When Do You Comment?
Posted by Neena on 05/10/08 in Various Blogging Topics, comments
I have seen a lot of discussion lately about blog comments. Some say it is a waste of time. Others find commenting to be a good tool to increase blog traffic.
Article Tags>> a-list | advertising | blogs | commenting | comments | discussion | internet marketing | opinions | sites | Traffic
Being a middle of the road person - I see both sides of this debate and have not abandoned commenting all together.
Why Commenting is Worthwhile
- It increases your site’s exposure.
- Frequent, constructive comments can grab the attention of another blogger.
- Commenting can somewhat increase your traffic - if another reader likes what you have to say they may click through to your site.
- If the site you are commenting on is “do follow” then you gain a backlink.
My Commenting Strategy
- If I take the time to read a post all the way through - it takes very little effort to leave a comment. So I usually do.
- If I am the among the first to comment then I always do. Being the first to comment is more likely to catch the attention of the blogger. Also, other readers are more likely to read the first few comments and may click through to your site. This is especially true on an “A-List” site. These sites get insane amounts of traffic and there are always sure to be a few click throughs to your site.
- If the site is “do follow” and I take the time to read the post - I always comment. A backlink is golden - so why not?
The key to my commenting strategy are the words “If I take the time to read the post all the way through.” I don’t search for sites with the sole purpose of commenting. I don’t think the rewards from commenting are worth the effort. But if I am hooked enough to read the whole post then I have already taken the time and the incremental time to comment is not that great of a time investment.
Do you have a commenting strategy? I’d love to hear about it.
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GuyHenri | May 12, 2008 | Reply
Sounds very logic and basic to me, after all in case you read a posting the reader can critisize, add extra information or say thanks. And the blogger can control if he likes this comment to be posted or not.
Nate Stockard | Jun 23, 2008 | Reply
I have just started leaving comments. I have never been a big commenter, but I recently started seeing all of the benefits. A lot of people say do it just for the links, but I do it mainly for the networking aspect of it. If i can find interesting articles, maybe someone can find them on my site!
Nate Stocakrd
Neena | Jun 25, 2008 | Reply
Nate,
Thanks for stopping by AND for leaving a comment! The networking benefit is often overlooked and commenting can also contribute to your own traffic. I have left comments on the “big blogs” that result in click throughs to my own site, even months after I’ve commented. If Iread the article anyway, it is worth the few extra minutes for me to leave my mark.
Mike Dammann | Jul 5, 2008 | Reply
My commenting strategy is not that planned. I read, search for stuff I don’t know constantly. and then once in a while like right now I feel the need to say something and then do it.
Whether or not you get traffic or an SEO benefit should not matter at the time. Sometimes I leave a comment at a blog that gets me zero traffic and then a year later that blog gets authority and I get 5 uniques a day everyday from a year old post.
Airtightnoodle | Jul 7, 2008 | Reply
Makes sense to me. I usually do leave comments, even if I didn’t read the entire post, and sometimes I wonder why I bother. It makes more sense your way…if I’ve read the entire post, why not comment?
I’m interested in Neena’s comment about leaving comments on the “big blogs”. How do you find the “big blogs”, and what classifies as a “big blog”?
Anyway, thanks for sharing the tip!
charles | Jul 25, 2008 | Reply
I have been leaving comments lately and it had been the source of 50% of my visits and 10% from search engine and the rest from referrals. It would definitely help me. And that was a good logic. I definitely read other bloggers post before commenting.
Thank you
Charles
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Hawkye | Sep 11, 2008 | Reply
I’m not a big commenter, I just started my tinny blog
thx for advice anyway