1 Big Blog Commenting Mistake You Must Fix Now
Blog commenting is my favorite part of blogging and I have been getting many new readers leaving comments on my blog lately.
Which is great.
I love meeting new people, and I hope they find some value in my writing.
After all, meeting people, building relationships, and providing value to others is the best part of blogging.
Unfortunately, I have not published these comments, and I will explain why so if you are making this blog commenting mistake, you know how and why you need to fix it.
But first, what is blog commenting.
What Is Blog Commenting?
Blog commenting is the act of leaving a comment on a blog.
That’s it!
When you visit a blog that is of interest to you or ideally in a similar niche, you may choose to leave a comment if the option is available.
Blog commenting is a great way to express your thoughts on the topic.
What Your Blog Comment Should Be
There are a few different ways you may wish to express yourself when leaving a comment on a blog post.
You can:
- provide your insights on the topic
- ask a question
- offer another point of view
- share why the post was helpful to you
- tell others what you learned from the post
Leaving thoughtful comments provides opportunities for engaging conversations. These conversations then allow opportunities to build relationships with readers, potential clients or customers, and fellow bloggers.
It is also a great way to generate organic traffic back to your website.
So, before you hit submit, think for a minute if your comment provides an opportunity for engaged conversation and relationship building.
Your comment should always be respectful. Even if you disagree with the author or another commenter, be nice. There is no reason to be rude.
To make sure your comment offers additional value to the post and provides an opportunity to build relationships, you have to do a few things first.
Bring Your ‘A’ Game
If you want to be considered an authority in your niche, the quality of comments you leave should reflect that.
The first thing you must do in order to write a great comment is to read the post you are commenting on. If you don’t read it, you will have nothing to say about it.
Next, think about what you liked (or didn’t like) about the post.
- Did it resonate with you in any way?
- Was it helpful to you?
- Did it teach you something new?
- Did it provide a unique perspective that you hadn’t thought of before?
- Is there a reason you disagree? If so, why?
Finally, type your well-thought-out response in the space provided and any other information needed to approve your comment. When leaving a comment be sure to address the author by name.
You might be wondering, just how long does a blog comment need to be?
When I leave a comment, I follow the same rule I follow for my blog posts: “as long as it needs to be” to provide value.
Sometimes readers find value in a couple of short sentences, and sometimes it may be an entire paragraph. Either way is acceptable, although some people prefer short and sweet.
Oh, and stay on topic!
Don’t go off on a tangent about something unrelated to the blog post.
Also, feel free to reply to other people’s comments if it seems fitting. It isn’t only the blog author that can respond to a comment.
Now that you know what a blog comment should be ask yourself if you are bringing your ‘A’ game or if you need to pull up your socks?
I’m just going to say it; you need to pull up your socks if you make this one big blog commenting mistake.
What The Blog Comment Should Not Be
If your comments are one-liners such as “great post,” “well written,” “I like your post,” or “this post was helpful” without supporting evidence, you are not using the opportunity to its fullest advantage.
The comments below do not entice engagement and it is hard to build a relationship without any information about the commenter.
If it applies to you, this is one mistake that you must fix now.
This is not how an authoritative blogger comments.
Your comment must have some “meat” to it.
Why is it a great post?
What did you like about it? Or what don’t you like about it?
How was it helpful?
Could you add something to the conversation you think is relevant?
These one-liner comments do not invite engaging conversation, do not add value, nor do they offer an opportunity to build relationships.
Uninspired comments do not give anyone any reason to visit YOUR website.
And, an author can’t help but wonder if the person who left the comment read the post or is wasting their time on a fledgling attempt to get noticed.
Don’t worry; you are getting noticed, but not for the right reasons and only for a short time.
You are sabotaging your efforts and wasting your time, the author’s time, and other readers’ time.
Time is precious.
Use it wisely.
Take full advantage of your blog commenting efforts and ensure that you are leaving comments of value.
Leave comments that engage, and offer a place for relationships to grow.
Below is an example of excellent engagement and relationship building. Check out the post, for more examples.
This is what blog commenting should look like.
I took Lisa up on her suggestion to take a break and spend some time in nature. My husband and I spent 3 days hiking in the mountains and I came home feeling great.
Comments that pique the interest of other readers and make them curious about your blog or website are next level.
These are the types of comments you want to get noticed.
Don’t throw away your time and effort by leaving poor-quality comments that won’t get posted.
