Darren Rowse from problogger.com once quoted that “Only 1 out of every 100 Readers Comment on your Blog” and this appears to be the very fact of blogging. “If Oscar is to acknowledge the work of Film Industry than Comments are the way to acknowledge the work of a blogger” – wow I can write quotes too.
Increase blog comments
Jokes apart, no one is going to comment unless you encourage them to do so, I have listed 30 tips that you may use to get comments on your blog.
1. Tit for Tat: This simple rule works everywhere, and in the blogosphere, it rocks, as most blogger comment-hungry so it is a mutual understanding that if someone has commented on your blog then you should also comment on his blog too.
2. Ask them to leave comment: What I’ve experienced so far is when I ask my readers to leave a comment I get more comments as compared to when I don’t ask them.
3. Write Tutorials: Most of the readers comment when they need your help, writing a tutorial and unique article is the best way to get comments.
4. Ask questions: Always try to ask a question at the end of your blog post like “Do you agree with it?”, “Do you think it should work?”, “What do you think?” etc.
5. Ask for opinion poll: Adding a poll also encourages user to write a comment because most reader tends to tell the author why they have chosen a particular option in the poll. “Everyone like to speak their mind out, all we need to do is to encourage and give space to them”
6. Always reply to comments: Interacting with your commentators is very important, else it feels to them they are replying to a BOT. provide answers and be humble.
7. Reply with a ‘?’ : Once you have replied, ask again “Do they get it?” “Are you satisfied?” etc.. this builds up the interactive commenting.
8. Never delete a nonspam comment.
9. Learn to take in negative comments: Not everyone likes your post, everyone has different tastes, whatever you do, an Apple Mac user will always hate a Microsoft Windows PC, so in that case be resourceful & be positive while replying. But yes, if the language is uncivil, uncouth, or derogatory, you may consider deleting such comments!
10. Never abuse/embarrass/humiliate your visitors: Consider yourself as a Call center worker who can’t even use a harsh tone while talking to their customer no matter what the situation is. But the best way is to pre-judge if you think a comment may harm your reputation or may end up worse than you can break my rule no 8. :D
11. Give reward to your commentators: Everyone likes free goodies, if you are doing good then you can send some reward to your regular commentator as a compliment.
12. Give reward to Top Commentator: Rather than giving rewards just like that announce a competition and give reward to the top commentator, this will encourage your inactive readers to comment too, and your active commentators will buckle up for the competition.
13. Remove Captcha – Make it easy for your reader to comment.
14. Use threaded comments: It has various benefits, first, it gives your discussion a good look simple to understand, second, it sends a notification whenever someone replies to your comment.
15. Display recent comments
16. Highlight Top Commentator: This brings up the feeling of getting the first prize in a class to the commentator use Top Commentator widget in your sidebar.
17. Provide email subscription to blog comments
18. Don’t ask to register to your blog for letting the readers comment on your blog.
19. Use Akismet: You don’t want to have Spam comments in your blog, having spam comments also reduces the commenting, therefore use the Akismet plugin to avoid spam comments.
20. Provide editable comments: Use plugins like Edit comment XT to provide useful functionality to edit their own comments.
21. Provide a Preview Comment plugin to let user preview their comments before posting
22. Display Avatar, people love to see their avatars, faces and logo so provide avatar functionality too
23. Remove no-follow attribute from the comment field, and announce it, too. A Blogger likes to comment on Dofollow blog to earn some backlinks.
24. Use CommentLuv: By enabling CommentLuv you are giving your commentators direct traffic and a backlink that encourages them to comment more. Just try to comment on CommentLuv enabled blog for 2-3 weeks and see the difference.
25. Take initiative: If you are not getting any comment then maybe it’s time that you should take initiative and start commenting on others’ blogs. Comment daily on their blog for a week and you will see the back comments afterward. “Don’t be in a hurry”.
26. Write controversial posts and get loads of comment
27. Send a sweet Thank You to your commentators but not much often just once in 2 months or so.
28. Facebook Connect: Give your readers options to comment on your blog using their Facebook account id.
29: Moderate regularly: Don’t keep your commentator waiting to see his comments live, moderate comment hourly.
… And what can be the 30th tip? What I missed! Leave a comment below and help me reach 30.
