How to Get More Comments on Every Post You Write.

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Posted in » Articles, Blogging Tips, Guest Posts - by Ades on December 13th, 2007

This article was guest blogged by Skellie from SkellieWag.org. In this post Skellie will talk about ways to get more comments on your posts. I especially like the No.5. After this if I have time I will try to be active in my readers’ blogs, not because I just want to get more comments on my posts, but because I want to get to know them better. Which I admit, I haven’t been great at it.

photo by ansyReaders can’t see traffic stats and advertising revenue. They can’t see graphs of repeat vs. first-time visitors. Unless you’re displaying it, they won’t know your subscriber count, either.

The key yardstick readers use to judge the popularity of a blog is the number of comments on each post. If you want to make an impression on new visitors, these numbers had better be high.

In that aim, I have some good news for you. You don’t need more traffic to get more comments. In fact, you can get many more comments out of your existing audience by using the following tips.

Utilize all of them and you might end up with the kind of comment count usually seen on blogs that are older and more highly-trafficked than your own.

1. Be active in your own comment threads. If you practice just one of the following tips, make it this one. Having a presence in your own comment threads is invaluable. If you respond to each commenter, you can potentially double your comment count on each post. This is one of the simplest things you can do to make your site look more established.

You’ll also be letting commenters know that you’re reading and acknowledging what they’ve written. If your commenters feel like nobody cares about what they write (not you, or other readers) they’ll quickly lose the motivation to keep commenting.

Interacting with commenters is a great way to ensure your blog develops a loyal group of people who will comment on almost everything you write.

2. Ask questions. If your post isn’t outward looking, your readers might not feel you’re interested in what they have to say. Ending with a question or request for reader input is a call to action that can help significantly increase your comments. It’s also a quick and easy way to end your posts without a long-winded conclusion.

3. Spotlight commenters. You can encourage more comments by increasing the rewards of doing so. Keep track of your favorite comments and find ways to highlight them in future posts (when relevant). You could even make a post entirely dedicated to showcasing your favorite comments, or reader tips. If the commenter has a blog of their own, link to it. If you make commenting more rewarding, you will get more comments.

4. Leave something out. This seems counter-intuitive, but being too comprehensive can make some readers feel like there’s nothing left to add. Try leaving out one tip, detail or point from your posts. Give readers room to add their own expertise to what you write. You could also do this more directly, and challenge them to add what you’ve missed.

5. Return the favor. For many bloggers, commenting is reciprocal. If someone takes the time to comment on our blog we might feel inclined to take a look at theirs and leave a comment in return. A great way to encourage repeat commenting from readers is to visit their own blogs (when they have them) and leave a comment.

Each time they leave a comment on your blog, head to theirs and leave a comment in return. Once readers understand that they’ll get a comment each time they leave one, you will greatly increase the number of repeat commenters on your site.

6. Pick your favorite comment of the week. One simple way to increase both the number and quality of comments on your site is to give a prize to the author of your favorite comment for the week.

You could do this on the weekend or on a day when you usually don’t post (or when you just post links). Publish your favorite comment and give the author a reward — whether it’s a link, an eBook, a free service, or something else. Use your imagination. If the prize and exposure is worthwhile your readers should comment more often and more thoughtfully in an effort to get the prize.

What do you do to get more comments on your blog?

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39 Responses to “How to Get More Comments on Every Post You Write.”

  1. By Bradly on Dec 13, 2007

    I do 1, 2, and 5 a lot. This stuff does work. I have gotten several comments from people I have linked to in post. Sometimes I will find something relevant to my blog and write a post about it with a link. Often times the author of the post I linked to will at least come by to say Thanks for the link on that post.

    I’ve gotten subscribers that way too

  2. By Onion Spirit on Dec 13, 2007

    I suppose some newbies will find this as words of wisdom if they had not read them on other blogs. But for those who have been around, one would find this is just a rehash that one has read many times elsewhere. This guest posting is just to get links.

  3. By Angie on Dec 13, 2007

    I post on others blogs as much as I can in hope they will come visit my blog or others will visit my blog also. I try to ask questions in most of my post, hoping for some comments..but they are few….I’m still trying though :0D

  4. By sirjorge on Dec 13, 2007

    Those are some great ideas.

  5. By Affiliate Confession on Dec 13, 2007

    I’ve used my reader comments as ideas for new posts and then had them continue to comment on the new post. Great idea!

  6. By xBrain on Dec 13, 2007

    this is a good move to do ades..
    participate to comments are hard to do but it’s worth it.. :)

  7. By Mark Abucayon on Dec 13, 2007

    wow this is nice article, I love reading it…I think this would help me better on my blog. Not yet done in my blog site… thanks for this idea, so helpful..two thumbs up.

  8. By Shawal on Dec 13, 2007

    I agree with all the tips that you write here. I’m also doing the no 1 tips. You have to appreciate other blogger opinion. You can start a community with it….

  9. By Azman on Dec 16, 2007

    great tips ades, im a new blogger, yes it is hard to get comments and traffic on my site.. hah.. thanks for the post..

  10. By Mary Jaksch on Dec 16, 2007

    Great post, Skellie! One this I do in addition to what you suggest is directly ask for comments. For example, I wrote a post on ‘what makes us creative’ and invited some musicians and poets who I know to comment. That worked really well!

  11. By Skellie on Dec 16, 2007

    Mary Jaksch: I suppose that’s a more audacious approach to the ‘Ask Questions’ tip. Good idea :).

