PSDFan Extra

This guest post by Chris, owner of the From the IT Guy Blog.

8 Easy Ways to Get More Comments on Your Blog

Most blogs, and even many largest news and entertainment websites encourage comments. With the obvious concerns of having to moderate what any anonymous person can say, what value do these commenters add to these websites?

Why do you want comments?

• People who post comments tend to return to a website to see if someone responded to what they had to say.
• When your other visitors see numerous comments, they know your post provoked discussion, and are often encouraged to get involved.
• Some readers skip right to the comments after getting the gist of the articles, as to them how the article was received by others is more valuable content than the article itself.
• Comments can also provide great feedback to help guide your future posts and let your audience tell you what they want to read.
• You can feel encouraged that people actually enjoy reading what you’ve worked so hard to write.
• Comments let you engage with your audience to make your blog more than just an article, but a conversation between you and your readers.

The Problem

Unfortunately, most blogs don’t receive the amount of comments that a blogger would hope for. Generally, blogs receive comments from .5% of their visitors. That means, for every 1,000 readers of a post, you could expect to receive 5 comments. Just a few years ago, most blogs received comments from 1% of their readers, twice what it is today.

There are a number of reasons why these numbers are so low, and they do range depending on the type of blog and genre of the posts. One reason is the large amount of information the average person reads a day. It makes it much harder for bloggers to stand out from the flood of information the typical person sees. Many readers have become jaded and tend not to post their thoughts because they feel they may not be received well or could be removed due to moderation.

Starting a blog and getting those first readers can be daunting enough, but it can be even more discouraging if your posts receive no comments. Given how easy it is to leave feedback, a total lack of comments can make your question the relevance of your posts and wonder if you need to change direction. If this has happened to you, don’t be discouraged. Most bloggers deal with this same issue.

Blog commenting is a dwindling practice. However, you can still encourage a healthy ratio of views to comments if you follow these tips.

What can you do?

Here are several easy ways to get more comments on your blog, and hopefully after reading you will come up with your own creative ways.

1. 
Ask and you shall receive.



Though it isn’t usually the first thing we try, simply asking for feedback often works. Not all readers will even think about their ability to leave a comment unless you mention it. This is a classic call to action at it’s best.

You should also ask questions prompting a response from readers. If you were writing a blog post reviewing an upcoming video game, maybe ask readers what feature they would like to see most in a game.

You could even pose questioning posts, where the header is a question and the post outlines several pros and cons, or various choices. A post titled “What is the best pizza chain?” could point out the top chains with some of your pros and cons of each, but ending on an undecided note and leaving it up to readers to answer your question.

2. Follow-up with your commenters

It can be difficult for a blogger to wait for comments, but don’t forget it can also be difficult for a reader to post a comment. The internet can be a harsh place and to post your opinion on something can really put yourself out there for criticism.

It is always a good policy to engage commenters one-on-one, answering their questions, posing follow-up questions, or just thanking them for their feedback. If you make their comments feel welcome, they will likely leave more, and they will also be more likely to be a repeat visitor. This may also mean you might have to step in from time to time and settle a dispute. While a few disagreeing readers can quickly raise your comment number, it can just as quickly get out of hand and turn off future commenters.

3. Continue the discussion

Comments are a great place to continue the discussion from your post. If someone posts an interesting thought or question, many bloggers will save that thought for a future blog post, seeing it as valuable future content.

But the real value is the engagement of your visitors that is happening in the comments themselves. And if you have a related thought that takes the discussion in a new direction, comment away! This can really encourage readers to get involved in the discussion, and feel like they are a part of it.

In a recent video Tom details how you should treat your early commenters like a circle of friends: Ask Tom 1: Grow From 0 to 100 Daily Blog Visitors Video

4. Make it easier

Try not to require visitors to log in or create an account to comment. You want it to be as easy as possible for your users to get in the conversation. This can sometimes be tricky as bloggers try to ward off spammers and bots that would post bogus comments.

One of the best approaches is to allow anyone to comment, but require new visitors, or comments with links, to be moderated. You can read more about Comment Moderation options for WordPress here.

5. Reward comments

Hosting the occasional contest can be a great way to encourage those first-time commenters. If your blog is a primarily for revenue generation, consider some cash prizes or gift cards.

If your blog is more personal or you don’t want to risk the money, you can offer some vanity prizes, such as having a “Commenter of the month” recognition on your blog for everyone to see, and maybe a medal or badge to show off. You could reward your favorite comment, the funniest comment, or a comment totally at random. Make sure to write up some rules to avoid any problems.

6. Return the favor

If a commenter has a blog, make sure to check out his blog and comment on his posts. They will be more likely to read and comment on your posts in the future. And, if your blog is much bigger than theirs, they will probably be flattered and become a lifelong fan. This small step will go a long way to hooking valuable commenters to your blog.

7. Shock them

A shocking post is a near guaranteed way to provoke comments. Just be careful that your posts are not offensive.

You want to get your readers’ attention and show them you think outside the box. Otherwise, why are they reading your blog? For example, if you had a food blog, a post titled “Brownies that are better than sex!” might get more reads than “A great brownie recipe”.

8. Quality content

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, make sure your content is engaging and pulls your readers in. If your thoughts aren’t interesting, thought-provoking, or just different from everyone else’s take on the subject, you can’t expect your visitors to comment.

If you give your readers quality content that they can’t find anywhere else, they will come back for more. If you intrigue them and spark their interest, you can expect thoughtful comments in return.

Tom recently published a post showing how he creates quality blog content: How to Write Blog Posts With Real Value.

You can also learn the importance of using personality in your blogging: How to Blog With Personality and Connect More With Your Readers.

Useful Plugins and Websites to Encourage Comments

The points above are all helpful, easy ways to improve your comment ratios. However, if you run a WordPress blog there are a host of useful plugins to help boost your comment rates:

• Comment Reply Notification – When a reply is made to a comment the user has left on the blog, an e-mail shall be sent to the user to notify him of the reply. This will allow the users to follow up the comment and expand the conversation if desired.
• Subscribe to Comments – Subscribe to Comments is a robust plugin that enables commenters to sign up for e-mail notification of subsequent entries. The plugin includes a full-featured subscription manager that your commenters can use to unsubscribe to certain posts, block all notifications, or even change their notification e-mail address!
• CommentLuv – Reward your readers by automatically placing a link to their last blog post at the end of their comment. Encourage a community and discover new posts.
• Recent Comments Plugin Widget – This plugin will add a list of the most recent comments posted to your blog. They are gathered in descending order (newest at the top), but then grouped by post title, so that comments from the same post are listed together. The list items will be links to the comments, and will contain the name of the commenter.

What Do You Think?

The advice in this article comes from my years as a successful guest poster and blog editor. However, maybe you’ve had slightly different experiences, or can recommend additional tips that you’ve found effective.

I’d love to hear from you guys in the comments below. After all, if we all share our expertise we will all benefit! I make a point of responding personally to all my comments, so let’s get a discussion going!

About the Author:

Chris Adcock is an IT Director for a trade association, supporting more than 5,000 members. Chris is also a freelance social media and IT consultant, teaching general IT classes, and managing numerous blogs. His most recent blog, "From the IT Guy", shares general tech tips to everyday users.

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