Maintaining Momentum in Blogging Series
Blogging thrives on conversation. It’s not just about broadcasting your ideas; it’s about sparking dialogue and engaging with your community.
One of the most vibrant places for these interactions is often overlooked—the comment section.
As we continue “maintaining momentum” on your blog, let’s explore a strategy that places your readers at the heart of your content creation: leveraging their comments to guide your blogging journey.
I’ve always believed that the comments, questions, and shared experiences from you, the readers, are a goldmine of inspiration. Every comment left on ProBlogger is a potential catalyst for a new post. I read each comment that is left and attempt to respond wherever possible within comment threads. However, the nature of blogging means that conversations can quickly fade as new posts emerge. Although tools like ‘recent comments’ widgets and ‘comment subscription’ plugins can prolong the discussion, they only offer a temporary fix.
The real magic happens when I elevate a reader’s comment to the spotlight of a new blog post. This does more than just acknowledge a reader; it invites the entire community to dive deeper into the conversation, fostering a sense of ownership and belonging on your blog.
Creating Momentum through Engagement
This approach serves a dual purpose:
- It provides fresh content ideas. Running out of topics? Your comment section is brimming with inspiration for your next post. In fact, one of my favourite content production techniques is to turn a blog post upside down to get more comments.
- It revitalizes the conversation. Instead of letting discussions dwindle, highlighting a comment can reignite the exchange and take it to new heights. I did this in a recent post Content Creation vs Content Promotion: Where is the Balance?
Ways to Amplify Reader Comments
- Link to the Discussion: Kickstart a new post by pointing your readers to an engaging conversation happening in the comments of a previous post. Check out this post as an example of this method.
- Spotlight a Comment: Select a notable comment and feature it in a new post, ensuring to link back to the original discussion and credit the commenter. My motto is “Make Your Reader’s Famous” (see point 7 of this article)
- Write a Follow-Up Post: Combine the above tactics with your reflections. Some comment threads have the power to change your perspective or introduce you to new ideas. By acknowledging these shifts openly, you demonstrate the value you place on your readers’ insights.
Using reader comments in your posts isn’t just a token gesture of appreciation. It shows how much you value your community. This approach not only makes the conversation on your blog better but also builds a strong sense of mutual respect and collaboration.
In reality, this strategy has helped ProBlogger keep moving and even gain more momentum. It reminds us that real connections are key to a successful blog.
So, I encourage you to see your comment section as more than just feedback. Think of it as a place where growth, inspiration, and closer connections with your readers can happen. Remember, the real power of your blog doesn’t just come from the content you make but also from the discussions it starts and keeps going.
Further Reading
Get More Comments: Write Unfinished Blog Posts
10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog
7 Questions to Ask On Your Blog to Get More Reader Engagement
Hi Darren.
You was saying about topics for new posts.
I’ve got one. Just yesterday I’ve made contract with one of those online adcompanies that you can see on yours blog as well.
They placing casino ads, and I actually wanted to ask you –
does it really bad to have ads like these casinos? And what about Googles AdSense – don’t they will be upset about it?
I dumped my comments on all my blogs — they’re absolutely useless to try to keep track of. Some of my blogs would get comments on posts 6 months old and I’d never find out about it quickly enough.
Instead, I installed a PHPBB forum which references every blog post I make (backwards and forwards). This lets users find other comments right away, and it lets me see what is active. It also lets me track a post’s popularity by seeing how many times the forum post was read.
The plus side is it also gives readers of one of my blogs a direction to head to read my other articles. It works very well for me, and I have to say that my traffic growth is directly attributed to the forum.
Everyone says forums are hard to build, but we’ve added 50 users (1/2 of whom are active) in just 2 months, which is decent for my VERY small niche blogs. My forums also generate good revenue from AdSense, which I also can’t complain about. Overall, it is a double-win situation. I gain the comments of the readers, and my readers gain the interactivity they need. I even let them create their own topics, which I then take and blog about (creating a real two-way interaction).
Another thing to consider is that many readers just scan comments. If there are a lot of them, they may look at the first 10 and then move on. If the thread gets very interesting or provides new knowledge it is actually helping your readers by writing a new post about it.
Additionally, many RSS readers never even take the time to go to the site and read the comments!
A month ago, I came across an SEO blog post that suggested text surrounding links may have an effect on Yahoo SERP. I blogged about his theory on my blog, with trackback disabled, but he managed to find my post, and left me a comment.
Today, he returned and left me another comment, to let me know the effect he was seeing is actually due to co-citation. I went over to his blog to read his updated post, and sure enough, he’s right on the money. So, not only did his going a few extra miles teach me something new, but he also regained my interest in his blog. And that’s not easy with the amount of RSS feeds I’m juggling.
I have an entry posted a month now but still getting some new comments from the readers..
You are right..Comments are very important..also where you can find ideas what to write about..
Thanks!
This blog is scary. I clicked on you blog to ask you about this very same issue of enticing reader comments, and boom, your blog answered my questions, but one, ahead of time.
My unaswered question is: Which comment system do you recommend to attract more comments?
1. The one you use, where the person can enter information for each comment. (I suspect you will choose this one because you use it, but how do you control the comments from SPAM?)
or
2. The one where you require commenters to log in in advance and provide basic information that asks them for login and password info when they log in to make comments? I believe this system prevents spammers.
Do you pre-edit comments before they are posted? (Oops another question)
Bill
Bill – I know bloggers who use both. I tend to go for the first option although it does mean more work in moderating comments as it does introduce the problem of comment spam.
On the downside of having to have people register to comment – the risk here is that you make it a little harder for comments to be left and as a result I suspect you get less of them. I know of a few blogs where you have to register and login to comment and to be honest unless they are a really really good blog I never bother to do it.
The other option is to moderate comments (as in your last question). Again I don’t do this as I like the immediacy of commenting and it takes more work as the blogger. It also makes it hard when I take a day, weekend or even longer off :-)
I try to respond to all of the comments I recieve (however few and far between they are =p). I agree with darren about the registration part, I think it’s hard enough to get people to comment without making them register first, especially if you’re a really small site (such as myself).
I take a look at all my comments (once again, probably because I don’t get alot) so I can delete the comments that I believe are spam.
[…] Building on Reader Comments to Maintain Blogging Momentum […]
i like comments as they usually give an idea for my next blog post.
[…] So what your saying is? We’ve established that you, as the author, affect your comments. Now, let’s get back to the original question. Do comments affect how you write? I feel that they do, but it depends how much you let it. Comment threads are like any other conversation. You can try to control them, let them control you, work with them, or ignore them completely. But in the end, they tend to have a life of their own. […]
IF I am not here in mylot, most likely I am blogging (http://pehpot.blogspot.com). I do some paid post on my blog and some personal thoughts, I would really like to know if you have any more site that is god for this kind of earning activity. I only know some and most of them does not have a lot of opportunity. SO far Payperppst is the site that has a lot of opportunity. I also tried others but after finishing a paid post my page rank dropped so I quit their site.