This post was guest blog by Fabien, a teen blogger from Australia. Check him at Small Fish Big Money.
As bloggers, we all visit each other’s blogs from time to time. We might even leave a comment or two if the blog post is good enough or if it’s about something we enjoy reading. The important factor to note about blog commenting is that anyone can do it – but very few are good at it.
There is no right way or wrong way to comment on a blog, but there is always a better or more beneficial way. This post will outline key facts about the habits of blog commenters and explore the way in which a typical blog comment is structured, it will then explain how you can be a better blog commenter by having understood the elements of better commenting styles.
1. Where Do You Link Your Comments To?
I see so many people out there who take what some people consider the ‘easy’ way out, they link their comments to their homepage. Now, I do not have anything against this, scoring some brownie points for Google Page Rank is always beneficial. I believe that linking the comment to a blog post that is relevant to the one you are reading is both logical and good for spreading a variety of links to your blog. At some blogs you may even have the luxury of linking both to your homepage and a blog post of your own creation via the CommentLuv Plugin or the sheer fact that you included it in your comment.
2. Is Your Comment A Half Baked Job?
I have seen a bountiful amount of meaningless comments in the blogosphere. I highly recommend not leaving a comment like ‘good one’, ‘well done’, ‘great’ or ‘really good post’. Despite the fact that you are praising the blogger, these comments will not do anything for your own blog ranking in the SERPS. I highly suggest making useful and insightful comments on a blog post. You can do this by relating to the post, suggesting some extra content, covering something the blogger has not talked about etc…By doing this you are adding value to the post, as opposed to lowering the quality of it.
3. Being Positive, Not Negative…
By being positive in your comments you are more likely to attain a response from the blog owner. If you take a negative stance, the blog owner may be likely to delete your comment or reply to you in a negative way (potentially damaging your rapport with the owner in the process). You don’t have to always be overly positive, remember, if you are going to criticise, make it constructive, not destructive. Instead of saying something like “This post sucks” you can say something like “I agree with…But I also recommend etc…” The second one does not seem overly negative and comes across as a suggestion as opposed to an insult.
4. Praise the Blog - Thank the Blogger…If You Like It:
If you enjoyed the post, praise the blog and thank the blogger. It is simple and very easy to do. It is important to remember that when you are thanking the blogger, take the time to tell them what you liked about the post and how it helped you – it is far better than a ‘thanks for the post’ or a ‘what a great article’. You could say something along the lines of “This post showed me a side of blog commenting that I did not really care much for about previously, thank you for sharing this and I will definitely take the advice onboard, I look forward to your future posts.”
5. Sharing Your Knowledge In A Comment
Your comment is the opportunity to make a name for yourself. Instead of leaving small one liner think about leaving two or three paragraph value comments. As a blog owner, I really enjoy getting comments that add value to my posts; these comments are usually one or more paragraphs long. Additionally, those comments are the ones that I remember – and this is one of the most important things for you to remember. If you post a comment, a high quality comment, sharing your experiences and suggesting some extra information for the post, you will earn respect, build relationships and heighten your status as an authority about a particular subject or topic.
In conclusion I would like to say that you won’t always have the opportunity or time resources to make huge comments. My advice is to make the comment worthwhile, that means, speaking your mind, suggesting ideas and showing your appreciation. On a more personal note, I would like to thank John Chow for giving me the opportunity to post at JohnChow.Com. It is very much appreciated. Kind Regards, Fabien.
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good one
Just kidding.
I agree with your post. One thing that encourages somewhat low level commenting, however, is the “Top commentators” sections on this blog and others. It might be nice if there was a comment ratings form, and then the “Top Commentator’s” section could be the top rated commentators instead of just the people with the most comments.
I would think Wordpress has a plugin for that.
This an excellent idea. I was on a blog (won’t say the name) the other day where a blogger (again, won’t say his name) had like 100+ comments and was at the top of the “Top Commentators” list. His comments, needless to say, consisted of the typical “good post, like that!” or “nice read” or “didn’t know that, thanks!”
Yep! I’ve been guilty of that before. Sometimes I can’t help myself. However, most of the time I leave more relavent comments though.
Hmmm, a while ago I decided to ditch the Top Commentators list on my blog (only because it was malfunctioning with WP2.5), my point here however is that you should only allow 5 people at most on the Top Commentators list, otherwise it just becomes one big cheap link fest.
