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20 Ways To Get More Blog Comments

11 April, 2008 - Blogging - 21 Comments

“Sometimes, it’s like talking to a brick wall!” - Photo by Thomas Hawk

We all like to see comments on our blogs. They make us feel good. They let us know people are listening. They show us people are interested in what we have to say and they develop discussion in what can often seem like a one-way conversation.

Skip to the Detailed Tips

Quick List of Tips

Comments are like women… they’re hard to get (sorry ladies, it’s true!). We’ve all been at day one in the blogosphere as we message every single friend we have on Skype, MSN, Twitter and our Outlook address book in the hope they’ll visit our blog and leave a comment. And most do so. For all of a week before they get bored and decide they’ve done enough commenting.

So just how can you increase the amount of comments on your blog? Is it just a case of waiting for the visitors to arrive at your door, or is there an art to sparking conversation?

There’s An Art!

I say there’s an art. Through research, testing and my own experience, I’m going to share with you 20 ways to increase the amount of comments your blog receives. This is the most comprehensive list of comment building tips that any blog has to offer.

1. Don’t Write a “Nobody is commenting on my blog” Post - Like how a flock of birds fly from the tree as soon as one bird moves, humans follow other humans. All you achieve by writing about your lack of comments is a bunch of readers who are even less likely to comment. If nobody is commenting, why should others comment? Don’t talk about the lack of conversation on your blog unless you’re doing so in the past tense (maybe giving examples of how you went from zero to hero in the world of comments).
2. Let the Comments be the Post - Rather than writing a lengthy, authoritative post, ask a question or define a topic and have your readers discuss the matter at hand in the comments. Set a start time and an end time for the discussion. A couple hours is usually enough to allow your readers to talk back and forth with you and each other about the question or topic that you defined. Be sure to give readers plenty of notice so they can make time for the discussion (you’ll find the comments often come in as fast as real time chat) and be sure to open it up at a time when most of your readers are available by taking time zones in to account. A lot of the reasoning for a lack of comments is because the readers are not conditioned to writing comments on that blog. Once a reader has wrote a few comments they become accustomed and the process of commenting on future posts is much more natural. Letting the comments be the post is an excellent way to get readers accustomed to commenting on your blog.
3. Reply to All Comments - I can’t underestimate this one. When you do start to receive comments, be sure to reply to them all inside the comments section of the post. Even if your reply is as simple as “Thanks for stopping by and commenting” it lets the reader know you have read their comment. Just like you as the author of the blog, those who comment like to know they are being listened to and their work of writing the comment hasn’t gone unheard.
4. Ask Questions - Bloggers often talk about asking questions at the end of a post, but there’s absolutely nothing to stop you from asking questions at the start, in the middle, or even in the post title. Posts with a question as a title will often spark discussion from readers. If you do ask a question at the end of the post, don’t make a three word sentence. As readers wind down their concentration towards the end of a post, a short and snappy question will often be ignored. Make the question a full sentence like the rest of your post so your readers have time to digest what you just asked.
5. Introduce Commenting to Beginners - It may seem strange to us as bloggers, but some people simply won’t know what the comment feature allows them to do or how they should use it. Setup a page on your blog that has screenshots and other helpful information for the first time commentator. A screencast of the commenting process would work really well here. Your readers are much more likely to use the tools at their disposal if they are comfortable with how the tools work.
6. Enlarge that Comment Link - Almost every blog I visit tries their very best to hide their comments link in the smallest font possible to man. I’m one of them. I’m a dysfunctional hypocrite, but hey, I’m learning too. Increase the size of your comments link. Maybe even change the tiny text link in to a medium sized graphic within each post. As bloggers we spend so much time making sure our RSS icon is bright and purty, but we spend very little time in making sure our readers know how to get to our comment areas.
7. Be Open Ended - As tempting as it may be to write everything you can about a particular subject, try to refrain from doing so. There’s a balance to be met between being knowledgeable and authoritative, and leaving room for your readers to add to your points. Try to find that balance. I love to write comments on blogs, but if I find a post that covers the answers to life, the universe and everything then I don’t comment because all I would be doing is repeating what the blogger has said. As important as listening is, eventually the listener wants to speak. Let them do so.
