Leaving a comment on another blog, can spark many things.
One comment can create a rush of traffic to your blog. A meaningful comment can also bring you many loyal visitors.
Keep in mind, “comment traffic” can be “spikey” traffic, i.e. you could see an immediate spike in your traffic graphs. However, in the process, you may pick up some loyal readers. Comment traffic from other blogs, also has no time limit. A month from now, you may see a visitor or two, based on your comment.
Oftentimes you may leave a comment, without any thought of generating traffic to your site. But, today’s lesson is how to gain more traffic to your site, via comments.
Asako, asked me how to write more about leaving comments, so here goes…..
To me, a meaningful comment, adds to the content of the post. Maybe you take the topic a step further, or maybe you ask a burning question. Sometimes, you may disagree with the author. If you like a post, feel free to give the author a compliment.
If you comment on another blog, and leave a comment, such as, “great post”, or “I agree”, that probably won’t get you any visitors.
Today’s Lesson
Writing comments to bring traffic to your blog…
Study these comments:
“Hi Barbara
Thanks for sharing such valuable information. In the creation of my blog, I tweaked this technique, and it has helped to generate more traffic to my site.”
That’s a very simple comment. Now, if I read that comment, I would want to know how the author “tweaked the technique”, i.e. the “hook”. I would go to their site.
Or:
“Hi Barbara,
I know you are not big on using Google AdSense on your blogging blog, but I found by inserting the ads in specific spots, I generate a lot of clicks.”
Another intriguing comment that would drive traffic to that author’s blog, by using a “hook” (inserting ads in specific spots).
Or, maybe Ian would like more traffic coming to his site. He could write:
“Hi Barbara
Love your blog, however, I have to disagree with you on this one. On my blog, I kept a journal during the liquidation of our company, which nearly went bankrupt, and what you are saying, doesn’t apply to my audience. Now that I am on a new adventure, what you have written may apply to my new endeavor into the world of IT. I’ll give it a try. Thanks”
So, even though Ian disagreed, he gave a reason for disagreeing. He also gave readers a “hook” (liquidated business, near bankruptcy), and a reader also knows he is now into IT
He then closed by saying, he would try “this” on his new blog. So he didn’t “close the door” on the idea, nor did he speak negatively of the author;s post. Readers might want to know why “this” wouldn’t work on his site and how he remedied the situation. Plus, they may want to check out his IT blog.
One more:
“Hello Miss Barbara,
I am ninety years old, and recently started a blog. I have seen so much in my life, I decided to share with the world, until my eyesight is completely gone. My hands are not very steady, but my son did get me a big screen so I can see better. I like what you said in this article, and will come back again. Thank you missy.”
Now, this post would pull at my heartstrings. Say no more…….
Keep in mind, if you leave a nasty or extremely negative comment on a blog, you may never get visitors from the readers of that blog. Blogs get some very loyal readers, who are very protective of the author. If you “tick off” the loyal readers, they may “come down on you”, with great force.
A meaningful comment can also be much longer. Check out some on this site. We have a forum of comments, after some of the posts. I love to see that exchange of ideas.
Those “unwritten rules” of blogging say to “stay on subject”, so if the post is about page rank, only talk about page rank. But, you all know, I follow the law, but not “unwritten rules”, so if you go “off subject” on this blog, I do not have a problem with that. Speak your mind.
Also, I will edit comments and check for any typos. Sometimes I don’t have time to make the corrections right away, so bear with me. Obviously, I don’t allow any profanity or adult content.
Today’s Lesson
Find a popular blog, that gets lots of traffic. Problogger is a good one. (There’s a link to it, in my Blogroll) Or, pick another favorite of yours.
Find a post you can identify with, or one that takes you outside of your comfort zone.
Next, compose a comment, by using a “hooK”.
If you don’t feel comfortable just typing on the comment form, compose the comment, and then cut and paste. Remember, nothing happens to your “words” until you hit the “submit” button. If you don’t like what you wrote, change your mind, or have to think about your comment for a longer period of time, just leave the site. Go back when you are ready. If you want, delete what you’ve written thus far, however, that’s not necessary. (Just don’t hit “Submit” until you’re ready)
Check you spelling in the comment, and check the spelling for your URL
After you have submitted your comment, start watching your “referral” traffic. If anyone comes to your site, based on your comment, it will show the name of the site, and the name of the post.
Drop me a comment, and let me know how this is working for you.
Great post Barbara and you’ve given some brilliant examples. Now, I wonder if I’d get away with posting as a ninety year old lady? And I wonder if there are any ninety year old bloggers out there?
That’s funny Catherine,
Right after I published this post, I thought, “boy, that would be a great “scam”…90 years old” That may get some visits, but….they would have to prove themselves.
I believe there are some 80 or 90 year olds, according to the survey Darren did on Problogger, as well as 14 year olds. 14? Can you believe? At 14, I was still playing with Barbie dolls…What I saying, computers weren’t even around way back then…. 🙁
Agree with Cath. It’s all good advice. And at the heart of, it’s all about being true to yourself. If you see a post on a popular site that doesn’t spark a reaction, there’s little point in fabricating a comment just to get hits.
If you remain true to yourself, then that’s the best approach.
Thanks for your input Ian,
You’re right about remaining true to yourself, however, in my next post about comments, I will be writing more about commenting on young blogs, not for hits, but for other reasons.
Stay tuned!
