Troon Scotland
Blogging and commenting go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Bloggers still underestimate the power of genuine blog commenting.
Veteran bloggers struggling to gain traction can make an impact through blog comments. Established pro bloggers often swear by commenting as their prime means of building a blogger friend network.
Lisa Sicard, Sue-Ann Bubacz and Anthony Gaenzle are skilled blog commentors. Follow them. Learn from their example.
Blog commenting is a free way to build powerful relationships. Plus, minus avoiding spam folders, no gate keeper exists to thwart attempts to be seen via genuine blog comments..
Blogging Video
I discuss:
- why personalizing comments makes you stand out
- how crafting meaty comments makes a genuine impact
- why your sign off matters (it really does)
Click the “play” button:
How to Create Traffic Driving Blog Comments the Right Way
1: Personalize Comments
Personalizing blog comments is a sure way to avoid falling into spam or trash folders. Spending a few seconds to address bloggers by name and to sign off with your name makes a powerful impact but also makes comments legit in regards to spam algorithms.
Spend the moment or two required to greet your fellow blogger by name. Sign off with your name. Personalize interactions.
On a deeper level, adding blogger names boosts the chances that someone clicks through your comment to your blog.
Generally speaking, people love hearing their names. Addressing someone by name proves mindfulness in a largely mindless world.
2: Publish Value
The definition of “value” differs depending on:
- the depth of the blog post
- the stage of your blogging career
- your knowledge of the subject
New bloggers; publish at least 2-3 paragraphs to earn credibility in the blog commenting world. Think about sharing value to allow value to flow to you through:
- blog traffic
- blogging buddies who appreciate your comments
- increased credibility
People follow value. Publishing thorough, detailed comments sends a value signal to blog readers. Some impressed readers click your link to boost your blog traffic. But the gateway nature of effective blog commenting pays immense dividends here as impressed bloggers who appreciate your valuable comments befriend you.
Blogging buddies:
- mention you through backlinks organically planted into their blog posts
- invite you to guest post on their blogs
Organic backlinks and guest posts placed both increase your blog traffic significantly over the long haul through the concept of leveraging. Imagine having a 100 member blog following through your blog. A blogging buddy with 1000 followers leverages your presence with each backlink to your blog they drop in a post. Each guest post you publish in front of their 1000 followers leverages your presence even more because an entire guest post yields more credibility than a single link mention.
Genuine blog commenting opened the door for these opportunities. Publishing valued content via comments made the difference.
Blog comments are content. In essence, each valuable, detailed comment you publish adds immense value to the blog content published. Your dazzling comments may even help nudge a blog onto page 1 of Google.
Both you and your fellow blogger win if blog post comments and content join to create a masterpiece because you expand each other’s presence.
3: Sign Off
Sign off with your name. Even though it seems meaningless on first review, signing off with your first name:
- personalizes blog comments
- strengthens friendships
- keeps comments out of spam folders
Human beings tend to live in frenzied, hurried worlds. The online world reflects this truth in exponential fashion.
Examples include…..
…..Drop a 4 word text message because you are too busy to call someone. Send a 5 word ultimatum via Messenger, Drop a 6 word blog comment because you are in a hurry.
Each mindless, frantic attempt at communication above makes the human on the receiving end a target, a thing you happen to be communicating with. But publishing a mindful, valuable comment, addressing bloggers by name and signing off with your first name adds intimacy to your interaction.
Blogging friends care for you by increasing your traffic and profits via:
- promoting you through their blog
- promoting you through their social media
- endorsing you
- hiring you
- purchasing your eBooks and courses
Signing off with your first name is a cherry on top of the friendship-building cake.
No blogger needs to sign off but the few extra seconds seems well worth it in terms of making a bit stronger impact.
What About Commenting and SEO?
Blog commenting is a gateway activity in SEO terms.
Blog comments links are No Follow links. No Follow links do not factor in to the Google algorithm.
But never make the common error of writing off No Follow links, as short-sighted bloggers do.
Blog comments allow you to be:
- seen
- credible
- impressive
- noteworthy
in the eyes of fellow bloggers and their large, loyal readerships.
Being credible in their eyes leads to:
- guest posting invites
- organic backlinks
Do Follow links gained via guest posts and organic backlinks boost your SERPs. Perhaps you won’t get a Do Follow link through the comment itself but the hundreds of Do Follow links you gain through organic backlinks and guest posts (courtesy of bonds built through commenting) seems worth following a genuine blog commenting campaign.
As a graphic example, Matthew Woodward invited me to write this guest post based on a hefty comment I published to this blog.
Perhaps the No Follow comment link did not register anything with the Google algorithm but the high value Do Follow link gained through the guest post registered on Google’s radar screen. Not to mention being seen by the full force of his email list, blogging community and marketing channels.
Blog commenting is a gateway activity leading to:
- guest blogging opportunities
- interview requests
- Do Follow backlinks
- Google traffic
- targeted blog traffic
- increased blogging income
Resist the common temptation to frame blog commenting through a vision-less, short-sighted perspective.
Doors opened through a genuine blog commenting campaign will stun you.
I even spoke about blogging at respected NYU based in part on genuine comments I published on an adjunct’s blog.
Does blog commenting still sound like a waste of time to you?
Does Google still seem like the end all – be all when it comes to blogging success?
Conclusion
Put in the time to follow a genuine blog commenting campaign.
Traffic flows to social bloggers who share value through their authentic blog comments