There are a couple of other things you can do to level up your blog commenting.
Kicking It Up A Notch
Be sure you have a Gravatar to assist your blog commenting further.
A Gravatar is a globally recognized avatar. A picture of you shows up when you post a comment on a website, like a social media profile picture that gets used everywhere else on the web.
It can quickly be done if you do not have a gravatar set up.
I explain the importance of making your image available in this post here.
Check the website for commenting guidelines before you submit your comment. Not all websites have them, but I can certainly understand why some do.
Finally, to show your appreciation and initiate some reciprocity, share the blog post with your readers on your social media platforms.
If you leave excellent comments and share their work, your fellow bloggers will do the same for you.
To Sum Up Blog Commenting
Use your time wisely to:
- read the blog post
- respond with a comment that provides value
- Share the post
Good comments will invite engagement, relationship building, and readers to your blog.
Do not:
- waste time posting pointless comments
Pointless comments are not an effective way to try to promote yourself.
If you would like even more in-depth information about blog commenting, I highly recommend this post from Neil Patel.
Blog commenting can be an essential and effective piece of your blog traffic strategy, so make sure you take the time to do it properly.
Feel free to start practicing now.
Please Leave a Comment 🙂
Does your blog have a comment section?
Do you need to work on your commenting skills?
What is your favorite blog comment a reader left for you?
Do you find value in using commenting as part of your traffic strategy?
Let us know down below!
SharlaAnn is a blogger who focuses on helping others develop the mindset and skills needed to build successful blogs. She is always up for a challenge and is a determined student of personal development and SEO.
Hi Sharla,
I have always been an advocate of blog commenting, but simply didn’t get around to doing it much before. Am now on a mission to get back to it, simply because of the wonderful relationships you can build through it. Loved your example about the conversation with Lisa.
Thanks for the nice tip of also sharing the blog post. Because I don’t always end up doing it, but it’s definitely a nice touch. If we are focused on giving to others and helping them, we cannot go wrong 🙂
Starting with sharing your post now!
Thanks again for the tips and stories in this one.
Poulomi Basu recently posted…How to Create a Powerful Brand Website for Your Small Business
Thanks so much for stopping by Poulomi,
I sometimes hit a dry spell with my blog commenting. We get busy and it gets pushed down the to-do list. I regularly have to make it a priority as it is very important to build relationships with other bloggers and possibly clients.
I have a routine where I read, share, comment. Helping each other with content distribution is a nice gesture.
Thanks for your comment and for sharing😊
SharlaAnn
SharlaAnn Matyjanka recently posted…Blog Images-What Are You Missing?
Hi SharlaAnn, I’m so glad you took up my advice on that blog comment and enjoyed nature for a few days. That is so important! Nature and doing puzzles always help me to relax, unwind so I can wind back up again.
One of my recent favorite comments was from Moss Clement:
“Hi, Lisa,
Your blog article is useful because we are more focused on driving traffic from Google so much that marketers forget about other helpful sources of search traffic. In fact, a moment ago, I found out that I’m getting traffic from DuckDuckGo, Bing, Yahoo, and a few others. I can’t even remember their names. So, if marketers should concentrate on driving traffic from other search engines other than Google, we will see a significant increase in organic web traffic and leads.
Thank you for sharing!”
I like when people can learn something from my posts as I often think everyone knows the same things as I do. It inspires me to write more to help others along the way who may not have the time to research these types of things SharlaAnn.
I really like people to have a gravatar, if not they end up in the spam folder quickly.
I hope you are still refreshed from your break!
Lisa Sicard recently posted…How to View Private Instagram Accounts; 13 Proven Tips and Hacks
Lisa, It was so good to get away for a few days.
That is a great comment from Moss. He has been dropping some great ones on Twitter lately. I am really liking his approach to commenting there.
I also like it when people learn something from my posts and find them helpful.
It is great when you get to the point that you know who’s blog to visit based on the information you are looking for.
Thanks so much for sharing, Lisa.
SharlaAnn
SharlaAnn Matyjanka recently posted…Blog Images-What Are You Missing?
Well, since I’m always talking about blog comments, I felt compelled to write something about your article.
Totally agree with everything you said, and Lisa’s contribution was spot on as well. No one wants to deal with lousy comments, but I’ve seen where sometimes you get a good comment from a new person and respond to it, and the next time you get a lousy comment from that same person who’s seemingly responding to something in your article that you didn’t write about; sigh…
I’ve set up lots of spam filters on my blogs to keep from having to deal with stuff like this. I figure traffic loaded with spam doesn’t do me or anyone else any favors.
