Commenting on other blogs is an important part of blogging. The advantages of blog commenting are many. Some of the main advantages are- increased exposure for your blog, it acts as a source of referral traffic, helps you get backlinks (in case of dofollow comment allowing blogs). Commenting is especially handy for new blogs, which are not established and authoritative. Through this method, such blogs can build some good old exposure and referral traffic. Here, we’ll see how one can make use of commenting and leverage the maximum benefits out of it. I’ll also be providing some guidelines related to leaving good comments on others’ blogs.
Commenting is beneficial!
Do you own a blog that has a comment section? Then chances are that you might be getting some amount of spam comments each day. Let me ask you one question- Do you love spam comments? Well, I guess the answer is a big NO! So, if you hate spam and low quality comments, the same is the case with other bloggers. A flurry of spammy, low quality comments from you would be the last thing they want to see on their blog. Thus, it is important that you leave good quality comments on others’ blogs.
Interesting fact: I used to love spam comments! Yes, when I started out blogging, I had been getting zero comments in the beginning. Then one fine day, a comment popped up. It said something like this- ‘Wonderful article, you will become a popular blogger one day’. I was on cloud nine, literally! Then, as days passed, the frequency of such comments getting posted on my blog increased. The comments went on becoming more meaningless! It was after some while that I realized that all those comments were spam! Hilarious story, isn’t it? Well, that was me, in the beginning, getting happy on getting spam comments!
I still do love spam comments. They give me this daily dose of laughter. Each day, I comb through Akismet Plugin’s spam list and look for hilarious spam comments. It is hilarious to see the extent to which spammers go, to mask their spam comments as legit!
Okay, leave all those old stories apart. Let’s focus on some commenting guidelines you should be aware of-
Good commenting practices: Some guidelines for you-
#1 Always read the whole post before commenting
A blog post is the result of hours of hard work that a blogger put in, composing it. We should respect his/her efforts.
Make it a point to read the entire post before commenting. I know many folks, who, for the sake of commenting, don’t even care to read the blog post before commenting.
By giving the post a read, you are respecting the blogger’s efforts. Also, you stand a good chance to learn something new!
#2 Don’t just limit to ‘Thank You’ and one liners
After going through the article, it is polite and good to say a ‘Thank You’ line. I wholeheartedly agree with that. But at the same time, you should realize that there is much more you can do with the comments field!
After reading the whole post, make use of the comments section to add to the post. Point out some missing factors in it. Use it as a platform to pose questions and doubts. Add your own opinion about that particular topic etc.
#3 Make it a point to comment on blogs related to your niche
In a bid to boost exposure, never go around commenting on each and every blog that you can lay your hands upon. Google considers this as good old spamming! And your blog may get punished too, for this deed of yours.
The solution to this problem is to comment on only those blogs, which are related to your niche. I mean, comment only on relevant blogs. That’s it!
#4 Use a Gravatar
Why not sign up there and use your own picture as your gravatar? It gives that feel of genuineness each time you leave comments on others’ blogs!
Just visit Gravatar’s site, register there and insert your pic to the email address that you use for commenting! It sure will act as an entity to identify you in the comment section. It’ll help you get good exposure too!
#5 Don’t use Keywords instead of ‘Name’
A big mistake that many folks still commit. Never use the KWs in place of the ‘name’ field. Make it a point to use your name.
#6 Don’t insert links in the comment field unless it is very important
Many times, folks insert urls of their blogs in the ‘comment field’ just for the sake of self promotion. This is gross. First of all, in most commenting platforms, there is a field named ‘website’, where you may leave the url of your blog. Make use of that field, instead of inserting urls in the comment field!
Sometimes, it becomes necessary to mention a link to bring something crucial to the attention of the blog owner and others. In such cases, one may leave that particular url in the comment field and notify the significance/purpose of leaving it there.
Those were some basic guidelines for you. It’d be nice if you follow them ahead of embracing commenting seriously!
Let’s talk about some tips now. I’ll share some commenting tips that have surprisingly worked well for me. Note that these tips will help you get that extra bit of referral traffic out of your commenting activities.
Tips to get that extra bit of referral traffic from commenting
#1 Make it a point to comment consistently on authoritative blogs related to your niche
If you are serious about blogging, then you must be ready to constantly learn and evolve. Blogging is all about learning new things. And to learn more, authoritative blogs belonging to your niche are the best places to get started. What say?
While going through the posts and guides posted on such blogs, make sure that you also leave a comment there. Because, when it comes to authoritative blogs, you are not the only one accessing it. There are many other folks too reading it. Thus, leaving a comment there will sure get some exposure and referral traffic to your blog.
#2 Try to grab the first spot in the comment section on authoritative blogs
If possible, do make sure that you read the blog posts as soon as they are published on authoritative blogs and leave comment there early. I mean, your comment should manage to find a place on the top, among the very first comments
From my experiences, this has resulted in increased exposure and referral traffic so far! You too should make use of this strategy, I thought.
But don’t compromise on the comment quality in a bid to get on the first place! Keep that fact in mind folks! The next tip will help you win the top spot easily-
#3 Subscribe to new posts on authoritative blogs
To comment early, you must be aware about when new posts are published on such blogs. To make that possible, subscribe to their new posts. Make sure that you get a mail notification as soon as a new post is published on that blog. This method will help implementing tip #2 easy and possible!
#4 Leave good quality comments
Even after you implement tips #1 and #2, it won’t be of much use of you don’t include quality in your comments. Avoid one liners, as I mentioned in the guidelines.
Leave comments that add value to that post. This makes sure that other commenters and the webmaster himself takes a better notice of your blog.
This increases the possibility of you increasing your blog traffic. Quality is unavoidable, I repeat!
#5 Don’t just limit to authoritative blogs
Just because I told you folks to focus on authoritative blogs don’t mean that you should ignore other blogs. As long as the blog is relevant to your niche and the content is of good quality, do make it a point to leave a comment after going through the whole article!
#6 Don’t ‘force’ yourself into commenting
If you read a blog post and don’t feel like commenting there, leave it. Don’t try to ‘force’ the process. Ultimately, it’ll compromise the quality, you know. Commenting should be a natural process.
After reading an article, appreciation, opinions etc, in the form of comments, should flow into your mind naturally, without exerting much ‘pressure’ and ‘effort’. That’s what my way of thinking is like.
#7 See and utilize the ‘networking’ aspect of commenting too
You might be wondering what networking has to do with commenting and referral traffic. Well, there’s a connection between the three.
Commenting is also a way to network with fellow bloggers. Making the right use of commenting, on can forge good friendship and mutually beneficial relationships with fellow bloggers! In the long run, this relationship will sure earn you referral traffic and much more!
#8 Consistency is all that matters!
This process is continuous, not just limited to a day, week or month! So, get ready to implement these tips religiously! Then only will one get to see noticeable results!
Rounding it up-
That’s it guys, time to wrap up this article. Thanks for reading it from start to end! And yeah, do leave some meaningful comments! It won’t have any side effects and neither do I levy any charge for commenting here! So, what’s it that is holding you back? On a final note, I’d say to you that commenting comes with many benefits, but that is applicable as long as you use it the right way! Abuse it and it’ll do more harm than good!
I agree with you. Process of getting backlinks through comments from high authority websites are still valuable if these websites are your niche websites.