Blogs are sexy again. As we move away from social media sites and toward a more decentralized social web experience, people and businesses are devoting more time to their blogs as a way to connect with readers and potential customers. If you’re devoting more time to your blog, don’t forget to focus on writing better blog comments. Whether you are replying to a reader on your own blog or leaving a comment on someone else’s blog, commenting is one of the best ways you can connect with new readers/customers, and build exposure for your business. Let’s talk about how to write great comments whether it’s on another blog, or on your own.
How to Write Great Blog Comments on Other Blogs
One of the best ways to grow your blog, is to leave it. What I mean by this is leaving comments on other blogs is a great way to create value for others, and ultimately grow awareness for your own blogging efforts. This is especially helpful for new bloggers that are looking to build a readership or following as compared to established bloggers.
But not all blog comments are created equal, and here’s some of the tips I’ve learned over the years for writing great blog comments:
1 – Add something to the conversation. Often I will read a post and think ‘wow, great post!’ But go past that, highlight issues that the blogger addressed, and add your own take. You don’t have to agree completely, and you don’t have to stick with their point. If one example they mentioned reminds you of another instance from your own experiences, mention that. But try to avoid simply repeating what others have said. And this is easier to do when you…
2 – Comment early. Sure it’s nice to let a few people comment first, so then you can build off what they say, as well as the blogger’s post. But what if you wait too long and everyone has addressed the points you wanted to raise? Don’t be afraid to put your thoughts down and to share your opinions. This is how you generate conversation and attention.
3 – Don’t over-promote yourself. No one likes reading a comment that’s blatant self-promotion. We’ve all seen these comments, “Hey Mack, really great thoughts on this topic, I recently blogged about this as well…”, then they include a link to their blog (In fact, I often delete these comments if someone attempts to leave one here). Obviously, the only reason they left the comment was to link out to their site. Remember that you aren’t leaving the comment to promote yourself, you are trying to create value for the blog by adding to the conversation. If you’ve done your job, you’ll get promotion as an indirect result of your efforts.
4 – You can disagree, without being disagreeable. I might be a bit different from some in how I approach disagreements in the comments section, but I love it when readers disagree with my posts, and challenge my points. The biggest reason why, is because when you bring in alternative points, that extends the conversation and gives more people a chance to jump and leave their point of view.
However, always remember that it’s ok to ‘attack’ the ideas, but not the people presenting the ideas. Challenging stances and ideas are fine, but personal attacks add nothing to the conversation, and make you look like a jackass. Not what you want. Feel free to disagree, but don’t be disagreeable.
5 – Ask questions. What if you find a post and agree with the post, and everything the commenters have said. Now what? Why not ask a question or bring up a point that no one has raised yet? One thing that often happens, especially on blogs where the writer is very popular, is the readers may all agree with the writer. Why not offer a contrarian view and bring up the other side of the issue? Again, this helps extend the conversation, and you might find that others will then chime in saying that they agree with your point of view.
6 – Know why you are commenting. Are you leaving a comment to draw attention to yourself, or to add to the conversation? As with most everything else in social media, blog comments work best as a way to INdirectly promote yourself. Write a comment that others find value in, and that encourages others to check out your blog, follow you on Twitter, etc. Write a comment that was clearly intended to promote your blog, and you will likely gain nothing, and hurt your reputation.
How to Write Great Blog Comments on Your Own Blog (And Tips For Leveraging Great Blog Comments Left By Your Readers)
So that covers how to write great blog comments on someone else’s blog, but how do you handle blogs written on your own site?
My over-arching rule for comments on your own blog is Reward the Behavior You Want to Encourage. If your blog allows readers to comment, then you want readers to comment. So if commenting is the reader behavior that you want, then you need to think about what you can do to encourage more readers to comment. Here’s some of my tips:
1 – Reply to as many comments as possible. If a reader comments on your blog, you want to reply to that comment if at all possible. This signals to the reader that you read their comment, and that you appreciate their comment enough to take the time to respond to them. This also ENCOURAGES this reader to comment again, since they know you will reply to them if they do.
2 – Ask the reader to expand on their thoughts. If a reader has left an indepth comment, then feel free to engage them in your reply and ask them to clarify or expand on a point they raised in their comment. This doesn’t always work as the reader that left the original comment may not see your reply to them or they may not feel like replying. Still, by replying to the commenter you are signaling to them and all your readers that you value their comment and that encourages your readers to comment more often.