Thank you, Barbara, for answering my questions.
Often, commenting on a post in the meaningful way is a real challenge, because the author has thought of the topic hard already and spent so much more time.
From my experience, commenting on a popular site like Problogger does not send more referral visits to me, compared with smaller blogs. Particularly, your blog, Cath’s blog and Ian’s blog send more people who tend to stay longer on my sites. (And according to Google analytics, they are “new” visitors)
While I agree with Ian that we should not be commenting on other people’s blogs to drive traffic, “if” someone would do so hoping to get more traffic, my recommended strategy to small blog owners is to comment on smaller blogs, not popular blogs.
The difference may be that 1) there are so many comments on a popular blog, 2) when people come from smaller blogs, they tend to have ideas about what is your blog about.
All in all, I feel commenting on someone else’s blog is not an effective strategy to drive traffic to your blog, if you would like to have 100s – 1000s visitors. So in the end, like Ian said, there’s not much point in fabricating your comments to get hits.
And if you are trying to comment because you have an inspiration or want to trigger discussions, I also recommend to do so on smaller blogs. On big blogs, I never get any reaction or response from the author. For example, here, I even got one specific article written on my question. And this blog has a real deep discussion on blog tips, which inspire me a lot!!
By the way, regarding to commenting manner, would you think it is appropriate to refer to a post of another blog when commenting on someone’s blog? For example, if I recommend your post when I am commenting on Problogger, would that be considered appropriate?
Thank you so much, for always helping me out, Barbara!!
(By the way, I tried to write my comment differently this time. Did I follow your recommendation well????)
Hi Asako,
Thank you for leaving such a great comment.
No, we should not only comment in hopes of receiving back traffic, however, as I mentioned before, commenting can bring traffic to your blog. And, as bloggers, we do want our blogs to be found. Commenting is only one way to help generate traffic.
I think it’s ironic that I see you, Asako, Ian and Catherine commenting on some of the same blogs that I visit. To me, that shows that we are all on “the same wave length”, and the comments we left, helped us all find each other. To me, that’s a good thing. Without seeing those comments, we may have never happened upon each others blogs.
Commenting on the “big” blogs, may or may not bring traffic to your site, however, their readership is a lot larger than smaller blogs, so for “testing” purposes, the big blogs are a great place to start to experiment.
And yes, Asako, with smaller blogs, you do seem to find more meaningful content and comments. These authors seem to make more time for their readers.
And, on big blogs, it’s rare to see the author comment back. In fact, one of my favorites, http://www.StevePavlina.com, Steve has closed comments, due to the time it was taking him to moderate them. That, however, does not deter me from visiting his blog.
I think it would be rare to see a “big name” blog, reference an “infant blog”. One of the reasons could be, that by doing so, they would be linking to a 0/10 page rank blog, and could risk their page rank number dropping. To me, that would be rather shallow, but it’s their blog, so they can do whatever they want with it.
Appropriate to recommend a someone else’s post? I have seen some of that in comments, but whether it’s right or wrong…..
This is my take on that one… If you know of another great site, that I may not be aware of, I would be happy to hear about it. And, I think my readers would be too. As in business, referrals are a great tool.
It appears that blogs, in time, take on a personality of their own through their comment section. Some blogs get very few comments, and some get tons. Some blogs don’t allow comments. Some blogs have dozens of “great post” comments, and others, have comments that create a forum.
I like the way this blog is taking on that “forum” personality in it’s comment section. I like to make my readers think, and want them to “have their say”. Blogging is about individuality, learning, sharing, and voicing opinions.
To all of my loyal readers and commenters , I say a big thank you.
Another tip that can sometimes work well is to provide the URL of one of your related posts in your comment (not the link that’s tied to your name, but in the body of the comment itself). However, you have to be careful here, because people tend to cross the line. All too often I see comments like “Great post. Check out my post about this topic here: http://……..” This can be perceived as spam, even if it’s not meant to be.
The problem is that there’s no hook when you do that. Even though your post may be relevant, you haven’t given people a reason to care. However, if you first make meaningful comments that contribute to the discussion, you might grab people’s attention. If you then briefly indicate how the post you’re linking to further enhances the discussion, you might get a visitor. For example, instead of “check this out,” you could (after your meaningful comment) say “I’ve written a post about how to tackle this problem without running the risk of offending someone: http://………”
It’s always a good idea to learn a little bit about the owner of the blog you’re commenting on to see what types of comments are allowed or appreciated. For example, Darren Rowse on ProBlogger.net says in his comment policy “Relevant links in comments are actively encouraged,” “Irrelevant links are not encouraged,” and “I allow signatures in comments.” When you’re a guest in someone else’s home, look to them for proper etiquette.
P.S. Barbara, you have a rather prominent typo in your About page (“My name if” instead of “My name is”). I can say that because I know you like to fix typos 😉
Hi SpicePuppy,
First of all, thanks for telling me about the typo. I have corrected that.
I like the way you put that….”When you’re a guest in someone else’s home, look to them for proper etiquette.” So true.
When I first started commenting I left a link to my site, as I wasn’t aware that my name, was “the link”. All part of the learning process….
I agree, if you first give someone “the hook” and then provide a link, it wouldn’t appear “spammy”.
It’s often through our comments that we first get found. So until your blog gets found by search engines, leaving meaningful comments on other blogs, may be what it takes to make your entrance into blogosphere.