8. Reward Commentators - Use the WordPress Top Commentators plugin to show a list of your top commentators. When using this, I usually have it reset each month to make sure my most recent commentators get the attention they deserve. Also highlight comments in your posts. If a comment sparked a post, give credit to the author of that comment. You may consider giving a weekly roundup of the best comments on your blog, similar to the popular concept of a roundup of the best posts from the past week in the blogosphere. They key here is to give something back to your commentators. It retains those already commenting and it gives an incentive for new readers to comment.
9. Show Your Weaknesses - Although many of the tips so far in this post have come from my own experience and testing, this particular tip is one from ProBlogger than caught my eye. If you don’t know something, then don’t pretend you know it. Your readers will be happy to advise and recommend on topics you find yourself lacking in. Be honest and open about your weaknesses and you’ll be rewarded with comment discussion.
10. Post Your Own Comment - No, I don’t mean you should post comments under a false name in a bid to spark discussion. I’m referring to asking a question in your post and then answering that question in your comments area. Ask a question which has no correct answer (an answer that is very much opinionated), then tell your readers you’re going to give your answer in the comments. Not only does this entice readers to click through to your site from the RSS feed to see your comment, it often gives users the small nudge needed to write their first comment on your site. I first saw this method being used by Liz Strauss and I’ve seen great success having used it on this site with questions such as Do you read sponsored posts? and Do you check your blog for broken links?.
11. Make it Easy to Comment - Almost everybody hates having to register and login to write a comment. Just like an online store loses a lot of sales when it forces users to register in order to buy a product, a blog will lose a lot of comments if it forces users to register. Also be sure to avoid the CAPTCHA forms that require users to type in letters from an image to verify the do indeed have the characteristics of a human.
12. Comment on Other Blogs - Commenting on other blogs still works. I Twittered about how comments still work and I stand by that statement. Write quality comments on other blogs and you’ll soon find that blog authors head to your site and repay the favour.
13. Offer Email Subscription - Use the excellent subscribe to comments WordPress plugin to allow commentators to subscribe via email. All subscribers will receive an email when a new comment is posted and you’ll often find those people come back and write further comments after receiving the subscription notification. This is especially true if you use the threaded comments WordPress plugin which allows readers to reply to comments between each other in one thread.
14. Ask Questions in the Comments - When replying to comments, don’t end the conversation there. Ask questions and spark more conversation. By doing this, I’ve often had posts with a comment thread that is five or six comments deep because the reader and I have struck up a conversation.
15. Don’t be Afraid to go Off Topic - When replying to comments, don’t be afraid to stray off topic by talking about personal things such as the commentators recent vacation. The more accustomed your readers get to commenting on your blog, the more viable a comment will seem to them in the future. Some people may disagree with going off topic, but I like to engage in conversation, whether it is on topic or not.
16. Seperate Comments from Trackbacks - Time and time again I go to a blog, scroll to the comments, and find a comment area that is full of trackbacks. Trackbacks make the comment discussion hard to follow and less inviting for readers looking to write their first comment. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a WordPress plugin for this (the shock and horror!). However, there are some relatively simple instructions from HackWordPress.
17. Keep Comment Form on Same Page as Post - This is mostly an issue with Blogger blogs. If possible, keep the submit comment form on the same page as the post. Nobody likes an extra click of the mouse. Make life as simple as possible for your readers.
18. Comment on Your Readers Blogs - I’ve developed many friendships and secured many regular commentators by commenting regularly on my readers blogs. If you know of a blogger who is subscribed to your feed, be sure to comment on their posts. For the sake of your own sanity, I wouldn’t recommend doing this for all your readers. Focus on those who you think will post constructive, detailed comments on your own blog. This is a great way to secure a base of regular commentators. By doing this for my own blog, I can now almost guarantee which readers will write a comment.
19. Display List of Recent Comments - Use the WordPress recent comments plugin to display a list of the recent discussion.
20. Link Back to Commentators Latest Blog Post - And finally… There’s a craze going around the blogosphere right now. The craze is bloggers adding the CommentLuv WordPress Plugin. This plugin detects the latest post from the commentators blog and then presents a link to the post at the bottom of the comment. It’s a nice way to repay those readers who leave a comment.

Further Reading
ProBlogger’s 10 Tips for More Comments - View Article
Performancing Dot Com’s 10 Tips for Attracting More Comments - View Article

Do you have any more tips for increasing the amount of conversation on a blog? Do you already use some of the tips I listed above? Let us know in the comments below!

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Posted on 11 April, 2008 by Jamie Harrop
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