3 – Add great reader comments to the body of the post they are commenting on. This is a great way to acknowledge and thank your reader for a great comment, and it encourages them to comment again. If a reader leaves a comment that I want to highlight, I will add it to the end of the post (or in another part of the post, if relevant), and make special mention of the comment, and the person who left the comment. If the commenter added a link to their blog when they commented, I will add a link to their blog when I add the comment to my post, as an extra incentive for the readers to comment more often, as well as an additional way to acknowledge and thank the reader for their great comment. Also, doing this encourages readers to check out the comments and may encourage them to leave their own comment.
These are some tips I have learned from my own experience in writing blog comments. What did I miss that works for you?
Thank you mack for great post really it helps me…
Hi Mack
Thank you very much for your tips, sure i will follow your tips.
Thanks for this helpful information I agree with all points you have given to us. I will follow all of them.
I love commenting on articles and i use to comment regularly. This article will help me to comment in a proper way, thanks for sharing it Mack.
HI,
This is really a very good article, I was looking for this from long time, but one question right now I have, can I edit any comment those I have already did earlier.
Thanks again for the article.
Blogs are not just for socializing with others but it can also give us useful information like this. Just like me, I’m a new blogger and this article gave me lots of ideas on how to start blogging to a site or posts.
I created also my own Blog site. I hope you read some articles I personally made. This is my http://mary413.blogspot.com.
I really love your post, thanks for sharing this and looking forward to seeing more from you.
I have done comment by following from my first comment in 2013. This is really great tips for beginners and who are working on SEO field. Thanks and keep posting things like this.
Hey Mack, This is nice and straight pointing things you have mentioned above. I like straight forward and point to point directions. Was randomly going through links and found this. really helpful tips you have mentioned. Keep it up with something similar and helpful for readers as well as bloggers.
If you could praise or insult someone then definitely you will instant replies, which can helps you to start getting importance.
Hi,
Nicely explained. You will even maintain a good credibility by adding value on your comments. People will start searching you and follow your updates. You can then be an influencer in your niche.
I completely agree with you where you pointed out about asking a question. It is not like we are offending you, it is just that we have different opinions on that particular topic. I really liked your blog.
To write a proper comment it is necessary to read the complete post first to get aware about the topic shared in the blog post. The information a blogger shared is helping increase knowledge as well as it makes your comment relevant to the topic.
I really hate spam comments. Not only me, Every blogger out there hates it.
Getting a comment notification brings a smile on our face but finding it spam makes us sad.
Everyone should write great blog comments, It encourages the blog owners to provide more value.
Thanks for the article
I like how Mary put it above: connecting with the blogger like you’re having a cup of coffee and a conversation… That is a great way to approach commenting on blogs and building a community in general. Too often you see blog posts with spam comments or, as you mentioned, just the quick “great post” types, no added value = no one clicking your link anyways so what’s the point? Most likely you’ll just annoy the author and every future reader. I’d rather have one less backlink or one less click through than to leave my mark in such a way.
Great post
Thank you so much!
I’ve a question. Can i ask?
There are no “unique” ideas – everything has been done before. It’s not the idea that matters – it’s the execution. So find what inspires you and write about that. And if you can’t find inspiration right now then just write literally anything.
Thanks MACK its really helpful. i have tochange my blog comment pattern after read your post. Great
thanks for sharing this.
I would agree that blog commenting is not dead! I have noticed a ton of traffic to my blog from commenting. We look at our referrals and look at the bounce rates and time on site as an indication of an audience that is interested in our content!
This is probably the best, most concise step by step guide I have ever seen on “How to Write Great Blog Comments“ blog.
Although not a must, most good quality blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via GUI widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites. In that sense, blogging can be seen as a form of social networking. Indeed, bloggers do not only produce content to post on their blogs but also build social relations with their readers and other bloggers.
Thanks
That’s really great tips for SEO as a beginner, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Its really very great article.
Thank For Sharing Unique Knowledge,
Really Great Post-it MACK COLLIER. I am a newbie in blog commenting here. In this article, you have discussed about blog commenting strategy nicely for a new blogger. I hope with this article each person will gather a piece of knowledge about SEO strategy, and their blog will fruit full of traffic. Thank you so much.
Adding your comments on other sites, doesn’t mean you need just a link but you must read the content and share your thoughts on the article as it helps the writer or author to understand the readers mind and it also helps to improve the site as well.
Always share your valuable words to the content and most special, praise the work done by the author so he/she can improve their work better.
This page says it all. Comment early, comment often! Be sure to check your own comments, too. Thanks.