It is one of the most important things you can do to create an authentic and real online presence.
It could do more for your blog and website than almost anything else.
It is the best way to connect with other people who share similar interests with you.
Yet we would venture to say that 98% of us never do it and then we wonder why we aren’t growing our base.
Yes, we are talking about commenting. It’s the simplest thing you can do online, but it is the most overlooked.
So, why don’t people comment? Here are our thoughts:
- They have no time. We hear this one a lot. This is what we say: let’s say you spend 60 minutes a day working your social media presence. Instead of writing five extra tweets, comment on at least two blogs a day that you like. It takes the same amount of time.
- They don’t understand the effectiveness of commenting. Think of commenting as an online calling card. Every time you leave a comment somewhere, you leave a “clickable opportunity” for someone else to read what you are saying and more importantly, visit your link. In addition, you have a better chance of getting added to search engines. Want proof? Google yourself right now. If you are commenting, your name will show up on links from other blogs.
- The blog’s environment is not inviting. Any blog needs to welcome their readers and invite them in. It needs to be an open environment that promotes collaboration and feedback.
- They are hesitant to put their name out there. This one is tough. Using my blog as an example, I would say that for every 100 unique visits I get, I’ll get about 10 comments. What about the other 90? We promise we won’t bite. One of the biggest thrills a blogger can get is feedback. And we promise you this, if you comment here, we will respond and we will also visit what your blogs as well.
- They read the blog and move on. Yeah, yeah, people read it. So what? What if you did like the blog? Wouldn’t you want to share it with others? (Another way to leave your “clickable card” out there). Well, commenting can be as simple as clicking on a Facebook like button or a Twitter share button.
- The content of the blog is poor. This is all on the blogger. Yes, your content might not be good. You have a poorly designed blog or you are just not attracting the right audience. Or, (and I do this all the time), you don’t give your blog that extra check and then send it out with typos in them. If you haven’t gotten many visits, maybe you aren’t doing the right things to network or to provide good content.
So, what is a good example of a blog that has good content and great comments? We will share one of our favorites:Spin Sucks, a very cool and lively PR blog directed by @ginidietrich.
What do you notice about this blog that makes it effective? We think it’s simple:
- The blog approach is inviting and allows the reader to own the content. That is, people feel comfortable to comment.
- The blog owners respond to the comments.
- The blog also has guests posts, which adds to the open inviting atmosphere it promotes.
Once you have that environment, the fear of commenting is gone. And that is a good thing.
What do you think? Why don’t people comment?
Hi Julio: Yes, this is an interesting phenomenon. I have found that comments are dispersed across the Social Web. I share my blog posts on Facebook, Twitter, Posterous, LinkedIn and a few other places, and find that people comment in those places also, so we all need to be aware that, if we are using comments as a key performance indicator for a particular goal we’ve outlined, then we need to begin to watch for comments in many places.
Those who don’t comment at all? That’s a tough one. I think we live in a time of instant-gratification. People don’t take the time to RSVP, to send thank you notes, to say hello when they see someone out in public they know because they have to get where they are going. There’s a bit of the mentality that says “I want to get through a lot of information is as little time as possible, so I’m not going to stop and take the time to develop relationships along the way by taking the time to comment on your blog post.”
You’ve pointed this out, but we need to realize that commenting on blog posts is a step in establishing relationships. It’s having a conversation with the author, with other commenters, and those who just stop by to read. If we believe in the relationship-building aspects of Social Media, and I hope we all do, then we need to understand this is yet one more link in that process.
Thanks for bringing up a very important point.
I couldn’t tell you either. People don’t take the time to pause and absorb content. Thanks for commenting!
I almost ALWAYS comment for all of these reasons…PLUS…I know how much I LOVE getting comments….makes me smile. And I actually appreciate the negative comments as well…when someone actually has the balls to leave them!
Yes! I should have said that as reason #5. LOL. David, you rock da house. That’s the spirit.
I actually have a friend who retweets everything I write, but NEVER leaves comments. I finally broke down and asked her and she said it’s because she never knows what to say. It’s a shame because she blogs and it might send people her way.
She would actually gain more traction leaving comments on blogs than RTing.
I know! I appreciate the RT’s but the comments would help us both.
Bingo.
