Why You Should Put More Thought Into Your Blog Comments
Author: Jamie | Filed under: Blogging
Blog commenting is practised by many in the online marketing field, but very few put the thought into them that they should. Here we look at a few reasons why it’s important and how to write a great blog comment.
Backlinks
Blog commenting is a great way to get backlinks from authoritative, relevant blogs and to contribute to a strong keyword variation in your backlink profile.
Most blogs will allow you to link to your site from your username, but use a keyword as anchor text and you’ll be flagged for spam 9 times out of 10 (at least). As such, you’re better off linking with a genuine name or in some cases, the URL. This makes your link profile far more natural and less likely to be flagged by Google.
Authority
It’s not just about links though. A well thought out blog comment can help establish you as an authority in your field. After all, blog comments are another forum for public debate.
If you contribute meaningfully to the discussion, other commenters, and readers may notice you and become interested enough to look at your website; particularly if you contribute regularly to the same blogs.
Putting in the groundwork will make it easier for you to drop an in-body link into a comment later on, providing an opportunity for deeper linking and another way to generate traffic.
Relationship building
Contributing to discussions in the comments is also the first step to building a relationship with the blogger.
If he/she is an influencer in your field, this could open the way for further promotional opportunities in the future. Perhaps a post swap. Or, next time you run a competition, that blogger will be more likely to help you spread the word.
How to write a great blog comment
With all of the above in mind, it’s time to stop taking a quantity over quality approach.. Instead, follow these guidelines and you’ll get a lot more out of commenting:
- Contribute meaningfully – ‘great post!’ isn’t going to get you far
- Avoid in-body links unless the link is 100% relevant
- Shy away from using keywords as your username
- Stay concise – long comments often result in ‘tldr’
- Respond to other comments
- Be respectful to the blogger, and everyone else who comments
Please leave any thoughtful comments below!
Image Credit: MOz4rt
Useful post with food for thought. Too many take the quantity over quality approach in all walks of life!
Hi Julie, that’s a very good point. In my opinion it’s much better to write something meaningful than just “good post”. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Great post!
Oops, I may have missed the message of the post…. Just kidding, you covered a lot of really good ideas. The two biggest benefits for me are definitely relationship building and establishing yourself as an authority, which serve two different purposes but are closely related.
Andrew recently posted..Some Thoughts on Apple’s Educational Goals for the iPad
Hi Andrew, thanks for your comments. It’s far better to be a thoughtful contributor to a handful of relevant blogs than a spammer of many!