As bloggers we are always striving to increase blog comments on our sites. Comments are great for so many reasons and it should certainly be one of your aims to have a healthy number of comments under each post. It can however sometimes seem like pulling teeth to obtain comments. Today we shall discuss some blogging tips that if implemented will help those comments increase.
6 Blogging Tips To Increase Blog Comments
1. Ask Your Readers Questions
It may sound quite obvious, but how many of you are actually asking questions in your posts?
Posing questions can be a great way of creating reader engagement, and once you have a few comments, it will naturally generate more.
Some people are reluctant to leave comments when no-one else has, so if asking a question helps to get the ball rolling, then go for it!
I know when I initially started blogging I was reluctant to specifically ask questions for fear of looking a bit silly, but don’t you think it’s actually quite silly not to ask? What have you got to loose?!
Sometimes all you need is that prompt to encourage people to comment. They may not even think of commenting, but after reading your question they may well just think “well yes I do have something to add”, and bingo! A question, or a call to action at the end of your post can be the one trigger required for increasing blog comments.
2. Create Quality Content
I have said it before, and this certainly won’t be the last time, but you must always create quality content if you wish to receive engagement and increase blog comments.
Is your content worthy of interacting with?
Does it strike up thoughts or additional questions for readers?
How can you possibly expect readers to leave comments if you have not given them anything to comment on! You should be giving enough information in your post that can spark ideas, or further questions or even just a seal of approval. Either way, your content should be detailed enough to have provided VALUE to the reader.
If you wish to increase blog comments, then you MUST have valuable content that people feel inclined to comment on.
3. Leave Room For Questions
Whilst you want to ensure that you write consistent quality posts, you need to be careful that you don’t write everything there is to write about the subject. You need to juggle the fine line here!
If you end up saying ‘everything’ there is to say, then what could readers possible comment about other than “great post”, which is basically a spam comment anyway!
By leaving ‘gaps’ in your post it allows for conversation to occur about topics you may have missed or not fully expanded upon. Whilst I get it that you don’t want to look like you are not fully informed about a subject, leaving a little space does help boost reader engagement and is a great way to increase blog comments.
4. Don’t Make It Hard To Comment
How many times have you been to blogs that you have to sign in to, or add captcha’s before you can comment?
It can sometimes become so complicated to leave a comment that it is just plain annoying!
I know that I have given up trying to comment on blogs before, so I’m sure there have been many other people in the same boat. Those blogs are missing out on comments purely because of the comment system set up. That’s just crazy!
There are other ways of monitoring spam comments other than having to have those pesky captcha’s, so just get rid of them! If readers want to leave a comment, they want to do it quickly. Unless your readers have a real invested interest in commenting on YOUR specific site, they seriously will not bother if you make it difficult for them.
Blog commenting SHOULD BE EASY, and if it isn’t then you need to do some restructure.
Think about how you would feel if you were to comment on your own blog. Would it frustrate you, or would the process be smooth sailing?
If you really want to increase blog comments on your site, then ask yourself “how easy is it to leave a comment here?”.
5. Return The Comment Favor
One great way to increase blog comments is to return the comment favor. If someone leaves a valuable comment on your blog, then hop over to theirs and do the same.
Returning the comment favor not only shows that you have appreciated their visit, but it also helps to build relationships. You could end up continually comment hopping with another blogger, and as a result each of your posts would obtain at least one comment. That has got to be something to smile about!
Another way of returning the favor is to add a plugin like Comment Luv on your posts. Comment Luv displays the commentator’s recent blog post. This is a great way for other bloggers to ‘be seen’ and could make the difference between a blogger deciding to leave a comment or not.
Another plugin you might like to consider is something like a Top Commentator Plugin. This will highlight those top commentator’s on your site and showcase them to other readers. You can change the settings of the plugin to allow do follow links after a certain amount of comments. This could be used as a way to encourage bloggers to leave comments to obtain the do follow links.
At the end of the day blog commenting should be a fun part of your blogging career. It is fun to not only strike up conversations with bloggers on your own site, but also on other sites. This is all part of building your profile and increasing engagement with others.
Are any of these blogging tips new to you? Perhaps you have some other strategies that you use to increase blog comments?
Now it’s YOUR turn to share your thoughts with us below.