I won’t comment when the site owner requires access to other parts of my life in order for me to simply ask a question or say “good job.” Facebook & g-everything love to harvest info and sell it. My twitter account leads to personal comments to friends. Many of us don’t want a “killer” online presence. (And can we please get rid of that horrible and tired car salesman metaphor already?)
Really, there are a lot of people out here who simply are interested in what you have to say. We are not looking to leave a clickable cookie crumb, obtain more viewers to our own sites, or gain a commercial benefit of any kind. We are still accountable for our comments and their tone. If I came to an in person workshop, would you insist on seeing my address book? I expect not! So why require that level of disclosure from blog commenters?
The fact that you haven’t, in how you set this blog up, made it possible for me to share this thought. So I really appreciate that…and I’m going to send your blog link on to a friend of mine, a wonderful man from Columbia who both writes and teaches Latino/a literature in the US.
Tom, I see your point, although I don’t fall under the category of Internet marketer, that drives me crazy as well. By the eay, I changed “killer online presence” for you. Each one has a different style, and if you think it came off as a used car salesman, apologies. That’s not my style. I don’t gain anything commercially from my site, I just want to share content and connect with people, and there is no other motive than that.
Yes, please let your friend know. We are serious about promoting Latino authors and writers here.
I totally respect people who would rather stay private. It’s all good. J
Hey, thank you very much for considering my perspective. I decided to let you know about how the phrase sounded (and is being used elsewhere) precisely -because- it’s clearly not your style, at least as it reads to me so far. (I followed a twitter link just today, so am a new reader.)
Sorry if I came off sounding cranky – all those other offenders had software that precludes free range commenting! Now…let me go find the Used Car Salesmen of America blog and apologize for having cast aspersions on their ethical standards…. 😉
It’s all good, Tom. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. What I tell everyone is that people use social media and blogging for however they want to. They are always abusers and they suck. I can’t stand that. See you around, J
I have to say I found this really interesting and absolutely true. Thank you for the great time management tips too. I think I sometimes get so sucked into commenting on Twitter and FB that I forget about leaving comments on the actual blogs.
I’m working on it. 🙂
Cool. That’s great.
I have a great example of WHY you should comment. Two years ago the small business columnist at USA Today wrote a column titled, “Should Entrepreneurs Tweet? NO!”
He had four reasons why business leaders should not tweet and they were all bogus. So I carefully crafted a response and gave him four counter points as to why business leaders should tweet.
He called me a couple of days later and asked me a bunch of questions and then asked if we could go on the record. UM, YES!
He’s quoted me not once, not twice, not three times, not four times, but five times in the past two years in USA Today. And he’s become a friend.
All from one comment on one article. Not only will you create traffic to your own blog, you will develop new friends, create a new network, and possibly be featured on A-list blogs or in major news media.
P.S. Thanks for featuring Spin Sucks! xoxo
We love Spin Sucks and that is great story, Gini!
Julio, I’m guilty as charged. I’ve been thinking about this very topic a lot lately and have been planning to ramp up my commenting on other blogs.
The Google juice should be proof enough that commenting is very important. I am reminded of this every time I get Google Alerts for my name, as with this comment sometime in the next few days. 🙂
Here’s to the Google Juice! It hit me when I saw my name show up on the first page of big blogs over my own page.
Great post. I do think one of the barriers to entry for many people is leaving the personal information (like what Tom said). They also have some trepidation about saying something that will make them look ignorant about the subject.
I agree there is a certain kind of atmosphere that some blogs achieve, that make it inviting to leave comments. Johnathan Fields is one example I think of that asks readers what they think at the end of every post. It makes you want to leave a comment.
Good point, Chris. Yes, the personal info is a barrier, but all the bloggers I know don’t do anything with that information, since 1. it is not ethical and 2. we get spammed like mad anyway and I wouldn’t ever want to associate myself with that.
Also, sometimes we feel like we have to have the perfect comment when in fact it could just be something like you put here. Good point and here is some extra infomation.
Jonathan Fields is a great example.
Thanks again for commenting!
I agree Julio. I don’t collect any of the information that users submit to my blog. The email address is used to say “thanks” to the person that commented (I still personally thank) and the website link is managed by the blog comment section itself.
Why would we ever want to spam anyway? Your rep would be shot online.
Gini’s comment just reminded me of a hot tip I have if you want to draw attention to yourself from a traditional media powerhouse.
If you take a look at sites like Fast Company, Inc or even a newer site like Business Insider, there really aren’t that many comments. There have been many times where I have finished reading an article on Fast Company and noticed that there isn’t a single comment, so naturally I leave one.