Mitch Mitchell recently posted…You’re Not Promoting Your Blog Or Yourself Properly
Hey Mitch,
You were one of the first ones that came to mind when I mentioned posted commenting guidelines.
I have caught myself about to leave less than ideal comments a few times. It usually happens after I have been at the computer for way too long or it is past my bedtime. I now know that when that happens it is time to delete it and walk away.
Thank goodness for spam filters. I couldn’t even imagine the chaos without them.
Thanks for stopping by Mitch, happy commenting!!
SharlaAnn
SharlaAnn Matyjanka recently posted…Can’t Write? – 4 Ways You Can Still Be A Productive Blogger
Many bloggers have such a difficult time understanding that blog commenting is about making an impact to befriend someone, versus trying to get a link, traffic or business through the thought.
Thanks much for the shout out SharlaAnn. I loved writing those in-depth, 3-4 or even 10 paragraph long comments in the past. Now that I am traveling again – with all of its time constraints – I go with the shorter and sweeter comments to make an impact, to add value and to keep my bonds intact.
The real key is to be genuine. Share your thoughts about the post. Make specific points relating to the post itself. Personalize comments. Be honest. Being authentic through commenting makes such a strong impression, especially in a world of less than genuine blog commentors.
Ryan
Ryan K Biddulph recently posted…Why Does Blogging Seem Confusing?
Hi Ryan,
I get that. We get busy and don’t always have time to write those multi-paragraph comments, especially as our network grows.
But, I have noticed that the more I PRACTICE commenting, the easier it gets. Funny how that works, eh?
I agree personalization is important. Use my name and drop the ma’am, please. (would be my preference).
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one Ryan.
SharlaAnn
SharlaAnn Matyjanka recently posted…Improve Your Focus With These 5 Simple Tips
Hi SharalAnn,
Although I’ve not been active in commenting on blogs lately due to other essential projects, reading other blogs and leaving feedback also helps build your online presence and authority. The value you add via comments benefits other readers who will like to visit your site to check you out.
Moreover, Google calculates blog comments as part of the main content (that’s according to Neil Patel), which adds to the overall quality of your blog posts. So, blog comments are a win-win for both new and seasoned bloggers. But as you indicated, your comments must provide value. Thus, I like how you outlined “What your blog comments should be” in the section above.
Thanks for sharing, SharlaAnn, and thank you also for the mention!😊😁
You’re welcome, Moss.
Sometimes I would rather read the comment section than the post itself. There can be so much value added to a blog post via the comments. This post with these amazing comments is already a great example of that. Everyone who has commented here has added so much value.
It is incredible, and I am so thankful to everyone for sharing their thoughts here.
You aren’t establishing much authority with a string of “great post” comments.
Good quality blog comments do take time, but if you are going to do it at all, make sure it is the one thing you are doing well. If you find yourself too busy with other projects, hold off on commenting. It’s ok to do that.
No comment is better than a bad comment that isn’t going to get published anyway.
I also want to say, again, that I am really enjoying your comments on Twitter lately, Moss. They have been fantastic.
SharlaAnn
SharlaAnn Matyjanka recently posted…3 Tools That Make Blogging Easier
Hi SharlaAnn,
I’m glad to see the best blog commenting examples coming from Ryan K Biddulph, Moss Clement, and Lisa Sicard. These blogging wizards inspire me to build relationships with fellow bloggers. And you were absolutely right; this UGC adds value to the conversation and the effectiveness of the post for readers.
On the other hand, one-liner comments – are pure SPAM and should be trashed immediately. They think this nofollow link from the comment section will boost up their SEO game 🙂
Funny!
Shyam Bhardwaj recently posted…Successful Blogging: 15 Blogging Tips to Take Your Blog to Immense Hit
Hello Shyam,
Everyone you mentioned is very inspiring. I have learned a lot from all of them. The main thing they all have in common is the importance of building relationships. It is so important.
I think you are on to something with the one-liners and the value they think they are getting from their lazy comments. To bad they don’t see that taking such short cuts are causing them more harm than good.
Thanks for stopping by and for the comment. 🙂
SharlaAnn
SharlaAnn Matyjanka recently posted…Everything You Need to Start a Blog