  12. By Alex on Dec 17, 2007

    Great post. Comments can build a sense of community for every blog.

    Recently I posted a very short post which was aimed to make readers think about something. One of the most loyal readers wrote a really good comment in which he expanded upon that short post of mine. The day after I took that comment and made it into a post, clearly outlining the fact that that was from one of the readers’ comments. This sparked much interest and comments have increased much since that post.

  13. By BJ on Dec 22, 2007

    Is it true that readers judge your blog based on the number of comments your site has? I have never done this personally. I usually spend the first 5 minutes seeing if there is any content on the site worth reading- I NEVER look at the number of comments.
    Is that really how you all judge a website?

  14. By Ades on Dec 22, 2007

    BJ, I don’t really pay attention to the comment number either. There are blogs that have hundred thousand readers, but only handful comments on their each post (eg. techcrunch). So it’s not that important.

    But it’s always good to have more comments on your posts ;) It’s something that every blogger wants, it’s like a compliment.

  15. By vangardx on Dec 28, 2007

    be active in your comment thread, brian’s threaded plugin help a lot :D

  16. By Jayson on Feb 16, 2008

    Unfortunately, we don’t do any of these things even though we’ve known about some of them for quite sometime. Thanks for the tips - hopefully, they’ll kick start us in the right direction.

    I noticed that you were pretty comprehensive -

  17. By PS3 sets u Free! on Jun 3, 2008

    I’ve been considering a blog for some time now. Thank you for your advice I am more keen then ever

  18. By PowWeb Review on Aug 19, 2008

    I am a big fan of number 6, with my blogs I will often pick a commentator to get a slot on my blogroll for a month if they go above and beyond with their comments. If they are just using their name I’ll shoot them a quick email to see if they would like a better anchor text, etc. and as a result I get quite a few comments.

  19. By Agolf Cartson on Dec 22, 2008

    My experience is that replying to every comment as well as commenting heavily on other blogs in your niche will generate tons of comments on your own blog. So it really does work! ;)

  20. By Best Teeth Whitening on May 4, 2009

    I think number 1 is very important. I know that for me personally, I am more likely to leave comments where I know that the blogger regularly responds.

  21. By cPanel Hosting / Reseller Hosting on May 12, 2009

    Agreed with the Points pointed out in this article. I try to utilize the comments on my blogs for updating the articles. which even helps me in improving the articles quality and information. And the point on giving prizes for good comment is a nice idea. Will surely try to implement the point better results. Thanks for the informative post.

    Regards,
    Leif

  22. By Another Blogger on Jun 11, 2009

    To get more comment, I just ask my visitor to leave comment in the end of every post I made. Just like this “If you like this post, please leave a comment or subscribe this blog via RSS or via e-mail”

  23. By shuvo on Sep 24, 2009

    Now a days as I am working more on comments this article is really helpful for me.Thanx to author.

  24. By Personal PPC Coach on Oct 5, 2009

    Great point about responding to your comments.It’s always nice to be recognized as a commentator. I’ll have to remember that the next time I want to blow it off, to save some time.

  25. By San Diego DJ on Oct 21, 2009

    I have heard the phrase “commenting is reciprocal” many times, but I’m not seeing it in real life. However, I like to leave comments so I do so anyway.

  26. By PS3 on Oct 26, 2009

    i think that the wors idea of getting more comments is to make your blog “dofollow”. in this case what you get is tonnes of spam-comments.

  27. By ridgid power tools on Oct 28, 2009

    You’re so right….Getting traffic is important but more so the quality of the blog…that’s why so many people setting up blogs fail….1. they are in it for the wrong reasons…..not everyone can be a John Chow.

  28. By Link building services on Nov 3, 2009

    Omygod..This is really an excellent idea. Hope i am going to use in my wordpress blog. But just worried about spam comments.

  29. By Seattle Heating Cooling on Nov 5, 2009

    I have to get better at replying to each comment. I don’t know how I overlooked this when I in fact, expect it of other bloggers. I also need to start returning the favor.

  30. By valencia on Nov 6, 2009

    There is one more, add your blog Nofollow free plugin, and it will bring you a lot of comments.

  31. By Seattle Heating Cooling on Nov 7, 2009

    @valencia, is this the plugin you are referring to: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nofollow-free/ ?

  32. By Seattle Heating Cooling on Nov 7, 2009

    … and won’t that plugin give away to much link juice?

  33. By clickonpost on Nov 15, 2009

    Nice ideas to get popular blog, lets try - why not… I think i try plugin what valecia say.. and yes is it that plugin what Seattle Heating Cooling show in his question ?

  34. By Seattle Heating Cooling on Nov 15, 2009

    @link building services - I never worry about spam comments anymore. It seems like the akismet plugin cleans up everything so I don’t even have to think about it… ‘course I don’t get near the traffic Ades does tho.

  35. By Seattle Heating Cooling on Nov 15, 2009

    @clickonpost I just left a comment on your site. It appears you have decided not to install and activate the nofollow plugin valencia was talking about. Or, did you keep the default: 5 posts before nofollow?

    I installed this plugin on my PR4 site: http://captivateseattle.com/ Let’s see how well it works :)

  36. By grafiker on Dec 4, 2009

    I have to get better at replying to each comment. I don’t know how I overlooked this when I in fact, expect it of other bloggers. I also need to start returning the favor.

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