Commenting on blogs is both my most utilised tool as a social media manager, and the most underrated tool I see in other’s social media activities. If the end goal of being involved in social media is to create conversation and dialogue, then a comment is the response YOU make to the question or statement being posed by the writer – without it, you aren’t fulfilling your end of the conversation.
As a content creator of any kind, your aim is to develop a community of like-minded people, who are essentially picking up what you are putting down – whether that’s knowledge, reviews, experiences or warnings. So it’s absolutely natural for comments to happen, as people respond to your content. Think about the blogs that YOU read. How many times have you sat at your computer during your lunch break and verbally gone “Ugh YES” when the content is great, or “Pfft” when it’s a bit off. THIS is when, how and why you should comment. Be part of their conversation.
There are a couple of more fiscally motivated reasons to be commenting on blogs. If you work in any particular area or on a particular topic, likelihood is that you follow some of your competitors and suppliers. If you don’t, you should be. Logically, the people reading their blog would also be interested in the content on YOUR blog – they just don’t know you exist. By leaving a relevant and informative comment (something more thoughtful than “hey I wrote a blog too”), you can help someone grow their understanding of a topic, you can open up a dialogue with people you might want to work with, and you might even get a new follower or two on your blog. It also creates a back link to your content, which helps somewhat with your Google search ranking – plus comments on blogs are themselves indexed by Google, so it’s providing more and more opportunities for people to find out who you are.
Now, a word of warning here- don’t focus your entire energy on trying to “pinch” someone specific’s followers. If you have something NEW to add, or a DIFFERENT experience, comment away. Make sure you spread it out, don’t just push people to your content (sometimes just say something nice or thoughtful), and don’t always comment on the same persons blog – it looks grabby and selfish, and bloggers WILL call you out on it.
So here are my quick top 5 on making (and receiving!) more comments on your blog:
Ask for people’s opinion at end of piece
Everyone wants to be heard, and wants to make their opinion noticed and validated. Encouraging your readers to give their own opinion does both and shows that you are open to new ideas!
Comment on other blogs
Generally, people will comment back or at the very least check out your blog, and there’s your conversation. Sometimes, if the quality and relevance of the content is there, they will directly reblog you, which is a great way to attract new followers.
Writing really thought provoking or intriguing content
that could be controversial and drive opinions
Writing provocative content
Again, only if it’s relevant to your readership or true.
Some people write “hate posts” (like this one I wrote here) if they feel strongly on a topic, and this can really drive and divide opinions.
Sync comment area with Facebook or Disquss
This allows people to quickly track through your opinions if they like what you have to say. You can find me on Disquss here.
So what do you think? Is it worth creating comments on other peoples blogs, or do you see it as an annoyance? I want you to contribute to MY conversation, so please write your opinions and experiences below! I am open to new ideas!
(see what I did there?!)
