May 14 2008
What do your comments say about you?
I’d never really thought too much about my blog commenting strategy. In fact, I’d probably never combined the word words “blog” and “commenting” and “strategy” into a single thought before. Sure, I knew at the back of my brain that if I left a comment on a blog some people might trickle back my way because of it, but that wasn’t really my motivation. Mostly I was just commenting because I liked (or disliked) the post.
Then I read a Dosh Dosh article suggesting that I rethink my blog comments and it made me do just that. The premise of the post is that blog comments should be used to build relationships with the poster (and potentially other commentators) not just give them a virtual high-5 or hope for some traffic your way. There are a few points that he made that really stood out to me:
1 - Almost all comments (unless they’re just spam) are valuable to the poster. Most bloggers (particularly popular ones) moderate their blogs so they’re reading everything whether it’s a “great job” or an in-depth analysis of the post. By posting you can potentially influence their way of thinking. I was always a little hesitant to post comments because I didn’t want to just add more work to the blogger’s plate, but I wasn’t looking at it as a way of connecting with them.
2 - “great job” comments can be seen as spammy or like you’re just looking for some back-link-love. I’d never really thought about this, probably because I only get a few comments a week so every one gives me a good feeling (except the viagra pushers), but on an extremely popular post with dozens or hundreds of comments, your “great job” isn’t really adding any value.
Personally, I try to make my comments a bit more pertinent, but sometimes I just want to acknowledge to the poster (particularly if there are no other comments) that their post was read and appreciated. I know that it can get disheartening to get lots of hits and no comments - good or bad. You start to wonder if people are actually even reading. So, while it may seem spammy to some of the big bloggers, for the little guys I say leave the “great job” comment. Odds are, you’ll make their day.
3 - Don’t be a serial commentator. If you are just finding a blog and read their last 10 posts and have individual, pertinent comments for all of them, go ahead, comment. However, if you’re just leaving a “great job” on all of them, it’s going to make you look like a spammer. This is particularly true if you leave the same comment on multiple posts across multiple blogs (like one of Dosh Dosh’s commentators did).
I highly recommend reading the entire article linked above. It may just change the way you comment in the future.
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Some other posts discussing the Dosh Dosh post that I enjoyed:
- Dosh Dosh on Blog Comments
- 10 great tips and Wordpress plugins to increase comments
- Commenting for the Future
- Do you have a blog commenting strategy? (This poster has an amazingly thorough commenting strategy!