Not only do you take advantage of Google juice from a site Google views as an authority, but you also stand out to the author and site.
Great point, there are a lot of mainstream pieces out there that never get comments. Forgot about that. Leave it to the Chicago crew to remind me!
Ha! The Chicago crew definitely swarms the Internet like killer bees on a helpless dog in Texas.
Classic. Tweeting that out!
For a while I made a goal to comment on 2-5 different blogs each day. The results weren’t exactly encouraging. Only one blogger replied to my comments, and ZERO bloggers visited my blog. 😦
And for the record, I don’t leave a comment unless I genuinely have something to say. I abhor spam!
Oh, and I picked blogs that were in a similar field to my own. (Gaming.) It was disheartening, but I know I have to keep trying. Maybe I’ll add it to my New Year’s resolutions. ^_^
I think it all depends on the topic and the community. Maybe there are other games out there with more open blogging environments that allow for commenting and sharing? Not everyone practices the principles of sharing online, but a lot of people do. Start with a small group and work from there? Thanks for commenting!
Julio
I really enjoyed your post and all the comments. I’ve been thinking about the no comment piece for a while.
I wonder is the no comment a case of ‘create versus consume’?
Laura Kimball wrote an interesting blog on the topic http://lamiki.com/2010/11/create-vs-consume/
I know I have started to comment more on others work after reading her blog post. It made me think about my behavior as a creator of content and indeed as casual consumer.
That makes so much sense, you do need a balance because if you do it becomes self-consumption, I think. Thanks for the link! I checked it out.
Thank you, Rosin, for the mention. I am supremely humbled by it and glad my post has you thinking.
Julio, I really like how you took something that people may not do and turned it into a list of easy-to-digest reasons why you should. One of my biggest grievances is that I’ll leave a comment on a blog, but if there’s not a “notify me of follow-up comments via email” then I may forget to check if the author left a response.
Another reason people may not comments is if they’re reading blogs via Google Reader or another RSS services that adds a few extra steps to this engagement. A friend of mine mentioned that, and she’s right. But there’s an easy way to change that through personal habit.
Great post, Julio! Glad you stopped by my blog so I could read this!
A pleasure to connect. All great observations.
Great post, Julio. While I am admittedly late to this party, I see immediately the benefits of leaving a comment. For starters, it validates the bloggers efforts (it is an effort, I know) and as a nice collateral benefit, you are able to leave the virtual calling card. And from my experience, that calling card just may get picked up…and used!
Thanks for the nudge to keep on commenting! Please keep posting!
Thanks, Erica. That is the goal. I appreciate the support!
Terrific blog! This one I’ll bookmark for my personal archives. You’ve made so many great points about commenting. We can all help one another, and with blogs or anything else that we put out into the world, a little bit of recognition goes a long way. Now, off to retweet your wisdom. 🙂
Very cool, Lisette. Much appreciated!
What I find interesting is that people will send me comments via email or direct message, but won’t leave them in the comment section. After a recent post, I had six emails and not a single comment. I just shook my head.
On the contrary, on female sports site that I run, one of our writers lists cuties of the week. The comments there run on for days. I assume it’s because they may feel more at ease with a less weighty topic. Who knows?!
I think it’s part of the feeling that people don’t want to share comments in public, which is unfortunate. As for the other lighter topic, if you have a niche, work it. What is that link again? Ha! Thanks for the comment.
and on a second note Juilo
I’ve started to use comments as away to acknowledge active engagement I get from social media. So sometimes instead of a ‘thanks for the RT’ I’ll go to someones blog, read and comment.
That is an excellent practice.
They don’t understand the effectiveness of commenting. — Agreed. I see a pattern in the profession of the commenter. It seems that communicative people (marketing, advertising, writing, etc. etc.) are much more prone to commenting anyway (regardless of any of the above reasons), while technology people are less prone to doing it, because it may be their very nature.
That is actually a generalization that has merit. Thanks for sharing.
How could I not leave a comment on a post about leaving comments?
Great post, Julio, and a much needed reminder.
Historically, my challenge has been consistency and I think this is an important element in building your online presence via leaving comments.
I’ve stopped and started and stopped again my efforts to consistently visit sites/blogs and leave quality, thoughtful comments, and I think having some structure could help.