You stole my idea - That’s exactly what I was going to do until I saw that you had already done so!
good point zero
I believe so that commenting also can drive visitors to your blog. In fact, a friend told me to comment at least 10 top blogs everyday. This really helps in many ways.
Good tips John. Commenting is definitely important. Dropping comments that are irrelevant or thoughtless is pretty much a waste of your time. I agree that its essential to write thoughtful comments in order to see any kind of traffic inflow from your response
Yeah, I especially like the blogger that simply comments “First one, yay!” if they happen to be the first commentor. This is especially annoying.
I can’t stand those people. When you have a mission like that, you have nothing better to do.
Forget to read the italics have we?
This post was guest blog by Fabien, a teen blogger from Australia. Check him at Small Fish Big Money.
Thanks, Fabien
Well done - great post
This post showed me a side of blog commenting that I did not really care much for about previously, thank you for sharing this and I will definitely take the advice onboard, I look forward to your future posts.
When I get comments like that, I spam them. That’s such a cookie cutter comment that all the spammers are using ones like it with their autocommenting scripts.
That seems a bit strict to me - At least that comment showed proof that they had read the article. Unless I’m mistaken, most spam scripts right now don’t have any knowledge of what the article is really about.
Of course, in the actual case of a comment it would be best for them to say what side of blog commenting they didn’t care about beforehand.
Sorry for writing the supposed ‘cookie cutter’ comment. It was getting late, but that is no excuse :). A better comment to leave in response to the post would be…
“I really like the idea of linking to pages other than your home page when you comment. Especially if you find related posts on your blog when you are linking.
However, I disagree that you should leave positive comments all the time. I’m not saying you should go around bashing other bloggers, but I think a healthy amount of disagreement can spark a good conversation. I know there are bloggers who do it, but I think deleting comments that disagree with or question a post is just lame. If I took the time to voice my disagreement and my comment was deleted I would probably not return to that blog. I understand that it’s the owner’s prerogative to treat comments however he/she likes, but deleting a comment because someone doesn’t agree with you just feels dishonest. It’s like cheating or something.”
-Sara
I particularly think this comment is a good example because it shows her true thoughts and opinions about the post and it works as a catalyst for others to check out her blog as well.
Thanks for pointing that out
Fabien
Great post, Fabien!
I agree that people should express their opinions without pretending to like or dislike somethings just for the benefits of it. But, as far as my experience goes, I have noticed(both on blogs and Squidoo for example) that the positive and constructive comment will bring you good feedback and curious visitors.
The point should be to speak and comment in a constructive way. And the one-liners tend to be very tedious after awhile.
Cheers!
that looks a bit harsh and strict to me,
even though that comment is not useful or related to your post, still it means some sort of praising to your valueable post
I like the idea of linking to an actual post as opposed to a home page, but doesn’t that set off some spam filters? I could swear that I read somewhere that some spam filters were doing this. Can anyone confirm?
I had thought about that, which is my I only like to my homepage.
Fabien,
Thanks for the info, I never thought of having it linked to pages other than the main page of my blog. Not always I’d have anything related though..
But, it just gave me an idea.
Why not link the comment to your article or archive page. That way the visitor would get the general feel of your blog.
Cheers,
Alex
No problem, good to know someone read the italics
I came across the post linking technique somewhere around the blogosphere, it is a really great idea when spreading the internal link love. Hehe, good luck with your idea too
Linking to a post is a good way to get some links to your site. You must when to link your site. You can also try to link to the site by making a review about the said blog.
I totally agree with dot 5. Good work again John. Keep Up.
Did You Scan Past The Italics?
This post was guest blog by Fabien, a teen blogger from Australia. Check him at Small Fish Big Money.
Thanks, Fabien
Commenting is really important. Not only does the blog owner appreciate a well thought out comment, it is also a representation of yourself and your own blog, if you have one. When you write a comment like “good one” or “nice!” it basically says that you really don’t have anything to say, and it won’t entice others into visiting your blog. With that said, I have a hockey game to get back to… oh yeah… good blog by the way!
