Engaging With Readers Through Comments
Posted: Tuesday, September 15, 2009
by Roschelle Nelson
Blogging is much more than just writing posts and designing a user friendly page for viewing. Comments are truly (in my opinion) the most important aspect of blogging. Blog comments extend the conversation or point presented in the original post.
One of the most fascinating discoveries about comments is the realization that your information is reaching a global audience - not just the people you interact with in the real world
In my routine blog hopping, I've noticed some blogs have many comments and there are those that have few to no comments. On average only 1 out of every 100 readers comments on your blog. So, the blogs that have more comments tend to be those with a higher readership.
Still, there are ways to get your readers more involved in the commenting process. I've often left comments about a subject that was extremely interesting to me and by the time I was finished commenting the comment had turned into an idea for my next post!
So here are a few ideas for getting more comments on your blog posts:
1. Interact with those who leave comments - people comment for many reasons. One of which is to start a conversation with the writer. If you're not willing to use your comment section, why should anyone else. Understanding that as your blog increases in popularity and your comments begin to number in the hundreds, this may not always be possible. However, once numbers begin the climb that high the readers are usually interacting with each other.
2. Comment recognition - what a great way to encourage comments. Rewarding someone who comments often by mentioning them in a future post. This draws attention to the commenter and the fact that you are actively involved and paying attention to your comment section.
3. Make it easy to comment - this is one I recently had to make some adjustments to. Comment sections that require registration I almost always leave the blog without leaving the comment that I wanted to make. You should also consider opening your section up a bit more. Allow for anonymous comments (moderate carefully).
4. Ask questions - open-ended questions in your blog post are a great way to give the reader an opportunity to answer the question. Phrasing the title of your post in question form is also useful especially for those of us who "scan" rather than read an entire post.
5. Return the favor - I visit lots of blogs and I love commenting on information that I've found interesting, helpful or whatever the case may be. I love all comments but let's face it people...we all know what the "great post", "thanks for sharing", etc mean. If you're going to take the time to comment, make it worth your while.
This Article has been viewed 199 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)After that I hate to just say: well written. Interesting and informative. I know nothing about blogs. ThanksPlease log in to respond to this comment.Hi Jack! I had no idea an article about the importance of commenting HADN'T RECEIVED ANY COMMENTS until today. So, thanks for getting the conversation kicked off.Blogging is where I do most of my writing. And my content is all over the place. A few posts about blogging tips, some cheesy stories about my kids, my futile attempt at being funny....even some occasional rants pop up. It's fun, great source of stress relief for me and an avenue for meeting some really awesome peopleI love it...Please log in to respond to this comment.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.