You would have read several times blog commenting is one of the best ways to bring more readers to a website. However, few people know exactly how to use blog comments to make most out of it.
Bloggers often underestimate the power of commenting and never us it as an important tool to drive traffic to their site.
I have personally experienced a decent increase in traffic from reputed websites and forums through quality commenting. Over 21% of the visitors to my blog come through referrals as a result of commenting on blogs and forums.
The benefits of commenting are not limited to traffic. Here are the top five benefits of commenting on other blogs, websites, and forums.
Benefits of commenting on blogs, websites, and forums
- Helps you get quality back links
- Facilitates the process of connecting with other bloggers
- Helps you use the knowledge in practice
- Leads to interesting and in-depth discussion
- Enables you to drive quality traffic to your blog
If you want to take full advantage of these benefits, here are a few things you should keep in mind.
Leave quality comments
If you want to make most out of your comments, you need to first understand different types of comments. I have classified comments into five broad categories;
- Generic comments
- Interrogative comments
- Informative comments
- Argumentative comments
- Critical comments
Generic comments include all those comments that are used either to appreciate the post or agree with the viewpoint of the writer. One line phrases or sentences such as “nice post” “informative post” “this post is amazing” all fall under the category of generic comments.
Generic comments are not quality comments as they do not contribute much to the growth of your sites. Such comments might help you get a backlink to your site but not always.
Unfortunately, 90% of the bloggers use generic comments in the hope that it would help them bring more traffic to their blog.
Interrogative comments include all those comments that aim at;
- Gathering more in-depth information
- Clarifying doubts
- Asking further questions related to the topic
Interrogative comments could be a great source of bringing more traffic if your question is good enough to provoke thoughts and bring something new to the table.
A majority of the bloggers would not mind answering your question if your question is good enough to make their post more informative. At the same time, such comments will help you come to the notice of the writer as well as several other users.
Informative comment aims at adding additional information to a post that the writer might have forgotten or failed to include in the post. Informative comments are the best way of bringing more readers to your site if the information is adding value to the existing post.
The argumentative comment includes all those comments that question the reliability of the information and aims at proving one’s point of view on the subject rather than finding the truth. Such comments can also help you drive traffic to your site if your viewpoint holds water.
However, such comments can also damage your reputation and strain relationship with the writer or the publisher.
Critical comment can also help you bring more readers to your post if you use it in a constructive way. Here you need to understand the difference between critical comments and argumentative comments.
An argument can never be a source of bringing a discussion to a fruitful end. A critical comment can become an argumentative comment if the writer or the commenter adopts an egoistic approach to the topic.
However, a critical comment that aims at discussing a topic critically has great potential to drive a large number of readers to your site.
Critical comments can be used to:
- Question the authenticity of the information or phenomenon
- Disagreeing with the viewpoint of the writer
- Proving your point of view using relevant sources and data
- Discussing the topic in the light of latest trends or new developments and discoveries
A Quality comment adds value to a post. It makes an existing topic more interesting, informative and engaging. There are several things you can do to add value to a post. Here are the key features of quality comments.
Features of quality commenting
- Critical yet constructive
- Adds value to the post
- Thought provoking
- Informative
- Relates to the topic
Inherent Benefits of Quality comment
- Helps you improvise
- Helps establish you as an authority on the subject
- Helps all the parties view the topic from a new perspective (readers, writer, and commenter)
- Helps all parties gain new and latest information
- Keeps all the parties engaged
How to Leave Quality Comments
Avoid posting generic comments: First, remember one phrase comment or one sentence comment will not help you much in bringing traffic or gaining back links to your sites.
Phrases or words such as informative post, interesting post or good information are not really going to help you much.
Some bloggers use such comments with the objective of getting back links rather than actually adding some value to the post. In fact, such comments will do you more harm than good in the long run especially if you use links along with your comment.
Believe me, such comments are not really going to help in the long run. If you think you will be able to get quick backlinks if you leave such comments on a blog without comment moderation, you are hardly mistaken.
All the comment links on blogger platform are Nofollow links by default. Users on WordPress mostly use comment moderation and do not allow links if you are using it with the sole objective of getting some backlinks.
If you follow a blog or read the posts and comments regularly it’s ok to leave one sentence comment once in a while as you just want to appreciate the work. However, if you want to bring yourself to the notice of publisher it is important to post quality comments.
Avoid posting commenting if you are running against time: a quality comment not only requires 100% focus but also time and knowledge to stand your comment out from the crowd. You will find it hard to post a quality comment if you do not have the time or you are busy with other important things.
Avoid leaving a critical comment if you have not understood the topic fully: critical comments can backfire if you have not understood the topic or you lack the knowledge on the given topic. Some readers make the mistake of leaving a comment without getting into the depth of the topic.
Such comments lead to more confusion and misunderstanding. It can also damage your reputation badly.
For example, if something is not working for you as a blogger it does not mean it hasn’t worked for the publisher of the article. He or she might be just sharing their personal experience or knowledge they acquired over the years. It is up to you whether you implement them or not.
Leave a critical comment in a constructive way: Don’t be argumentative as the objective is to find the truth or solution rather than proving someone wrong or defeating someone in the discussion. Such attitude is not going be help anyone neither the readers nor the writer nor you.
If you really do not agree with the viewpoint of the publisher or the writer, you should prove your viewpoint with some facts or figures including links from reliable sources. It is always beneficial to use polite words even if you disagree with the opinion of the writer. It will help you in four ways.
First, the other readers would not view your comment as your arrogance or show off.
Second, it will lead to constructive discussion which in turn will help you bring more readers to your blog
Third, you will not strain your relationship with the publisher or the writer of the blog.
Fourth, it will add value to the existing post.
So it is a win-win situation for all.
Ask questions if you have any doubts: One of the best ways to make most of the comments is to ask questions and gain new information.
Forums and blogs are the best places to get the answer to your question. If you have thoroughly read a post and found it interesting and thoughtful, there could be several other questions related to the topic that you might like to ask the writer.
Though provoking questions not only add value to a post but also creates a favorable environment for a discussion. Sometimes discussion leads to a solution and which in turn helps all the parties gain valuable information.
Questions do not necessarily show that you lack the knowledge. It also indicates that you have some authority over the topic. There are several other users who might be looking for the answer to the question you asked.
Comment on do follow as well as no follow blogs: some bloggers often make the mistake of commenting on only do follow sites as their main aim of commenting is to get backlinks. There are several tools available online that help you identify the do follow sites. Moreover, some bloggers use comment spamming to get quick backlinks and target passing PageRank juice to their site.
However, to prevent comment spam many sites by default automatically add the nofollow attribute to posted comments. If your want to reap the real benefits of blog commenting you should not fall into the trap of do follow and no follow links and do not indulge in comment spamming.
If you liked this article, please leave your comments and share it with others. Which type of blog comments help you drive traffic to your blog? Please feel free to share your opinion with us.
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