I agree with the comment about the “Top Posters” section on blogs encourages quantity, rather that quality, posts. Has anyone checked out Sez Who? I was taking a look at it today, and I think it’s designed to deal with these issues. It allows you to rank the quality of submissions, and carry those rankings to other sites. Maybe John should add it to his blog? Here’s the link to check it out:
http://www.sezwho.com/
- Dave
I have been looking into SezWho and I will soon be attempting to implement it into my blog, some people also have DISQUS, but I prefer SezWho so far. Look out for it over at Small Fish Big Money
I really like the idea of linking to pages other than your home page when you comment. Especially if you find related posts on your blog when you are linking.
However, I disagree that you should leave positive comments all the time. I’m not saying you should go around bashing other bloggers, but I think a healthy amount of disagreement can spark a good conversation. I know there are bloggers who do it, but I think deleting comments that disagree with or question a post is just lame. If I took the time to voice my disagreement and my comment was deleted I would probably not return to that blog. I understand that it’s the owner’s prerogative to treat comments however he/she likes, but deleting a comment because someone doesn’t agree with you just feels dishonest. It’s like cheating or something.
Sara
Sara
I tend to delete ‘one-liners’ and ’spam style’ comments only. I do not delete comments when people disagree with me, but sometimes they disagree in such a way that it is no longer pleasant to my readers…if you get my drift
Respectful disagreement is fine.
And, yeah, you can make fun of me for signing my name twice.
Sara
I agree, whenever I receive comments that simply say “cool” and post a link to their site I usually consider it as spam. It usually has to be something that talks about my topic, and also that suggests something in return.
Useless comment #140449…
Sometimes useless comments can be entertaining, like one I read somewhere that went something like this…
“I’m be liking it mash potatoes”
Ok, maybe it’s not funny reading like that, but you had to be there to to get the full effect. Now when mashed potatoes are mentioned anywhere it makes me laugh.
~Terry
Good ideas. I think that there are many type of comments: comment for funny, controversial comment, positive and negative comments. By the way, some comments are for increase in the traffic and promoting the blog.
Sharing my knowledge is what i try to do while commenting generally.
Anyways i have some different tactics too by which traffic can be got through comments.
I have read alot of post like this lately. I think comments should be whatever we want them to be. If we want to sound like drunk monkeys then so be it.
Lest I remind you that many blog owners participate in mass comment deletions every month and therefore your comment is likely to be deleted, so why make it a bad comment when it can be a perfectly reputable comment that will last a lifetime? The fact of the matter is that if people start taking greater care when commenting, a blog will become a better place to be.
Good idea, thanks for the tip
I believe in the idea of giving some nice comments about the blog bit I think that the conversation would be spark by giving some negative ones every now and then
I thought this post is about getting more comments for your blog.
And its reverse
Lol 72 comments isn’t at all less.. and its still counting
Everyone could benefit from this post. When I was posting here on JC often, I saw about 13 hits per day from here. No that isn’t a lot, but just from posting a comment or two?? It is worth it. Now do that on about 20 different blogs per day and you could potentially increase you hits to about 200 extra hits per day. Every little bit counts. A comment on someone elses site is like a first impression, you want to make it a good one!
Yup i also agree with above tips. Good one!
I definitely do NOT agree with your point on leaving a “negative” comment. for example - like this one
. You can delete it if you like - but the truth is that one must give an honest opinion of the blog post / article… otherwise its only “buttering up” tactics and not being honest with your views. I think - by not airing your true views in your comments - you could also be misleading the blog readers. If you contradict what the blog owner says … you have every right to state your opinion. If the blog owner is “insecure” and “frightened” to constructive criticism or alternate views - and they delete your opinion - then its really a sad reality and defeats the purpose of the “Internet at large as an open forum inviting all various views”…. perhaps this comment is going to be deleted?
If you had continued to finish reading the paragraph, you would have seen that it clearly states…
“You don’t have to always be overly positive, remember, if you are going to criticise, make it constructive, not destructive. Instead of saying something like “This post sucks” you can say something like “I agree with…But I also recommend etc…” The second one does not seem overly negative and comes across as a suggestion as opposed to an insult.”
So, i guess - we need to include one more point here!!! *READ the Blog post fully and not in a hurry!! * …. like me, in this case
Take the time to read it, we’re all busy but if you’re going to comment - at least read the full post 
No problem Vishal, we are all busy indeed
Ha ha a good point to be noted here is -
Be a good reader to be a good commentator
agreed chetan. btw your blog is down. wet over to read some stuff…