No, your comments shouldn’t be automated or robotic, but perhaps scheduling a regular reminder could help. I think it would help me.
Merry Christmas.
Russ, first of all, Merry Christmas!
I think your point is exactly the struggle that we all deal with. My new take is that if I see a blog that I like, I will comment and try to add at least one perspective on it. Scheduling also is a good idea.
Thanks for commenting!
Julo
Heh. I’m a writer, so it’s rare for me to not have anything to say. 🙂
You’re absolutely right about how leaving a comment gets other people to check you out. I have WordPress.com stats turned on for my blog, so I can see what people click to get to me. Many times people check out my blog from a comment I left, even on super busy 50+ comment strings like at Scalzi’s Whatever blog.
That is enough evidence for me.
Great post and food for thought as a still neophyte blogger. At the end of the day some people just read a post, like it or don’t and move on. While I retweet a good portion of what I read online, the majority of things I read I just read and move on. I do comment on other financial blogs because I am interested and have started to build relationships with some of the bloggers.
I think you represent most of us here online. Very smart of you to build relationships with those bloggers.
You can really put salt in a wound! Most of us interested in SM have become so involved in making sure that we pursue the promotion of the big “ME” instead of the sincere & unselfish giving of our knowledge for the sake of just GIVING. The inherent believe of how SM can help anyone in advancing their specific biz venture has clouded the the thought process of how different SM platforms & other internet methods of marketing have to be kept separate.
SM has opened a Pandora box full of opportunities that permit each one of us to make choices as to what we want to participate in or not. Hopefully more and more of us will choose to comment more often on the writings, such as yours, that come with no other expectations that providing a forum for interactively sharing the pros and cons of whatever the subject, that has been selected for public exposure and self reflection, awakens on us.
Please keep the writings coming!
Well stated, Papi!
Hi Julio
I came over from a RT on Twitter by a friend. Decided to come check out the post. Posted something similar a couple of weeks ago and it has so far been my most popular post 🙂
I am in a small niche and one way I have got my blog out there and noticed has been blog hopping and staying to comment. I comment on many blogs each day and it has really built up a community where we all interact and the conversations on the various blogs grows.
I love networking, so it isn’t irksome to me, to spend time doing this. Like to visit newbies blogs to encourage them and experienced bloggers posts to learn something new that will make me a more effective blogger.
Thanks for sharing with us Julio. Much appreciated.
Patricia Perth Australia
Very cool of you to comment. Add that blog link here so we can check it out? You are doing the right things.
Julio – Excellent post (that I found through a RT on Twitter from @ginidietrich)
COMMENT PARALYSIS
When I first started my blog a number of years ago, I was encouraged to share comments on other’s blogs. They went on to say that I should only comment if I had something to add. I think that piece of advice has gone throughout the web and has paralyzed people.
I believe the advisers that make that suggestion are trying to avoid the “great post” type of comments or the comments that have nothing to do with the post. (Although, I’d love to see comments from people that want to tell me they liked the post!)
I used to think that I had to ADD to the post in some way. So, if it was a post on the 5 top ways to avoid procrastination, I should add a 6th tip or not comment at all. I have learned that is one way to comment, but not the only effective way.
That could be a great follow up post to this one!
MAKING TIME
So often, we are busy working “in” our business rather than “on” it. I have found that scheduling 1 day a week to work ON my business has been a key to my growth.
In that day, I focus on the building of my business, which includes commenting on blogs. Then, I take the best posts I have read from my industry (productivity and organization) and create a “Link Lineup” post where I categorize and share the posts on my blog. (sample: Personal Productivity & Organizing Link Lineup http://bit.ly/g7tAyq). This does multiple things for me: 1) google juice on my comment 2) Easily created content for my blog 3) I share great info w/ my readers 4) my readers see my participation in the comments.
To your success!
All excellent points.
It has never been difficult to me to leave a comment on someone’s blog.First incentive is the expression of personal accordance with writer’s opinions/although there were cases i left comments when i was not agreed with what i read/
So,i go without prejudices,i never think of myself or any benefits for myself;it is pure Love to lead me,and being a true Writer you can recognize such a feeling.
The truth is that there are advantages for us in leaving the comments,someone reads them,get to know of us, it is being formed an reputation about us,our opinions and way of telling them…it is also a way to get one reading your blog to stop by,maybe he wouldn’t do that otherwise.
