. So often the blogger (raising hand) will talk too much, instead of just tossing some ideas out there and getting out of the way of the readers. This is EXACTLY why I avoid having a rigid structure to #blogchat. We just start out with a base topic for the evening, and where ever the conversation goes from there, is just fine!
Mack ~ I love it ~ we could have a “Commenting” Marathon ~ 100 comments in a day ~ all useful and worthwhile comments ~ no “That’s Great” comments allowed. Who will be the judge of useful and worthwhile?
Ari ~ To answer your question ~ on one blog the content has inspired me to comment and I have to admit the comment responses I receive back, pretty much make up for no reciprocal comments on my blog. Also I have to confess that much of what I am doing here, is researching SM so I am interested in seeing who and what gives me a response, of any kind 🙂 even after year of my commenting. Obviously I don’t comment just for the sake of commenting; I have to have an interest in the post and really think I can add something. @CASUDI
We don’t need no stinkin’ judges, just do it 😉 But you’re right, the ‘Great post!’ type comments really don’t add much. They need to actually expand on the conversation.
I’ll have to see if I can free up some time to do this soon!
Frankly, Mack, this is only about the third time that I’ve left a comment on someone’s blog. There are several reasons…
1) Lack of immediate reaction. Not uncommonly I take in the information and need processing time. I always have been suspicious of people that can easily shoot from the lip without taking time to think it through…and when I reach the point where I have, the browser is elsewhere.
2) Lack of comprehension. There are a LOT of bloggers out there who – quite frankly – are LOUSY communicators. Not sure why they are bothing, other than their own ego because they have little to say but can say it for paragraphs at a time.
3) Does it really matter to have a 673rd person say, “Hey, Mack – great points! Thanks, man!” If it does, I’ll do it more often, because I do run across some interesting material (particularly at your URL) but have tended to feel like Generic Well-Wisher Number 9,000 at doing that.
And with that… Hey Mack, great points. (Seriously) Thanks, man!
Kevin all good points. And to your third point, if the only comments *I* get are ‘Great post Mack!’, then I haven’t done MY job in giving you something worth commenting on.
At least I think that’s the right way to approach it. I think it was Hugh MacLeod that once said that every blogger gets the readers they deserve. I think there’s a lot of truth to that. As with commenters, if you write thought-provoking content, you will attract thought-provoking comments.
Proud to have your 3rd comment here! 😉
Mack,
great post. It does feel like your post is a lot more succesful when someone comments. Love the recent posts idea, and will do this!
I sometimes have customers who are concerned about controlling the content instead of responding. How often do you run into this? I have convinced each to field the questions.
Hey Craig, many companies are worried about that AND some even want to turn off comments completely. Sad truth is that many execs and would-be company bloggers aren’t comfortable interacting with customers directly.
I think the best thing you can do is point out the benefits, and make sure that they understand that the so-called blogger ‘firestorms’ erupt because the company ignores bloggers, not because they answered them.
It’s like anything else, the more companies interact with their customers on a blog, the better they get at it. Yeah, they might be scared to death that a customer could say something negative about them on a blog, but the rest of us aren’t worried about that, we only notice how the company RESPONDS to the complaint. If I read Kodak’s blog and you leave a comment saying that Kodak sucks cause they make crappy products, I will want to see how Kodak responds to you. If they come back with guns blazing, that makes THEM look bad. But if they respond and make a sincere effort to get a discussion started with you, that reflects well on them.
So many companies miss this, the negative comment doesn’t count nearly as much as how a company RESPONDS to that comment.
I have been blogging for almost 6 years now and generated about ten thousand posts. I used to receive more comments per post than I do now. A few years ago I was told that I was so prolific that it was hard for people to keep up.
Yet people still commented more frequently than they do now. So I took a look at my commenting habits and the quality of my content, It seemed to me that the quality of the content improved and that my commenting on other blogs was stable.
So I came to two conclusions from this.
1) I think that the proliferation of other social media options such as Twitter and Facebook have had a real impact upon commenting on blogs.I don’t have hard data to back this up; but my experience outside of my own blog suggests it is true.