Honestly it is not my intention,i follow Beauty in a nice story ,nice writing as you do that.
Still haven’t read your last chapter about Christmas and i shall enjoy as always to say few words …..
I know that everyone has own favorites,and it is honest to go after your heart leads you…no dispute as you pick your best book:Should i convince you to love my favorite /for instance:Green Mansions/..?
You made a great post,have many to comment ,i really like that,not to be alone,and forget about “Trojan Horse” /mean on Trojan war/i am here by my own will to share in your brilliant writing.
Thank you!
Green Mansions, will put it on my list. Thanks so much, my friend!
I try to read at least three posts a day and comment on each of those three, though, sometimes, I skip days. Sometimes though, I read more than three blogs and only comment on two.
If I identify heavily with a post, is when I make a comment. There are times in which I just don’t know what to comment especially if the post is about a truly personal story.
With Blogger, I have to sign in to WordPress and verify the words, and sometimes, I just don’t want to sign in, to make a comment. So when I see Blogger, I tend to skip the commenting, unless I thoroughly enjoyed the post.
Or on some of the larger blogs, like a sports blog, I had to open an account to comment. Fortunately, I really wanted to make my point, so I opened the account, but mostly I just skip commenting on those which need an account.
If there isn’t a comment on a post, I will leave one. I’m always flabbergasted when I read and enjoy a thoroughly good post and see that no one has ever left a comment.
However, I would probably not comment on Fast Company or any of the national blogs, due to slight feelings of intimidation on my part, and I don’t want to say anything stupid and have the stupid comment haunt me all over the internet.
Merry Christmas!!
Cool, I am with you about sites like Blogger and where you have to create an account. As for Fast Company, go for it! Merry Christmas.
Great post Julio. You obviously know what you’re talking about since your post about why people don’t leave comments has 58 comments (so far!). Would love to see some information on how to get people to comment on a blog. There are so many good ones around with zero comments. Maybe start commenting on someone else’s blog and hope for some reciprocation comment love?
The strategy that worked for me at the very beginning at least on Twitter is to DM people you network with and ask them to not only post on your blog but also comment on them. I think you just have ask. That is how a small group of us (Adrian Dayton, Gini D and Justin Brackett) started.
I’ve done a bit of social media consulting lately, and the one thing I warned my clients about is how hard it is to get people commenting on your posts. I was helping my local community college get a Facebook page up and running, a place for students to check for college-related updates as well as fun bits of news and so forth, and they were most concerned about getting students to participate and comment.
I told them not to feel too disappointed if that took awhile, since it’s so difficult to get people to comment, even on Facebook updates and notes. I did advise adding polls, pictures with students participating in school activities, and a few other things. That sort of thing does tend to help generate some more commentary from your readers.
That is what your content needs to be good and valuable for audience.
Very late to your party. Thought I’d expose myself…
I’ll usually comment regardless of how inviting the blog is, barring only those people who seem to need feedback but don’t want it. But there are a few things that keep me from commenting.
Being tired will do it; I don’t have the brainpower to say something worthwhile. That’s compounded by boring or redundant material (if the writer posts about the same thing twice, I’m much less likely to comment the second time). Poor content can always turn me away, especially if I’m tired. But if the writer seems to want to improve or desires feedback, I will often try to push through to explain why I didn’t connect and help out. That may have angered a lot of people over the years.
John, first of all, you win the editor award for picking out that stupid typo.
Yeah, I am with ya, I get tired too sometimes, but I usually don’t comment if I don’t like what I am reading. If you can’t hook me early, I move on. And who would get angry at you?
Great post, I am new to blogging and you have provided some good advice. I try to make time to comment on other blogs, it let’s the author know that others are getting something out of their work.
That is the way to go! Thanks for your comment.
i own a fairly successful food blog and i get about 4000 page views a day. sadly i don’t get alot of comments (an average of 8-10 comments per entry) and i can never understand why. i must admit i’m not that sort of person who goes around leaving comments on other people’s blogs therefore i presume its a vice versa thing? i also feel that its also the audience that matters. as i normally recreate high end restaurant food at home and dabble with fine dining and molecular gastronomy style dishes, the people who’re attracted to my blog are usually the executive/professional kind so therefore too snobbish or busy to reply?
That is great for your traffic, but even taking 15 minutes a week to engage your readers on a consistent basis would actually increase your stats, if that is what you are looking for. But good for you!