2) When I really promote the posts I see response rates go up. I think that is something that translates across the board. If we work harder to promote our posts we can find ways to break through the noise and gain attention. But you still have to work extra hard to maintain it.
My apologies for being so long winded.
.-= Jack´s last blog ..Instant Gratification Is Making Me Instantly Impatient =-.
Jack I think you are exactly right about other social sites ‘stealing’ some comments from blogs. Then again, I think it depends on how engaged your networks are on other social sites. If I link to a new blog post from Facebook, I’ll get a few visitors, likely no comments. But if I link to a post on Twitter, I immediately see a spike in traffic AND comments. In fact I would wager most of you came here from a link on Twitter.
Twitter provides more immediate responses and results than any other social media tool I use.
.-= Jack´s last blog ..A Valentine’s Day Fable =-.
Huh…
I was thinking I was doing good, because when I get a comment, I reply by e-mail to the individual, to make them feel special… but your Post makes me re-think this, as an on-going dialogue, and not just a series of “one off” comments.
Huh…
I learn SO much from you folks !!!
Cheers !
.-= Bob Gray´s last blog ..I ran in the Pitt Meadows Olympic Torch Relay… =-.
Bob I don’t think your approach is necessarily wrong, in fact it could be the best way to do it. I think it depends on your audience, if they are blog-savvy, they probably want to see your response on the blog itself. But if they are just discovering blogs, they are probably more comfortable with email, and appreciate the one-to-one connection.
Why don’t you write a blog post polling your readers if they would rather you respond to them via comments, or email? And ask them to either reply via comments, or if they want, email. That will likely give you some GREAT feedback on how you should reach out to them! Let us know what you learn!
I usually only comment when I have something of value to add to the blog or conversation. I agree with Kevin – I don’t see a need to add another “Great post!” comment.
CommentLuv is great way to encourage comments. I have found a number of good blogs by clicking on the commentluv links and the reciprocal happens as well.
.-= Heather Villa´s last blog ..Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 2/5/10 =-.
Wait…so you have to wait till you have something valuable to say, in order to leave a comment? I see now I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time 😉
Acknowledging a comment on your blog also shows that you care about the people coming to your blog.
There is a benefit from someone leaving a comment. When someone leaves their website on the comment form, that is an Inbound link to that persons site.
I leave comments when I am moved or inspired by the persons article. Sometimes I do not leave a comment, especially if there are a gazillion comments already..
This is a great post and something people should follow.
Thanks Kim, and maybe this is my inner introvert talking again, but I get that many people feel intimidated at the thought of commenting. So I really appreciate it when people do, especially when someone says they rarely comment, like Kevin did.
And I also hear you about not wanting to comment if there are already 50 comments. But I think the blogger can help encourage readers to keep commenting if they keep responding.
Found your site and this post through a Twitter search. We all need to be encouraged to foster commenting on our blogs. Thanks for the reminder!
.-= Daniel´s last blog ..Coming Soon =-.
I leave a subliminal message at the end of each post – “Leave a comment or the puppy gets it.” No-one knows what puppy I’m on about – could be their puppy, so better not take the chance 😉
To be honest, I write what I want to read, and hopefully others do too. If they do, that generally leads to a comment. I used to worry about comment numbers; now I just want the user experience to be the takeaway.
.-= Danny Brown´s last blog ..7 Days to Turn Your Blog Into a Social Media Hub – Day 3: Building Blocks =-.
You can look at your stats and start there, the hours that are highest for traffic would probably be the best times to publish your posts.Like at once With my 2010 New Years resolution of a comment a day on someone else’s post, and to comment on new blogs at least 50% of the time, it’s really interesting to tabulate how many people answer and how many respond with a post.
Wow, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and actual effort to make a good post… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and in no way appear to get something done.
thnks
I leave comments when I am moved or inspired by the persons article. Sometimes I do not leave a comment, especially if there are a gazillion comments already..
My website is falling short on constructive comments. I’m getting flooded mostly with viagara and russian commenters trying to get backlinks. Glad to see its working for your website.